Eph 4:8-10 The Lord Ascended to Give Gifts

0 views

Skip to first unread message

bcbs...@yahoo.com

unread,

Jul 31, 2025, 7:00:17 AMJul 31

to Bcbsr

The Lord Ascended to Give Gifts

Eph 4:8-10 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)

Paul quotes Ps 68:18 though most translations render it "received gifts from men." John Gill notes that the Hebrew word signifies to give and to receive, and in fact in 25 cases in the Bible the AV translates the word as "bring". Also the Syriac version of Paul's day renders that phrase in Ps 68:18 "and hast given gifts to the children of men". In fact Ps 68 ends "the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!"

Another interesting fact about this quote in view of the context of Ps 68 is that it affirms the Biblical doctrine of the deity of Christ. For who is the "he" that Psalm 68:18 is referring. The end of Ps 68:17 says, "The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary." And Ps 68:19 "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Paul is saying that the Lord God our Savior whom the Psalmist refers to is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." John 6:51 And when he rose from the dead he told his apostles, "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised" Acts 1:4 and "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Acts 1:8,9 And on the day they received the gift Peter preached to the crowd saying, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38