The Road to a Double Portion
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
We know that Elisha went from being a ploughman, working in the fields one day, to being a prophet of the Lord the next. Elisha was tested at each step of the journey, Elijah said “stay here, don’t go any further“ And Elisha passed the test saying (in so many words!) “There’s no way at all, I am leaving you. I am staying with you and I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
What I want to do today is look at the four places in
2 Kings 2:1-9. Each of the four places mentioned (Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan) are highly significant in Israel’s history and I believe they are highly symbolic of stages in the Christians life.
2 Kings 2:1-9 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind,
that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. 6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. 8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they, two, went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Where it all starts: Gilgal
(Separation and Cutting Away)
So the first stop on the journey was Gilgal. Before we even look at the passage, let me ask you a question…
“If you were to go to Gilgal in the days of the Israelites, what would you see?” The answer - stones. Of course, you would see stones in any location,
but in this case, there were some pretty specific stones.
Joshua 4:19-24 ‘On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”
Gilgal was a home base for Joshua and the Israelites and it was the first place they came to when they entered the Promised Land. Two things about Gilgal.
First, these stones, that were a reminder that God is alive and well and He acts on behalf of His people. Sometimes we act as if God were not even alive.
“ PREACH JESUS IS ALIVE AND WELL ”
The second thing in Gilgal, is Chapter 5:2, 6-9:
At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites.”… The Israelites had wandered this desert forty years. All the military men had died, in disobedience to the LORD, but God raised up their sons in their place. These were the ones Joshua circumcised. And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained in Gilgal until they healed. Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today,
I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”
Gilgal means the ‘rolling-away’ or ”cutting away”.
God was saying to them “I have rolled away the past.
I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt, I have separated you from the past, and also separated you unto a living God. It was a sign that they had made a covenant with God. Gilgal means ‘separation’.
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
Not just talk the talk,,,, walk the walk, as a Christian. We must be separated from that which would draw us away from God, and be separated, as living sacrifices, unto the living God. You must live a Holy life…..
Rom.12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. “PREACH CUTTING AWAY”
Relationships, habits, false doctrine…
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Next stop… Bethel (House of God) “Beth-EL”
Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
Genesis 28:10-19 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee, will I give it, and to thy seed; 14
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel:
Jacob called the place Bethel, the ‘House of God’, where he had been in the very presence of the Lord.
During the time of Judges, Bethel was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, where people went to enquire of the Lord. What does that mean for us? Bethel speaks of the Lord’s presence. It is where He is! It is the desire to be in His presence. So this is the second stage. The first stage is to do with separation and cutting away. The second stage has to do with
a desire for God and a desire for His presence. Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Psalm 119:67-71 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
When Israel was “persecuted”, they sought Him.
Afflicted here means “persecuted”, hard times.
Otherwise they didn’t really seek him.
PREACH SEEK GOD, PRAY, READ BIBLE,
BE IN CHURCH… Bethel the House of God…
The Presence of the Holy Ghost
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Jericho – Walk by Faith
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
The next stop, Jericho. What do you think of when
you hear of Jericho? Walls comin’ a tumbling down! Gilgal was the first place that Israel came to when they entered the Promised Land and Jericho was the first “battle” that they had in the Promised Land.
Joshua 5:13-15 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua sees this man, he’s got a sword and he looks like a real good warrior so Joshua wants to know whose side he is on - ‘Are you with us, or are you with our enemies?‘ To which He answers ‘No’, I haven’t
come to take sides. I have come to take over!’
“as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.” Joshua was in the presence of the Lord! And the Lord doesn’t come, just ‘to help’. He comes to take over.
Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and it’s fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the walls of the city will collapse and the people will go, every man straight in.”
So how is Israel going to win this battle? The answer is they weren't, the Lord was. What did they have to do? They had to walk in faith. Gilgal being separate… Bethel seeks the presence of God and Jericho teaches about the walk of faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7
(For we walk by faith, and not by sight:)
PREACH WALK BY FAITH,
Let God Fight You Battles for You…
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Finally, the eternal principle of the Jordan –
Death and Resurrection
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
The final test for Elisha came with the Jordan. The Jordan was what the Israelites had to cross, to pass into the Promised Land. The Jordan separated the land of Canaan from the wilderness. Remember when God miraculously separated the waters and the Israelites passed through on dry ground and God commanded Joshua to take 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan and to set them as a memorial for the sons of Israel forever so that no one would forget what God had performed there. Elisha went as far as the Jordan, so what about you?... What does the Jordan speak of, for you and me? The Jordan, like the Israelites Red Sea, speaks to us,,, of baptism –
death and resurrection. The laying down of our lives. Jesus’ whole life demonstrated this very principle,
but it was clearest as He contemplated the cross…
What about you, have you been to the Cross ?
John 12:23-26 And Jesus answered them, saying,
The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be:
if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Jesus, while thinking of the cross, said that ‘where I am, my servant will be also.’ This eternal principle of the wheat falling to the ground and dying was not just for Jesus! No, Jesus clearly said, that to be His servant would mean that the same principle applied. Elisha knew this, and when the call of God came his way,
he readily let go of his own life, his own hopes and dreams, and followed the call of God, to whatever and wherever, that would lead him! What about you ?
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
THE RESURECTION
Acts 1: 8-9 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
New Testament Confirmation
So we have looked at the four locations where Elisha was tested. Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan. And these speak of separation, the presence of God, walking by faith, and death and resurrection.
Phil 3:6-14 corresponds to each of these locations.
Gilgal Separation/Cutting Away (of the flesh)
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church;
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me,
those I counted loss, for Christ.
Bethel House of God (a desire to in God’s presence)
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Jericho Faith (Walk by faith)
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith:
Jordan Death & Resurrection
(Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground…)
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Phil. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
II Kings 2. 9 And Elisha said, I pray thee,
let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
Somebody say, I Want A Double Portion
Gilgal Be Ye Separate So Saith The Lord
Bethel Seek the Lord With All Your Heart
Jericho Walk By Faith and Not By Sight
Jordan Baptism of Resurrection, Holy Ghost
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