Acts 19:11-12 “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, (12) so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.”
We have already mentioned the above quoted passage of scripture in discussing the concept of the anointing residing in the hands of the believer. Nevertheless it is appropriate for us to mention it in this section as well, because this passage also illustrates the concept of the transference of the anointing that takes place through the laying on of hands. We know that the healing anointing operated through Paul’s ministry. And so we see that when Paul prayed and laid his hands on those handkerchiefs and aprons, the anointing would flow out of his hands to be stored in those cloths. When those cloths in turn were laid on those needing healing, if they had faith, then that anointing would be released into their bodies and effect their healing. You will recall that we read earlier where Jesus’ clothes also carried the healing anointing, so that any who touched His garments in faith were healed as that healing power flowed into their bodies. And so clearly in both of these examples we can see that there was a transference of anointing that took place from the person anointed with power, through a medium i.e. cloth, to the ultimate recipient of that power, thus effecting healing in the individual.
2 Kings 13:20-21 “Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year. (21) So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.”
Another vivid example of how the anointing of God’s power is transferred from one individual to the next is given to us in the above quoted passage of scripture. The background to this account is that Elisha the prophet had died and had been buried in a tomb. Scripture reveals to us that Elisha carried an unusually high dosage of God’s power because he had received a double portion of the anointing that Elijah carried (2 Kings 2:9). And so we see that because Elisha had been anointed with such a high dosage of power, that God’s power had saturated his whole body. Eventually Elisha died and was buried and because of the passing of time, his body had decayed to the point where only his bones remained in the tomb. After all that time however, a residue of the anointing that was on him during his lifetime was still in his bones. And so when a certain dead man was lowered into Elisha’s tomb because of a hasty burial, the moment the dead man’s body touched the bones of Elisha the dead man came back to life. Clearly a transference of God’s anointing took place on this occasion as well.
Michael E.B. Maher
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