Preface:
This study was put forward to make associations between the incidence of "twos" in scripture. This could easily have stretched into many pages more it is not my intention to "spoon feed" or draw every conclusion that could have been drawn.
I assume that most are very familiar with the Word…and more importantly led by the Holy Spirit, not ego or by nefarious reasoning. I do not apologize for such an approach. Those who can, will understand and will come to truthful supernatural conclusions.
SECTION I
"Two" is not always division, and here are several examples that illustrate this, but there’s a lot more to the "twos".
Gen 1:16: And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also.
A division is seen here, but oneness of intent is evident. This is not contention. The separate characteristics of one complete the other for God’s plan.
Gen 29:16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
We know of the tensions between these two yet their offspring would live as one nation. And of course, they were from the same womb.
Ruth 4:11 And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
Note: Leah and Rachel BUILT the house of Israel; Two in agreement, not division.
Gen 32:10 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
Separated, but the same family (Jacob’s) they walked as two. Purpose is singular, but note the plurality of the groups.
Gen 41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Two born before the "years of the famine". When were the elect justified (born)? And what famine is here (and ever increasing?) I see Amos 8:11.
Gen 42:37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee.
Again the implication of twoness as necessary for a sacrifice to be COMPLETE.
Exod 28:9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:
10 Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth.
11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold.
12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.
Notice, 6 the number of ‘man’. These 2 stones together are 12 names they were meant to act as one in unison. Set on the SAME man, though they be on separate shoulders. Can a man be divided? Notice something interesting about that onyx? R. Capt’s book "The Gem Stones in the Breastplate" picks up on it nicely. On pg. 30: "Onyx is found both banded and variegated and can be cut so as to present the nature of TWO DIFFERENT stones."
SECTION 1-a
Look closely at these rituals: lot more than meets the eye
Gen 27:9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
Notice 2 goats. Recall the "sacrifices" written of in other books. Consecration, atonement, FAVOR. Burnt offerings and sin offerings are given in "twos". See below. A type of what was to come.
Exod 29:38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.
The 2 lambs were of the same age; used to cleanse the temple. One at morning, one at dusk. Read too, the preparation of these lambs... 1/10th of deal of flour for EACH lamb. Does this ring a bell? Read Lev. 23:13 This is the first occurrence of the expression, "two tenths deal". This expression is used in connection with sacrifices, (Lev 24:5, etc.) where it is burned. The EXCEPTION is in Lev. 23:17, where those two tenth deals were baked WITH leaven, i.e. wave loavess. Of course we know that leaven was not to be burned as is written in Lev 2:11, rather, to be consumed by the offerer, the High Priest (see note on Amos 4:5), also:
Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Leaven is not to consumed in the fire. Why? Because it is the FIRSTFRUITS of the Lord. Wonder who that firstfruit is? Christ, of course. Wonder what the elect are called in the NT? Hmmm... Wonder why Daniel’s friends weren’t consumed? Think about it.
Lev 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. (KJV)
There they are, those two lambs right along with those two tenth deals. For whom are they holy? "For the priest". What priest(s) were charged with this? The High priests, i.e. ZADOK.
Lev 5:7 And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
A continual consecration (smoke billowing up to Yah), in tandem with the sin offering. Our Lord, being the perfect temple, embodied both these as THE Lamb of God. One lamb without the other would have been incomplete. Other animals (Lev 5:7; Lev 16:5) were used in substitution (for an individual trespass, or for a family), but the concept is the same.
This makes for another study, but I want for you to think about these pairs in terms of "two witnesses". "In the mouth of two witnesses", the two-edged sword of the Living Word and the Written Word. There is a dark side to this as well. We’ll examine that later. Let’s look at further examples of "completeness and agreement":
SECTION I-b
Exod 31:18 And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Two tablets, sameness in message and purpose.
Exod 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
Why two? There were two ends, just as there is a beginning and end, just as our Lord is Alpha and Omega, but what else?
