THE DOUBLE PORTION
[p. 398] THE DOUBLE PORTION
2 Kings 2:9-11; 2 Kings 2:19-22; Ezekiel 47:6-9; Revelation 18:4-6
I am thinking of the word “double” in these scriptures we have read and my remarks will stand in relation to this word; to what it suggests in the connection indicated, namely, the Holy Spirit. The verses alluded to in 2 Kings refer to the portion of the first-born (see Deuteronomy 21:17).
The servants of God in the Old Testament times profited by what preceded them and of course the same should be true of those of us who belong to the present dispensation. We find, in the Old Testament, constant allusions by the servants of God to what preceded them; the ministries are thus accumulative. This is seen in the Bible itself; the books usually begin with “And”. Genesis does not, for it is the beginning, and there are other exceptions, but generally there is the cumulative idea; the conjunction links the books together. In Exodus the Spirit of God continues from the book of Genesis; it is not isolated, but linked together by the Spirit of God and intended to be so read. We may thank God for the order that the Bible was Appointed to be read in churches; that was made against the prohibition of its general use, which earlier had been in force. It certainly is read today among God’s people who understand the assembly, and we may be thankful for its wide use even by those who do not understand much of its true spiritual meaning.
And in reading we must remember that “no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation ... but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20). The one divine Author indited all the books of the Old Testament as well as of the New; so that every scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine, etc. (2 Timothy 3:16). We must thus read the divine book to understand it. The [p. 399] word often comes as it did to the eunuch, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” (Acts 8:30). The reading itself is not enough; you must understand, and the Lord gives understanding in all things, so that one may run that reads (Habakkuk 2:2). The Lord gives understanding; we are not to cut knots, so to speak, but let the Holy Spirit undo them. In the process He unfolds things we had not yet thought of.
We began in 2 Kings with the thought of speaking about this word “double”. It is used in Scripture many times more than in the passages I have read. What I am seeking to bring forward is the portion that belongs to the first-born. Elisha did not claim to be first-born, in fact he was last-born in his own estimation; last of all. When Elijah called him there were twelve yoke of oxen and he with the twelfth. He is not seeking to be first. So it was with the greatest of servants, Paul; his name meaning little; in his own estimation, “less than the least of all saints”. It is the Holy Spirit speaking in Acts 13:9. Elisha is not claiming anything from his birthright; whatever place he came in in the family, he took the last place. In 1 Kings 19 we learn that Elijah cast his mantle on him, indicating his spiritual influence. Influence may be imparted without words, but when we come under spiritual influence, we shall ask questions. So here in 2 Kings 2, Elisha is under the influence of Elijah through his mantle. Elijah did not fold his mantle when he cast it upon Elisha, as he did at the Jordan. In wrapping it together at the Jordan, it was a question of power meeting the condensed power of the enemy; meeting it with the power of God. The ark of the covenant implies that too. The ark held back the waters, although Jordan was in all its power; although overflowing its banks, it was held back by the ark. There was no water in sight. As I was saying, the mantle of Elijah affected Elisha, so that he followed him. Elijah says to him, “What have I done to thee?”. Influence is there. It remained with Elisha.
[p. 400] I urge this matter of influence. Elisha never lost it; he clung to Elijah. He says, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee! And they two went on”. Again, “they two stood by the Jordan”, “they two went over” — “they went on and talked”. Now Elijah has in mind to honour and benefit his attendant. He was a young servant attached to an older servant. He poured water on the hands of Elijah; he would enhance his service. He did not wish Elijah to be removed to make room for himself. Some young men may consider older ones are in the way, and it must be admitted that if they are not spiritual, they can be obstructers of the work; they may be a hindrance by undue activities. Elisha would keep Elijah going. When in danger, on one occasion, Elijah imposed restrictions on himself, taking himself out of God’s hands. To support a man who imposes restrictions on himself in this sense is not right. Elijah stood before hundreds of false prophets and gained the day, but fled from Jezebel and asked God to kill him; it was self-imposed. If God gives me liberty, gives me a commission, and I impose restrictions on myself which would frustrate it, I am lawless. That is what Elijah did, but he recovered himself, and later he is a type of Christ going up into heaven. We have dwelt on these matters in our meetings. It is most precious to see how, though this great servant turns aside, in the strength of the food that God supplied he journeyed forty days to mount Horeb. God meets him at the end of it. He says to him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?”; as much as to say, This is not your place.
I proceed now to speak of what Elisha obtained from Elijah. Elijah says to him, “Ask what I shall do for thee”. Elisha said, “I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so”. What I am speaking of, the double portion,
is the first-born’s portion. It is not claimed on that ground here. Elisha does not claim it at all. It is Elijah’s suggestion. The Lord Jesus in Luke 24:49 says, “but do ye remain in the city till ye be clothed with power from on high”. That is from the divine side. The Spirit as a gift is available to all who believe. It is the double portion, because the christian is in the first-born place before God; belonging to “the assembly of the first-born ... registered in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23). Every true christian is in that. The double portion of the Holy Spirit is the greatest thing you can have. In view of obtaining it, we are to see the One who gives it. “If thou see me when I am taken from thee”, Elijah says to Elisha. The ascension is one of the great features. It is not only that the Lord went up, but how He went up. It is how He ascended. “Having said these things he was taken up, they beholding him” (Acts 1:9). It is the One you see go up who sends the Spirit. The Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost in full measure.
