~ 5 Biblical Purposes of the Laying On
Of Hands ~
For Judgment
~ “And
the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
‘Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the
congregation stone him’” (Leviticus 24:13-14). “If it is indeed true and
certain that such an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you shall
bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing,
and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to
death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death
on the testimony of one witness. The
hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and
afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from
among you” (Deuteronomy 17:4-7).
For Atonement ~ “And
when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of
meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron
shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all
the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions,
concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send
it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The
goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and
he shall release the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:20-22).
Note:
These first two were under the Old Covenant sacrificial system.
For Blessing ~ “So
Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to
the earth. And Joseph took them both,
Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his
left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. Then
Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was
the younger, and his left hand on
Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the
firstborn. And he blessed Joseph, and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be
named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them
grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’ Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his
right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his
father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And
Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn;
put your right hand on his head.’ But
his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also
shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
descendants shall become a multitude of nations.’ So he
blessed them that day, saying, ‘By you Israel will bless, saying, “May God
make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!”’
And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh” (Genesis
48:12-20).
“Then
they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the
disciples rebuked those who brought them.
But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, ‘Let
the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the
kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means
enter it.’ And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them”
(Mark 10:13-16).
For Empowering
~ “Now
when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word
of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17). “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Now the men were about twelve in all”
(Acts 19:5-7).
For Service
~ “And
the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they
chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus,
Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they
set before the apostles; and when they
had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then
the Word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in
Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts
6:5-7). “Now in the church that was at Antioch there
were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and
Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and
fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate
to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having
fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts
13:1-3).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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