Isaiah 61:1-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”  NASB

In Zechariah 9:9 we read, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Then in verse 10, it speaks of His Kingdom being a ‘peaceful kingdom’, and the weapons will cease, and He will speak peace to the heathen.  In verse 11 we see the ‘Blood of the Covenant.’  We also see that He has set the prisoners free from the pit of destruction.

That is a beautiful picture of the ministry of Jesus.  The ministry we are recipients of.  He did not come with a physical sword, but in humility going to the Cross as a sacrifice for our sin. He came to provide salvation so that the Gospel of Peace could spread to the ends of the earth.  Through His Blood, we have the New Covenant and those bound by sin are liberated.

In verse 12 we are instructed to ‘return to the stronghold’.  We are those who have Hope!  In the last part of that passage, we are informed that God would restore to us a “Double Portion.”  There it is again, ‘double.’  I hope you see this.  God’s promise is that even though we have been prisoners of the pit of darkness where there was no hope, no water, no life, no sustenance we have been released to HOPE!   Hope means to have a confident expectation of something that you are sure is going to come to you. 

I declare on the authority of God’s Word that there is more to come!  We do not have to be satisfied with the status quo, there is more.  There is going to be a glorious church that lives in the double portion of God’s blessings and exercises His authority on this earth.  There will be doubters, scoffers, and nay-sayers, but it is going to become a reality.  I believe that it will be in our lifetime.

THE LAW OF DOUBLE PORTION

The Law of Double Portion is a subject far too large to tackle in a devotional or even a series of devotionals, it is a life-time study but let’s see what we can discover.  I would like to offer seven examples of “Double Portion” in Scripture.  Each of the examples affords understanding and insight into different aspects of this Law.  Each of them reveals different responsibilities we have concerning double portion and identifies the pitfalls that must be avoided.

The Right of the Firstborn – Deuteronomy 21:17

When a man had several sons and it came time to divide the inheritance the Law demanded that a ‘double portion’ be given to the firstborn son.  That was not because he was the favorite or even the most deserving but because of his place in the line of succession.  It was automatic.

Is there an application to us, as New Testament believers?  I refer everyone to Hebrews 12:23 where we are informed that as the Church of Jesus Christ we are ‘the church of the firstborn.’  Through Jesus, we are God’s firstborn for the purpose of covenant.

Some will contend that we are not ‘firstborn’ because that distinction belongs to Jesus.  After all, God only has one firstborn and that is Jesus, right?  In Romans, Hebrews, Colossians, and Revelation Jesus is called God’s Firstborn.  Therefore, how can the church also be the firstborn?  Let me take you to several passages for clarity.

In James 1:18 we discover that God has begotten us, and we are the ‘first fruits’ of His creatures.  In 1 Peter 1:3-4 we are made to understand that when we are born again, we are born to receive an inheritance.  Additionally, Romans 8:16-17 identifies that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are God’s Children.  We are heirs of God and we are told ‘joint-heirs’ with Jesus.

Therefore, Jesus, as God’s ‘firstborn’ received the Double Portion, and because we are ‘in’ Him and He is ‘in’ us we also become God’s firstborn.  Jesus is the head and we are the body.  We are the One New Man and double portion heir of the Father, through Jesus.  That means we do not just receive a blessing we receive everything that Jesus gets.  We are IN Him and He is IN us.  We are one with Him.

I want to pursue this further but will pause here and ask that you begin to consider Who you are in Jesus and begin to expect to receive your Double Portion Blessing.

Have a Great Day in Jesus!