Ephesians 4:8
8 Wherefore [dio] he saith, [lego] When he ascended [anabaino]
up [eis] on high, [hupsos] he led captivity [aichmaloteuo] captive, [aichmalosia] and [kai] gave [didomi] gifts [doma] unto men. [anthropos] KJV-Interlinear
8
Therefore it says, "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of
captives, And He gave gifts to men." NASB
This is an interesting
verse and contains phenomenal spiritual principles.
Quoting from Psa. 68:18, Paul
relates the subject of that psalm in the ascension of the Messiah, from earth
into heaven, using the transfer of the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Mt. Zion.
This movement celebrates
the victory of God in obtaining salvation and His victory over sin and death,
which were accomplished on the Cross.
The victory is from the sacrifice from the perspective of the Psalm way
back in David’s day.
Until salvation was
achieved historically, there was no salvation, no grace, no gifts, no
reward. But once salvation was achieved
historically, then that door was blasted wide open the paved the way for far
greater gifts for humanity both in time and in eternity.
Led captivity, captive,
is a phrase which describes the victory of the general when marching in a
parade upon his return home. The
captives are included in the parade to be shown off or paraded as it were, as a
proof of the victory. The more captives
the greater the victory, the greater the magnitude of the victory.
However, in the Lords
case, the captives are not evil people being led into heaven, for that is where
Christ ascended to, but these are actually the rescued captives that had been
waiting the day of the ascension, for their ultimate release to freedom.
During the Old Testament
times, from Adam to the Cross, all believers in the Savior, or Messiah, as
Christ was referred to back then, when they died, they went to Paradise. They did not go directly to heaven. They were in effect held captive in the underworld
which is called Hades, in one particular compartment in that underworld, called
Paradise. There they were trapped unable
to enter into heaven until the actual event of salvation was achieved.
Satan was of course the instigator
of that restriction, claiming that no one should possess salvation until the
actual right had been accomplished. Satan
had been trying to prevent the Cross since the promise of a savior was made to
Adam.
However, being achieved
at the Cross, Salvation now secured and sealed, opened up the door for the
entire plan of God to accelerate and advance unhindered.
Christ ascended into
heaven leading a huge victory parade, made up of angels, and all of the
believers who had been residing in Paradise, perhaps a trillion or more
believers. We have no idea as to how many believers there were since the time of
Adam, but certainly they were a great number.
The victory was the
greatest of victories of all time. The
parade would certainly have been the greatest of all parades, and therefore the
numbers in the parade would have been beyond human calculation.
If we could have viewed
that parade, then we would certainly have been in awe as to the magnitude of
the parade and celebration.
Paradise in now an empty
and unused compartment. Those who wish
to go to Paradise, lack understanding and are trying to go back to a place of
captivity prior to salvation. Several
religions promote the idea of Paradise as the ultimate destination. And of course these reject Gods victory, and
reject Christ as the Savior and victor in salvation and all matters spiritual.
Today, heaven is the ultimate
destination, and in compliance with the plan of God, and that is where all
believers upon their death, go, to be face to face with the Lord.
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