The meaning of the double portion on Elisha
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A preview of two powerful ministries: The end-time Gentile prophet, and the Elijah to the Jews in the Tribulation.
- The successor to the prophet Elijah was not his son
- A double portion represents both Gentiles and Jews
- Jericho has good waters restored
- 42 little children cursed
- Reflected morning sunrays looked red like blood
- The oil multiplies and dead son raised to life
- Miracle with meal that removes poison
- 20 loaves multiplied
- A Gentile washes 7 times in Jordan to cure leprosy
- The floating axehead
- Knowing the plans of the enemy
- Loud noises scared the Syrians
The successor to the prophet Elijah was not his son
Elijah was sent by God to find Elisha and anoint him.
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.
Elijah looked for a man who was busy working hard, not relaxing, and being lazy. Elisha never was a backslider.
The 12 yoke of oxen has obvious links to the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12th yoke of oxen would represent the 12th tribe of Israel, which was the last born son, Benjamin.
When he was born, his mother Rachel died. When the 144000 Jews are born again in the 3.5 years of Great Tribulation, the Jewish nation dies because two-thirds are killed just before the forces of the man of sin, the final Pope, are destroyed at Armageddon.
ZECHARIAH 13:8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD,
two parts therein shall be cut off and die;
but the third shall be left therein.
So Benjamin symbolizes the 144000 Jews that are saved during great Tribulation. The mantle that covered Elisha signified the anointing of Elisha’s spirit.
I KINGS 19:20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
Elisha was immediately willing to follow Elijah. He bid his parents farewell as he would never see them again. The Jews who go into great Tribulation are ruled by their old men and elders with their traditions. The final prophet Elijah to the Jews will help Moses to turn the Jews away from the traditions of their fathers and the Old Testament Law so that they can accept Christ and never again go back to the traditions and ways of their parents. The 144000 have to bid their Jewish elders goodbye as Moses and Elijah turn them to the Jesus of the New Testament.
: 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
To show his complete break with his past, he chopped up the wooden yoke for a fire and killed the two oxen that had been yoked, and boiled their meat. Thus he destroyed the instruments and oxen that he had worked with.
But the 144000 Jews, symbolized by Benjamin, will be killed at the end of the Tribulation. That is why Elisha killed one yoke of two oxen. Two oxen are yoked together by a wooden yoke over their necks. The yoke itself, which is made of wood, was burned in a fire to boil the meat.
This represents the fire of persecution of the Tribulation, which burns up the yoke of bondage that held the Jews in their legal bondage to the Law of Moses. That is why Moses must return to the Jews, for he is the only man that they will follow to move away from the Law.
Unable to resist the military might of the final man of sin, despite their own formidable military strength, the Jews will become dependent on the supernatural powers of their two prophets to protect them. Turning to Christ they make a complete break with their past.
The 144000 Jews are killed at the end, and then soon after that, they will be resurrected to act as the 'bodyguard' that protects the Bride.
REVELATION 14 :1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
: 4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
[A woman symbolizes a church as the true church is the Bride of Christ. These Jews are uncontaminated by today’s denominational churches (symbolized as women) with their traditions and errors such as their Trinity belief].
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Firstfruits can speak of a resurrection.
I CORINTHIANS 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
There is a general resurrection at the end of the 1000 years of the Millennium during which Jesus rules in peace.
But the 144000 Jews are resurrected at the end of the 3.5 years of great Tribulation just before the Millennium starts.
Thus they are the first resurrection that happens after the Bride has been caught up to Heaven. As such they are the firstfruits of the general resurrection that will follow at the end of the Millennium.
The firstfruits are the first handful of corn to get ripe, and as such, they prove that the rest of the harvest will also happen later.
REVELATION 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Four living creatures protect the throne of God. The true church is the body of Christ because He alone is the Head of the church.
EPHESIANS 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
So the four creatures protected the church through its 2000 years of history.
REVELATION 4:6 ... and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Eyes speak of intelligence. They know the future which is before us. They know the past which is behind us.
REVELATION 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
..
These four beasts represent the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ during the seven church ages. In the first age the Lion represents the true word of God as written by the apostles. The calf represents the long period of 1200 years of spiritual Dark Ages where the truth was killed at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 by introducing a Trinity. Then the Calf had time to grow up into a strong Ox representing the tens of millions of opponents that the Roman Catholic church slaughtered. An ox is always slaughtered at the end of its life because all that valuable meat cannot be wasted. The Man represented the human wisdom of the reformers who restored salvation by grace through faith and then preached holiness and outreach. This led to the great missionary age. The Eagle represented the return of the Pentecostal power and the Eagle-insight of William Branham as he revealed the mysteries of Scripture to restore us back to the beliefs of the apostles in the Lion age.
But no creatures speak when the fifth Seal opens.
So the church ages are over. We deal now with the Jews who have been killed over the 2000 years of church history. These Jews died for their own testimony as they clung to the Old Testament. Christians hold the testimony of Jesus as they have died to self and do not claim any success through their own efforts or sacrifice. They give all praise to Jesus.
