Double portion of Blessings

Double portion of Blessings

II Kings 2:9-10 “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. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.”

            In the above passage we see the conversation between Elijah and Elisha. Here we see Elisha asks for a double portion of blessing from Elijah. But Elijah did not give away a firm answer. Later when Elijah was taken in the fiery chariot, Elijah did not give away his cloak but instead it fell from him. This we read in II Kings 2:13 ‘He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;’ Elisha receives the double portion blessings directly from God for his faithful ministry. The Lord honors Elisha by acknowledging his ministry and also by his good characteristics. Today, let us mediate on the important characteristics of Elisha that enabled him to receive the blessing in double-fold.

Elisha’s faithfulness

II Kings 2:2 ‘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.’

            Here we see Elisha was so determined in following Elijah to Bethel. Elisha did not wanted to leave Elisha and was steadfast. We read in II Kings 2:6 ‘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.’ We see Elisha had two experiences with the cloak. Firstly during the start of the ministry, where Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha. This we read in I Kings 19:19 ‘So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.’

Secondly, the Lord God himself threw the mantle approving his faithfulness in the ministry. This we read in II Kings 2:13 ‘He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;’ Just like God honored Elisha due to his faithfulness, we will also be honored. We the children of God must show our reverence in following the Lord God faithfully.

Elisha’s revelations

II Kings 2:5 ‘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.’

            We see the sons of the prophet talks about the revelations concerning the master of Elisha.  He was not surprised by the question as he was aware of what is going to happen to Elijah. As he had a clear revelation concerning his master. From the moment Elisha started following Elijah, he had a lot of revelations. Elisha had revelations concerning him and also on his leader Elijah. After the passing of Elijah, the level of revelations kept increasing in Elisha.

Elisha had revelations concerning the place of Syria while being in Israel. We read this in II Kings 6:8-9 ‘Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.’ The revelations of Elisha made him to alert the King himself. The faithful fellowship with the Lord increased the revelations of Elisha. Even in our lives, we should have a clear revelation about our lives. We must develop a close relationship with the Lord.

Elisha’s love

II Kings 2:11 “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.’

            In the above passage we see they were talking casually with each other. We can see the fellowship has been increased at that point. Elisha kept talking to his master more as he knew that he was about going to be taken up. In II Kings 2:12 ‘And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.’ We see Elisha lamented and cried out witnessing his master being taken up in the whirlwind. Elisha cries out telling ‘My father’ and that is how is love has been revealed here. He expressed his inner love and feeling completely. We see the Lord God alone saw all these things as to how he expressed his inner feelings towards his master.

When Elisha showed his honor to his master, the Lord made Joash the King of Israel to use and express the same things towards Elisha. We see the Lord made the King Joash to groan over Elisha in II Kings 13:14 ‘Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.’  Even in our lives, when we show love towards our own brothers and sisters we will receive them back. Let us not spread hate or abuse on anyone around us.  We the children of God must make a resolution to spread love to the world.

Elisha’s faith

II Kings 2:13-14 ‘He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.’

            When Elijah was around Elisha did not perform any miracles. His ministry and miracles started only after the passing of his master. In verse thirteen we see he stood by the bank of Jordan. Why is the Bible give importance to the word ‘stood by the bank’? What would have gone through the mind of Elisha with the mantle?  Elisha was clouded with a lot of thoughts. All these while his master was performing miracles and he might have doubted on himself. The Lord increased the faith of Elisha at that point.  In verse fourteen Elisha says where is the Lord God of Elijah? Questioning if he will be able to carry out the ministry and move forward without his master. The moment he hits the waters by the mantle, the waters parted. The Lord God of Elijah works out a great miracle for him.

Previously in II Kings 2:8 ‘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.’  We see Elijah’s faith performed a great miracle and the waters were divided. The same miracle was performed yet again for Elisha and his faith saved him. The powerful hands of the Lord that was with Elijah continues its work on Elisha. Just as Elisha asked for, he received the double portion of blessings. In the Bible we see Elisha performed thirty two miracles whereas Elijah performed sixteen of them. The Lord himself grants the request of Elisha and fulfilled his desire. Even in our lives, the Lord is watching over us. He looks into our faithfulness and behaviors. When we remain truthful to our faith, the Lord himself will honor all our desires and wants. The Lord God of Elisha will make it a double portion of blessing.  Amen.