(39) The Double Portion - Build on the True Foundation
~~ The Double Portion ~~
Deut. 21: 17
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath : for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
The firstborn son had a birthright, in the OT. He was to receive a double portion of all that his father had.
2kings 2: 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace . 4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said , As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered , Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace .
6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry , I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said , As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on . 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went , and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together , and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over , that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said , I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said , Thou hast asked a hard thing : nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as they still went on , and talked , that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried , My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back , and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said , Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over . 15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said , The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men ; let them go , we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up , and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said , Ye shall not send .
Elisha types Christ. He is the firstborn for the NT Covenant. He was the first one up in the resurrection. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, so the double portionbelongs to him.
Now when placing Jesus with Adam, Adam would be the firstborn and have the right to the birthright, or double portion.
But Adam sinned as did Esau. Adam did not care for this birthright. He wanted to be above God, so did not receive that double portion. It went to the younger brother, Jacob. Jacob here types Jesus Christ and desired to have that birthright or double portion.
Esau also types the law, which was the first covenant. But this covenant was hated by God as was Esau. The law could not fulfill the wishes of God, being weak through the flesh. So God had to turn to another source to find deliverance from sin for mankind. This failing of the law sets it with the hated Esau and sinning Adam, thus depriving this law covenant the right of the double portion.
What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man, (Rom 8), brought forth salvation and thus became the firstborn in the Spirit. This set the New Covenant, or Jesus, up to receive the double portion.
Elijah had a great power with God. Everyone in his day recognized him as the main prophet of God. Elisha became a follower of Elijah. When it came time for God to take Elijah up, he keeps saying to Elisha, I am going over there, you stay here. But Elisha said, no way. I am not going to leave you. So he went all the way with Elijah to the Jordon, refusing to take his eyes off Elijah.
He knew something great was about to happen and he determined to be in on it. He was longing for a double portion of the power he saw on Elijah. When they came to the Jordon Elijah smites the water with his mantle and the waters parted and they walked to the other side on dry ground.
The sons of the prophets stood afar off, watching. They represent those who serve God afar off and never move in close enough to really get in on the power of God. They also knew something great was about to happen, but they only wanted to get a small glimpse of it. They did not desire to be in on it. They are the carnal minded, luke warm Christians.
But Elisha was determined to get that double portion or the birthright. He has that same determination we saw in Jacob. He is willing to do whatever it takes to obtain that birthright and double portion. It means everything to these who truly love God.
Then Elijah asks Elisha what he wants him to do for him, before he is taken away. Elisha did not hesitate. He already knew what he wanted. He said, I want a doubleportion of your spirit. Elijah said, you have asked a HARD THING. But if you see me when I am taken, it shall be yours.
Why would it be a HARD THING? Because it is seeking the greatest power of God to rest upon oneself. It is transferring that birthright, double portion of the firstborn to the younger. In this case, it represents that new covenant of Grace as the younger. Law is being destroyed because God hated it. The younger or New Grace Covenant is being given the right of firstborn or the double portion. So this is why it would be a hard thing.
The disciples followed Jesus out to Bethany. They would not leave him for they knew something great was about to happen. They wanted a double portion of his Spirit. They now had the revelation of Scripture, because Jesus had opened their understanding to the Word of God, after his resurrection.
Those disciples now understand what was going on there with Elijah and Elisha. They now knew what to do. They were not going to take their eyes off Jesus, but would see him when he was taken.
And so they did. Ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus shall come again, in like manner. So Elisha picks up that mantle which fell from Elijah as he went up. He now goes back to the Jordon. He is excited, I am sure. But he still has to prove it and put it to the test.
So he rolls up the mantle of Elijah and smites the waters of the Jordon, just as Elijah had done. He said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? See, he is seeking to prove that God is now with him as he was with Elijah. He had watched and had seen Elijah go up. That mantle had fallen upon him. He now possess the power which had been in Elijah, only now, it was DOUBLE.
The waters rolled back and he went across on dry ground! My, what a moment in mankind. The 50 prophets watching, knew immediately that Elisha was now the anointed prophet of God. They came and bowed to him, ready to accept his leadership.