REVELATION 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
The church ages are over and the Bride has been caught up to Heaven. The Jews believe in an eye for an eye, and thus they want revenge. They were killed in their day for being Jews. Now they want to settle their score with the Devil. At this stage the Bride is in Heaven, so the Jews see no reason why they cannot go back down to earth to smash the many hated antichrist spirits. These are not Christians. Christians pray for forgiveness for their enemies.
REVELATION 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
White robes are given them. They never deserved salvation but it has been given to them. On what condition?
MATTHEW 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
The Jews here agreed to pay the price for sin with their own blood and their children’s blood. So God grants them this condition. During the seven church ages, sincere Jews who lived by the Old Testament as best they could, and who were killed for being Jews, were taken to Heaven. They never deserved this salvation. But then, we Gentiles also never deserved to get saved either. It was just God’s grace to both groups.
So all the killed Jews from the last 2000 years were told to wait a while. With the Bride in Heaven, there is still three and a half years of great Tribulation, during which two prophets call out their brethren the Jews. These 144000, who God wants as spiritual eunuchs to be His servants by protecting His many-membered Bride-church. These are the only Jews who share the Christian born-again salvation experience. But as Jews, they must also die. Then God resurrects them. After this everyone goes down to earth to destroy evil at Armageddon.
Christians are sons and daughters of God. Jews are servants of God.
This job of protecting the many women who a king had married was traditionally done in history by eunuchs. The 144000 are thus spiritual eunuchs that God appoints to protect His Bride. When they accept Jesus they know that this will be their future role.
MATTHEW 19: 12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men:
and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.
He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
The 144000 will accept this position of being eunuchs in the Lord's Plan.
Now we see how Elisha followed Elijah.
In this portion of their ministries,
Elijah represents Jesus and Elisha represents the true church.
II KINGS 2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
The church ages end with what is called the Rapture, the catching up of the church to Heaven. Elisha stays close to Elijah as Elijah makes four strategic moves.
Elijah tries to put him off but Elisha keeps following.
: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.
Bethel means the house of God. You cannot get into God’s house without getting saved. So this represents Luther’s justification by faith. Many Christians stop after getting saved.
: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.
Jericho means “his sweet smell”. Calvary was a sweet-smelling savour or perfume in God’s nostrils.
EPHESIANS 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Jericho’s walls broke down. John Wesley preached holiness and outreach which broke down denominational walls and the limited vision of the churches that only preached to church members. Missionaries took the Gospel to the heathen in the great missionary age. Many Christians then stop here.
: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.
Elisha kept following. We must stick close to Jesus as he moves on. Jordan symbolizes death, death to self. The Holy Ghost baptism makes us die to self. The true church moved on to Pentecost, for the outpouring of the supernatural, and achieved this but then many stopped.
: 7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
The denominational and Message believers accept salvation and holiness. They accept the benefits of the supernatural gifts but then stand far away from the sheer hard work of learning how to understand the mysteries of the written Word (Elijah) because Jesus stands rejected outside all our churches of the Laodiceans today. That means that the Laodiceans have made up their own church doctrines and methods of worship.
REVELATION 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
Thus many truths of Scripture remain a mystery because of man-made interpretations that are unscriptural.
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.
Elijah has to rely on his mantle, representing the anointed Word that covered him.
The Word of God becomes anointed by the Spirit when the Holy Spirit reveals the Word to us in a way that we can understand what is written.
JOHN 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
Jesus died to Himself on Calvary and moved through the waters of death to defeat Satan, preached to the lost souls in prison, and then freed the Old Testament saints from Paradise so that He could take them up to Heaven. When we die to ourselves we have to become strictly Scriptural as our own opinions and traditions are meaningless. Only then can we find our place or position in God’s Word and in God’s perfect plan.
A double portion represents both Gentiles and Jews
II KINGS 2: 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.
A double portion means that over 2000 years the complete church did more miracles than what Jesus did in His own ministry.
: 10 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.
But getting close enough to God to manifest both Spirit and truth is hard for us humans.
JOHN 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
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.
Elijah is caught up to Heaven which is a symbol of what happens at the end of the church ages.
The whirlwind is a symbol of dramatic unrest.
Expect much-unexpected drama when the Bride is caught up to Heaven.
Elijah could not ascend to Heaven by His own strength. God had to intervene for him.
This also illustrates an important point of the rapture: God takes one and leaves one. This means that few will go.
No Bride members will be left behind. But if people close to the Bride are left behind then it means that certain people who think they are in the Bride, are not in the Bride. We must never take God for grasnted, we must search hard to discover the truth and be counted worthy to be part of His Bride.
LUKE 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.
: 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it;
and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Things are going to be very different from what we expect.
:34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
: 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The rapture or catching up of the church happens in a moment of time.
Men sleeping is nighttime. Women preparing a meal is daytime. Different times of the day mean we are dealing with different parts of the world at the moment of the rapture.
