Laying On of Hands: For What Purpose? Guilt & Substitution

Introduction & Review

This sermon is the third in our Laying On of Hands series, which is part of a larger series on the Oracles of God (based on Hebrews 5:12–6:2).

We took a two-week pause in this series due to GraceLife’s Vacation Bible School, through which we sought to give a blessing to our children. This was an appropriate pause because the first specific instance of laying on of hands that we see in Scripture was a blessing of children—namely, a blessing from a grandfather and then a father to his children (details in my June 16 sermon here). Of course, we also see New Testament blessings of children by Jesus—in Matthew 19, for example, He says to let the children come to Him (“do not hinder them from coming to Me”) and then lays hands on them to confer blessing (see vv. 13–15).

Conferring blessing is one purpose of laying on of hands. But there’s another purpose that is mostly the opposite: conferring a curse—the transfer of guilt.

Conferring a Curse

To study this additional purpose of the laying on of hands, we’ll start with the first chapter of what is many people’s least favorite Bible book—Leviticus. And to understand Leviticus, you have to understand how it fits within the larger story of Scripture.

As discussed in my previous sermon, the overarching story of Scripture involves the recapturing of what we had in Genesis—of God’s plan for man, which was turned on its head by the Fall (when sin entered the world). You can link so much of what you see in all subsequent Scriptures back to the story of Genesis.

Genesis begins with God giving life to a man from the ground.¹ By chapter 3, everything that God made (which He declared “good”) had been corrupted. Things were not as they should be. At the end of Genesis, a man—Joseph—is being buried in a coffin.²

We begin to see patterns emerge in the Old Testament (especially the first five books, known as the Pentateuch) as we compare story elements on micro and macro levels. We see God’s intervention in both familiar and surprising ways. We see encores, plot twists, connections that span centuries and millennia.

As just one example, in Genesis, when the world is at its worst, God chooses to save mankind by saving one man in a vessel floating on water.³ Guess what we see when we get to Exodus (the second book of the Bible)? We learn of a baby named Moses, who is saved by floating in a vessel on top of the water; the Scripture says it’s a “wicker basket” (Exodus 2:3), but the word used is “ark”—it’s a wicker ark (see Exodus 2:1–10 for the full account).

So whatever this man (called by God) has to say, we probably want to listen. Doubling down on this idea is the fact that this very same man, Moses, wrote Leviticus. But the book itself also begins with God speaking to Moses, telling him something to share with the people:

Remembering the mindset of the story of Scripture, what comes to mind when considering Genesis, God’s dealing with mankind on the basis of offerings?

First, the first offering didn’t go so well. (Well, it went well for one person … at first. But then it went really bad for him because of the other’s jealousy. I’m speaking of the story of Cain and Abel. The latter offered a gift that was pleasing to the Lord, while the former offered one that was not pleasing to Him. Chaos ensued.) So the rules regarding offerings are important.
Second, an offering from the flock comes to mind; indeed, that is the type of (pleasing) offering that Abel made.⁴

You need to understand Leviticus as a story. You also need to understand how Leviticus breaks up into large chunks. The book would break up like this:

Chunk #1 (Leviticus 1): Burnt Offerings (herd, flock, birds)
Chunk #2 (Leviticus 2): Grain Offerings
Chunk #3 (Leviticus 3): Peace Offerings
Chunk #4 (Leviticus 4): Sin Offerings
Chunk #5 (Leviticus 5): Guilt Offerings
Chunk #6 (Leviticus 6–7): Priests’ Jobs in Dealing with the Offerings

Here’s a nice summary of these offerings in Leviticus 7:37–38:

This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings, which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.

What does all of this have to do with laying on of hands? With this context in place, let’s grab a larger chunk of Leviticus 1:

Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.’” (vv. 1–4, emphasis added)

The question we’re still answering is, “What is the laying on of hands for?” We know what it is—that’s straightforward; but what is it for? We’ve seen laying on of hands is for conferring blessing, and now we’re going to see that, in the general sense, it is a means of representation and identification. It’s a declaration that this is mine; this is to be accepted on my behalf.

Laying on of hands is … a means of representation and identification. It’s a declaration that this is mine; this is to be accepted on my behalf.

In a specific sense, we’ll see that laying on of hands is a conferring of guilt. It’s saying, “This offering is my substitute.”

Imagine selecting an animal for an offering—an animal in which there can be no defect. You’re 90% through looking it over—you think this is going to be a good one—and then you find the smallest defect. An injured leg, or the tail’s not straight enough, something small. Just one defect is all it would’ve taken to disqualify that animal. The process makes you think about the fact that there’s a standard of perfection expected to be accepted by God. It’s a process that requires you to wrestle with the idea of why there is this fallen world. Because upon finally finding this perfect offering—an animal without a single defect—you then have to kill it.

This identity was twofold in this old way of worship:

It was a reminder of the terrible payment for sin. That which is faultless will be destroyed.
It was also a reminder of the personal aspect of worship. It’s tangible: You’re putting your hand on this animal, this offering, which is yours—it’s identified with you, with your sin. But even in that act of worship, there’s a desire for peace with God.