Jesus had said to his disciples, if ye see me go, the same works that I do shall you do and GREATER, because I go to my Father. They would not leave him for they wanted that power.
When the Day of Pentecost was fully come, those 120 were together in one mind and one accord, waiting expectantly for the mighty power of God to fall upon them. They now KNEW what this thing with Elijah and Elisha was showing. So they waited. And then the great rushing mighty wind of the Lord fell upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. They now had the double portion of Jesus’ spirit.
They could now do the mighty works he had done and greater. They came out with this great power, healed the sick, raised the dead, converted thousands to Christ in one day. Even Peter’s shadow could heal the sick. We have no record of Jesus doing this. Paul took handkerchiefs from his body and healed the sick. We have no record of Jesus doing this. A poison snake hung on his hand and it did him no harm. We have no record of Jesus doing this either. Greater works than this shall you do, for you will have the double portion.
The disciples had stood there watching and waiting. What for? They were waiting for the ‘mantle’ of Jesus to fall on them. They knew it was supposed to come down. But see, the angel let them know it was not time yet. Go back to Jerusalem and WAIT. And so they did. Ten days later, they were endued with power from on high. Now they can go out and turn the world upside down. And they did.
One couple lied to Peter, or as he said, to the Holy Ghost and dropped dead. Jesus never did this. Greater works shall you do. Glory! A double portion. Not only for salvation, but for judgment.
The 50 sons of the prophets were lukewarm and lacking in faith. They seek to be allowed to go and search for Elijah. Perhaps God was not able to take him all the way? Perhaps he took him part the way up and dropped him on a mountain? NO, do not go. Do not go search. God has not dropped him. Well, we think perhaps God did drop him. There are 50 strong men with us. Let us go search and we will prove that God did not do as he said. He was not able to take Elijah into heaven alive.
Finally Elisha was ashamed to keep on with this silly debate and he said, go then. After searching three days, these faithless ones come back to report that for all their mighty strength, they could not find Elijah.
Fifth strong men from Satan cannot stop the glorious power of God. A stronger than he is here and will stop him and take away his armor in which he trusted. He trusted on the arm of FLESH. We are 50 strong men. Didn’t I tell you not to go? Why didn’t you believe and listen to the one who now has that mantle? Why do you refuse to be water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and receive the Holy Ghost as those anointed sons of God told you to do? They had the power, so why did you not believe them? Oh, you trusted in the arm of flesh. You trusted in church, but not in the Living God to keep his promises. He can’t heal the sick today. He is not able. He can’t give miracles today. He lost his power. He can’t give the Holy Ghost today. We can’t speak in tongues today. Our church says so. They are 50 strong men and cannot do this thing. God probably has rejected us today. He let them fall in the wilderness or the mountains. But you better run to the doctors today, for God is not in the healing business anymore.
Oh ye of little faith. How will you get across that Jordon? You cannot part the waters.
There was a firmament in the heavens. They were to part or separate the waters = peoples of God from the peoples of Satan. The disciples did just that. The true disciples still do just that today. We can still part those waters. Those of us who receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost still have that double portion. We know that God has not lost any of his power nor will he refuse those who believe. Ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.
That early church had the great power of God and turned the world upside down. Now it went into apostasy and fell away from Grace, back to law and lost that great power. Thus those witnesses of Jesus Christ lay ‘dead’ in the ‘streets’ for those three days that the lukewarm prophets sought for Elijah. They did not believe God had the power to deliver. So they lay dead in the streets. But Elisha (that early church) had a DOUBLE PORTION.
So they will rise again. They will one more time turn the world upside down and prove one more time that God has not lost one ounce of his power or willingness to heal the sick, raise the dead and change vile people into Saints of God.
See, that Church will once again be endued with power from on high, with a second Baptism. This time the baptism of Fire, to do what those others could not do, which is to bring the wrath of the Lamb or judgment on this wicked world. So they have a double portion and therefore will have a second outpouring of the power of God. This true Church of the living God will show up again on this earth. We will have that double portion for we are not taking our eyes off Jesus. We will see him RETURN. We will not be watching him GO. We will be watching him RETURN. His mantle will fall on us, that second witness.
Elisha shows that second witness. Watch how he did much greater/more mighty works than Elijah had done.