One gone from this part of the world. One went from a different part of the world. That means very few will go in the rapture. So, do not be impressed with big churches.
LUKE 18:8 Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
The end will be a turbulent time of unexpected change with very few able to understand what is going on because few will understand the revealed Scriptures.
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.
Now things get a bit tricky when we now look at the double portion that Elisha received.
In order to get some meaning of the next events in a way that reflects or illuminates the end-time events, we must look at Elisha just as a man, a prophet.
What powerful prophetic ministry does Elisha represent when the Bride has been caught up to Heaven? There is only one possibility, the final Jewish prophet Elijah who comes for the 144000 Jews.
We now look at the double portion that Elisha received:
He tears his own clothes into two pieces. This has two meanings. First, he is going to represent two future ministries.
So how does a second ministry fit in that reflects the original Elijah's spirit? We will come back to this problem.
One of these ministries is linked to a torn robe.
Caiaphas the high priest ended the Law when he tore his garment in anger as he condemned Christ.
EXODUS 28:2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.
Aaron was the high priest.
EXODUS 28:31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
: 32 And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon,
that it be not rent.
A habergeon is a strong shirt of armour that is made of chain mail which has small linked metal loops. The hole around the neck is strongly reinforced.
At the trial of Jesus before the high priest Caiaphas, the high priest was demonically angered and with demonic strength he tore this reinforced garment that he wore.
MATTHEW 26 : 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
: 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes,
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy;
By tearing his clothes in his insane anger, the high priest broke the Law.
Then God signified the end of the Law by tearing the temple veil in two when Jesus died.
MATTHEW 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
: 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
So Elisha draws attention to this moment when God departed from the Jews and their Temple worship.
Elisha had a double portion. He is going to represent two future ministries.
MATTHEW 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come,
and restore all things.
Paul and the apostles laid the foundation of the church. Most of this truth was lost in the Dark Ages. The truth was partially restored by the reformers like Luther, Wesley, and the Pentecostals. But an end-time prophet to the Gentiles is needed to restore the full Bible truth in the 7th age so that it fits exactly over the foundation that Paul laid.
Jesus can only Come when each Bride member can prove their beliefs from the revealed Scripture.
This man was William Branham. He had an exceptional ministry in the supernatural and revealed all the mysteries that the Bride needs to know in order to be restored back to the doctrines of the early church of the apostles. No Gentile has ever displayed a similar ministry of power. No Gentile has ever displayed a more powerful ministry as a double portion.
If William Branham restored all things, then there is nothing else for a successor to restore.
No successor to brother Branham can restore us back to Paul's teachings as that restoration was brother Branham's ministry as the end-time Elijah.
MATTHEW 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
But William Branham came before the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.
So how can his ministry apply to the time of great Tribulation?
In other words, what does Elisha’s double portion represent?
How can one portion represent the ministry of William Branham when the other portion represents the final prophet Elijah who comes with Moses to the Jews in the Tribulation?
The answer to this puzzle is that this final Jewish Elijah will learn the mysteries of God’s Word from William Branham’s teachings, and thus be able to convert the 144000 Jews to Christ. He will also have colossal supernatural power in order to withstand the armies of the final Pope.
Elisha is used by God to act out or represent the ministry of the final Jewish Elijah who brings the 144000 Jews to the New Testament Gospel. But this man needs to learn the mysteries of the Bible that were revealed to William Branham. Thus the ministry of William Branham unavoidably blends into the ministry of the final Jewish Elijah.
So Elisha, with his double portion, is going to act out or set the pattern or blueprint for the two Elijah ministries that first anointed William Branham to guide the end-time Bride back to the revealed Scriptures, and then secondly will anoint the final Jewish prophet who comes with Moses to guide the 144000 Jews.
The double portion means the truth gets restored twice.
First, the final Gentile Bride through the teachings of William Branham, before great Tribulation time, is restored back to the teachings of the first church age apostles. Then the second restoration is when these end-time truths are taken during great Tribulation time by Elijah to the Jews so that the 144000 can be born again and restored to their Messiah, Jesus, Who the Jews had before they rejected Him.
A double portion also means that William Branham and the Jewish Elijah both have exceptionally powerful ministries. Their ministries excelled both in the power of the Spirit and in the revelation of the Truth.
So let us follow the history of Elisha.
If we assume that Elijah going to Heaven was symbolic of the true church being caught up to meet the Lord in the air, then at this stage of his ministry, just after the catching up, Elisha was setting the pattern for the ministry of the Jewish Elijah prophet.
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;
The mantle is a covering. We are covered by God's anointed Word. The Word that was finally understood by the revealed mysteries.
The anointed Word that was revealed by brother Branham gets picked up by the Jewish prophet Elijah who has to cross back over the river to get back into the Promised Land. That represents him when he comes to the Jews of today who have returned to Israel to await their prophets.
:14 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.