This is the most wonderful of all dispensations. Those of us in it are favoured. Do we value it? The Lord would have us to understand His ascension. “If thou see me when I am taken from thee”. There is nothing said about seeing Enoch go up, or of how he went, but that he went up; before that he had the testimony that he pleased God. In his translation he would have the sense of this, and so he would be in liberty with God. The Lord is working with us all that we may go up happily in the sense that we please God, as having that testimony. It is attested to us that we please God. Who does it is not the point; some one will do it. The Lord in speaking to Philadelphia does it Himself. In His letter to that assembly He indicates that she pleased God, and He says that those who say they are Jews, and are not, “shall know that I have loved thee”. John too was one whom Jesus loved; the Lord was pleased with him. So that, as we please God, testimony will be rendered to us. In accord with Elijah’s remark to Elisha that the reception of the double portion of his spirit depended on his seeing him as he went up, as I said, enlarges on the manner of Christ’s ascension (Acts 1). The two men in white say, “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven” (verse 11). Notice the word manner. It is He Himself. It is the Jesus whom we have known, who now comes among us spiritually, whose traits have affected our hearts; we shall see Him descending; we shall ascend with Him. It is the descent of love, the Bridegroom coming for His bride, coming down for her, to take her to be with Himself, to present her to Himself, all-glorious, without spot or wrinkle. We need to be in His hand so that we may be prepared morally for all this. The assembly herself when He is pleased to display her, comes down “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). For Him! Think of the display of glory in that adornment! All this is because of the double portion. Elisha had received the double portion; the sons of the prophets knew enough to say, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha”. The assembly has the Spirit of Christ.
Now as to the later verses read in 2 Kings 2, the great matter is how to adjust the local company. This comes in as the Spirit has His place. The men of Jericho said to Elisha, “Behold now, the situation of the city is good, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land is barren”. It is a local condition. What can I do with a local company where defective conditions exist? The men of the city described the state. Elisha says, “Bring me a new cruse”. They evidently had it, or could conveniently procure it: they brought it to him. The prophet had asked them to “put salt in it”, that is to say, what is preservative. There is no hope at all for the local company if the new cruse and salt — what they typify — do not exist there; nothing can be done. There must be something in the locality besides what [p. 403] the visiting servant may have. There must be the new cruse; that is, a vessel having the character of newness. The Spirit can use this for the recovery of a local position; salt is put into the cruse and then cast into the source of the waters; Elisha saying, “Thus saith Jehovah, I have healed these waters”. God works with us, as we move with Him, and recognise defects in a locality. See if the new cruse is there; not worn-out religious or other customs, but what is new. This is always available if the Spirit is recognised, and the salt in the cruse would imply that we are to live in incorruption, not in personal preferences, partisanship or other corrupting elements. Thus God can and does act. He causes the locality to be adjusted, and there is no more barrenness. These are our resources; every one is a first-born, registered in heaven. We are called upon to serve, and it is in that dignity. God is working something out in a locality. The assembly there is dear to Him, and it must be preserved. There are many places in this continent in which the saints need adjustment, but it is to be in the dignity of the first-born and newness of life. Such adjustment taking place, we get great things. One knows pretty well what there is in this continent — sometimes paralysis — and every one seeking to help is tested. What can he do? It is a question of finding there what is spiritually new and what is preservative. It is to be noted well that the new cruse and the salt are provided by the men in the place.
I link all this with Ezekiel 47, with the “double river”. That is to say, it is what it becomes as the believer or exercised person pursues the river. It has often been spoken of as flowing from the house of God. It flows out in a definite direction, toward the east. The Holy Spirit from the geographical standpoint moves definitely. In christianity He moved toward the west. Here the river flowed toward the east; in our dispensation it has come toward the west, as I said.
[p. 404] At this moment we are all sitting in the uttermost west. That is a testimony to the extension of the activities of the Spirit. We read of the uttermost north; it is hostile to God’s people in the last days (Ezekiel 38). We are now in the uttermost west. Think of the distance this city is from Jerusalem! We should think of the extension of the activities of the Spirit of God. Peter says of the sheet which came down from heaven, “It came even to me” (Acts 11:5). The Spirit came even to us in this western part of the earth.
