Pursuing the "Double-Portion"

Please read 2 Kings chapter 2 first, before reading this article.

Elisha wanted what Elijah had: the anointing of the Holy Spirit. So he determined to stay with Elijah till the very end, traveling with him on a journey that he hoped would end in receiving this anointing. At some point (possibly after the miraculous crossing of the Jordan), he conceived the bold plan to ask for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, or anointing.

Like Elisha, we too are on a journey. Together we follow after Jesus, traveling with Him in the hope that someday we will be just like Him. Each location mentioned in the story of Elijah and Elisha represents a type of place we all must pass through on our own journey. Unlike Elisha, though, we’ve been given advance notice of what awaits us: a double portion of the Spirit’s anointing. Our Father longs to pour this out on us so we can bring Him great glory and reward wherever He sends us.

1. Gilgal (circle) – This was Israel's first worship place, where they were circumcised and observed the Passover. Gilgal was a major place of worship for Israel, with many ancient traditions. However, it also permitted worship associated with other gods and became the object of prophetic judgment (Hosea 4:15; Amos 4:4; Amos 5:5).

Gilgal represents religion, both true and false. This is where a large segment of the church can be found today. For many, their relationship with the Lord has degenerated into an endless cycle of the same empty rituals and mindless traditions day after day, week after week. Worse, many today look to idols and superstitions in their pursuit of personal ambitions, recognition, power, and financial success. We are in a season where these things are being well shaken by the Lord. In His mercy He is allowing the things presently propped up by man’s efforts to utterly fail and fall, so that His redeemed will return to their first love and truly become a people for His own possession. (1 Pet. 2:9)

2. Bethel (house of God) – A place of abundant springs, a sanctuary during the times of the patriarchs, judges, and the divided kingdom. Abraham built an altar at Bethel, and Jacob dreamed of the heavenly ladder here and later had his name changed to Israel.

Bethel represents the place of intimacy with Father, where our sole focus is Him, and where we are transformed in His presence. We must choose to leave our Gilgal, that place where we continually go around in circles accomplishing very little of eternal consequence, and pursue the Lord into His house. His house is where He alone is completely Lord over us, both individually and corporately, and where we learn that “apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Jn. 15:5) Here we are healed of our false mindsets and identity, and become satisfied with just knowing that we are truly His precious sons and daughters. (2 Cor. 6:17-18) And here we learn to receive revelation from Him for ourselves, becoming intimately acquainted with His voice and His heart.

3. Jericho (moon) – Israel’s first place of battle in possessing the Promised Land. Here they started learning how to overcome their enemies by hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord.

Jericho represents the seasons of spiritual warfare we must experience in order to be trained by the Lord to do the exploits He desires to accomplish through us. Victory in these seasons only comes for those who operate out of the place of intimacy with Father. As the moon is but a poor reflective substitute for the glory of the sun, through our personal experience of His truth and reality we are equipped to easily avoid the enemy’s counterfeit enticements. Here we learn to war in our worship, our prayer, our surrender to His will and ways. Israel was circumcised just before this battle, and likewise Father works to fully crucify our flesh nature in this place.

4. Jordan (the descender) – This was the undisputed line of demarcation between the Promised Land and the rest of the “world.” Jesus was baptized here by John, and received the baptism in the Spirit that started Him on His earthly ministry and mission.

The Jordan represents our calling to go beyond the “four walls” of church and go into the world carrying the presence and power of the Lord wherever He sends us. It is only here, beyond the Jordan, that the double-portion is poured out. The double-portion is an apostolic anointing, not for “bless-me club” type gatherings. Joel prophesied and Peter confirmed that these last days are to be marked by an outpouring of God’s Spirit upon all mankind. (Acts 2:17) All that the Father accomplishes in and for us, through moving us out of Gilgal and into Bethel, leading us from there to Jericho, and finally sending us across the Jordan, is for the purpose of pouring out the double-portion of His Spirit. Without this, we will not be equipped to fulfill Jesus’ prophecy: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Mt. 24:14) But realize this: those who respond to His call face a further dying to self here. Baptism symbolizes death and re-birth, and likewise we must descend through the Jordan to reach this place of greater empowerment. There is so much the Lord desires to do that is simply beyond our present frame of reference that we must be delivered of our human opinions and judgments, and come into a place of complete trust in Him and what He says.

So…where are you presently “camped out?” If you haven’t crossed the Jordan yet in your personal journey, don’t feel bad. Very few in the body of Christ are moving freely in that arena at this time. But don’t get too comfortable where you are right now! The Lord is actively re-ordering His people, moving us into new relationships that are designed to help us reach the next stop in His journey for us. His plan is to equip and train us all to go forth under this double-portion anointing. That way we can join in His quest to bring many sons (and daughters) to glory! (Heb. 2:10)