The Jewish prophets Moses and Elijah will retrace the doctrinal steps of William Branham as he revealed Jesus walking through the pages of the Bible.
Look what Moses says about the Godhead when he preaches in the Tribulation.
REVELATION 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
: 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?
for thou only art holy
The song of the Lamb declares Jesus to be Lord God Almighty. Only the Lamb is holy.
If there are two other Persons in the Godhead, then neither of them are holy. Thus Moses does not preach a Trinity.
Jericho has good waters restored
II KINGS 2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
II KINGS 2:19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.
Jericho was Joshua’s first major conquest. The strong walls (symbolizing pagan beliefs) came tumbling down.
Elisha, representing the last Jewish prophet Elijah, starts here as his preaching of Christ will knock down the strong “walls” of Jewish tradition.
“Jericho” means “his sweet smell”. The death of Christ was a sweet-smelling savour or perfume in the nostrils of God. The Jewish prophets will bring the Jews back to Calvary.
EPHESIANS 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
The Jews accept their new prophet. But the doctrinal beliefs of the Jews are barren as they have no Messiah to save them. There is no water of life in Jewish traditions.
II KINGS 2:20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
Salt preserves and stops decay. Salt makes us thirsty. This is symbolic of Christ.
:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters,
and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
:22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
The spring or source of the Jewish waters of doctrine is the Old Testament.
Jewish ritual and tradition has killed the life of the Old Testament.
The prophet throws Christ, symbolized by salt, into the Old Testament and teaches the Jews how all the Law and the prophets were fulfilled in Christ, Who thereby becomes their Messiah and thus can save them.
Knowing Christ puts life and meaning into the Old Testament.
42 little children cursed
II KINGS 2:23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
: 24 And he turned back, and looked on them,
and cursed them in the name of the LORD.
0And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
Bethel means the house of God. You cannot get into the house of God unless you are saved by the Blood of Jesus.
Bethel represented salvation, the first step of the reformation under Luther as the church came out of the Dark Ages.
Our Gentile Elijah, brother Branham, was to turn the children at the end time back to the apostolic fathers of the early church who wrote the New Testament.
MALACHI 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
A curse lingers. This is the radiation from nuclear bombs and missiles that will fall in the 3.5 years of Great Tribulation.
Those who mess up what brother Branham preached will end up in great Tribulation and face God’s curse.
These little children who came forth were the saved Gentiles, called the foolish virgins, who rejected or ignored or distorted or mocked William Branham’s message. They thus got left behind and are so upset at not being caught up, despite being good, saved church members, that they now mock the Jewish Elijah who also was not caught up to Heaven.
The bald-headed eagle is America’s national symbol and since the final Gentile prophet (or eagle) came from America with the piercing eyesight that gave him deep insight into the mysteries of Scripture, a bald-headed eagle is also a symbol of the American prophet William Branham. Brother Branham would have been resurrected up and then caught up to Heaven to meet the Lord in the air.
“Bald” here is an ancient English word that means white. The eagle is brown with a white head. So the little children who are right at the end-time, mock him as a prophet. They implied that if he was also a bald-headed eagle (or prophet), why did he not go up like Elijah (our brother Branham)?
But bald also means blunt or brutal as in the sentence “a bald answer has no diplomacy, just blunt truth”.
The little children, the saved foolish or fooled virgins right at the end of the church ages, had mocked or distorted brother Branham’s message by being unable to gain a revelation of the written Word. They substituted quotes for Scripture and missed the rapture. Now they think they can also mock the Jewish Elijah. But they had forgotten that they were now in great Tribulation where there is no Holy Spirit for the Gentiles, only for the Jews. So Elisha, as the Jewish Elijah, gives them a “bald” answer, blunt and brutal.
“You foolish virgins mocked and ignored your Gentile prophet. Christ has moved away from the Gentiles to the Jews. Thus there is no more mercy for you Gentiles. You are all cursed by God to die for your faith in great Tribulation. So die.”
God turned from the Jews to the Gentiles 2000 years ago. After that, the Jews had to die for their faith. So when God turns from the Gentiles to the Jews in great Tribulation, then the saved Gentiles who miss the rapture by being unable to understand the revealed Bible verses will also have to die to purge their faith from human opinions.
REVELATION 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause
that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
All the saved Christians who could not understand the Bible mysteries will miss the rapture and go into great Tribulation and will be killed.
The number of children is forty-two. This is a clue that links this event to the 42 months of Great Tribulation.
REVELATION 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city
shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Russia has a bear for its national symbol.
The Medes and Persians whose empire stretched from Turkey to Afghanistan (today we call them Muslims) were also symbolized by a bear in Daniel’s prophecy.
Two she bears.
A woman symbolizes a church or religious group.
The Orthodox Russians and Muslims are very religious but have some wrong beliefs. Muslims are devoted to their hatred of Israel and America. We serve God in love, not by hate.
