For What Purpose?
We began this sermon series on laying on of hands with the question “Why study it?” We did so because when it comes to this elementary principle, to borrow from the Sesame Street segment, one of these things is not like the others. Laying on of hands seems out of place—an oddball among the other five elementary principles mentioned in Hebrews 6:1–2 that we’ve been studying.1The other five are repentance from dead works, faith toward God, baptisms, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Despite its oddity in our larger series on the Oracles of God, we’re going to skip the question “What is it?” because laying on of hands is exactly what it says: one person placing their hands upon another. But we won’t write it off as one person merely coming into contact with another person any more than we would write off baptism as just someone going under water.
Instead of “What is it?” we ask “For what purpose?” For what purpose do we lay on of hands?
Conferring/Transferring to Another
The basic reason for laying on hands is this—and this will cover all of our specific reasons that we’ll look at in this sermon and several to come: Laying on of hands is for the purpose of one person conferring or transferring something to another.
Laying on of hands is for the purpose of one person conferring or transferring something to another.
We see the practice of laying on of hands in both Old and New Testaments, and as we see with almost every major theological issue, the question of religious practice in the Old and New Testaments comes with controversy and confusion. It invites questions like:
- Should Old Testament things carry over to the New Testament?
- Do Old Testament practices that do carry over into the New Testament have the same meaning or significance?
- Do you understand that New Testament, for many Jews, is nothing more than insult and theological fanaticism? (Imagine if someone came to you and said, “Hey, in addition to your Scriptures, there’s this new revelation.” If you’d feel a little offended, that is not unlike the reaction of the Jews to the concept of the New Testament.)
- What role do any of these practices have in the church?
If you consider it, I think you’ll agree that the significance of hands for conferring something makes sense. There are a lot of reasons to consider our hands as the means of associating with one another:
- We demonstrate our approval or disapproval by a show of hands.
- We greet one another by grasping hands.
- We indicate that we’re committed to someone else by a relatively immovable and valuable band placed on our hands.
- I can indicate my peaceful intentions by showing you my hands.
- By the same token, I can indicate not-so-peaceful intentions by showing you my hands—insulting you through rude gestures made with my hands.
- Hands convey power, strength, and ability.
In all of these instances, there’s a conferring or transferring of something to another. In this sermon, we’ll specifically explore how laying on of hands confers blessing on someone. It’s a fitting theme for Father’s Day, as the very first instance we see of laying on of hands in all of Scripture is the blessing of children through a father’s laying on of hands.
The very first instance we see of laying on of hands in all of Scripture is the blessing of children through a father’s laying on of hands.
Setting the Scene
Let’s set up the story of this first laying on of hands in the Bible that occurs in Genesis 48 between Jacob and his son, Joseph. Here are a few of the things that happen beforehand, to get us to this point in the story:
- In Genesis 12, God calls a childless man named Abram at age 75 to leave his father’s house.
- In Genesis 17, Abram gets a new name at age 99. Now called Abraham, he is declared to become the father of many nations at age 100. Abraham fathers a son named Isaac. And Abraham is willing even to give this son back to the Lord when asked.
- In Genesis 25, the son that the Lord has given and preserved, Isaac—like his father, Abraham, before him—also receives a blessing from God. Isaac fathers Esau and Jacob.
- In Genesis 27, Jacob deceives his father and his brother, taking both the birthright and the blessing that should belong to the oldest son.
- In Genesis 28, God comes to Jacob in a dream in a place called Luz, which Jacob renames Bethel, meaning “house of God.” It’s at Bethel that God meets with Jacob, though not to punish him, even though Jacob’s fleeing from his brother Esau (because he was a thief) on the way to finding a wife.
- By Genesis 35, Jacob is called “Israel,” and he’s told by God to be fruitful and to multiply. And Jacob does exactly that. He has 12 sons, who become the 12 tribes of Israel.
- From Genesis 35 through Genesis 48, we find the story of Joseph, one of Jacob’s 12 sons. Joseph is wronged by his brothers; then he is wronged by Potiphar—an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh who put Joseph in charge of all of his possessions; later, Joseph is wronged by his fellow inmates (in the jail of the king because of Potiphar’s accusations). Yet, eventually Joseph becomes the most powerful man in Egypt. In spite of all the wrongful treatment he received, Joseph is used by God to preserve life amidst famine in Egypt. And we see all of Jacob’s family, all 12 sons, living in the land of Egypt.
