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The Bible leaves us in NO DOUBT as to what THE LAYING ON OF HANDS is and how the true Congregation of Yahweh should employ it.

      The Most basic doctrines of a believer are listed in Hebrews 6:1-2 Repentance, baptism, faith, and the resurrection. Among them is the laying on of hands.

       Most so-called Christian churches seem oblivious to this basic Biblical teaching—and those who do recognize it, misunderstand, misapply, or misuse it.

Old Testament Examples

Back at the time that Yahweh was bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, He instructed Aaron and his successors to lay their hands on certain of the sacrificial animals. This was done as a symbol of the figurative transfer of sin to the animal to be sacrificed (See Lev 8:14-23; Num 8:10-14.)

An excellent example is what took place on the Day of Atonement. “Then Aaron shall lay his two hands on the head of the living goat, and shall confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, and shall put them on the head of the goat, and shall send it by the hand of a chosen man into the wilderness (Lev 16:21).

As we can see from this and other examples the laying on of hands is a ceremony used in Scripture for transferring something to another person. In Aaron’s case, he was transferring the sins of Israel to the goat. When someone is baptized, the elder is transferring Yahweh’s Spirit to the individual; and as we will see, it stands to reason that only someone with the authority to do the transferring is able to perform the laying on of hands ceremony.

To Confer Blessings

In Genesis 48 is recorded Israel’s (Jacob’s) blessing on his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

“And Israel stretched forth his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim; and he was the younger. And he put his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands; for Manasseh was the first-born” (verse 14).

Joseph, the boys’ father, objected to Jacob’s putting his right hand on the second born, but Jacob refused to change the position of his hands: “And his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He [Manasseh] also shall be a people, and he shall become great. But his younger brother [Ephraim] shall become greater than he, and his seed shall become the fullness of the nations” (Verse 19).

Jacob’s hands certainly didn’t make Ephraim and Manasseh become the great peoples they are today — the power of Almighty Yahweh did that. But Yahweh used the physical symbols of Jacob’s right and left hands to be a visible sign of the blessings He was to grant those two boys and their descendants. Jacob was, literally, adopting these two boys with the laying on of hands and transferred his own authority as patriarch to them.

Yahshua’s Example

Some might reason, “Sure, Yahweh used physical symbols and ceremony in the Old Testament, but we worship Yahweh in ‘spirit and in truth’; we don’t need physical symbols.” Note the example of Yahshua Messiah Himself.

Luk 13:11-13 And, behold, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent together and was not able to straighten herself at all. And seeing her, Yahshua called her near and said to her, Woman, you have been freed from your infirmity. And He laid hands on her. And instantly she straightened herself and glorified Elohim.

He didn’t limit this simple physical act to the unconverted people of the Old Testament. He used it as a symbol of authority to ask for healing on this woman, and He set an example for His true Congregation to follow. He used His healing power through His hands and transferred that power to heal this woman in the book of Luke.

To Give Authority

Yahweh has also willed for the laying on of hands to be used in ordaining His servants to a position of responsibility. Moses passed on his authority to Joshua by laying hands on him. “And YAHWEH said to Moses, Take Yahoshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hands on him. And cause him to stand before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a charge before their eyes. And you shall put from your dignity on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel will listen. And he laid his hands on him, and gave him a charge, even as YAHWEH commanded by the hand of Moses” (Num 27:18-20, 23). Notice that it was not Moses who put Joshua over all Israel. Moses laid hands on Joshua as a symbol of the fact that Yahweh had placed him in that office, and for the transferring of authority from Moses to Yahoshua.

New Testament Examples

There are many New Testament examples of a person being ordained to an office through the laying on of hands. In Acts 6:5-6, the seven deacons were set before the apostles, who prayed and laid hands on them — putting them into the office of deacon.

Another example is found in Acts 13:1-3. “Now there were prophets and teachers in the congregation of Antioch: both Barnabas and Simeon, he being called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Shaul. And while they were doing service to Elohim and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, So then separate both Barnabas and Shaul to Me, for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laying hands on them, they sent them away.”

Again, it was Yahweh who chose these men to do a job. By laying hands on Barnabas and Paul, the leaders of the Congregation merely put approval on what Yahweh had already done. Timothy was admonished by Paul, “Do not lay hands on any one hastily…” (1st Tim 5:22). In other words, he was telling Timothy, “Don’t ordain anyone to an office on the spur of the moment.” Paul also exhorted Timothy to “…stir up the gift of Yahweh which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2nd Tim 1:6).

It was Yahweh Almighty who gave Timothy the gifts that he had; but Yahweh works through a physical Congregation and a physical ministry. It was Paul who placed his hands-on Timothy as a physical outward sign of the fact that Yahweh had chosen Timothy as a minister.

