The first meaning is identification. Laying hands on an animal’s head in Leviticus 1 meant that the offerer and the offering were united as one. This poses a question: Why did a person who came to the Lord to offer something, whether it was a sin offering or a burnt offering, not offer himself instead of a bull or a goat? God owns the bulls and the goats of the whole world. Does God have a need for just offerings of bulls and goats? When a man comes before the Lord, he must first offer up himself. Anything short of this will not satisfy God. An offering is a consecration of the offerer, not merely a sacrifice of a bull or a goat.
However, if I came to the altar and sacrificed myself, giving my body to be killed and burned as a burnt offering, would I not be the same as the Molech worshippers in the Old Testament? Those who worshipped Molech did not sacrifice bulls and goats to Molech; they sacrificed their own children. If our God demands that we sacrifice ourselves to Him, then is our God not the same as Molech? Molech demands our children’s blood, and God demands that we present ourselves as offerings. If we have to put ourselves in the fire, does this not mean that God’s demand is more severe than Molech’s demand?
In one sense, God’s demand is more severe than Molech’s demand. But at the same time, God gives us a way to offer ourselves without being burned to death. What is this way? It is to take a bull and lay one’s hands on its head. The most important part of a bull is its head. One can also take a goat and lay hands on its head. I lay both my hands on the bull’s or goat’s head. Before God, whether aloud or in silence, I pray, “This is me. I am the one who should be on the altar. I am the one who should be burned. I should be the sacrifice, and I should be the one to redeem my own sin. I deserve to die. I offer myself to You as a burnt offering of sweet savor. Lord! I am bringing this bull to You with my hands on its head. This means that the bull and I are one and the same. My charge to the priest to kill it means that I am being killed. When its blood is shed, my blood is shed. When it lies on the altar, I am on the altar.”
Did this not happen to us when we were baptized? When we went into the water, we said “This is my grave. The Lord is burying me here.” We took the water as our grave. Now, as we lay our hands on the bull’s head, we identify ourselves with the bull. When we offer the bull to God, we are actually offering ourselves to Him. The bull represents us.
Hence, the laying on of hands signifies identification. In the Old Testament the primary meaning of the laying on of hands is identification with the offering. The offering and I have become one. We both stand in the same position. When the offering is brought before God, I am brought before God as well.
The laying on of hands carries another meaning in the Old Testament. In Genesis Isaac laid his hands upon his two sons. Jacob did the same thing to his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When Jacob laid his hands on his two grandsons, he put one hand on each of his grandsons’ heads and blessed them. He transmitted his blessings to his two grandsons. He was blessing them and petitioning blessings for them. As a result, the blessings came and were bestowed upon them.
We must see the significance of the laying on of hands in these two aspects. One is union, or identification, and the other is transmission. Both are a kind of fellowship. Fellowship joins us to others and makes us one. Fellowship also transmits our strength to others.
We need to go on to see why Christians should receive the laying on of hands. After we have believed in the Lord and are baptized, why do we need the apostles as representatives of the Body to come and lay hands on us?