“But his ministry became so en - larged and his time was so occupied and he became so busy he couldn’t go to the sick people. And so finally he simply laid his hands on pieces of cloth, and he anointed them by proxy, and had those pieces of cloth sent to the people because he wasn’t able to go, and that went in his stead. And when they were laid on the people, the people were healed.” Paul was using cloth to anoint by proxy because of the geographical expansion of the 1st century church. Now, in that time handkerchiefs would likely have been made of wool, linen, or cotton. Today God’s ministry uses white cotton or linen squares, often made of handker - chief-type material—new and un- blemished. Another example of “healing” cloth is found during Christ’s earthly ministry in Mark 5 verses 25-28: Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew
worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His gar - ment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well. This woman was suffering from a severe ailment that the medical community could not fix. In addi - tion she also suffered, from those who were in a position to help her. Many have known people like this. It is so easy for someone like this to lose hope or trust in anything. But this woman chose to put all her remaining faith and hope in Christ. She believed that only He—as the son of God—could heal her. Con- tinuing in verses 29-31: Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Him - self that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multi - tude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”
In Mark 6 verses 12-13 we see Je - sus’ sent out His disciples to deliver God’s divine comfort and health: So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. The Medium - The Cloth The second aspect of an anointing cloth is the cloth itself. Let’s review key verses that demonstrate the rea - soning behind the usage of cloth as a medium for healing. The precedent for anointed cloth as a means of healing is recorded in Acts chapter 19 and verse 12: God did extraordinary mira - cles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. In order to service the scattered brethren across the Mediterranean and beyond, Paul began to use piec - es of cloth as a medium for the trans- ference of God’s power of healing. In a June 18th, 1979 radio broadcast Mr. Herbert W Armstrong stated:
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