The children in Great Tribulation represent saved denominational Christians who reject the revealed truths of the Bible and the saved Message believers who splice quotes together from various messages instead of taking the quotes back to Scripture. Thus the Message believers end up believing things that the first church age Christians never believed.
(“Denomination” and “Message believer” are both unScriptural terms that will save no one. The early church were called Christians. We must follow their example. The word “pastor” is only mentioned once in the New Testament which gives him no authority to dominate the church nor gives him any authority to claim to be the head of the church.)
Because today’s church groups had a chance to learn the truth but rejected the idea of proving the truth from Scripture, they will be torn to pieces in great Tribulation. This will be done by the very religious Russian and Muslim people who suddenly wake up to the fact that they have been fooled by their religious leaders. They will wake up to the fact that they are thus lost.
They will be furious towards those sleeping virgins who had a chance to learn and teach the Bible truth but threw their chance away by their obsessive interpretations of quotes.
The Russians and Muslims are so wrapped up in their enforced beliefs that they have very little chance of finding truth today. They will hate the foolish virgins who could have had the truth. This was an opportunity that the Orthodox Russians and Muslims never had.
Reflected morning sunrays looked red like blood
II KINGS 2:25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
Mount Carmel is where Elijah brought down fire from the sky and then slew 450 prophets of Baal. So this signifies that great Tribulation is occurring and God’s supernatural power will be manifest in the brutal battle between the two prophets and the final Pope. Many false believers will be slain as the Jewish Elijah wields the sword of God’s Word.
Then when the king of Moab came to attack, Elisha made them dig ditches that were supernaturally filled with water. The water reflected the red rays of the morning sun and looked like a blood-stained battlefield. Believing that the Jews had been slaughtered the Moabites rushed to loot their camp like a disordered mob and the disciplined Jews rose up and slaughtered the Moabites.
The weakness of religious believers is their lust for money and greed for gain. Giving money to a greedy person is like putting dry wood on the fire. It just makes the fire burn more intensely.
This illustrates the use of clever tactics helped by supernatural intervention whereby the Jewish Elijah will help to protect the Jews from the armies of the final Pope.
Then the type of miracle changes.
The previous miracles describe well the activities of the final Jewish prophet Elijah in great Tribulation.
The next few miracles can represent both the ministries of both William Branham and the final Jewish Elijah. This means that the Jewish Elijah will learn much truth from William Branham’s teachings which he will use to get the Jews to become born again.
The oil multiplies and dead son raised to life
Multiplying oil symbolizes the increase of the Holy Spirit during the restoration of truth in the last three church ages
Elisha then helped a widow woman by multiplying her oil to fill many containers.
This indicates how the Jewish Elijah will restore the Holy Spirit to the Jews.
The Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth, just as the Spirit guided the Bride into all truth.
Brother Branham revealed the intense power of the Holy Spirit including the discernment of people's thoughts.
Then he produced more of the Holy Spirit by revealing the Truth of the Bible mysteries.
JOHN 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
Elisha then prophesied that a barren woman would have a son and when the son later died, he was able to restore the child back to life.
This indicates that the Jewish Elijah will bring eternal life to the Jews so that they will be born again.
This duplicates the effect that brother Branham had on the Gentile Bride.
Miracle with meal that removes poison
II KINGS 4:38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.
: 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.
: 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God,
there is death in the pot.
And they could not eat thereof.
The clueless Jews found a wild vine that represents a doctrine that grows wild outside the Bible. Anything outside the Bible brings death.
So the Jews in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation, just like today's Gentiles in the churches, have endless traditions that are not in the Bible.
This can only destroy them.
"Senior pastor", "Trinity", "Easter eggs", "Easter rabbits", "Archbishop", "Cardinal", "Pope", "Lent", "Ash Wednesday", "Rosary", "Sign of the cross" -- The list of unscriptural human ideas grows and mutates like viruses. These ideas are "wild" as they are not written in Scripture.
II KINGS 4:41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.
Christ is the Bread of life. Bread is made from meal.
So putting meal into the pot means that he brings them to Christ, and throws Christ into all their interpretations of Scripture. He will show them how the Scriptures were fulfilled in Christ.
Exactly the same happened to us Gentiles when brother Branham showed us Jesus walking through the pages of the Bible so that we could understand what the Bible means. When you make Christ the focus of your life and the focus of the Bible, then there is no harm in the spiritual food that you eat. So the Jewish Elijah brings the Jews back to the same doctrines that the Bride believes.
20 loaves multiplied
Elisha then had 20 loaves and some mealies or corn. He multiplied this food to feed 100 men. His supernatural power was thus feeding and protecting the Jews.
The only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the feeding of the 5000. Later Matthew records that He also fed 4000. When Jesus fed bread and meat (which symbolize doctrine) to the 5000, there were 12 baskets of fragments left over.
When He fed the 4000 there were 7 baskets of fragments left over. This signified that the 12 tribes of Israel would get the same food that was given to the church to get them through the 7 church ages. The Bride and the 144000 Jews end up believing the same thing.