Recognition of Authority

Yahweh has ordained that His Congregation employ the laying on of hands as a physical symbol of the authority that Yahweh placed in His Congregation and with His true ministers. Timothy couldn’t have jumped up one day and proclaimed himself a minister all on his own—he had to recognize the authority in Yahweh’s Congregation and in the Apostle Paul. He had to be placed into the ministry through the laying on of Paul’s hands; because Paul had been given authority by Yahweh—through the laying on of hands of the elders and apostles before him. Thus, the authority in Yahweh’s Congregation went back to the twelve apostles, who were called, chosen, and ordained by Yahshua Messiah Himself.

Timothy couldn’t have been ordained by just any congregation or any minister. He had to be ordained by the TRUE CONGREGATION and TRUE MINISTRY, through which Yahweh was working. Ordination of an elder is not a degree but is a recognition of a job description that that person is currently doing in the congregation. So it stands to reason that either if the person no longer qualified under the scriptural parameters of an elder, or if they left the congregation, they would no longer be recognized in that office in which they were ordained.

Receiving the Holy Spirit

Yahshua gave the ministers of His Congregation the authority to baptize those who have truly repented of their sins. Along with the physical act of baptism is promised the Holy Spirit—through the laying on of hands. Millions have supposedly been baptized, but very few have ever had hands laid on them for the receiving of the Holy Spirit after baptism. And fewer still have had hands laid on them by a person who had authority from Yahshua Messiah to baptize. Notice the example in Acts 8. Philip went to the city of Samaria to preach the Good News. Many believed and were baptized. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Good-News had been preached at Samaria, they sent Peter and John, “who going down prayed concerning them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit. (For it was not upon any one of them yet, but they were only being baptized in the name of the Master Yahshua). Then THEY LAID HANDS ON THEM, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:15-17).

It could have been a few days or even weeks between the time these people were baptized and the time they had hands laid on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Obviously, it is not simply the physical act of placing one’s hands on someone else that transmits the Holy Spirit. Only Yahweh Himself can beget a repentant, baptized person with His Spirit. But Yahweh has given us the example of this physical procedure as a symbol of recognition of the human instruments through which He works and to show the authority that Yahshua has placed with the elders in His congregation.

Mat 28:18 And coming up Yahshua talked with them, saying, All authority in Heaven and on earth was given to Me.

Mat 28:19 Then having gone, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son,

Mat 28:20 and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen.

The Example of the Apostle Paul

Even the Apostle Paul, though he was struck down by Yahshua Messiah Himself, received the Holy Spirit only when Ananias laid hands on him. “And Khanan- Yah went away and entered into the house. And putting hands on him he said, Brother Saul the Master has sent me, Yahshua, the One who appeared to you in the highway on which you came, that you may see and be filled of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). Immediately Paul received his sight and was baptized. In his case, as in a few others, Paul first received the Holy Spirit, and then was baptized: the normal pattern, however, was baptism first—then receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.

Several years after his conversion, Paul visited Ephesus and found people who had been baptized by Apollos unto John the Baptist’s baptism; they hadn’t even heard about the Holy Spirit. Paul instructed them more fully about repentance and baptism. “And hearing, they were baptized into the name of the Master Yahshua. And Paul laying hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in different languages and prophesied…” (Acts 19:5-6). First, they were baptized, then they received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. The most ignored and misunderstood aspect of the laying on of hands is its application to the miraculous healing of sickness.

Again, Yahshua Himself set the example. The Good-News writer Mark explains in chapter 6, verse 5: “And He could do no work of power there, except He performed healing on a FEW INFIRM ONES LAYING ON HIS HANDS.”

Luke 4:40 says, “And the sun sinking, all, as many as had sick ones with various diseases, brought them to Him. And laying hands on each one of them, He healed them.”

In Acts 28:8, we find that Paul also laid his hands on Publius’ father to heal him.

Concerning His true ministers Yahshua stated: “… THEY WILL LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, AND THEY WILL BE HEALED” (Mark 16:18).

Yahshua said that His true ministers would lay hands on sick people and they would be healed, and this is another sign of where Yahshua’s authority is coming from. Of course, not every person who is anointed by a minister will be immediately healed because there are different reasons for sickness, but all sickness goes back to sin, whether sin of the person or sin of someone else that caused sickness in this world.

However, when someone is anointed and has hands laid on them for healing they are also forgiven for any sin that may have been committed.

Jas 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call the elders of the Congregation, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of our Master.

Jas 5:15 And the prayer of faith will heal those being sick, and our Master will raise him up. And if he may have committed sins, it will be forgiven him.

The laying on of hands is an extremely important ceremony in Yahweh’s Congregation for the transferring of authority and is used for several different purposes as we have seen. However, it is a most sacred ceremony and should only be performed by those with the authority to do so, and truly shows who Yahshua’s true remnant body are, and the power that He bestows upon them.