We’ve seen God operating on a national level, of bringing up the nation of Israel. But there’s also an individual aspect. You, as an individual, must enter into this act of worship. And this personal expression of worship was not only for offerings with an obvious negative association with sin, but also for voluntary acts of worship, like the peace offerings. In fact, laying on of hands is mentioned even more when it comes to peace offerings. Look at Leviticus 3:

Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer it out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. (vv. 1–2, emphasis added)

We see the same thing in verses 8 and 13:

And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it before the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. (Leviticus 3:8, emphasis added)

And he shall lay his hand on its head and slay it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. (Leviticus 3:13, emphasis added)

All of this deals with the identification of the offering with the offeror. There is a transference of representation to this thing being offered—this thing that I’m laying my hand on.

But there is another level of transference we must deal with. We find it in the book of Numbers.

Substitution & Designating Priests

As we will see in Numbers 8, God also chose laying on of hands as a process for designating priests as the representative or substitute for the people.

Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. Thus you shall do to them, for their [a]cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be clean. Then let them take a bull with its grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and a second bull you shall take for a sin offering. So you shall present the Levites before the tent of meeting. You shall also assemble the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, and present the Levites before the Lord; and the sons of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites. Aaron then shall present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may qualify to perform the service of the Lord. Now the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls; then offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites. You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons so as to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.

“Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine. Then after that the Levites may go in to serve the tent of meeting. But you shall cleanse them and present them as a wave offering; for they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself instead of every first issue of the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. For every firstborn among the sons of Israel is Mine, among the men and among the animals; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. But I have taken the Levites instead of every firstborn among the sons of Israel. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the sons of Israel, to perform the service of the sons of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement on behalf of the sons of Israel, so that there will be no plague among the sons of Israel by their coming near to the sanctuary.” (Numbers 8:5–19)

This system of law is a continual reminder of the demand for death and the need of a substitute. The firstborn of Israel, God said, were His. Why? Because new life comes from and belongs to the Lord. It’s the gift of the Lord. It is a first fruits offering of sorts. And the demands of such an offering will be met by death or substitution—i.e., death of the firstborn Egyptians but the sparing of firstborn sons of Israel.

As the Israelites journeyed out of Egypt, God said, I will substitute the firstborn, but now the tribe of Levi will be Mine.

Don’t lose the logical progression of what we’ve seen in the elementary principles of the oracles of God. But also, notice how the principles continue to call back to one another. We’re studying the laying on of hands, but in this larger sermon series we began with repentance from dead works—repentance from relying upon the (sacrificial) system to satisfy God, repentance from returning to this old way that has now been surpassed by a “new and living way”—a better way: the blood of Christ.

We could have talked about all of this under our study of repentance from dead works. But as we continue to consider those to whom the book of Hebrews was written—the letter from which we get the elementary principles of the oracles of God that we’re studying—we see how complicated the system was, how integrated it was into the daily life of the Jewish people. There were many points of confusion in this system. No wonder the writer of Hebrews lists these foundational principles—beginning with repentance from dead works and faith toward God, then moving on to washings and cleansings (baptisms), and then the laying on of hands over and over—practices in which the Israelites were steeped. This is the system in place for the regular offerings for the people of God.

The Day of Atonement: Transferring Guilt

There was one special offering, occurring on the high holy day called Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. This was different from the day-to-day dealings with sin; it was an annual dealing with sin.

The offering that occurred on Yom Kippur (in a sense) took the people’s sins away for a year. But they had to keep doing it year after year. Let’s look at its description in Leviticus 16:

Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, because they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses:

“Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.⁵ Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. He shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron shall offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats,⁶ one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.⁷ Then Aaron shall offer the goat on which the lot for the Lord fell, and make it a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

“Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die.⁸ Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities. When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides. With his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it, and from the impurities of the sons of Israel consecrate it.

“When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat. Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.

“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. He shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes, and come forth and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. The one who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, then afterward he shall come into the camp.” (Leviticus 16:1–28, italics added)

The focus in this passage is the transferring of guilt. There is much debate regarding what the second goat (Azazel) is all about. Some options are as follows:

Azazel is translated by the New American Standard Bible as “scapegoat”—a goat that departs.
Some think of the second goat in a more abstract sense, referring to removal—e.g., removing sin from the presence of God, removing sin from the people.
Some think that Azazel is the name of the place to which the goat was removed—the place of wilderness, of desolation.
Still others think Azazel is the name of a devil. We do have some indication in Leviticus that the Israelites at this time were guilty of going out into the desert and worshipping the goat demons. (Don’t do that!)

What is clear is this: guilt is being transferred, and substitution plays a large role.

Guilt is being transferred, and substitution plays a large role.

Aaron stands in the place of all the people. Bulls and goats stand in the place of Aaron and all the people. There is a certain amount of intensity to this interaction because in all of the other instructions about laying on of hands, it says “lay on the hand” (singular), but this passage says to “lay both of his hands” (plural) on the head of the live goat (v. 21). He was to place the sins on the head of the goat and then send it away.