I King 6:2 And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.
Well, well...two cherubims, made of OLIVE trees, and each, TEN cubits high. There’s that "ten" again, like before in the sacrifices, and we know what this makes: "2 tens" like in the wave loaf. 2/10ths = 20. "Ten"means ordinal perfection. Double that, and here we are again. A DOUBLE portion.
Deut 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Now, we’re getting down to where the rubber meets the road. The accuracy of the first witness is contingent upon the 2nd. God makes it clear that He has left us a witness in agreement with Him. This is a matter of life and death.
Josh 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho.
This is prophetic. Joshua is the ‘type’ of our Lord, and who is he sending? TWO spys, not one. Two from Shittim (not to be confused with chittim bruisers). Shittim means "thorny" referring to the acacias trees. These trees were used in the building of the tabernacle. WHO constitutes that tabernacle? You know. Those two "spies"; those who WITNESSED the land and returned to give a report.
Judg 3:16 But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
Reckon he needed those two edges to finish the job! The significance of the two edges? The Living Word and the Written Word. Notice, he carried it upon his RIGHT thigh. The "fatness" (dullness to hear the Word) should not escape you either. Two edges as one. Can a sword be divided into its separate edges and STILL be a sword?
1 Sam 10:2 When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
3 Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine:
4 And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.
Long passage... Two men were found and gave their WITNESS to Saul , and three more were there. They gave Saul TWO loaves. Wonder what those loaves represent?
The sidenote from Bullinger's Companion Bible says that the three guys were most likely carrying their firstfruits. That means that the bread was leavened. To be eaten, not burned. Saul had to be purified, i.e. changed in heart, before assuming his final commission. He was one of Father’s anointed.
When we read I Sam 10:6 we see that after Saul gave up his offering to the High Priest he sat among the prophets. Absorb the truth of these two loaves. Wonder how many "tenths of deal" were contained in each loaf?
1 Sam 23:18 And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
It took two to "take". There are few greater loves recorded in the scripture than this one. Their souls were knit together in the same spiritual womb. A separateness of commission, but not of ultimate purpose. They served the same Lord. It must have ripped David’s heart out with an unimaginable anguish to have lost Jonathan in that battle, even while he was assuming the bittersweet joys of kingship. Yet we know the healing power of our God, and these two brothers are together now forever.
I King 3:16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
I King 3:25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
Two women, one house, one offspring. Remember who the two women were who BUILT the ONE house of Israel? They were in contention over what? Children, of course, and their husband. But the child cannot be divided, else it would die. Can the House of Israel be divided forever? NO! Judah and Ephraim will be together again. These "two" houses are really ONE in Christ.
I King 9:10 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house,
Interesting again. Twenty years. That’s two tens. Ordinal perfection popping up again. TWO houses. The Lord’s and the King’s. But aren’t they REALLY one house? Christ is both KING and the House of God wrapped up in one.
I King 18:32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
WOW! TWO measures of seed around the altar. Wonder who those TWO measures are, and what about those "stones"; WHO are they? Stones of the altar; seed spread around it; complete the thought...
II Ki 11:7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.
Hmmm... Sounds mighty familiar. Who keeps watch of the house of the LORD? These two parts. Note the plurality of this.
SECTION I-c
Now for the mother of all passages... Do you have eyes to see?
II Ki 2:7 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.
Elijah, phonetically, is the same for "olive oil" (Greek). Notice, Elijah, that "son of oil", is being asked to have a double portion of that oil poured out onto WHO? Elisha, which is to say: Eliyshuwaà from Strong's #410, "EL"and Strong's #7768, "sha’va". This "sha’va" can mean riches, but from the prime root it means to "shout" or to "cry aloud". LET’S see. Double portion of the OLIVE OIL. That’s TWO "shouting". Who shouts, folks? Look at this and then you can tell me:
Josh 6:10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, UNTIL THE DAY I bid you shout; then shall ye SHOUT.
