Hands

The “hand” in Scripture speaks of ministry, and the term “right hand” emphasizes “authority and judgment” in ministry. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies…The Lord at Thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. Psalm 110:1-2,5. There is much more here than what we are making reference to, but our main concern is to see the connection of the ministry of authority and judgment of the right hand.

Before Jesus ascended He declared that all authority in heaven and in earth had been given unto Him, and then He commissioned His disciples to ministry. Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying: All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 29:18-20 NASB. With the commission Jesus transferred authority to His disciples. Their submission to His Lordship enabled them to minister with His authority. His authority was placed in their hands for ministry, as the Father had placed authority in His hand. The Father loves the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. John 3:35. Jesus Christ ministered with the authority that God had placed in His hand. Then when it was time for the disciples to continue His ministry, He said to them: As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you (John 20:21). Now the authority is in the hands of His disciples.

The Scriptures confirm that the term “hands” is connected with apostolic ministry. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. And of the rest dared no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Acts 5:12-14. That is not the weak church ministry that is common today. Those apostles ministered with such authority that the people stood in awe of them. The Lord Jesus Christ was ministering through them; it was His authority in action. He had filled their hands with authority. Again, in Acts 14:3, the Bible says that the Lord granted signs and wonders by the hands of the apostles.

It becomes quite obvious that “hands” were not merely symbolic of authoritative ministry. The hands were actually involved in ministry. The people that had seen Jesus minister were aware that there was something special about His hands. They had seen Him minister healing and blessing with His hands, so they began asking Him to put His hand upon them. And they bring unto Him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech Him to put His hand upon him. Mark 7:32.

Mark 3:1-5 And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2 And they watched Him, whither He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him.
3 And He said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And He said unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5 And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the harness of their hearts, He said unto the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Jesus found the man with the withered hand in the synagogue. Prophetically this speaks of those in the church whose ministry has withered and dried. This is seen most vividly in the Pentecostal movement. In its early days their hands were filled with the anointing. There were signs, wonders, gifts of the Spirit, miracles of healings, etc. Today the Pentecostal hand is withered. Seldom do you find any of these things in their churches today. The Pentecostal hand is withered. The same is true for many other groups. It is just more obvious among the Pentecostals because they moved in so much during their beginnings.

The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels is prophetic of the ministry of the many-membered Christ. This means that Christ will enter the Church in these days and heal the withered hand of ministry. The prophet Joel spoke of this in his prophecy. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit…And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Joel 2:28-29,32.

Another prophetic example is when Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell Him of her. And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. Mark 1:30-31. In this case the woman represents the Church. Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her up; that is, He restored the ministry of the Church – and she ministered unto them. The next thing on the agenda is not a rapture to take the Church to heaven, but a rapture that will “lift her up” to a restored ministry.

The Church has had a withered hand for a long time. She has been bedridden with a fever, but the Lord is taking her by the hand and lifting her up that she might minister unto Him. We’re at the beginning of a new day – a day that will bring deliverance to God’s people. And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city (Church) was gathered at the door (Jesus – John 10:9). Mark 1:32-33. These verses are prophetic. The Lord’s people will be the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill (Matthew 5:14). And the nations shall flow upward unto the mountain of the Lord’s house to be taught the ways of the Lord (Isaiah 2:2-3).

God is, even now, in the process of raising up a Kingdom priesthood. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ…But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. I Peter 2:5,9. This royal priesthood is being raised up to worship the Lord. They are the worshipers that God has been looking for (John 4:23). They are seen as the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders of Revelation chapters four and five. It will be the worship of this Kingdom of priests that will bring forth the culmination of the age. Their worship turns loose everything that takes place in the remaining chapters of the Book of Revelation. In a very real way victory flows out of worship. That is divine order. True worship is first established and everything else flows out of that. We find this order when the Jews were released from Babylon to return to Jerusalem. The first thing they did before building the temple was to erect an altar for worship (Ezra 3:2-3). First, become a worshiper and then God will fill your hand for ministry.

The dedication to worship is essential. The Church will find its hands filled with the anointing when it has first dedicated itself to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). The establishment of a Kingdom Priesthood ministry is preceded by a dedication to worship. Then comes the consecration, or the filing of the hands, of the priesthood. This order is seen in the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood in Leviticus chapter eight.

Leviticus 8:1-5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;
3 And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; and the assembly was gathered unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
5 And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.

The establishment of a priesthood is commanded of the Lord. Aaron and his sons are representative of the Lord Jesus Christ and His sons. Notice that a bull and two rams are taken for offerings. The bull is a sin offering. The first ram is the ram of dedication; it is a whole burnt offering, typifying total dedication to worship (Leviticus 8:18,21; Romans 12:1-2). The second ram is the ram of consecration (Leviticus 8:22-24). The “ram of consecration” in the original is literally “the ram of filling,” because their hands were filled for ministry.

Leviticus 8:25-27 And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder:
26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder:
27 And he put all upon Aaron’s hands, and upon his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord.

The inward parts of the ram of consecration are representative of the inner life of the Lord Jesus Christ, His total consecration and dedication to the will of God. His desire and delight was to please God. I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart. Psalm 40:8. The unleavened cake speaks of His purity and holiness; the oiled bread, the anointed Word and Life of Christ; and the shoulder, His strength. All of this was placed in the hands of Aaron and his sons, typifying the fullness of Christ ministered through the priesthood. All of this involving Aaron and his sons, of course, is prophetic symbolism of what is to be a reality in the royal priesthood that God is creating in this day. We will be a people created to praise and worship the Lord (Psalm 102:18). And because of this dedication to worship and our submission to his Lordship, our hands will be filled so that we can minister His life.

We had a unique experience recently in one of our worship services. As we worshiped with our hands raised, we felt a breeze on our hands. We were in a closed area and there was no air stirring, but we could feel the breeze on our hands and on the hands only. It was the Holy Spirit letting us know that our hands were beginning to come alive with the presence of the Lord. It was an anointing for a new level of ministry. As you worship the Lord, be aware of your hands. The Word of life is being placed in our hands for a ministry that will glorify the Lord. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. I John 1:1.

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