This brings us to Genesis 48, where we read the account of the blessing of Joseph by his father via the laying on of hands. (As we read the passage, we’ll stop along the way to draw out some of the principles of blessing.) We’ll have two main points—one about the blessing that we receive, the second about the blessing that we give.
Here are the first seven verses:
Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed. Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’ Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance. Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).” (Genesis 48:1–7)
The blessings we RECEIVE accumulate in ways that leave us with the choice to continue in belief or to abandon faith
While blessing abounds, we’re still beset with death
This story at the beginning of Genesis 48 begins and ends in death. We see in the first two verses that Joseph’s visit to his father is a deathbed visit. “Your father, Jacob, is sick”; he is dying. Joseph is then reminded that he’s already lost his mother, Rachel (v. 7). He’s being reminded of the past and near-future death of both of his parents.
Likewise, know that the blessings in your life will be surrounded by the death of others who came before you—and then your own death will come. (That is, this is the normal order of things, if everything goes well; otherwise, your own life is cut short and everyone else is left to wrestle with what kind of world this is, and what sort of life of blessing is coming my way, and when.)
While blessing abounds, we’re still beset with death, and it challenges our faith; we have a choice to either continue and believe or abandon belief.
Understanding the blessing of God requires us to frame our present circumstances according to God’s promises, both past and future
Understanding the blessing of God in the present is going to require us to frame present circumstances in light of whatever it is that God has promised, past and future. Of all the things Jacob can say on his deathbed, he lays claim to this: “God Almighty appeared to me … and blessed me” (Genesis 48:3). What a thing to say while dying in a foreign land!
You cannot read the first five books of the Old Testament in their entirety and miss the focus on the land—the gift to Israel. There’s an importance of blessing in the land, and here is this man to whom the promise has been given. He’s not in the land. There’s famine there, and he’s had to flee. And here he is, dying, but he holds on to the past promise of God. And, therefore, Jacob’s present is framed by this promise delivered in the past, but also by the promise for his future:
… and He said to me, “Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.” (Genesis 48:4)
God has brought all of the descendants out of the land, into this foreign place. And we see some individual promises obviously made to Jacob, but we also see in this text a framing of God’s promise to all mankind. A better translation of verse 4—instead of “I will make you fruitful and numerous”—would be “I will make you fruitfully, and I will multiply you.” That particular phrasing causes us to call to mind Genesis 1:22, containing God’s command to Adam and Eve: “God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply …’”
Indeed, God blessed Adam and Eve in their ability to be fruitful and multiply. And toward the end of the book of Genesis, we see God continuing to fulfill the promise He gave in the beginning: “Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous” (48:4).
So while we stop and ask, “What is it that God is doing in Jacob’s life?” we also ask, “What is it that God is doing in my life?” And those answers have to be informed by what we see God doing in the life of all mankind. He’s still working to bring about His original blessing to mankind—to be fruitful and multiply. And He gives the assurance that He’s the one doing it in the process. I will make you fruitful. I will multiply you.
So blessing abounds, and we’re still beset with death; and so we must understand the blessing by framing our present circumstances according to God’s promises both past and future. If we can do this, then we’ll be able to see that …
all good in this life Is a blessed gift from God
In other words, we’ll better comprehend the truth of James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift comes from above … from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shifting shadow.”
Continuing in Genesis 48:
When Israel2I.e., Jacob. saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he [Jacob/Israel] said “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.” (vv. 8–11)
All good in this life is a blessed gift from God.
Joseph’s statement in verse 9 (“They are my sons, whom God has given me here”) requires some understanding of just how much Joseph has endured. What a promising life from the start! It was fairly obvious he was his father’s favorite. He received gifts from his (earthly) father; gifts from his heavenly Father in the form of dreams of promise of greatness. All these gifts, only to become the object of a murder plot turned into a “throw him down in a pit plot,” which turned into a kidnapping plot, which placed him in a foreign land. But Joseph overcomes that and becomes fairly powerful (overseer of all the affairs of the house of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh), only to be accused of great wrongdoing, though he is innocent, and ultimately go to prison. He has a glimmer of hope to get out of there, but he languishes, his hope dwindling.
There’s famine in the land while Joseph is in prison. Not knowing if any of his former family was even still alive, this is how Joseph viewed life: “[These] are my sons, whom God has given me here” (Genesis 48:9).