A Gentile washes 7 times in Jordan to cure leprosy
Naaman the Syrian (a Gentile) had leprosy and this Gentile had to dip in the waters of Jordan seven times to get cured.
This indicates the seven church ages where the Gentiles were washed in the waters of the Word in order to be cured and cleansed from sin.
This miracle makes it clear that the Jewish Elijah is bringing the same Gospel to the Jews that William Branham brought to the Gentiles.
Brother Branham revealed the mysteries of the 7 Gentile church ages and the revelation of the 7 Seals. Thus he finally revealed the fullness of the Word that is needed by the Gentiles to cleanse away our unbelief so that we can be prepared for the Second Coming of the Lord.
Elisha's servant Gehazi then tricked Naaman into handing over money to him. This was money which Elisha had refused to accept.
The tragedy here is that William Branham’s helpers, like Gehazi, get greedy for money and lose out. Gehazi ended up with leprosy. Many of brother Branham's followers have made much money out of his message. In the process, they have split the message into numerous competing factions.
Brother Branham refused big donations of money. Today, a big donation is regarded as a blessing by brother Branham's so-called successor. Unfortunately, there are a number of these successors. But they all believe differently.
The mystery of Elisha’s double portion is that he acts out the ministries of the TWO Elijahs who will follow him.
His ministry reflects the oil (the Spirit) and bread (the truth) that brings life to the barren and revives the dead which are all characteristic of Gentile beliefs as restored by William Branham. In addition, even when little spiritual bread is available God can spread it around to many people. So, unrecognized people with few means, have a much bigger impact on truth than big centralized church systems.
When error interprets the Bible to cause spiritual death, then making Christ the focus of the verses brings life.
Restoring the mysteries that were lost during the seven church ages became the main focus of the ministry of William Branham.
This group of miracles indicates that the Jewish Elijah will bring the doctrines of William Branham to the Jews.
The floating axehead
The miracle of the floating axe head also applies to both the ministries of William Branham and the Jewish Elijah. But it also starts to turn attention specifically to the Jewish Elijah. The miracles that follow this are specifically for the Jewish Elijah, once he has brought the 144000 Jews to know the revealed truths of the Bible.
II KINGS 6: 1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
The prophet’s followers have a lack of dedication and crave comfort and worldliness. They are especially devoted to wealth.
"Too many rules, too strict", is their continual complaint.
An elastic conscience breeds out in today’s "Churchianity".
“Christian” is not good enough. We want to be called “Message believers” even though this is an unscriptural label.
“Who is your pastor?” is a question that was never asked in the Bible. But we regard this as being vital. So we are out of tune with Scripture.
“The pastor is the head of the church” is a completely unscriptural statement. So having a pastor as the boss of the church is very unscriptural.
“A shepherd is the pastor” is also an unscriptural statement.
The church systems that we desperately want to belong to because they suit us, just do not fit into Bible verses the way that they are written.
We can’t even find 25 December or Christmas day in the Bible. The Bible mentions a decorated tree in Jeremiah Chapter 10, but calls it a heathen practice that we should not follow.
There is also no Good Friday nor Easter Monday in the Bible.
No Christmas tree? But "Church lovers" have done this for years.
Even though the Bible never asks us to celebrate Christ's birth.
Birthdays are mentioned twice, concerning Pharaoh and Herod. Both were murderers. Which one of these two role models do you follow?
So trying to stay strictly Scriptural is just too confining.
"Church-lovers" need to break away from the Bible in their beliefs and customs.
They need wiggle-room to do things their way. They need "wild" unscriptural ideas.
This is how modern-day Christians reason with their obsession to justify their own opinions.
"It is written ..." is no longer the important issue.
They prefer to say, "I have a quote".
So the key issue is that the church is being separated from the Bible.
The Word of God, Jesus, stands outside the church of the Laodiceans. Notice, the Laodiceans make up their own version of what they think the church is.
MATTHEW 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
II KINGS 6: 2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
: 3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
: 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
So the followers keep trying to get the prophet to say and do what they wanted to be said and done. Not what the Bible says.
: 5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
A borrowed axe. It was someone else's.
People have no beliefs of their own anymore.
They parrot the quotes that they have borrowed from someone else.
Love of money made this man scared to spend his own money on what he needed.
So he borrowed from someone else.
Christians today no longer stand on Scripture.
They have a borrowed faith based on other people's opinions.
Message believers borrow misinterpreted quotes from other people to justify their speculations that are far removed from Scripture.
Christ is the head of the church. Not brother Branham.
This event symbolizes the final separation between Christ (the axe Head) and the church of the Laodiceans (the handle).
Following their own will and their love of clever speculations, the church lost Christ Who now stands outside the church.
Losing the head of the axe made it useless as there was no cutting edge.
Christians are scared to expose sin.
They never speak out against specific sins as they try hard to be popular.
They never oppose the church's errors as it will cost them financially and they will lose the people’s praise that they crave.
The people in the church are terrified of opposing the pastor.
