The double portion is Biblical fact. It part of God�s promise to give beyond the normal amount to a select few. In Luke 6:38 He says: �Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure�pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return� (Luke 6:38). The double portion was given to certain men in the scriptures according to God�s promise to His people.
�Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs� (Isaiah 61:7). This is God�s portion to His people in this day. They won�t just have a portion but will have a double of a portion; twice as much, This seems impossible since most Christians have not even received a portion of what God has for them. But He plans to give double even of what He has promised.
The premiere example of a double portion occurred between Elijah and his servant Elisha. Elijah was going to be taken to heaven without dying and all the prophets knew it. Yet when He was at the place where the translation would occur, only Elisha was there with him, all the other prophets content to observe from a distance. The translation of Elijah occurred as follows:
And it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, �Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.� But Elisha said, �As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.� Elijah was trying to discourage Elisha from following him just as God tries to hide from us.
�So they went down to Bethel. Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, �Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?� And he said, �Yes, I know; be still.� Elijah said to him, �Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.� Again he tried to prevent Elisha from following him.
�But he said, �As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.� So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, �Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?� And he answered, �Yes, I know; be still.� Again Elijah tried to make Elisha stay at Jericho but Elisha wouldn�t.
Then Elijah said to him, �Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.� And he said, �As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.� So the two of them went on. Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, �Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.� And Elisha said, �Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.�
He said, �You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.� As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, �My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!� And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, �Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?� And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over (2 Kings 2:1-14).
All the prophets knew Elijah was going to be translated to heaven that day but only Elisha followed Elijah to the Jordon and watched it happen. 50 prophets watched from a safe distance and two even ventured to the edge of the Jordon River. But Elijah went all the way and received from Elijah a double portion of his ministry. All of the other prophets of God knew that Elijah was going to be translated but they did not follow to the end so did not receive the double portion. Notice that Elisha let no time lapse until he exercised the double portion but immediately tool Elijah�s mantle and parted the Jordon.
` Elisha went on to walk in the double portion as we see further in 2 Kings. He purified bad waters, killed some young lads mocking him, deceived the Moabites into thinking water in trenches was blood, gave a woman an unlimited supply of oil to pay her debts, resurrected a boy, purified a poison pot of stew, cured Naaman of leprosy, floated an axe head that had fallen into the water, deceived the entire Aramean army, leading them into a fatal trap, stopped a cannibalistic famine in Israel and many other act too numerous to mention. It is said that after Elisha died and was buried a man who was killed fell on Elisha�s grave and was resurrected. This was all because of the double portion given him by his spiritual Father Elijah.
Hannah was also given a double portion. When the day came that Elkanah, her husband, sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters;
but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, but the LORD had closed her womb. Hannah was barren and cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard her cry and she gave birth. However the Lord heard her cries and she gave birth to Samuel who was to be a great prophet in the land of Israel (1 Samuel 1:4-5).
Job, after his long ordeal with the Lord was given a double portion. In Job 42:10 it says: �And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before�
The first born of the children of Israel also received a double portion of their Father�s inheritance. Deuteronomy 21:17 Says: �But he [the Father] shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn�.
The children of Israel I the wilderness also received a double portion of manna on the day before the Sabbath so they did not have to gather it on the Sabbath. Normally the manna did not last until the nest day but on the day before the Sabbath the manna lasted 2 days including the Sabbath.
The enemies of the Lord also receive a double portion of His wrath and judgment. �After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, �Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. �For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.� I heard another voice from heaven, saying, �Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.�Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her� (Revelation 18:1-6). .
Babylon of course was the religious system that dominated the world before Christ and through the middle ages mixing pagan idol worship with religious worship of Christ. God likened the church as a LADY OF ILL REPUTE riding on the back of the beast nations and condemned Babylon as the Mother of harlots.
Today we too can have a double portion of God�s blessings. The opportunity has never been so great to obtain the double portion and it has never been as necessary as it is in this time of the changing of ages. We must cry for this double portion and more to get accomplished what we must as this age draws to a close. We are those preparing the way for the coming of the Lord and, although the harvest is plentiful, the harvesters are few.