2Kings 2: 19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth : but the water is naught, and the ground barren . 20 And he said , Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said , Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
Jesus said, ye are the salt of the earth. He cast the salt in and healed those ‘waters’ or people.
They had no water to remit their sins. So the Apostles took them into water baptism for the remission of sins, and their land was healed. They cast the salt in and healed those waters, or peoples, and they had no more death or barren land. Now they are fruitful and bringing forth the fruits of the kingdom of Christ. We are springs of Living waters. We speak the words of Life and heal those waters. This is our doubleportion.
Job 1: 1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. 2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. 3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
This great man, Job, had his heart set wholly on God. He had great riches and ten children. We know how Satan provoked God to come against Job to prove that Job would still serve God no matter what he went through. So as it happened Job lost all his children and all his substance and then went through great personal suffering. But through it all Job did not foolishly charge God or turn against God. He still loved God no matter what he suffered. BUT Job was showing something here.
In the first part, Job is showing that first, or law covenant. He was offering up sacrifices for his and his children’s sins. That system of law had to fall down. It could not do what God wanted so it had to be destroyed. As Job lost his children, (those of law), and all his earthly possessions, it is showing the destruction of that old law covenant.
His sufferings show the crucifixion suffering of Jesus, to destroy that law covenant and bring us into grace.
Jesus never foolishly cursed God or turned against him, but said, not my will but thine be done. He went into death and hell. He lost those first children, of old law. But in those three days, that the lukewarm prophets sought for Elijah, Jesus rose from the dead and showed himself alive forevermore. Those unbelieving prophets were put to silence. Did not I tell you not to go?
Where was your faith? Didn’t I tell you that in three days I would rise again? Why did you search three days to try and find Elijah? Just wait patiently and I will rise again, as I said unto you.
Isa. 49: 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places , and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants , and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away . 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell . 21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children , and am desolate, a captive , and removing to and fro ? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? 22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. 23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers , and their queens thy nursing mothers : they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
The above was spoken to Jesus, (in prophecy). It is showing that in the land of his destruction, (where he was crucified), he lost those children. But then he finds many more. And He says, after I lost my other children, these, where had they been. He now has many more than at the first. He has increased, the double portion. These people bow to him as those prophets bowed down to Elisha.
Back to Job: After God brought Job back out of his suffering and captivity, he gave Job twice as much as he had had before. Watch his children:
Job 42: 12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. 15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
See, that double portion here? The LORD blessed the LATTER end of Job more than his beginning. He gave him twice as much, that double portion. But watch his children… He again has seven sons and three daughters. In all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
This is the New Covenant of Grace. Your sons and your DAUGHTERS shall prophecy, under this grace Covenant. No more keeping the daughters silent. They were given inheritance among their brethren. This is the work of Jesus bringing again the EQUALITY which God had made to begin with, with Adam and Eve. Now women are no longer prohibited. Grace sets them all free. Now we are all ONE. In Christ there is neither male nor female, but we are all ONE, or equals.
Now that early church has a double portion. The GLORY of this latter house shall be greater than the former house. Law was the former house. Esau is this former house. Elijah was also showing this former house. But Elisha received that doubleportion. Jacob received that double portion. Jesus received that double portion of God’s power. The disciples received a double portion of the power of Jesus, doing greater works.
The Church in Peter’s day was now showing the former house, even though with the Law, it was the latter house. It was much greater than the law house of Moses. Yet it has such a great portion of a double portion, that it is allowed to return again, one more time, those witnesses will rise again and have a double portion of that first house at Pentecost.
So now those in these latter days will receive a double portion of that early house of the Church of Peter and Paul. We will bring again the captivity of those lukewarm children of little faith. When they see that mantle of Jesus on us, their faith will rise and see the glory of God.
We will bring the great power of God on this earth in so much that the dead will rise and come out of the graves into glorification. Yes, the glory of this latter house will be much greater than the former house of either law or the Pentecost Church.
We will both bring the wrath of the Lamb or judgment on this wicked world, but then the dead saints of God will be raised into immortality and we will be a glorified Church with the double portion of the Spirit of Jesus.
Praise my precious God for this great message.
By: Jo Smith ~~ May 16, 2010.
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