Isaiah 61: The Jubilee Calling: Chapter 3: Rights of the Firstborn

Isaiah 61:7 says,

⁷ Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore, they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs.

The sons of God are treated as firstborn sons who inherit the double portion, as mentioned in Deut. 21:17, “giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength.” The firstborn son was responsible to care for his parents and to manage the estate. Though other sons were also inheritors, they received only a single portion of the inheritance.

This also has spiritual implications, for we read in 2 Kings 2:9 that Elisha asked for (and received) a double portion of the Spirit of Elijah.

⁹ When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

Hence, whereas Elijah was given a single portion as a son of God, Elisha was given a double portion as a firstborn son of God. This shows that Elisha had a greater ministry than did Elijah, though Elijah was singled out later as the main representative of the prophets (Mal. 4:4, 5; Matt. 17:3). The portion of Elijah empowered him to begin the work, but it took the double portion of Elisha to complete it.

The Law of First Fruits

Prophetically speaking, John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ in His first coming; but the sons of God today come in the spirit and power of Elisha to prepare the way for Christ’s second coming. The second coming brings about the manifestation of the firstborn sons of God.

These are also identified as the first fruits of a harvest (Lev. 23:10). The spiritual law prophesies that those who are presented to God on the eighth day of Tabernacles are the first fruits of creation (James 1:18). Their presentation to God sanctifies a greater harvest yet to come. In Rom. 11:16 Paul explains it this way:

¹⁶ If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.

When the first fruits are presented to God, it is not the end but the beginning of a greater harvest, which continues until “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26) and God has shown “mercy to all” (Rom. 11:32). The whole creation eagerly awaits the manifestation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19, 23), because it then has hope (expectation) of inheriting its own (single) portion.

It is important to understand the law of first fruits and how it prophesies of the firstborn sons of God. Those who fail to study this truth tend to fall into the trap of thinking that the second coming of Christ will secure the first fruits and then burn up the rest of the field. The opposite is true. The first fruits sanctify the entire harvest of the field, and we know that “the field is the world” (Matt. 13:38). When the firstborn sons of God are presented, the entire world can expect to be restored to God as well at the end of the harvest season.

There is a special blessing given to the first fruits of creation. It is pictured as the double portion. But this does not mean that others are left with no inheritance. Instead, it means that the rest of humanity will certainly be begotten and birthed into the Kingdom at a later time.

Two Kinds of First Fruits

The same principle applies also in the relationship between Christ and the overcomers. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:20-23,

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. ²¹ For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive, ²³ but each in his own order…

Christ is the First fruits of all who are “asleep.” We know that “all die,” and so Christ’s own resurrection secured the resurrection of all who have died. Hence, “all will be made alive, but each in his own order.” Adam brought death to all; Christ brings all to life.

On a secondary level, when speaking of the relationship between believers and unbelievers, James 1:18 tells us that “we” too are “first fruits among His creatures.” John speaks of “the first resurrection” that leaves others in the grave until a later time (Rev. 20:5). Those who are given life in this “first resurrection” are also the first fruits of creation on another level.

Once again, the first fruits principle holds true. The salvation of these believers does not signal the doom of everyone else. Instead, it signals the salvation of “the rest of the dead” (Rev. 20:5), which is said to occur a thousand years later at the general resurrection. There, every knee will bow, and every tongue will “swear allegiance” to Christ (Isaiah 45:23).

Isaiah 61:7 tells us that the Son of God and the sons of God will be given a double portion. Isaiah 61:1, 2 speaks of Christ Himself, but then the prophet speaks of “the priests of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:6). He moves from the singular to the plural, where the one Man, Christ, suddenly becomes the Head of a larger body who are co-heirs with Him. Rom. 8:16, 17 says,

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, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

We will never be Christ Himself, nor could we ever replace Him as our Head, for we will never be able to suffer as He did on the cross or take upon ourselves the sin of the world. Nonetheless, we are called to “suffer with Him” in a lesser sense, having crucified the old man of flesh, that is, “our old self” (Rom. 6:6).

Hence, in relation to Christ, He received the double portion and we received single portions. But relative to the rest of the world, we are the first fruits of creation who are also given double that which the rest of creation will receive in its own time. While all will be saved in the end, those who believe in Him with Abrahamic faith in their lifetime will receive the greater blessing of the double portion according to the law of first fruits.

In other words, we do not all receive the same reward. Though all will receive immortal life, only a few will receive it at the first resurrection. More will receive immortality at the general resurrection (John 5:28, 29), and the rest of humanity will receive life at the Creation Jubilee at the end of time. “Each in his own order,” Paul says.

From Humiliation to Joy

Isaiah writes about these things by using a typical parallelism, which restates a truth in a slightly different way. Compare these two statements in Isaiah 61:7,

“Instead of your shame you will have a double portion.”

“Instead of humiliation, they will shout for joy over their portion.”

We see how “shame” compares to “humiliation,” and having a double portion is the equivalent of shouting for joy.

During the time of exile, which is the great tribulation of prophecy, God has used the beast empires to humble the saints, to persecute them, and even to overpower them (Dan. 7:21). Such is the nature of the shame and humiliation that the sons of God have been required to endure to test their faith. But at the end of this long, historic tribulation was to come the time of restoration, “when the saints took possession of the Kingdom” (Dan. 7:22).

This is their time of “joy.” This is when they are given the double portion as their reward. We currently have this as a promise, and we see evidence of this in our daily life, but we must wait patiently to receive the full inheritance.

Recognition

Isaiah 61:8, 9 says,

⁸ For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; and I will faithfully give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them. ⁹ Then their offspring will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.

The first part of verse 8 seems out of place, but it is not. God loves justice and hates robbery. He hates it when men and governments take or confiscate men’s property by force. The prophet puts this in the context of “the burnt offering,” which seems out of place until we learn the spiritual principle behind it.

Burnt offerings were to be completely burned up as “the sin offering for the assembly” (Lev. 4:21). If a priest were to save part of it for his own supper, he was guilty of robbery. The spiritual law is seen in the fact that Jesus was crucified outside the camp in the place where the ashes of the red heifer (which was one type of burnt offering) were stored. Christ fulfilled all the laws of sacrifice.

In Rom. 12:1 we are to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” The burnt offering signifies the complete burning of all flesh as we crucify “our old self” (Rom. 6:6) and its flesh. We are to spare nothing of the flesh to satisfy the desire of the old man. If we save some portion of the burnt offering, we are committing injustice and robbery.

The sons of God are to be given their “recompense” through the New Covenant that was ratified by Jesus Christ. Through this covenant, the firstborn sons of God will be recognized and “known among the nations.” In a legal context, this should be compared to the manner in which nations “recognize” other nations (diplomatically).

Though nations may exist, other nations may not formally “recognize” their existence as nations. So is it with the sons of God, who are heirs being trained to “reign with Him” (Rev. 20:6) as “priests of God.” We who believe the Scriptures recognize the calling of these sons of God, but the world does not. The world recognizes its own rulers. Yet the day is coming, says the prophet, that “their offspring will be known among the nations.” This will happen, I believe, when the sons of God are manifested after being presented to the Father as first fruits on the eighth day of Tabernacles.

When the sons of God are presented to God and are recognized by Him as sons, they will then be manifested to the people on the earth, who will see how God has blessed them. Whole nations will then recognize the sons of God as the legitimate heirs of the world, fellow heirs with Christ.

That will begin a whole new era, as the Spirit is poured out on a level greater than ever seen in previous history.