Josh 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, SHOUT; for the LORD hath given you the city.
Notice, Josh 6:4, it said trumpet(s). And how many were there? Read it. 7 priests and 7 trumpets, on the 7th day. 777.
II Ki 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.
Was our Savior's garment rent? These two pieces of Elisha's were NOT two as in SEPERATE. They represented a DOUBLE portion. Two, here, does not imply SEPARATE, or two, or 1+1. It is DOUBLE. Same cloth, same purpose, same God. ONE body with a DOUBLE portion pouring itself (Two trees) into the same bowl "EL-AH-YAH"--that bowl which feeds the 7 lamps (churches) of Zechariah and Revelations.
AND WE SHOULD WELL REMEMBER THIS BECAUSE THIS IS FOR US.
Eccl 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
Are not the witnesses to help one another? Didn’t our LORD send His disciples out as TWOS? If one gets cold, the other can "warm" him up to revive him. Four arms and Four legs make EIGHT. Think about it. The two witnesses NEED one another.
SECTION II
More in the old testament, but this study is already lengthy! Time to check out the NT.....
Matt 4:18 through Matt 4:21... Here, Peter and Andrew/James and John were discovered as pairs and called as pairs.
Matt 21:1 There He goes again sending them out by twos...
Mark 6:7 And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits.
Mark 14:13 And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.
Matt 21:1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
.2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me.
You get the idea. Many more references to this...
Matt 11:2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.
John picked up on this idea, too..How ‘bout that!
Matt 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.
Matt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
Look at this power! Think about what we will be given when the apostasy is at its peak. It ought to make you humble.
Matt 20:30 And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David!
Matt 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
Notice, they followed Him... Haven’t we cried out for sight? Yet, there were those two popping up again!
Matt 22:38 This is the first and great commandment...
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.
Is there anything more important? If any need know the LAW, here it is! Two. These are inviolate and inseparable. You know the first commandment by heart.
Mark 16:12 After that He appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
Remember Emmaus? Did not their hearts BURN within them? They were WITNESSES to Him…
Luke 5:2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
Our Lord instructed Peter to lower the nets into the water, over Peter’s protestations, as the catch had earlier been poor.
Luke 5:7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken
My goodness! TWO ships. How interesting. Taking up fish... Didn’t our Lord say, "I will make you fishers of men"? Wonder WHO these TWO could be? How many disciples were there? More than two, but they were each in TWO boats.
Luke 24:4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
John 20:12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
Two angels. Good news this time. The King had risen. Two more witnesses. Notice, head and feet, top and bottom, one end to the other,.like the cherubim on the mercy seat.
What about after Pentecost, and.after our Lord ascended? What did the apostles do?
Acts 1:23 And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
I invite you to check these out, too.
Acts 9:38
Acts 10:7
1 Cor 14:27
1 Cor 14:29
Eph 5:31
1 Tim 5:19
Heb
6:18
.Of course, there’s Revelations...
Rev 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
*** Let me add, to dispel confusion, before posting section III, that the "TWO" witnesses as seen here in scripture are by implication, pairs of elect walking/working in sameness and in the power of the Holy Spirit, a double portion. I am NOT saying that the two killed in Jerusalem shall not come.
Many believe on the basis of good scriptural evidence that Elijah/Enoch and/or Moses will return because of circumstances surrounding their departure. I am stating that there is a broader, world-wide application of the two witnesses beyond Jerusalem proper.
Remember: Jerusalem means: "habitation of peace". The world itself will be called a "habitation of peace" at the peak of its apostasy.
This is NOT a contradiction: we, as the elect ARE the sons of oil, the extensive pairing throughout the bible. What is particularly emphasized in the NT makes this pairing more of a command than some preference. Ultimately then, I am saying that this pairing of elect has been given a different commission, and NOT TAKING AWAY FROM the great and final commission of the individuals who will return.
