The laying on of hands is something people should receive after believing and being baptized.
1. “The word of the beginning of Christ...a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God, of the teaching of baptisms and of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment” (Heb. 6:1-2).
The Holy Spirit speaks here of six foundational teachings: repentance, faith, baptisms, the laying on of hands, resurrection, and judgment. These are divided into three pairs: first, repentance and faith; second, baptisms and the laying on of hands; and third, resurrection and judgment. The first teaching in each pair emphasizes escape on the negative side, and the second teaching emphasizes entrance on the positive side. Repentance is from dead works, and faith is in God. Baptisms enable us to escape from negative things, and the laying on of hands enables us to enter into a proper position and to obtain positive things. Resurrection enables us to be delivered from death and the realm of death, and judgment enables us to enter into a new world. Since the laying on of hands is one of the foundational teachings and is the positive aspect of the second pair of teachings, we should pay attention to it. Many stress repentance, faith, baptisms, resurrection, and judgment but neglect the laying on of hands. The Holy Spirit, however, lists the laying on of hands among these foundational teachings and considers it to be of equal importance with the others.
Many in today’s Christianity see the laying on of hands as a ritual and a rite of ordination. This view is not according to the Bible. In the Bible there are two important meanings related to the laying on of hands, which show that it exceeds the status of a rite or ritual.
1. “He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering” (Lev. 4:29, see also vv. 2-4; 8:14).
In the Old Testament, when a person came before God to present a sin offering, he laid his hand on the head of the sacrificial animal to signify that he was joined with the offering, making himself one with the sacrifice. Without being one with the sacrifice, the animal could not take his place and cause his sins to be expiated. This is because vicarious redemption is based on the joining of the one redeemed and the substitute. If we are not joined to the Lord, we cannot have Him as our Substitute. The redeemed one must be joined to the Substitute, or Redeemer, in order to be redeemed and for the redemption to be effective. Without this joining, there is no substitution. If a sinner wanted to put his sins onto a sacrifice in order for them to be expiated, he had to join himself to the sacrifice. Consequently, the person offering a sin offering had to place his hand on the head of the sacrifice in order to be joined to the sacrifice. This shows that joining is the first meaning of the laying on of hands.
2. “He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering” (Lev. 1:4; see also 8:18).
In the Old Testament in order to signify the joining of himself to the sacrifice, a person not only had to lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, but he also had to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering. The one presenting a burnt offering had to be joined to the animal being sacrificed for him in order to be acceptable to God. Thus, he had to lay his hand upon the head of the sacrifice in order to be joined to the sacrifice. Therefore, in the Bible joining is the first meaning of the laying on of hands.
1. “Lay your hand upon him...put some of your honor upon him” (Num. 27:18-20).
The second meaning of the laying on of hands is fellowship. When there is the laying on of hands, there is a spontaneous fellowship. When we lay our hand on a head, there is fellowship, that is, the giving of something that we have to others. Fellowship is similar to a battery that gives some of its electricity to a loudspeaker through its connection to it. In this passage God told Moses to lay his hand on the head of Joshua; this was for Moses to have fellowship with Joshua so that Moses could put some of his honor on Joshua. In the laying on of hands, the one laying on his hands and the person having hands laid upon him have fellowship, and the one laying on his hands passes some of his blessing to the person having hands laid upon him.
2. “The gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6; see also 1 Tim. 4:14).
Paul had the gift of God, and when he laid his hands on Timothy, he had fellowship with him. He, thereby, gave Timothy some of his gift in that fellowship.
In the Bible the meaning of the laying on of hands is joining and fellowship. In 2 Kings 13:14-17 both can be found. Elisha laid his hands on the king of Israel and was joined to the king and had fellowship with the king. On the one hand, he was joined to the king of Israel to fight the enemies of Israel; on the other hand, he passed his overcoming power to the king of Israel through fellowship.
According to the Bible, there are at least seven kinds of laying on of hands.
The first kind of laying on of hands is the laying on of hands for acceptance.
1. “Baptisms and of the laying on of hands” (Heb. 6:2).
According to the order recorded in verse 2, the laying on of hands for acceptance should come after baptism. This indicates that after a person is baptized, we should lay hands on him to receive him.
2. “They were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them” (Acts 19:5-6; see also 8:16-17).
The early believers in Ephesus were first baptized, and then the apostle laid his hands on them. It was the same with the believers in Samaria. The laying on of hands for acceptance should always take place after baptism. Because there was no one to baptize him when he believed, Saul of Tarsus first received the laying on of hands and then was baptized (9:17-18). In order to prove he had been sent by the Lord, Ananias had to first lay his hands on Saul so that his eyes could be opened and so that he could receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ananias first laid his hands on Saul, and then he had Saul make up his baptism.