EPHESIANS 4:8 CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE

[douge]

Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Does this verse say that Christ, after his resurrection, led the old testament saints into heaven?

The first thing to examine is, what does it mean to lead captivity captive.

Judges 5:12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.

This song commemorates Israel being freed, in Judges 4:14, from the captivity of Sisera.

Isaiah 14:2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

In the above verse, when it says "they shall take them captives, whose captives they were", it is saying, Israel shall take captive, those who held them in captivity.

It can therefore be concluded, that to lead captivity captive, is to take into captivity, those who beforehand oppressed.

Psalm 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.

Psalm 68 above says, "thou hast received gifts for men: yea, for the rebellious also": Israel was counted among the rebellious when, in Acts 2:23, they were accused of slaying Jesus, the Lord of glory.

Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Psalm 68:18 says that Jesus "hast received gifts for men", which can be evidenced in the verse above when the Holy Ghost was shed forth unto Israel (Luke 24:49 Acts 1:4).

Acts 2:34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,

If it is contended that the old testament saints were taken to heaven after the resurrection of Christ, it is not supported by the fact that David, an old testament saint for sure, has not ascended into heaven.

John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

In fact, according to John, no man had yet ascended up to heaven.

John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

John, in the above verse, sets the time frame of his epistle, as being after the resurrection of Christ, and eliminates the contention to place John 3:13 before the resurrection, which would favour saying that men ascended into heaven after the resurrection.

Ephesians 4:8 can be best understood in light of the following verses:

Colossains 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Christ spoiled principalities in heavenly places, that is the devil and his angels.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

This verse asserts that Christ, through death, destroyed the devil.

The last verse to consider is:

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Paradise, as I understand it, is Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:19-31). In Luke 23:43, today is significant, in that, it specifies that Christ has yet to ascend into heaven according to John 20:17, and therefore, would not be taking one of the malefactors to heaven.

[Justin Adams]

Yeshua is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He now executes God's plan from the throne. One of the things He did was to release captives and He then grabbed the ones that had previously captured them. All things are now under His feet and the wicked holy ones have now become the captives. Soon they will 'die like men' (Psalm 82). In the meantime, His Kingdom is established on High and is being established here on the earth. 'as in heaven, so on the earth'. It is a COSMIC scenario...

[Retrobyter]

8 hours ago, Justin Adams said:

Yeshua is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He now executes God's plan from the throne. One of the things He did was to release captives and He then grabbed the ones that had previously captured them. All things are now under His feet and the wicked holy ones have now become the captives. Soon they will 'die like men' (Psalm 82). In the meantime, His Kingdom is established on High and is being established here on the earth. 'as in heaven, so on the earth'. It is a COSMIC scenario...

Shalom, Justin Adams.

Well, that's just not true, according to the Scriptures. Yeshua` may be seated at the right hand of the Father, but that does NOT mean that He is currently reigning. To the contrary, He said that He was going away to RECEIVE for Himself a Kingdom and then to return (Luke 19:12)! And, in Matthew 25:31, He said, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, THEN shall he sit upon the throne of his glory...." All things are NOT "now under His feet!"

According to Paul, ...

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (KJV)

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order:

(0) Christ the firstfruits;
(1) afterward they that are Christ's (those who belong to the Messiah) at his (the Messiah's) coming. 
24 (2) Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

25 For he must reign, till (until) he (God the Father) hath put all enemies under his (the Messiah's) feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he (God the Father) hath put all things under his (the Messiah's) feet.

(But when he saith, "all things are put under him," it is manifest that "he" (God the Father) is excepted, which did put all things under him (the Messiah).)

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him (the Messiah, the Son), then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (God the Father) that put all things under him (the Messiah), that God (the Father) may be all in all.

This is reflected in and harmonized with Revelation 20:

Revelation 20:1-15; 21:1-4 (KJV)

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till (until) the thousand years should be fulfilled (the future Millennium): and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls (air-breathing creatures) of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years (the First Resurrection BEFORE the Millennium). 5 (But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection (looking back to verse 4). 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them (the Resurrection AFTER the Millennium): and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

1 And I saw a new heaven (a new sky) and a new earth: for the first heaven (the first sky) and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven (out of the sky), prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great (loud) voice out of heaven (out of the throne) saying,

"Behold, the tabernacle (Bedouin tent) of God is with men, and he will dwell (He will tent) with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain (anguish from work): for the former things are passed away."

[Justin Adams]

 "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Yeshua reigns now. The fallen holy ones want us to disavow this in the church and have us cowering in the corner. He reigns now and the displaced holy ones that sinned are under notice. (Psalm 82)

That is how we have the Holy Spirit Power to 'do the works that I do'.

Yeshua is the Executive and all has indeed been put under His feet. The power of the enemy is annulled and we should take good notice of this. All the rest is smoke and mirrors and designed to defeat the believers. So many do not trust and believe...

We do not need a thousand years, and we ARE the Temple of the most High God. The Spirit within us gives us power that would not be seen if Yeshua does not reign on high. I have seen it in action and it is awesome.

We have be grafted in and 'all Israel shall be saved' means Jews, Greeks, men and women are all 'the seed of Abraham' as the apostle affirms. No distinctions.

The Kingdom of Yeshua is among us now - not totally completed yet, but still a done deal. He is seated at the right hand and therefore as God's Executive, all is now being restored. God WANTS us to be involved in the fight. He could end it anytime He wants, but He decided to involve His Created beings, heavenly and earthly, in His Great Plan.

The great Cosmic Battle looms on our horizon. And it will involve Heaven and Earth (as in heaven, so on earth). Prophesy will be seen in hindsight to be right and true, but we cannot see clearly ahead right now. This cryptic method was used for the first advent and will be used now as well. God plays His cards close to the chest. He is clever and He is God of course.

While humans run around with their ideas and promote various 'expert opinions' God is working out His purposes in the background. 

If someone proclaims they have it all figured out as far as prophetic future goes - safely ignore them.

[Leonardo Von]

Quote

EPHESIANS 4:8 CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE

Jesus freed us from the bondage of the religious system. In the Old Testament, people were obliged to trust in prophets and priest which, many times, were dishonest. After Jesus, everyone can have free access to Jesus' presence at any time, in every place.

[Anne2]

13 hours ago, Leonardo Von said:

Jesus freed us from the bondage of the religious system. In the Old Testament, people were obliged to trust in prophets and priest which, many times, were dishonest. After Jesus, everyone can have free access to Jesus' presence at any time, in every place.

Jesus is a priest.. high priest at that. A more excellent ministry, more excellent order.

Jesus is a King.. King of kings at that. An everlasting kingdom

Thank you Justin Adams for this post.

1,00o years? I don't think so. His kingdom never ends. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Anne2

[Leonardo Von]

9 hours ago, Anne2 said:

1,00o years? I don't think so. His kingdom never ends. 

1000 years is the time which Jesus will reign in this world on the Israelites in flesh. After the rebelion of Ha-Satan (Rev 20), will come the Final Judgment and, then, His kingdom will endure forever.