The Gift-Givers

This is a frightfully busy week for me, work-wise, which is why I didn't blog yesterday.  An additional reason is that, in the midst of the work-related mayhem, I wasn't up to tackling Ephesians 4:7-12, today's text.  But, I found, as the day wound on yesterday that I missed my time here in the Word terribly.  I regretted not ordering my priorities well.  Here's today's text (NET):

7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men.” 9Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth? 10He, the very one who descended, is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. 11It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ

Here's the gist of it:  Father God gave us His Son.  Then, when Jesus Christ finished the work pre-ordained by God the Father, He was given by Father certain gifts and rights.  He, in turn, gave gifts to us, the members of His Body, the Church.  Not all the gifts look the same or are the same.  He gave to each of us, at the moment of our receiving Him as Savior, the exact spiritual gifts we would need in order to build up His people and to evangelize the world.

Ok, so what is meant by all this ascending and descending?  In these words, Paul is referring back to Psalm 68.  Let's turn there and take a look.  When you read Psalm 68, a long song of praise to God for His triumphing over His enemies, you will notice that verse 18 is quite similar to Ephesians 4:8-10.  The origin of Psalm 68 is that it was written to commemorate the triumphal bringing of the ark of the covenant to Mt. Zion.

When did this occur?  It happened about 1000 years before Jesus Christ was born as a baby (incarnated).  King David had both wanted to build the first Temple in Jerusalem and also to give the ark of the covenant its permanent home there.  But, God decreed that his son, Solomon, should do this.  Solomon built the Temple and the ark was triumphantly installed there, in the Temple's Holy of Holies, where it remained for about 450 years, until the Babylonian invasion.  There it remained, high above all its foes, a symbol of the triumph of God above all His enemies.  This was the first time the Ark had had a "permanent" home.

In his commentary, Barnes1 says this:

 The fact that the ark of God thus ascended the hill of Zion, the place of rest; that it was to remain there as its permanent abode, no more to be carried about at the head of armies; was the proof of its triumph. It had made everything captive. It had subdued every foe; and its ascent there would be the means of obtaining invaluable gifts for people; Mercy and truth would go forth from that mountain; and the true religion would spread abroad, even to the rebellious, as the results of the triumph of God, whose symbol was over the tabernacle and the ark

We see Jesus Christ's triumphal ascension to the throne room of God, after His resurrection pictured in Revelation 4-5.  The Father, seated on His throne, gave to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who has triumphed (emphasis mine) a sealed scroll.  Because of his triumph, His finished work, He began to open the seals on the scroll as the Church Age began to unfold.  We are currently approaching the Sixth Seal, which will occur with a mighty world-wide earthquake, when the Church is raptured; and, this will usher in the reign of THE Antichrist and the 7-year Tribulation period.2  But, I digress from todays' topic.

So, Father gave His  Son gifts, and the Son gave us gifts, the first of which is grace - - - grace that is offered to all, even to "the rebellious" (Psalm 68:18), should they turn and accept His offer.  Salvation is offered to every man and woman.  (It is a comfort to me that God has patience and is long-suffering toward those who, for a time, run from Him.)  In addition to that saving grace, Christ bestows on us the gift of His Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, the various "spiritual gifts".   I've written about those extensively, and won't re-plow that row here.  But, I'll put the links under Sources: below.3

Now, we come to the difficult part of this passage, if you compare it to other related passages.  By itself, Ephesians 4:8-10 seems to say that Jesus was in Heaven, was born (came to Earth), died, was buried, was resurrected and ascended back to Heaven after walking the Earth alive for about 40 days. All of that is true.  But, there are other relevant scriptures, by other writers, which add dimension to Paul's verses here.  Take your Bible and look these up:

• Matthew 12:20 tells us that Jesus was three days and nights "in the heart of the earth".  This goes beyond Joseph of Arimathea's tomb...
• Luke 16:19-28 and Luke 23:42-43 tell us that Paradise and the place of eternal fire and torment were in the same location.  Ephesians 4:9 (NIV) calls this "the lower, earthly regions". This is where the spirits of Jesus and the thief on the cross went after death.
• 1 Peter 3:18-20 tells us that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison who had caused all that mayhem that led up to the Great Flood.  This is part of His "triumph" over His enemies.4

Other sources talk about how Christ changed the entire structure of the abode of the dead with his death, burial and resurrection.  But, that is sort of controversial.  However, I'm not going there (lol!) at the moment....because all of this is plenty enough for one day!

Sources:

1  http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ephesians/4-8.htm

2  Lowe, David W. Earthquake Resurrection: Supernatural Catalyst for the Coming Global Catastrophe. Place of Publication Not Identified: D.W. Lowe, 2005. Print.

3  http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2015/10/to-each-his-own.html
    http://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2015/10/gifts-small-and-great.html
    

4  http://heavennet.net/writings/did-jesus-go-to-hell-after-he-died/