The Double Portion Anointing
2 Kings 2:9 - And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?" Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me."
Elisha desired a double portion of the anointing and received it (2 Kings 2:9).
The present-day Church has a destiny characterized by the anointing. This double portion anointing should be accessed in order to fulfill that destiny.
Elisha illustrates some Kingdom dynamics for the Church to heed to in order to manifest a greater corporate demonstration of God’s power.
Elisha was sovereignly selected by God to receive Elijah’s prophetic mantle (1Kings 19:16), yet Elisha still had to respond to the call (1 Kings 19:20).
He tried to put a stipulation on his decision to follow Elijah, but Elijah quickly countered this by asserting that it is God who had sovereignly called him.
With the gravity of the call in mind, Elijah left it up to Elisha to finish what he was doing. Elisha rightly responded by sacrificing a yoke of oxen, representing his livelihood, and from then on committed himself to being Elijah’s servant.
Before Elisha’s request of a double portion, he was completely focused on Elijah and his pending departure. He knew Elijah would be leaving soon. So did the fifty sons of the prophets, but Elisha had a different revelation concerning the importance of this event.
Being Elijah’s successor, this departure is very significant to Elisha’s future, causing him to evidence a tenacity that sets him apart as a man on a mission.
He saw and understood what others did not see, so much so that his persistence in staying by Elijah’s side caused him to “cross over” the Jordan with Elijah.
It is after they miraculously crossed over the Jordan that Elijah asked Elisha what he could do for him. Elisha, full of revelation, boldly made his request: “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me” (2 Kings 2:9).
Elijah responded by putting a condition on the fulfillment of this request. “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” (2 Kings 2:10).
In other words, Elisha had to do something to get his double portion. The condition he had to fulfill was not revealed until after he had conceived an avid desire for this anointing, causing him to “cross over” to a place where it could be accessed.
After Elisha’s zeal for the double portion was conceived, it was tested again and again, even prior to his actual requesting of it. He had to overcome the opinions of his peers, the fifty sons of the prophets, and the seeming indifference and rejection of Elijah.
Similarly, those desiring a double portion will be subject to the same type of sifting and refinement. As Elisha endured his testing by seeing with the eyes of faith what was not yet manifest in the physical, so too will those desiring the double portion overcome by keeping their eyes on that which has been revealed to them by God’s Spirit.
The Double Portion Anointing and the Church
The Church is destined to corporately walk in the power of Elijah, preparing the way for the Lord’s return (Mal. 4:5). Revelation chapter 11 depicts this Church graphically as a powerful Elijah/Elisha type of ministry, full of dramatic signs and wonders (Rev. 11:6).
The prophet Joel describes an army of worshipping warriors, walking in perfect military formation, devoid of any competitive jostling (Joel 2:7,9,25).
Elisha had similar military tactics at his disposal as well. Through his prophetic anointing he could hear the plans of the enemy as if he were sitting in his bedchamber (2 Kings 6:12).
This type of warfare is the destiny of Christ’s Body of Believers who hunger for the double portion. By revelation they will expose the schemes of the enemy and advance the purposes of the Kingdom of God through a committed obedience to God’s strategic directions.
They will access the double portion for they will see a need for it in order to accomplish God’s purposes on the earth.
Elisha’s time of preparation preceded the actual receiving of the double portion, which prepared him to step out in faith boldly when the mantle finally fell on him (2 Kings 2:14).
When the double portion falls, there will be those who will cross over into a new level of anointing where only those trained by the Spirit and harnessed under the discipline of the anointing can walk.
There is no guarantee that all will access this corporate anointing. Elisha was invited to partake of Elijah’s anointing, and the cost involved leaving his old life. His desire for the double portion was born out of revelation, and then accessed through his diligent pursuit of it.
The Body of Christ is similarly invited to partake of the Elijah anointing but must be prepared to leave the “old” and step into the “new” by faith. The Elisha aspect of this Elijah anointing is reserved for those who see it, want it, and pursue it.
It will be the corporate accessing of the double portion that will prepare the Bride of Christ for her groom.
The righteous acts of believers will ultimately be birthed out of a double portion anointing which will prepare them for the Christ’s return.
May every true believer earnestly desire to minister in the Supernatural Power of the Holy Spirit and experience a double portion of God’s Spirit.
