The Double Portion

“Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” 2 Kings 2:9

Being the father of seven kids, I have put a certain question to the test more times than I can count, and I can confidently say the answer has always been swiftly, resolutely, consistently, and enthusiastically the same. Maybe you have had a similar experience in your household when you break out a tub of ice cream. “Hey kids, do you want one scoop or two?” I never recall even once when any one of my children answered, saying he or she only wanted one scoop. I mean let’s be practical, why would you want less of a good thing?!

Elisha was smart. When Elijah called him to follow, he sprung into action. He quickly sacrificed the pair of oxen he was pushing, converting the plow into firewood, then announced at the ensuing community BBQ his decision to leave everything behind to serve the man of God. As he witnessed first hand the miracles, the accuracy of the prophesies, the impact Elijah had left on cities and towns, when finally Elijah brought the ice cream out, this was not time to be shy or feign false humility. Elisha was up for it: “give me two scoops, O man of God!!!”

Some of us may have been influenced by our own fathers, or by some wrong teaching along the way, but the first thing we have to embrace is that God is not stingy. He is not only well supplied, He is extremely generous with all that is His. Jesus was not just telling a one-off story: God always has a robe, sandals, a ring, a feast, and a big kiss waiting any of us who turn back to him. Even when we are filthy and smell to high heaven. Even when we’ve been an embarrassment. Even when we’ve totally squandered good things already given to us.

While God is never stingy, it is just as important to note that He is also not random. God is never indiscriminate. He is ever purposeful, ever alert, ever the Gentleman. He doesn’t lower His standards to suit us. He doesn’t respond to pettiness or performance. He can never be accused of sloppy agape. His grace is not like a smorgasbord, although there has been an aggressive attempt by attention grabbing preachers to give flashy portrayals otherwise. There were a lot of prophets trained by Elijah, but scripture does not record him asking any except for Elisha the question “what can I do for you?”

It turns out Elijah, and God, had been watching Elisha for a while. His response to Elijah even touching him with the mantle that carried the precious anointing was impressive. He was all in. But more than willingness, 1 Kg 19 ends with the words “then he arose…and became his servant.” To be sure, our attitudes too are constantly surveilled by the seven eyes of the seven Spirits of God. Would Elisha use the anointing for God’s purpose alone? Did he have a hidden agenda? Was he looking for glory, to be recognized, or legitimacy? Would he persevere, or was he only caught up in the thrill of the moment? It was only after a rigorous testing of Elisha’s resolve to stick with Elijah at all times, at all costs, that the mantle would be passed to him.

So as we realize God is not stingy, we will spontaneously come to him boldly to ask blessings from His hand. When we recognize God is not random, but responded to Elisha because of things Elisha was doing to prove and pique his interest, or qualify him as one who would persevere and faithfully steward God’s good gifts, we are sobered. This in turn causes us to press in to God, making our hearts pregnant with expectancy. Our eyes become fixed on Him, watching to see if He will rise and move towards the kitchen, open the freezer door, and pull out a tub of the goods.

But before our mouths water, there is one final and important lesson for us here. It seems the designation of “double portion” is tied to more than just eagerness, or faithfulness, or even tenacity. The term applies to an inheritance passed on to the first born son. It is not just more, it is better. It does not signify just quantity, but quality as well. Whereas those who were from the schools of the prophets undoubtedly learned from one of the best teachers in the history of Israel, the fact that a dramatic change was taking place in Elisha, that a promotion was being offered, that a distinction was being made, is unveiled in those breath-taking moments as Elijah was being swept up to heaven in a whirlwind by chariots of fire. Just before ripping his clothes open in emotional anguish, scripture testifies that:

“Elisha saw it, and he cried out, ‘My father, my father!’” 2 Kings 2:12

I missed this truth until recently, but Elisha had become a son; and being a son, he had qualified to inherit a double portion. And this, I am realizing, is at the heart of something God is saying to us at this hour, even as we approach the sunset of history. God is restoring a depth of relationship, a bond of fellowship, that existed in the earliest days of the church, but which has been dormant, and door-matted, for much of the past two millennia. This work of restoration is meant to reconnect spiritual fathers and mothers with spiritual sons and daughters. It reflects a deepening and desperate cry in the hearts of many for authenticity, accountability, and a true transfer of authority and power. It recognizes there was a time in the early church when giants like the Apostle Paul talked not of staff and co-workers, but of sons.

That God intended to highlight the story of Elijah and Elisha to become a call to the church in the last days is clear when we look at Malachi 4:5,6. An identifying characteristic of the last days is that hearts of fathers will be turned to their children, and children to their fathers. A healing will take place, an embrace, which will recover the highest possible standards of love and respect between generations. In this context, visions are carried on, legacies are made, and mantles are laid down, only to be picked up again with “double portion” potential.

So what is the sign of these things? Malachi says “I will send you Elijah”. In other words, God is going to raise up people who, like Elijah, will take the call to become spiritual fathers seriously. Elijah was in a cave, hungry for a word from God, when he heard a still small voice say three things to him he would do as the crowning events in the days he still had left on earth. He would anoint two kings, Hazael of Syria, and Jehu of Israel, and he would anoint Elisha as prophet in his place. The very next thing Elijah did when God finished speaking was go find Elisha. God had turned his heart towards a son. Raising up a successor, no, more than a successor, an heir, became his highest priority. That Elisha cried, “My father, my father” as Elijah was taken showed his heart had turned too.

Beloved, I can say with complete confidence that the transfer of a double portion anointing was not meant to be a one time thing. God did it then, and He is doing it again. God raised up Elijah to bring forth a powerful son who would perform twice the number of miracles he had done then, and now He is doing it again. As God restores this truth to His Church in these last days, are you hearing the still small voice? When you read this message, will the first thing you do be to go find your Elisha? Or maybe you are plowing in your field, yet readying your heart to lay it down at a moment’s notice upon hearing the voice of a father calling out to you to follow. Whether to become a spiritual father, mother, son, or daughter, God is restoring His design, and disbursing great grace and power to those who will yearn for a return to this blessed order. Join me and the many others who are awakening to this mightiest of all plans to raise up a generation which will truly possess God’s double portion.