Elisha desired a double portion and got it. Five of the virgins in Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Virgins had it. The Last Days Church has a destiny characterized by it. So how is this double portion of the anointing accessed? Is it the result of a sovereign decision by God, or the result of human zeal? Are there things within our destiny which will not be accessed without our diligent pursuit of such an anointing? Elisha and the Parable of the 10 Virgins seem to illustrate some kingdom dynamics for us to heed.
The scriptures tell us Elisha was sovereignly selected by God to receive Elijah’s prophetic mantle. In I Kings 19:16 God tells Elijah, “And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholan you shall anoint as prophet in your place.” Though sovereignly chosen to receive Elijah’s anointing, Elisha still had to respond to the call, and that he did. After Elijah threw his mantle on him, Elisha left his oxen and said, “ ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you.’ And he [Elijah] said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’ ” (I Kings 19:20).
Elisha tries to put a stipulation on his decision to follow Elijah, but Elijah quickly counters this “stipulation” by asserting that he has done nothing to Elisha; it is God who has sovereignly called him. With the gravity of the call in mind, Elijah leaves it up to Elisha to finish up his affairs as he deems appropriate. Fortunately, Elisha rightly responds by sacrificing a yoke of oxen, representing his livelihood, and from then on commits himself to being Elijah’s servant. Thus does Elisha choose to respond to God’s sovereign call upon his life; however, is Elisha’s future receipt of the double portion similarly ordained or the result of his diligent walk of faith in the hour of testing?
Before Elisha’s request of a double portion, he is completely focused upon Elijah and his soon departure. He knows Elijah will be leaving soon, as do the 50 sons of the prophets, yet Elisha has a different revelation concerning the importance of this event. Being Elijah’s successor, this departure is much more significant to Elisha’s future, causing him to evidence a tenacity that sets him apart as a man on a mission. He sees and understands what others do not see--so much so that his persistence in staying by Elijah’s side causes him to “cross over” with Elijah, and it is after they have miraculously crossed over the Jordan that Elijah asks Elisha what he can do for him. It is then that Elisha, full of revelation, boldly makes his request. “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me” (II Kings 2:9).
Elijah responds by putting a condition upon 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” (II Kings 2:10). In other words, Elisha has to do something to get his double portion, and the condition which he has to fulfill is not even revealed until after he has conceived an avid desire for this anointing, causing him to “cross over” to a place where it can be accessed.
After Elisha’s zeal for the double portion is conceived, it is tested again and again, even prior to his actual requesting of it. He has to overcome the opinions of his peers (the 50 sons of the prophets) and the seeming indifference and rejection of his master, Elijah. Similarly, those desiring a double portion in this hour will be subject to the same type of sifting and refinement. As Elisha endured his testing by seeing with 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.
According to Malachi 4:5, the Last Days Church is destined to corporately walk in the power of Elijah, preparing the way for the Lord’s return. Intriguingly, this is the close of the 6000th year since creation, strategically positioning the Church to receive its double portion of “manna” just as the Israelites received their double portion of manna on the 6th day while in the wilderness. Jesus, the very bread of life, said, “...To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17), pointing to the fact that it will be the overcomers who will walk in a double portion of Elijah’s spirit as did Elisha. The Last Days Church will be just such an army of anointed overcomers.
In Revelation chapter 11, we see a graphic description of a powerful Elijah/Elisha type of ministry, full of dramatic signs and wonders. “These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire” (Rev. 11:6). To further clarify the expression of the Last Days Church, Joel describes an army of worshipping warriors, walking in perfect military formation, devoid of any competitive jostling. This army will function as watchmen, walking the “walls” of the spiritual city of Zion, gaining information about the enemy’s schemes, and effectively diffusing his diabolical plans through revelation. “They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks. They do not push one another; every one marches in his own column...They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall, they climb into the houses. They enter at the windows like a thief.” (Joel 2:7,9)
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. In fact, the Syrian king’s servant said of Elisha, “...Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words you speak in your bedchamber” (II Kings 6:12).
This type of warfare is the destiny of those called to be in the last days army 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. Those who have ears to hear, eyes to see and a diligence to overcome the personal obstacles that stand in the way of the needed spiritual authority characteristic of overcomers will access the double portion, for they will see a need for it in order to accomplish God’s purposes on the earth.
It should be noted that it was Elisha’s time of preparation preceding the actual accessing of the double portion which prepared him to boldly step out in faith when the mantle finally fell to him. II Kings 2:14 tells us, “Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water and said, ‘Where is the God of Elijah?’ And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.”
When the double portion falls, there will be those who will “cross over” into a new level where only those who have been trained by the Spirit and harnessed under the discipline of the anointing can walk. Without such preparation there is no “crossing over.” In addition, when the double portion “falls,” as did Elijah’s mantle, it will not need to be announced. In Elisha’s circumstance, the sons of the prophets saw the evidence of the double portion and bowed in respect.
In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, there were five foolish virgins and five wise virgins. “Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps” (Matt. 25:3-4). Oil was used for the anointing of prophets, kings and priests in the Old Testament. Under the new covenant, believers are ordained as prophets, kings, and priests unto their God by the anointing work of the Holy Spirit, sealing them for the day of salvation.
In this parable, all of the virgins have oil and know to wait for the bridegroom. They also all slumber at his delay. The distinction between the five foolish and the five wise virgins involves the amount of of oil they have brought with them, and the wise have taken extra oil. (Since half of the Church have rarely done anything in unison that was anointed, the possessing of extra oil by five out of the ten virgins seems to point to a dramatic move of God’s Spirit upon His Church. I will therefore take the liberty to reference this phenomenon as the release of a corporate anointing.)