Joseph’s approach is not, “Look at what God has done to me!”—though he could have said that. Instead, Joseph says, “Look at what God has given me!”
That mindset is much easier to preach than it is to live.
Joseph’s story is really inspiring until bad stuff happens. Life in the pit, life in prison … our natural human bent is to focus on all of those things, to dwell on “what could’ve been” and think “I didn’t deserve this.” I encourage you to take the perspective of Joseph: Look at what God has given me!
Take the perspective of Joseph: “Look at what God has given me!”
To emphasize this point of seeing everything good as a blessing from God, we are encouraged in these verses to see life through the failing eyes of a dying man.
As Jacob’s physical sight fades, his spiritual insight grows sharp. You may recall that Jacob was once Jacob the deceiver.3See especially Genesis 27:1–29. But by Genesis 48, the text is no longer calling him Jacob but, instead, Israel. Jacob was renamed Israel because he was “one who wrestled with God” (the meaning of the name “Israel”). The reason Jacob wrestled is because he was seeking blessing: “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” he said to the one he wrestled with (Genesis 32:26). And the one who wrestled with God is now freely about to give away a blessing.
Later treatment of the name views Israel as a play on words, meaning “a man who sees God.” The old and blind Israel is aware that his life of deception warrants no blessing based on merit; he has gratitude for the grace of God. He expresses that gratitude in Genesis 48:11:
Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face,4Jacob (Israel) assumed his son had died. and behold, God has let me see your children as well.”
What we’ve seen through these first 11 verses of Genesis 48 has been the account of how Jacob or Israel views himself as blessed by God. What follows is the laying on of hands and the conferring of blessing to his grandsons, who he’s about to adopt as his own.
It’s important to frame this situation we’re about to read about in light of something we learned from the New Testament—specifically, in Hebrews 11 (also known as the “hall of fame of faith” chapter):
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. (v. 21)
What a testimony, to carry on faith in the midst of death; to carry on faith knowing that blessing will be conferred to others; and in all of this, to worship.
Back to Genesis 48, we’ll continue with verses 12–16 (bold added):
Then Joseph took them [his children] from his [Israel’s] knees, and bowed with his face to the ground. Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn. He blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
And may my name live on in them,
And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
The blessings we GIVE accumulate in ways that leave others with the choice to continue in belief or abandoned faith
Faith is challenged when blessing does not align with our preferences or expectations
The birthright and the blessing were supposed to go to the oldest. The one charged specifically with carrying on the family name was supposed to get the larger portion. Look at Joseph’s response—which was, in essence, Wait, I want the blessing … but not like this—in Genesis 48:17–20:
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Faith is challenged when blessing does not align with our preferences or expectations, but blessing can come to you even when the things in life seem to be reversed—even when it seems the blessing shouldn’t come in this way.
Notice who it is receiving the blessing in this passage. Hands are laid upon Ephraim and Manasseh, but the text says he blessed Joseph (Genesis 48:15). It’s Joseph saying, “Not this way,” but it’s his earthly father and his heavenly father both saying, “Yes, it is this way. And because it’s this way, the blessing will come to you.”
Faith is challenged when blessing does not align with our preferences or expectations, but it give us…
the opportunity to share in an identity beyond ourselves
The blessing of a shared identity beyond ourselves consists of three things (all found in Genesis 48:15–16:
- an objective foundation of obedience (v. 15a)
- a dependence upon external guidance (v. 15b)
- an awareness of the need for salvation (v. 16a)
We see the objective foundation of obedience when Jacob/Israel invokes “God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked.” It’s a foundation outside of himself, a tradition already established (by his father and his father, both of whom walked in obedience).
We see a dependence upon external guidance with the reference to “God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” It’s good to have a Shepherd.
A shared identity outside ourselves is certainly found as well in an awareness of the need for salvation: “The angel who has redeemed me from all evil,” verse 16 says; it is with this worldview that Israel says, “Bless the lads.”
May they find a shared identity beyond themselves. May they find a shared identity in this objective foundation of obedience established. May they find dependence upon the Shepherd. May they have the awareness of their own need for salvation.
All of this is in keeping with our previous observation that understanding the blessing of God requires you to frame your present circumstances in light of God’s past promises and future promises.
