FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE FIRST
PRINCIPLES - VIII
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Messiah, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward IAUE,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and
of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal
judgment.
LAYING
ON OF HANDS
This
subject of “Laying on of Hands” is often discussed as the “Law of Contact and
Transmission,” whereby something is either transmitted or conferred upon
another through the medium of physical contact.
This concept is well substantiated by the Scripture.
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Family
blessings were conferred upon sons by the laying on of hands.
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Sins
were transmitted to the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement, by the laying on of
hands.
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Healing
was bestowed upon people by the laying on of hands.
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The
Holy Spirit was given to people by the laying on of hands.
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Spiritual
gifts were given to disciples by the laying on of hands.
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Anointing
for spiritual ministry to the Church was given by the laying on of hands.
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Water
baptism was administered through the laying on of hands.
Though
this concept is interesting and merits further discussion, the use of the term
in Hebrews 6 deals specifically with the revelation of the person of the Master
Yahushua Messiah as a foundation stone of our faith and discipleship to him. Additionally, we must remember the context of
this passage is within an epistle written expressly to the Hebrew believers, a
people who were united not only by their common faith in Yahushua Messiah; but
also by nearly 2,000 years of family history and culture and a shared covenant
with IAUE. It is this last thing held in common that becomes the central theme
of this foundation stone: the covenant of Abraham.
It
was the Abrahamic Covenant that gave the Hebrew people their sense of
solidarity. Though they all literally
descended from Abraham, the reality of their being of one single family is not
what made them a people. It was the fact
that IAUE, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, had entered into a
covenant with Abraham that made their lineage from Abraham a point of boasting
and pride.
Genesis
12:1
Now IAUE had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I
will shew thee:
2 And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed.
This
was the stated blessing of the covenant in its most general terms when it was
first presented to Abram. When the
covenant was actually initiated between IAUE and Abram, IAUE changed Abram’s
name to Abraham; because he was to become the father of many nations. (“Abram” means
“exalted father. “Abraham” means father
of a multitude.”)
Genesis
18:17 And IAUE said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Not
until Abraham’s commitment to the covenant was tested did IAUE introduce and incorporate
a mystery into the covenant he had made with Abraham.
Genesis 22:15 And the
angel of IAUE called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And
said, By myself have I sworn, saith IAUE, for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies;
18 And in thy
seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
After
Abraham demonstrated his faithfulness and his confidence in IAUE, IAUE explained
to him the means to the fulfillment of the promise that He had already made
with Abraham. IAUE had already promised Abraham
that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him; but after
passing the test, he revealed to Abraham that the promise would be brought to
pass in his “seed.” There was a mystery hidden
within this new aspect of the covenantal promise.
In
the Hebrew culture, it was through the practice of the laying on of hands that both
the family inheritance and blessing were passed on to the next generation. Ishmael was rejected from the covenant
because he was not the “child of promise.” Abraham conferred the covenant upon
Isaac.
Genesis
26:2 And IAUE appeared unto him (Isaac), and said, Go not down into
Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 Sojourn
in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and
unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath
which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4 And I
will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy
seed all
these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed;
In
this passage, IAUE confirms both the covenant and the extension to the covenantal
promise had been conferred upon Isaac. The
blessings were passed on to Isaac; and so was the mystery of “in thy seed.”
According
to the revelation given to the apostle Paul (Romans 9), IAUE rejected Esau from his mother’s womb,
and chose Jacob to inherit the covenant.
Esau had lost both his inheritance and his blessing to his brother
Jacob.
Genesis
28:10 And
Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all
night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and
put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the
top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of Elohim ascending and
descending on it.
13 And, behold, IAUE stood above it, and said, I am the IAUE, Elohim of Abraham thy father, and
the Elohim of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and
to thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt
spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south:
and in thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed.
In
this passage, we see that the covenant and the mystery of the seed had been conferred
upon Jacob, through the laying on of the hands of Isaac. The revelation of this “mystery” was given to
Paul; and he explains it in his letter to the Galatians.
Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He
saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Messiah.
The
Hebrew cultural understanding of the laying on of hands as it relates to the passing
of the covenant promise from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Jacob, and from
Jacob to the children of Israel as the people of IAUE is here revealed to
demonstrate that the covenant becomes passed on to all the nations of the earth
through Abraham’s seed, which is Yahushua Messiah.
Galatians 3:16 For as many of you as have been
immersed into Messiah have put on Messiah.
28 There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female: for ye are all one in Messiah Yahushua.
29 And if ye be Messiah’s, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise.
Notice
the connection in the “first principles” of being immersed (baptized) into
Messiah and being Abraham’s seed:
Hebrews 6:2 Of the doctrine of immersions, and of laying on of hands…
This phrase could easily have been written
without the comma that separates these two ideas. This could be written “of the teaching
of immersions and of laying on of hands”…a singular teaching that connects both
subjects.
The Abrahamic covenant had a first phase and a
second phase. The first phase dealt with
the specific blessing of Abraham and his descendants through a covenant whose
promises were conveyed from one generation to the next through the laying on of
hands. The second phase was the passing
on of this covenant relationship to any person throughout all the nations of
the earth (including the Hebrew people) through Abraham’s “seed” which is
Yahushua Messiah. Being baptized into
Messiah was to be baptized into the covenant of Abraham.
Again we see the central importance of being
IN MESSIAH. Entrance into covenant
relationship with IAUE Elohim is available to all men through Yahushua
Messiah. No longer do men need to be
immersed into Judaism (see last post) to become partakers of the covenant. They must be immersed into Messiah. Why is this?
It is because the second phase of the Abrahamic covenant was not cut
between IAUE and the Hebrew people. It
was not cut between IAUE and men in general.
It was cut between IAUE and Yahushua.
The covenant in force today is only between IAUE and His son.
Yahushua Messiah is everything to IAUE and he
is everything to us. Messiah is central
to all truth, revelation, blessing and relationship with IAUE Elohim. We become beneficiaries of the covenant,
heirs of the promise, if we are in Messiah because IAUE’s covenant is
exclusively with Messiah. This makes
being in Messiah and abiding in Messiah of critical importance to man.
Kingdom heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the performance
of the will of IAUE.
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