Ministering Spiritual Gifts through Laying on of Hands

Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!" 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 48:10-20)

 In this section we will see that the gifts of the Spirit referred to as the speaking gifts and the revelation gifts, can and should also be manifested through the laying on of hands. For clarification purposes, the speaking gifts are prophecy, diverse kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues, while the revelation gifts are the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom and the discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).

We have already seen in the section dealing with the unsaved, that God uses these gifts to minister to them through the laying on of hands. That same truth is also applicable to the saints however, for God uses these gifts mainly to minister to His saints through the laying on of hands.

Under the Old Covenant the same gifts of the Spirit were manifested as are manifested under the New Covenant, except, as we have already mentioned, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.

In the first example that we will look at we can see both the gift of prophecy and the gift of the word of knowledge being made manifest through the laying on of hands. In the above quoted passage of scripture we have an account of Israel prophesying over two of his grandsons, i.e. Ephraim and Manasseh. Israel prophesied over them through the laying on of hands. The gift of the word of knowledge was also manifested through his prophecy however, because he prophesied that Ephraim would be greater than Manasseh, which came to pass centuries later just as God intended.

As an aside it is interesting to note in this account that with regards to the blessing aspect of the laying on of hands, that God places more emphasis on placing the right hand on the individual. Nevertheless with regards to prophetic words spoken over an individual this is not the case, for Israel prophesied over both boys accurately through the laying on of both his right and left hands.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

(1 Timothy 4:14)

The above quoted passage of scripture is the second example recorded of both the speaking and revelation gifts being made manifest through the laying on of hands. In this passage the apostle Paul reminded Timothy that the elders had laid hands on him, and at the same time they had spoken prophetic words over him.

Again in this example we see that there were two gifts of the Spirit manifested through the laying on of hands. The first was the gift of prophecy, for Paul said that prophecy was used. The second gift that was manifested was the gift of the word of knowledge, for the prophetic word given to Timothy told him what spiritual gift the Holy Spirit had imparted to him on that occasion. Obviously that was an accurate word given; because Paul had witnessed Timothy begin to operate in that gift from that point onwards. And so in his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy not to neglect his gift but rather to continue to use it for the edification of the church.

"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'

(Acts 22:12-16)

The next example we will look at is the same account that we looked at earlier, when Ananias laid hands on the apostle Paul to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have his sight restored (Acts 9:17). In the passage of scripture quoted above Paul recounts this event to us and he elaborates on what Ananias spoke over Paul when he laid his hands on him. From this account we can see that Ananias gave Paul a word of knowledge, in that he told Paul that God had chosen him to know the will of God and to be His witness to all men.

It is important to note once again, that Ananias was an ordinary disciple being used by the Lord to operate in the spiritual gift of the word of knowledge through the mechanism of the laying on of hands.

And so we can clearly see from the examples we have examined in this section that it is scriptural for the speaking and revelation gifts to operate through the laying on of hands. In my own ministry the Lord has used me to give words of wisdom and words of knowledge prophetically, both through just speaking to individuals and also through the laying on of hands. I have always found however, that the most accurate words that I bring are through the laying on of hands. And in fact sometimes I know that the Lord wants me to give a word to an individual, but I must lay hands on that individual before that word is released through me.

Michael E.B. Maher

Laying on of Hands

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