A Double Portion of Your Spirit.

2 Kings 2:1-22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link on links page) 

And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ² Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”

⁴ Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵ The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be still.” ⁶ Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

⁷ Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “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.” ¹¹ As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

¹⁵ Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” ¹⁷ But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. ¹⁸ They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

¹⁹ Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.’” ²² So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

Elijah was a mentor, a spiritual father to Elisha. We are not told a lot about Elisha's natural father but it would seem that he had a good relationship with him. When Elisha was first called to follow Elijah it says in 1 Kings 19:20:  He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.”   Once Elisha had determined to follow Elijah he did it whole heartedly not looking back to the past relationship but remaining faithfully by the side of his spiritual father Elijah. The text indicates that Elisha knew that the time had come when Elijah would be taken from him, he had a choice to make about how he would go on. The text says:

 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³ Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.”    This same scenario happens again as Elijah goes to Jericho and then a third time as he says he is called to Jordan.  Each time Elisha was faced with the question of whether he would go on in the uncertainty of what would lie ahead without Elijah or to remain where he was, possibly even returning to his former life and family.

In Luke chapter 9 Jesus speaks a difficult word about the cost of discipleship He says:  As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” ⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”         It's not that Jesus does not value family relationships. Even as He was on the cross Jesus made sure His own mother would be cared for.

 But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.(Luke 19:25-27)        Jesus values family relationships. He simply wants us to follow Him with no desire to return to our old life.

Elisha had made that type of commitment to follow Elijah. After three times of seeing if Elisha would leave him, the text says:  Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” ¹⁰ He said, “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.”

Very often when we follow a spiritual parent or mentor, someone we look up to for their ministry, the authority and anointing they have in  the Lord, we would ask that we might have half as much as they have. Elisha understood what God wanted for him. He asked for a double portion of the spirit of his mentor to be upon him. That is not a proud or egotistical request. It is what God and Jesus want for us. Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.(John 14:12)  Jesus gives us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, not a small portion of it, but enough that we would do greater works than He did.  

The text continues:  As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. ¹² Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. ¹³ He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

Elisha tore his own clothes in two pieces. There was no going back for him. He picked up the mantle of Elijah and walked on in the power and authority, the double portion of his mentor's spirit.

On this day, when our culture honors fathers. I pray that if you have a good relationship with your father you will honor him. If your relationship with your natural father has been less that good, I pray that you would allow the healing and restoration of the cross of Christ to give you peace about the past and a vision for your future. Jesus says:  everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.(Matthew 19:29) I pray that you will like Elisha find a spiritual father to teach you and train you to equip you for all that the Lord has called you to do. Even more so though, I pray that you will have the boldness to ask for a double portion of the Spirit of your heavenly Father. I pray that you will come to know and believe the truth which Paul speaks of in Romans 8:14-17    

 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ  

You are God's child. He is Abba Father, your daddy. I pray that you will choose today to leave behind all the good and the bad that you hold from your natural heritage and you will like Elisha walk in the power and authority of your new inheritance in Christ. I pray today that you will receive a double portion of the Spirit of your Heavenly Father and you will walk in the power and authority of the mantle that has fallen to you.     Amen.