Ordination
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Beginning in this section, we will examine how the laying on of hands is seen to be the way God transfers government or authority within His Church. In fact, we will see that this physical ceremony can involve the transferring of gifts, special status, blessings, and even curses. One of the most important functions of the laying on of hands occurs with appointment—ordination—into Jesus’ ministry. There are a number of New Testament passages where ordination occurred with this ceremony involved. But the ceremony first appears in the Old Testament.
In Numbers 8:9-11, the Levites were ordained by the entire congregation of Israel through the laying on of hands. Later in Numbers, as Moses was nearing the end of his life, he laid hands on Joshua (Num 27:18-20), with God instructing Moses to “put some of your honour upon him.”
The first seven deacons in the New Testament era received this physical office of service through the laying on of hands (Acts 6:5-6). Paul and Barnabas were ordained to the highest human office of apostle by “prophets and teachers” under authority from the apostles in Jerusalem.
In I Timothy 5:22, Paul instructs Timothy to “lay hands suddenly on no man,” but this is better rendered in the Revised Standard Version, “do not be hasty in the laying on of hands.” With so much at stake when one is to be vested with power and authority upon ordination, it is easy to see why Paul would give such instruction. Where there is a true minister of God—an apostle or one under that apostle— there is real authority and real power.
Contents
Transferring Sins, Curses and Blessings
Immediately after the Levites were ordained in Numbers 8:1-26, the context continues explaining that these priests carried the authority to “lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks” for sin and burnt offerings (Lev 8:12-15; also Leviticus 4:13-15). In Leviticus 24:1-23, the young man who “blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed” was stoned to death, but only after all those who heard him “lay their hands upon his head” (Lev 24:10-15). The Azazel goat of Leviticus 16:1-34, representing Satan on the Day of Atonement, had the sins of Israel—a cursing—confessed over him during the laying on of hands by Aaron and high priests who followed.
But blessings were also accompanied by the laying on of hands. When Israel (Jacob) blessed Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48:1-22, it records that he laid his hands on these young grandsons and passed both the birthright blessing and his name to them. Mark 10:1-52 records, with similar accounts in Matthew and Luke, that the blessing of little children in the Church of God occurs with the laying on of hands.
Receiving the Holy Spirit
Acts 8:14-18 records the account of the apostles coming to lay hands on the Samaritans (who had been baptized by Philip) so that they could receive the Holy Spirit—and power! The apostle Paul received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands in Acts 9:17, and Paul himself is shown in Acts 19:1-6 to have baptized and laid hands on those who had received John the Baptist’s baptism, yet had not heard of the Holy Spirit. Every baptized member of the true Church understands that receiving the Holy Spirit follows the ceremony of the laying on of hands, which follows repentance and baptism.
Healing
The miracle of healing also involves the laying on of hands. Mark 16:1-20 records that Christ explained that His servants “shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk 16:18). This statement is in accord with James 5:14, which describes how the elders of the Church are called to “anoint the sick” for healing. Finally, Acts 28:8 speaks of a man who “lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him.”
Gifts and Special Miracles
The Bible also records— in both Old Testament and New— that certain special gifts came by the laying on of hands.
Joshua “was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him” (Deut. 34:9). I Corinthians 12:8-10 lists “wisdom” as one of the nine gifts of the Spirit (not the nine spiritual fruits of Galatians 5:22-23, which also includes faith as a fruit, something different than this).
Immediately after the ordination of Stephen to deacon, with the other six, God’s Word states that he was “full of faith and power,” which involved doing “great wonders and miracles among the people” (Acts 6:6, 8).
We see in this account that even a deacon was able to perform extraordinary miracles, but only because there was special power vested in the office of the apostles for God, through them, to confer it upon Stephen with the laying on of hands. But he also received the gift of faith. Also, Philip, ordained with Stephen to the same office, was granted special power under the authority of the apostles (8:6-7). Further, Paul stated that Timothy had received a gift, probably that of prophecy, “with the laying on of hands” (I Tim. 4:14).
Another fascinating account has to do with “special miracles” done “by the hands of Paul” (Acts 19:11-12). This is where it explains that “handkerchiefs or aprons” (anointed cloths), which Paul’s hands had anointed, were sent to people so that “diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”
Even marriages between believers involve the laying on of hands during the prayer at the end of the wedding ceremony. During this prayer, the minister asks God to not only bind the marriage, but to bless it and to grant the couple children, happiness, and so forth.
It is evident that the ceremony of laying on of hands carries special meaning within God’s Church and government. This service always relates to the receiving of power and authority in some way. In every case, it was seen to confer something important from God through one human instrument to another.
At Christ’s Return
When the kingdom of God arrives, the saints will begin their rule with Jesus Christ—the government of God will be established over all nations. Truly, this government will have ALL power and ALL authority under it. The Feast of Trumpets pictures this event, with the other fall Feast days picturing other events from this point forward that occur through the rest of God’s Plan over the next 1,100 years.
The governments of men will be replaced by the governing Family of God, called the kingdom of God. But Paul describes this in a way that puts all that we have just examined in a very different light. And it has everything to do with how the government of God works—from the outset of the Millennium forward and within the Church that Christ built 2,000 years ago!
Here is what was written to the Corinthians in the “resurrection chapter” about the first order of business with the arrival of the kingdom of God. Note well this extraordinary passage: “Then comes the end, when He [Jesus Christ] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (I Cor. 15:24).
This is a fascinating verse. It reveals that Christ, with the newly resurrected saints, must dispel or “put down”— Daniel 2:1-49 states, “break in pieces”—all the ruling governments of men, wherein rests power and authority derived solely from human origin (backed by Satan).
We will focus on the words “rule, authority” and “power.” The word translated “rule” comes from the Greek word arche, from which comes ARCH. Of course, an arch is a bridge or structure above something. The word translated “authority” is exousia— and the word translated “power” is dunamis. This is the same word translated “power” in II Timothy 1:7, describing what Christians receive at begettal of the Holy Spirit in their minds. In summary, it is certainly true that the overall rule of men, with their governments, does “arch” above every form of human authority and power held today.
All of men’s governments, whether over nations (including the United Nations) or religions, the returning Jesus Christ and the glorified saints will “put down,” meaning to “abolish, cease, destroy, do away, make of no effect, bring to naught, vanish away and make void.” From that time forward, there will be no more authority ever again in the universe other than God’s government. Unlike competing supposed “churches of God,” there will be only God’s marvellous, wonderful government across the world.
With government, power and authority in mind, we are ready to examine how the government of God is tied to the gospel…
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