John the Baptist called the Jewish religious leaders a bunch of snakes.
Message believers are too frightened to admit that their leaders, the pastors, could be wrong.
John the Baptist had a sharp axe. He condemned the religious leaders.
Today we only have a handle that is useless because it cannot cut. People are scared to oppose the pastor.
So Message believers look busy but are making no progress. They grow in numbers but not in their understanding of Scripture. They make an impressive show that is minus any reality. Everything is spiritualized, except tithes.
Their feverish activity to produce their own will deadens their sense of non-usefulness as they move out of God’s will.
John the Baptist laid the axe to the root of the tree. He got to the root of the problem.
He told people exactly what they were doing wrong. His axe could cut and hurt. But in the process, he hewed many people out of their sin. When he preached he left them sore and shaken, but also repentant.
He blasted their inability to be Scriptural.
MATTHEW 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of the First Coming. He pointed people to Jesus as a Man.
William Branham was the forerunner of the Second Coming. He pointed people to Jesus as being the Word of God.
He wanted us to prove our beliefs from Scripture.
He blasted our unscriptural church beliefs which indicated that the church (the handle) was no longer joined to the axe head (the Word) which was buried out of sight in the waters of church doctrine, traditions, and opinions.
The handle on its own is of no use. Everything in the church that cannot be proven from Scripture is of no use.
Brother Branham revealed the hidden mysteries of God and Jesus Christ came back up into view as we could see Him walking inside the pages of the Bible.
But when he left the scene then message-preachers twisted up his quotes and developed a new set of unscriptural ideas around a supernatural cloud that was photographed at 43 kilometres height in 1963. They ignored the fact that it stayed at that height for the 28 minutes that it was visible. Then in their muddled thinking, they claimed that the cloud was the mighty Angel of Revelation Chapter 10 coming down to earth.
But brother Branham said that this Angel comes down to raise the dead
64-0119 SHALOM
When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you'll rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you'll go in.
The dead never raised that day.
So, once again what the church believes is no longer based on the Bible. The handle has lost the axe head.
Once again the church is walking in beliefs that are outside the pages of the Bible.
Message believers claim to know the new Name of Jesus. But the Bible says that no man knows this Name.
REVELATION 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns;
and he had a name written, that no man knew,
but he himself.
This is the choice you face. You can only be "in the Message" (an unscriptural term) if you know the new name and thus contradict the Bible that says no man knows the new name.
Brother Branham kept pointing us back to Scripture.
63-1110 HE THAT IS IN YOU
Believe all the Message. Believe That. If it isn't written in the Bible, then don't you believe it.
II KINGS 6: 6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
: 7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Why did a true prophet perform this great miracle of restoring the axe head back to its handle?
Because this symbolized his ministry of restoration.
Brother Branham was getting the end-time Bride to go back to the axe-Head of the first church age Scriptures that cut Christianity out of Judaism and paganism.
The 144000 Jews will be restored to their axe-Head Jesus, the Messiah that the Jews once had and then rejected.
Why could the axe head float?
Jesus is a Man and He is the Word.
Jesus is the only One who can walk on water, just like the floating axe head.
Jesus is the axe-Head who cuts sin out of our lives without fear or favour.
Jesus tells the truth the way it is, not the way that we want to hear it.
He tells us to focus on "it is written...." and not to follow human leaders when they deviate from the Bible and rely on saying, "I have a quote".
The handle attached to the axe head symbolizes a person who stays inside the written Bible. So the only one fit to wield the axe on that day was the prophet, Elisha. When a prophet holds the axe, he uses the cutting edge.
He will “give the people stick” by rebuking their real sins and ignorance of the Bible.
The hard rebuke of a prophet is needed to get the truth to stick in people’s minds.
That is why the axe head floated up to join his stick.
So the cutting edge of the Word (the axe head) walks on the water of the Word to get to the prophet who is not scared to handle the axe by staying Scriptural.
PSALM 38:1 A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
: 2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
Hard truth sticks in our minds. Preachers prefer to soothe their congregations and keep them in the dark about the real truth. That is why church members know so little about the Bible these days.
Preachers today desperately desire to be popular and thus avoid any unpleasant truths that contradict what people want to believe.
Jesus, the axe-Head, walked on water to get to His disciples as they would later cut the early church out of paganism and Jewish tradition.
The disciples Peter and John were also great prophets. Peter walked on the water towards Jesus like the handle joining up with the axe-Head.
He was only successful while he moved closer to the Word (Jesus) and
kept his eyes on Jesus, not on other people's opinions or his circumstances.
JOB 9:8 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
Only God can walk on water.
Water speaks of doctrine.
EPHESIANS 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
The Word of God can cut, but today compromising preachers bury the hard truths under the water where they cannot be seen, and thus they produce mediocre, blind “church lovers” who complacently indulge in their self-interests.
When a prophet appears, only then does the axe head swim to the top as he alone has the courage to cut away at their sins and unbelief, without worrying about who is offended.