Key Takeaways

We can glean a few takeaways from this passage.

First, priests are flawed. The introduction to this Day of Atonement begins with the Lord speaking to Moses after the death of two sons of Aaron (Leviticus 16:1). They’re dead because they approached the presence of the Lord in a way that He did not instruct them to do. Their intentions may have been good, but this passage shows how even our attempts at good things are flawed. So we see a tension with which we must wrestle: the presence of the Lord is both desirous and deadly.

This is demonstrated within Leviticus 16, where we see that the priests could not enter the holy of holies but once a year (vv. 2, 34). That was the only exception. We see the priest needs to make atonement not only for the people but for himself and his household. He is a sinner who comes from sinners and produces sinners.

We see over and over that sin requires death.

We see that sin should be expelled from the people of God; it should be carried away.

We also see, as we wrestle with what is going on with this live goat (the one who gets away), that our understanding of how God chooses to deal with us in terms of our sin is often unclear to us. How is all this going to appease God—the dead goats, dead bulls, priestly garment washings, sprinklings here and sprinklings there, every year? Whether or not we understand it now, and whether or not the Israelites understood it then, they still had to do it year after year:

“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. So the priest who is anointed and [t]ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did. (Leviticus 16:29–34)

Some, no doubt, saw the drudgery of the law—tedious, wearisome, exacting. Others would have ignored the call to humility. They would have instead substituted national pride and empty tradition.

What have you seen in the law from the passages above? What have you seen in this payment of sin, this laying on of hands?

We’ve seen that it requires a firstborn son, it requires death, and it requires a substitute. This, of course, foreshadows the coming of Christ.

The person responsible for first discipling me in the Lord taught me this: “Substitution is the foundational concept to the meaning of the death of Christ. Without substitution, the other doctrines become empty with regard to eternal significance.” (Thank you, Butch.) Laying on of hands is a significant study if you can grasp this doctrine of substitution.

Laying on of hands is a significant study if you can grasp this doctrine of substitution.

There was an old system in place that required you to transfer your sin to another by laying hands on a substitute without defect. But there is a new way brought about because the firstborn son of God substituted Himself, receiving into His hands the sins of the entire world.

[The old way] required you to transfer your sin to another by laying hands on a substitute without defect. But there is a new way brought about because the firstborn son of God substituted Himself, receiving into His hands the sins of the entire world.

Laying on of hands identifies the offering with the offeror. In this great substitution of Christ, we have become identified with Christ and thus with God. Paul sums it up succinctly in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Conclusion

When Christ is the substitute, there is no category that is not made better, made perfect, made complete, for His having intervened.

Christ is the better priest; He is the better offering bearer; He is the better offering.

Christ is the better sacrifice and sin-bearer. He is the better means by which sin will be both forgiven and forgotten.

The reason the author of Hebrews ever uttered a phrase like “the elementary principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12) is because there were believers who’d lost sight of the superiority of Christ.

We’ve seen this several times already in this sermon series: The elementary principles are enumerated precisely because the author wanted to talk about how Christ fulfilled the priesthood in the order of a character that we find in the book of Genesis—namely, Melchizedek.

As the psalmist prophesied (see Psalm 110:4), Christ is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:6; 7:17). The author of Hebrews wanted to talk more about this, but the people had become dull of hearing.

I hope you haven’t become dull of hearing (or reading) yet. We have just a couple more passages to read from the New Testament to see just how precious a gift it is that we’ve been given.

Jesus: A Better Priest and Sacrifice

To understand about this laying on of hands, there are two points I want you to see in Hebrews:

Jesus is a better priest; and
Jesus is a better sacrifice.

Why Jesus is a better priest is answered in Hebrews 7:

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar.⁹ For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him,

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

“The Lord has sworn
And will not change His mind,
‘You are a priest forever’”);

so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. (vv. 11–28)

Now, let’s see why Christ is a better sacrifice. In the following passage, the author of Hebrews has just finished talking about the “golden altar of incense” and other details related to the tabernacle:

Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing,¹⁰ which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, because they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:6–14)

A Final Question: Will You Serve the Living God?

The substitutionary, atoning sacrifice of Jesus has paid for your eternal redemption. Your eternal life has been secured. But the question posed to us by the Scriptures is will you, people of God graced with such knowledge, serve the living God?

The question is not “Will you wait around for His return?”

It’s not “Will you seek to make yourself feel good with your religious busyness fashioned out of a dead system?”

Nor is the question “Will you prop up for yourself flawed priests on false pretenses with phony practices?”

The question is, will you serve the living God?

You have a better priest, a better sacrifice. But you cannot serve Him with your hands clinging to the things that represent your sin. You cannot serve Him with your hands still laid upon those things destined for death. That’s the old way.

You cannot serve Him with your hands clinging to the things that represent your sin.

But you can serve Him when you allow Him to align your living with His life. Hebrews itself closes with that very reminder:

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)

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