Bible Questions Answered:
Rev. can you tell me, just what Ehpesians 4:8 is saying?
Sally L./ Seoul, S.K
Bible Answers:
Ephesians 4:8 KJV “Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”
It would serve us better if we viewed this verse in it's textual entirety (Ephesians 8:7-11)
Ephesians 4:7-11 NLT
7 However, He (God) has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
8 That is why the Scriptures say,When He (Jesus Christ, the Saviour) ascended to the heights,He (Christ) led a crowd of captives
and gave gifts to His people.
9 Notice that it says He ascended.This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.
10 And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens,so that He might fill the entire universe with Himself.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
The risen Saviour, has given gifts, both in the form of Apostles, Prophets, (which some churches no longer recognize), Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, (when was the last time you considered your pastor as a gift from God? Some one who you should give thanks for, and some one who you should pray for!) and with them, spiritual gifts e.g......
His Spirit
John 14:16,17
16 And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”
Acts 2:38,39
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
And Spiritual Gifts...
Romans 12:4-8 KJV
[4] For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
[5] So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
[6] Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
[7] Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
[8] Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
I Corinthians 12:4-11 KJV
[4] Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
[5] And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
[6] And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
[7] But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
[8] For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
[9] To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
[10] To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
[11] But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.
Whether it be Men, or Gifts, they all are to equip, unify and bless the House of God.
Acts 2:29-32 (Peter says of Christ...)
[29] Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
[30] Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
[31] He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell (Hades: the unseen, the place of departed souls), neither his flesh did see corruption.
[32] This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
God's only Son, came from glory, to earth, descended into the grave and was resurrected.
In Luke 16:19-31 KJV, Jesus tells a “real-story,” of two “real-individuals,” in hades (the place of departed souls.)
[19] There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
[20] And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
[21] And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
[22] And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
[23] And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
[24] And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
[25] But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
[26] And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
[27] Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
[28] For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
[29] Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
[30] And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
[31] And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
This is a real story, the name of the beggar was given as, Lazarus.
The name of the rich man was not given because....
Psalms 69:28 (the sinner) “Let them (sinners) be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
Psalms 109:13 “...let their name (sinners) be blotted out.”
The names of sinners, are forgotten.
Jesus told us that hades, the unseen world of those who have passed on, was (before the death of the Lord Jesus) divided into two sections, which were separated by a great gulf (vs. 26).
On one side was “Paradise: The abode of Abraham, and the righteous, and Hell: The abode of the Rich Man, and all the wicked.
After His death, Christ descended into hades. He briefly visted hell, and we can see what He did there by reading ...
Revelation 1:18 KJV
“I am He (Christ) that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
I Corinthians 15:55-57 KJV
[55] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
[56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
[57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Triumphant, Resurrected, Saviour, took by force theKeys of Hell and of Death, from the enemy.
And with those Keys the Lord Jesus visited Paradise.
There He liberated those believers to rise with Him, to heaven, the “Father House,” of many mansions (John 14:1-4).
Ephesians 4:8 “That is why the Scriptures say,When He (Jesus Christ, the Saviour) ascended to the heights,He (Christ) led a crowd of captives...”
The “Crowd of Captives,” mentioned in this verse, were none other than the “righteous dead (Including the thief on the cross who accepted the Saviour before he died, and of whom the Lord said, – Luke 23:43 “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” )
Many say proof that Paradise has been elevated to Heaven, is the Apostle Paul's spiritual experience of visiting Heaven.
II Corinthians 12:1-4 NLT
1 This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord.
2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know—only God knows.
3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know
4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.
The first heaven is our atmospheric or gaseous envelope that surrounds our earth, protecting us from Ultra Violet light and other radiation.
The second heaven is the starry heaven of the universe, and who can tell just how great it is?
Psalms 8:1-4 KJV
[1] O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
[2] Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
[3] When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
[4] What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
The third heaven is where God's home and throne are.
The Apostle Paul, in the above quotation of II Corinthians 12:1-4, states that he had seen “Paradise,” in the third heaven.
After His resurrection, Christ, elevated those in Paradise to Heaven, “he led captivity captive,” (He (Christ) led a crowd of captives...”)
Glory, Hallelujah, Our Saviour, alone has the Keys of hell and of death!
II Corinthians 5:6-8 KJV
[6] Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
[7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Amen