Then we have the measurement of the river. It is measure experienced by Ezekiel. He says, “He measured a thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters; the waters were to the ankles” — and so on until the prophet reaches “waters to swim in (verses 3-5). The river is an experienced matter, a real matter. This river flowed toward the east, and Ezekiel comes to the part “that could not be passed through”. It is an infinite thing. It is typically no less than the Holy Spirit, a divine Person. We are brought into the fulness of the Spirit in His ever deepening activities in testifying of Christ. He “searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). Hence Ezekiel is brought back to the bank of the river. He finds trees which allude to the precious product of the Spirit, whether in the coming day or our day, Ezekiel sees this on his second visit. We cannot take in everything at once. It is here a little, and there a little, but all cumulative, involving steady increase.
Then we come to the use of the word ‘ double ‘. The river is greater to him now than at the beginning; he says, “When I returned, behold, on the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said unto me ... every living thing which moveth, whithersoever the double river shall come, shall live”. This river has increased in his apprehension; that is, through experience. Ezekiel did not begin with these dimensions. I want to speak particularly of the effect of it. “And it shall come to pass that every living thing which moveth, whithersoever the double river shall come, shall live. And there shall be a very great multitude of fish”. That is how we get increase. There is dignity attached to the first-born ones, as we have seen; here it is the effect of the power supporting them. It is life overcoming every difficulty. Wherever there is life, whatever is living is made to live fully; is kept living; the river preserves life. Joseph said, “God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5). His new name is said to signify this. It is a question of the Holy Spirit’s indication of the new world in which everything is in life and energy. This is linked here with the double river. Let us not be content with a little measure, because a large measure is available. It is a question of moving with the man who had the measuring line. I do not want to be poor spiritually; to be ineffective, or to be in the way, but to be contributory; and the double river which enables us to be this is available. This river has come down to where the need is, and not only is the need met, but by the Spirit we praise God, giving thanks for His unspeakable gift. Why be poor? The Lord Jesus became poor that we might become rich and give satisfaction to the heart of God, who is the source of all, “of whom are all things and we for him”.
I come now to the passage read in Revelation 18. It is a most solemn word; it is a matter of judgment. The Revelation is full of it, for it is the time of judgment. The Spirit of divine judgment is abroad. We are addressed here in chapter 18, “And I heard another voice out of the heaven saying, Come out of her, my people”. That voice has been heard for many years. “Come out of her.” No christian is worthy of the name who has not learned to judge the religious system referred to here. In order to know her we have to cast our eyes across christendom as it is, also to look at it historically. It is said “her sins have been heaped on one another [p. 406] up to the heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteousnesses”. Heaped on one another, all linked together as unrighteousnesses. Of the true bride it is said, “it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints”. There is no pretension; it is not taken on, but granted to her to wear it; fine linen clean and bright; it is a fabric possessed of sheen, of brightness, made into a garment. But in chapter 18 it is a system of wickedness which has been built up for centuries, extending back to the fourth at least; and strange to say, men with the Bible in their possession built it up. The very terms of Scripture are used, yet it is a system in its constitution and practice contrary to God. But its judgment is on God’s calendar. So we have the word, “God hath remembered her iniquities”. “Remembered” implies that there has been delay in the judgment, but it will be executed in God’s time; the Reformation brought it up in a storm. It was not a question of remembrance then, it was public, but lately it seems to be employed in God’s providential ways. God can use such things. He uses waters, sun, rain and what He will. He may use this system for the moment, but the time is coming when He is going to remember her sins, and in a merciless way too. He puts it in the heart of the beast and the false prophet to do His will to it. He may be using her now against other features of apostasy, but later He will use them against her. Her destruction will be complete. The smoke of her burning will go up.
In order to bring her guilt home to ourselves it is said, “Come out of her ... that ye have not fellowship in her sins”. And it further says, “God has remembered her unrighteousnesses. Recompense her even as she has recompensed; and double to her double according to her works. In the cup which she has mixed, mix to her double”. It is not the time for us to execute judgment; but we can do it morally, and that is implied as [p. 407] we come out of her. The beast and the false prophet will do it literally; she shall be burned with fire; the saints, as I said, do it morally now. In separating from evil we judge it. We execute the judgment of God, taking into account the history of the system as well as its present state. Scripture affords us evidence of her whole history. And this is confirmed by reliable facts recorded since. It is important for every brother and sister to read all this evidence and have a judgment. Be separate from this woman who sits on the beast; whether herself or her daughters, all ought to separate from them. Verse 20 says, “God has judged your judgment upon her”. It is what real christians have judged. As I said, He will use the beast and the false prophet to do it here on earth, and God’s eternal judgment is added, for her “smoke goes up to the ages of ages”. We are called upon to form a double judgment in keeping with the guilt. We need the Holy Spirit in order to form a judgment of it, so much has been forgotten — fifteen centuries or more of the work of Satan’s hands. Only those who have the Holy Spirit can form a true judgment of this system and abandon it, root and branch. God judges our judgment upon her. That gives deliverance to us, and as free, the Holy Spirit enables us to find the true assembly; and to have part in the production of the fabric — the righteousnesses of the saints — in which the Lamb’s wife will be clothed; the “fine linen, bright and pure — the righteousnesses of the saints”.