During the 3.5 years of great Tribulation, God intends to unite all the 12 tribes of Israel so that they will be one kingdom in the Millennium,
not the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah that they were.
God symbolized this to the prophet Ezekiel by joining two sticks together to make them one stick.
EZEKIEL 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
: 17 And join them one to another into one stick;
and they shall become one in thine hand.
In the hand of the prophet Ezekiel, Judah and Israel became one. This was a future prediction of Elijah, the final Jewish prophet, who will have the ability to unite the 12 tribes in great Tribulation.
The prophet Elisha threw one stick onto the water. This was symbolizing the ministry of the Jewish Elijah in great Tribulation who will unite the twelve tribes of Israel thanks to his phenomenal supernatural power whereby he breaks the laws of nature. He unites the Jews into one nation to present them to their axe Head, Jesus.
REVELATION 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
The waters also represent the restless multitudes of people.
So when a storm of savage nations is unleashed like a tidal wave against Israel by the final Pope in great Tribulation and all hope seems lost,
then the “axe-Head” Jesus comes walking on that same water
showing that He is above them and has supreme control over even the most ferocious of His enemies.
The Lord’s visible presence will be the Jewish prophet Elijah who will perform supernatural miracles to save Israel. With the 12 tribes united by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will then in bodily form “walk upon” the raging torrents of opposition as many antichrists stir up the hordes to surround Israel. His return to the united Jews will be the spiritual climax of the time of great Tribulation when He reveals Himself physically to the 144000 who have been born again unto eternal Life.
In the beginning, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. Right at the end, the 144000 will see Jesus, Moses, and Elijah together again. That will complete God’s plan.
What about the particular son of a prophet who lost the axe head? What does that represent?
He was careless. He was doing a job that he was not competent to do.
Inspired by his own will and a desire for a more comfortable lifestyle, he had moved away from God’s will and even got the prophet, Elisha, to agree to his folly. Such is the influence of us humans when we take our eyes off the Word of God.
The other preachers of Elisha’s day, just like today, were compromisers who thought of women (churches liking them and inviting them back), money, and fame. They wallowed in wealth and a comfortable and easier lifestyle. They were anxious to belong to the group and gain recognition for being clever. They sought their own interests and chased the written Word out of their churches so that the church could remain complacently asleep.
A church with no desire to understand Scripture has developed now that the human emphasis is on splicing quotes and opinions.
Jesus is outside the church of the Laodiceans -- the axe-Head has left the handle.
So there will be two restorations (a double portion).
William Branham will restore the last age Bride back to the teachings of the first church age who focused on Christ as the Word.
When the Jewish Elijah takes these same doctrines to the
Jews then they will be restored to Christ Who is the Messiah that the Jews once had but rejected.
Thus this last group of miracles actually makes Elisha a preview of the ministry of William Branham, the Gentile Elijah.
The church needed his revelations of the Bible to prepare for the Rapture or the catching up to Heaven. Then the Jewish Elijah also needs brother Branham’s revelations to turn the Jews back to the Christian Gospel. The Jewish prophet will be so busy opening the sixth Seal and coping with the seven Trumpets and seven Vial mysteries plus facing the full wrath of the final beast Pope that he will not have years, like brother Branham had, to uncover all these mysteries by himself. Seeing that they are now revealed and known, he can simply learn them off the Internet. He is probably busy doing that at the moment.
The first few miracles with the salt, the two bears, and the destruction of the Moabite army make Elisha a preview of the ministry of the final Jewish Elijah. The one stick that raised the axe head represents the united 12 tribes of Israel in great Tribulation and brings the focus back to the Jews and their great final prophet Elijah.
Knowing the plans of the enemy
Once the Jews have returned to the Gospel of the true church who are the wise virgins, then the final three miracles of Elisha focus on the sheer difficulty with which the 144000 Jews survive the final Pope and his attacking armies during great Tribulation time.
II KINGS 6:8 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.
: 9 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.
: 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there,
not once nor twice.
[in other words, many times]
: 11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?
: 12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
The final Jewish Elijah will be told all of the antichrist’s battle plans in advance and he will be able to outwit the enemy.
Then follows the tactic of supernaturally blinding the enemy and leading them around to the wrong places.
II KINGS 6:18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
: 19 And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
So the final Jewish Elijah will be able to blind the enemy and mislead them on a wild goose chase.
The last church of the Laodiceans is also described as blind. They will be led to their destruction in great Tribulation by their leaders.
Loud noises scared the Syrians
The final miracle was when the enemy besieged the city of Samaria.
II KINGS 6:24 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
II KINGS 7:6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
: 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
God made the enemy hear the noise of a great military host that completely scared them and they ran away.
Supernaturally scaring them and undermining their morale was another tactic in Elisha’s amazing repertoire.
So the final Jewish Elijah will have many supernatural techniques to keep the enemy at bay so that 144000 born-again Jews can survive to meet their Messiah, just like when Joseph met his brothers in Egypt.