God’s Anointing Can Be Passed on to Others

The anointing of God that rests on a man or woman anointed by the Holy Spirit can be transferred, through the laying on of hands or in some other way, from one person to another within certain parameters.

We see this, for example, in the Book of Numbers, in the life of Moses. In Numbers chapter 11 we find this important moment, verse 16: “Then Jehovah said to Moses: Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders of the people and their leaders, and bring them to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and let them wait there with you. And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the spirit that is upon you and put it upon them; and they will bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it alone.”

In this interesting passage we see the beginning of a teaching that I believe is very important among the people of God who consider themselves Pentecostal: the idea that gifts, the anointing of God, can be transferred to other people. Not mechanically or carelessly, but at times when God is moving powerfully, or moving powerfully in an individual’s life, this kind of transaction, if we may call it that, is very possible.

In this case, we see that God is calling Moses to decentralize his ministry somewhat and bring in others to help him carry out his work of judging the people, giving counsel, making important judicial decisions, and governing the nation of Israel in the wilderness. And God tells him: Bring Me seventy men who are leaders of the people, and I will take from your anointing—the anointing I have placed upon you for governing, for wisdom, for direction, for strategy—and I will take that anointing and place it, transfer it, into their lives so that they too can be of help to you as you carry out your ministry.

How interesting. We see here a principle that we leaders and pastors can use in our ministry. God does not want lone rangers; He wants men and women who share the burden, but this must be done in an orderly way. And the people we work with must share our vision; they must embody the values that we, as principal leaders, embody in our lives.

And often it falls to us to pray over the lives of these individuals, to impart the anointing and the Presence of God to them so that they too may have the same capacity as we do, or a similar capacity, and may flow in the way we flow.

We see these principles of transferring the anointing in many aspects of Christian life today. For example, in the Catholic Church throughout the centuries there has been this idea that the apostolic anointing is transferred through the laying on of hands by bishops or the Pope. This is like an archaeological remnant, so to speak, of an idea presented here and in other passages of Scripture: that the anointing of God is like an energy flowing from the anointed individual to another person, if that person is truly authorized by God. And this is a resource we should use in many ways in our lives and ministries to bless others.

Here we have the principle of laying on hands, for example, in services when we pray for people to be healed or to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The idea is that those who are anointed by the Lord, who have had that Pentecostal experience, can pray for souls and lives that are ready to receive it, that have faith in their hearts, and that have a certain basic level of holiness and openness to the Lord.

And on many occasions we can bless others with a prophetic Word that releases the gift of God in them, with a greater anointing that we impart to their lives, with a “spiritual vitamin,” so to speak, that we can transfer to their lives simply by laying on hands and praying for a blessing to come into their lives.

This idea of laying on hands, of transferring God’s blessing and God’s anointing, of releasing new ministries in others, of giving a prophetic Word that releases God’s gift in someone who does not even know that they have a hidden gift—this is a very powerful resource, and we should ask the Lord each day to help us use it more and more.

This is also what happens in the lives of Elijah and Elisha. When Elijah is about to be taken by God, Elisha says the following to him. It says here: “When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha”—this is in Second Kings, chapter 2, verse 9—“Elisha said to him: Ask what you want me to do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha was like a disciple of Elijah.

“And Elisha said: I pray that a double portion of your spirit may be upon me. He said to him: You have asked a difficult thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” And the fact is that this is what happened in Elisha’s life. Elisha was able to see Elijah being taken by God and received a double portion—that is, a very powerful measure of the Spirit, the power, the anointing, the gifts, and the kind of ministry Elijah had. And we see, then, that in his ministry Elisha reflected many of the attributes and gifts that were in Elijah, as well as his very temperament and character.

That is to say, there is a very interesting mystery here, isn’t there? We can transfer God’s anointing by anointing others, but it is not something we can do whenever and however we please; it has to work within the parameters God has established. That is why Elijah says: If you manage to see me. And I believe that God’s allowing Elisha to see Elijah being taken was like a sign of God’s approval.

Jesus also says that when we go to a house, for example, we should declare: May the peace of God, the shalom of God, be upon this house. And if those who dwell there in that house are worthy of receiving the blessing, that blessing will rest upon them.

So there is this idea that, well, if it is God’s Will, if it is the right moment, and if we have discerned correctly, then when we lay on hands, bless, impart anointing, and declare God’s blessing, that blessing will manifest itself in that person’s life. And therefore it is a resource we should learn to use more and more, asking the Lord to give us faith and help us set the gift of God within us in motion.

One final example is in the lives of Paul and Timothy, where we have already alluded to the fact that Paul tells Timothy: “I advise you to stir up the gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands.” There is this idea of laying on hands, but Paul also says that we should not lay hands on anyone hastily. In other words, there are people who are always laying on hands and praying for others, and so on, and then the gift of God becomes something cheap, ordinary, and commonplace. This should be something very sublime, very serious, which we regard as something very powerful and very special. When God gives us freedom to do it, we should use this gift of God. And many times in my own life, when I have prayed for certain individuals, I have seen the gift of God released in them in a very powerful way, and these individuals have never been the same again because God has certainly released His anointing upon their lives.

So let us use this gift of God and entrust our lives to the Lord so that God may use us in a very fitting way, with sure aim, in this dimension of Christian life. May the Lord bless you, and until our next message.