When the foolish virgins see that they are out of oil, they ask the wise virgins for some. The wise know that oil must be “bought,” for they have “bought” their oil as did Elisha, through the subjecting of themselves to the will of the Lord, dying to their own wills.
Their extra oil was gained as is all extra oil in the kingdom, through obedience to the voice of the Spirit; and though the laying on of hands and the prophetic voice do implant and stir revelation concerning one’s purposes in God, often imparting the necessary anointings needed for such callings, these anointings must still be activated. The activation of any anointing usually involves a level of obedience, but the accessing of a double portion can involve not only obedience, but personal victory over strongholds, making one an overcomer.
Following the pattern of Elisha, the five wise virgins necessarily gained a revelation of their need for the double portion and then obtained it through their diligent pursuit of it, overcoming those personal obstacles which were warring against the anointing. As a result, they instruct the five foolish virgins that they cannot give away something which has been laid to their account as a result of their own diligent obedience. Therefore, they counsel the five foolish virgins to go and buy for themselves from those who sell.
So, who “sells” the oil of anointing? God seems to use His people to minister His anointing. The five-fold ministry of the Church is meant to equip us for our purposes in God. As God’s favor anoints various ministries, keys to accessing the anointing for our lives are released. Yet, it is only those who have ears to hear and hearts to obey who have the capability to actually access this type of anointing. (It is noteworthy that those who “sell” oil are not there with the wise virgins.) Apparently, it is not enough to see and hear about the invitation to the double portion. We must allow our zeal for the double portion to be sanctified as the character of our lives is tested and refined. That was Elisha’s experience; that was the experience of the five wise virgins; and that is the destiny of anyone desiring to walk in the double portion.
Anointing comes with a price, and since our decision to follow Christ causes a measure of the anointing to be deposited within us, we are asked to count the cost, for there is a cost to saying ‘yes’ to God and walking with Him. In fact, every increase of the anointing in our lives will always come at a price, demanding change as new territory is taken.
Though anointed at a young age, David actually activated the full measure of his call to kingship after several years of repeatedly seeking God’s face, hiding in caves, resisting the urge to avenge his enemies. In subjecting himself to the chastening hand of God, he bought something which can only be accessed through the diligent forbearance of God’s discipline. As a result, David’s time of sifting effectually prepared him for His ultimate greatness--- a man after God’s own heart.
Intriguingly, God is not looking for zealots. He is looking for those who will allow true revelation to birth a holy zeal within them which will stand the test of His refining fire. Unsanctified zeal is powerfully dangerous and quite destructive to the purposes of the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, out of frustration over its ineffectiveness, the Church has fallen into the trap of exalting and promoting unsanctified zeal, but such zeal operates out of the dictates of the soul. Sanctified zeal operates under the strict direction of the Holy Spirit, and to comply with His directions one must have heavenly provision.
The birthing of this holy zeal can only happen after we have wrestled through the issues which define who we are and what we are called to do within the kingdom. As these questions are answered, and we allow brokenness to have its way, our commitment to God and the ways of His kingdom will increase, and a sanctified zeal will truly rise up within us. This type of zeal will be so focused that it will not be deterred even in the face of negative opinions from our peers and the seeming rejection and indifference from the Lord Himself--the very one for whom we are zealous. It is this degree of tenaciousness in the hour of testing which accesses the “oil of anointing,” allowing us to buy extra oil that we might accomplish all that He has laid before us.
Jesus said that there would be wise and foolish virgins at the hour of His return, and though the Last Days Church is destined to walk in a corporate double portion of the anointing, that does not guarantee that all will access this corporate anointing. Elisha was invited to partake of Elijah’s anointing, and the cost involved him leaving his old life, but his desire for the double portion was born out of revelation, and then accessed through his diligent pursuit of it.
The Last Days Church is similarly invited to partake of the Elijah anointing which will correspondingly involve leaving the “old” and stepping into the “new” by faith. The “old” involves us trying to accomplish the will of the kingdom through our agendas which are nothing more than expressions of unsanctified zeal. The “new” will be realized through brokenness before the Lord as we allow Him to sanctify our zeal for Him, dying to our provision and embracing His provision by faith. Correspondingly, the Elisha aspect of this Elijah anointing is reserved for those who see it, want it, and pursue it. To pursue it successfully we must have our eyes set on the Master, looking to Him for all of our needs; thus will we enter into the double portion.
If you have seen the need for the double portion as did Elisha and the five wise virgins and have been in pursuit of it, you are probably in God’s refining fire, actively engaged in tearing down the strongholds of your life as God hides you out in the “wilderness” somewhere. Be encouraged that it is our diligence and single-sightedness in the hour of testing which “buys” us oil. Therefore, endure your testing and do not walk away from your inner wrestlings. James tells us, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-- that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). If you’ve been feeling like Job, look up for the anointing is coming! Job’s faithfulness through the time of sifting earned him a double portion, and it will earn us the same (Job 42:10).
It will be the corporate accessing of the double portion which will prepare the Bride of Christ for her groom. The righteous acts of the saints for which the Bride will be noted will ultimately be birthed out of a double portion anointing, for it is the process of accessing the double portion which will make the character of the Bride “ready” for the Lord’s return. Consequently, the double portion is not just a “perk” for the zealous, but a necessity for those who have ears to hear. “...And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17b).
Once you have a revelation of what the double portion means to your life and ministry within the corporate expression of the Church, “Come!” Come and sit at the feet of the Master and wrestle through every issue which blocks the flow of the anointing. As you wrestle, be focused enough to endure God’s chastenings, discovering His heart and His provision, gaining spiritual authority in the process. It is at that point that “oil” will be bought-- “oil” that will be noticed in the spirit realm and by the “sons of the prophets” around you.