Though commissions differ, we are of the same body, and do nothing (really) apart from one another.
Think about it. Contentions among the elect are caused by ego, non-scriptural opinion, and just maybe, many have not realized the potential of working in twos or threes. I’ve noticed that some of us have been finding their "twin" of late. The power of the Holy Spirit is moving swiftly powerfully in our midst when we work in this manner.
Then, I would ask my brethren to diligently embrace this commission. Step up, and start receiving that double portion.
SECTION III
So...what‘s the downside of all this "twos" business. Well, didn’t God create day and night? And wasn’t our Savior born in late Sept. at the time of the equinox (equal hrs. of day and night)? Darkness always copies the light. Except that we know the signet of our God. His seal tells us the difference between them. IF the one reading this is indeed sealed. I’ll make this section brief. There are tons of examples. here are some:
Gen 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
Nothing wrong with Shem and Japheth, but they witnessed something. And their witness made Noah’s accusation toward Ham a sure thing.
Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground
Lot’s about to get some help, but not without heartache and a lesson. TWO came, as witnesses to the impending judgement.
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Two who are at odds; two manner of people; not having the same purpose or heart. Contrast this to all of the previous examples of sameness.
Gen 27:36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
The right of the firstborn is a double blessing. Jacob supplanted his brother once (not twice as Esau surmised). Even so, this trickery was not part of God’s plan. The impatience of Jacob cost him a number of years in labor to a harsh taskmaster (Laban) to work for two wives (another trick) and for land. This lesson culminated in the wrestling match that taught Jacob once and for all his subjugation, hence his name: Israel="God reigns".
Gen 34:25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
Bad idea. This rebellion and cruelty could have been much more costly, had it not been that the pronouncement upon Levi was later turned into a blessing through Moses. Sometimes, two heads are not better than one.
Gen 49:14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
This word "burden" is mishpah in the Strong’s. It is from #8192 shaphahà to bare, or jut out like a stall for cattle. It is further defined as a burden or sheepfold. One other place in the OT uses this word "mishpah". There, it more clearly shows by context what this meant for Issachar, and perhaps for us:
Judg 5:16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
Reuben’s progeny hid among the sheep, at the time of Deborah’s judgeship. Issachar could be a strong warrior if he’d JUST gird his loins, dismiss the comfort of riding the fence and go to it. Notice, it’s written TWO burdens, two sheepfolds. Think about who those "sheepfolds" are. If both folds were of the two witnesses, then Issachar would be in good company. But the two witnesses are most likely ONE fold, i.e. two walking with a single purpose at the same time. But there are other sheep of whom we know by way of scripture:
John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of THIS FOLD: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be ONE FOLD, and one shepherd.
In other words, there are two folds: one already gathered (the wife), and the other not yet gathered (the bride). It’s not a good idea to waver between those two folds when the battle is brewing. Might confuse yourself with the imperfect knowledge that the bride has vs. the completeness of the elect and then get caught in the crossfire.
I King 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
"Two" much of a good thing. This looks to the two false witnesses who are coming.
I King 21:10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
Matt 26:60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses.
Both "twos" in agreement, but false to Naboth and false to our LORD at His trial, which He bore in our stead. Many of you are familiar with the apocryphal writings which also include the "two false witnesses". This is a sign to us in these last days. Don’t be caught off guard or suprised at all.
Here are some parting examples of twos for "badness", and twos of division for your perusal:
Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
More, I would invite folks to read, and consider making side-studies of the "twos" because there’s so much here to learn.
Matt 8:28
Matt 10:10
Matt 24:40-41
Luke 23:32
Acts 12:6
Acts 23:23
Gal 4:22-24
Phil 1:23
Rev 13:11
***Many more examples. I hope you enjoy them. Peace and greetings in Yeshua, our Lord.
JLA
Prov 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.