So Israel says, “Bless the lads, and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (v. 16). The past: Abraham and Isaac. The future: “a multitude in … the earth” after I’m gone.
When faith is challenged when blessing does not align with our preferences or expectations but gives the opportunity to share in an identity beyond ourselves…
C. we can depart this life trusting that God will have worked to bring about His good purposes through our efforts
Sharing in that identity beyond ourselves, even when faith and blessing don’t line up quite like we thought it would, fosters a mindset that will allow us to depart this life trusting that God will have worked to bring about His good purposes through our efforts.
Genesis 48 ends with these words:
Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.” (vv. 21–22)
Notice the combination of the activity of God and the activity of man. Whether Israel is speaking in this instance of having taken land by the sword or by the bow, whether he’s speaking of some unrecorded event in Scripture, whether he’s reframing some otherwise known event, or whether he’s even speaking prophetically, his parting words to his son are essentially this: “Listen, there are some things that were done by my own strength in this life, there were some conquests, some property gained, some future material blessings. I pass all of that on …” But verse 22, where he talks about those things, can only be understood through the prior verse:
“I am about to die, but God will be with you, and [He will] bring you back to the land of your fathers.” (Genesis 48:22)
“Back to the land” because we’ve learned elsewhere in the Old Testament—in Leviticus—that the land is His, and it’s His to give.
As we see this father giving an inheritance and a blessing, I call to your attention a poignant observation by the Nonconformist pastor Matthew Henry. He writes, “It may sometimes be both just and prudent to give some children portions above the rest; but a grave is that which we can most count upon as our own in this earth.”5Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994), 91.
Conclusion: 3 Ways Dads Can Bless Their Kids
We’ve seen the first instance of purpose in laying on of hands: blessing. And fittingly for Father’s Day, we see one of the patriarchs of Israel conferring blessing upon his children.
How can we conclude and apply some of this to ourselves?
Israel did have an advantage: he was a prophet of God. You are probably not, and that’s okay.
Fathers, you may not be a prophet, but you are a child of God, a child of promise, and you understand that the power of any blessing is in the degree to which it aligns with God’s promises.
The power of any blessing is in the degree to which it aligns with God’s promises.
Fellow dads, here are three ways to bless your children:
1. Continue or establish a legacy of faith.
You may be able to say, like Jacob, “My father and his father walked in obedience. And so I with dependence upon the shepherd, continue to walk, seeing the ways in which God has redeemed me from all evil.” If you don’t have that kind of legacy, you have the blessing to be the one that starts it. Take hold of the blessing.
2. Beware of measuring blessing by numbers.
Measure neither by whatever total you have at the end nor by the perceived pace—the rate at which life is going. Jacob was a man blessed with 12 children. Joseph had 2. When Joseph brings his two into Jacob and Jacob says, “Who are these?” Jacob responds, “[These] are my sons, whom God has given me.” Who’s more blessed? The man with 12 or the man with 2? Many have zero—always aware on days like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day of the reasons for celebrating; these days can also be great reasons for pain, for people who would give anything to have two or even just one.
Again, don’t measure blessing by numbers; don’t measure it by perceived pace. Remember Joseph’s story—the early promise: Man, what a prospect. So much for that guy; look at him living in that hole. So much for that guy—look at him living in that prison. … Ah, he’s finally risen to power, but now a famine is going to hit.
You don’t know the pace. “Unless the Lord builds the house …” (Psalm 127:1). It’s His pace, His timing, His people; sometimes the older, sometimes the younger.
Beware of measuring blessing by numbers.
3. You can have lasting, eternal impact on the cultural, social, and moral direction of your children, even in a foreign land.
We’ve seen within these stories, as is oftentimes the case in the Old Testament, that Israel found itself not in the place they thought they’d be—not in the land God had promised. Even though this is our country, the cultural, social, and moral direction feels more and more foreign every day. Your family doesn’t have to be victim to that. Fathers, train them well. The cultural, social, and moral direction of your children is your responsibility. Don’t take it lightly.
Let’s conclude with Israel’s blessing to Joseph in the next-to-last chapter of Genesis. It’s part of a chapter in which Jacob/Israel gives a blessing to all of his sons (I encourage you to read all of it sometime), but we’ll look specifically at the blessing he gave to Joseph through Ephraim and Manasseh:
Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
“The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
From the God of your father who helps you,
And by the Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
“The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers. (Genesis 49:22–26)