Skip to main content

He Led Captive A Host Of Captives

Letter To A Friend Concerning Ephesians 4:8
But to each one of us grace was given
according to the measure of Christ's gift.
Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,
HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES,
AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
Ephesians 4:7-8 (NASB)

The context of this passage concerns the unity of the church. Paul states in verse three that the Ephesians are to "preserve the unity of the church and in verse thirteen he states "until we all attain to the unity of the faith." That much is settled, God wants Christians to be united.
The remarkable thing is that this unity comes to the church through the diversity of its people. Verse seven states that "But each one of us grace was given…" Verse 11 follows by saying "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers."

This grace from God is the gifts that God gives to His children so that the church of the lord Jesus Christ might be fully equipped for every good work. Not everyone has the same gift, but everyone is needed.

Paul gives verse eight, a quotation from Psalm 68, as the Scripture that told of this giving of gifts. Psalm 68 pictures King David bringing the Ark of The Covenant back to Mt. Zion in victory. This ascension is paralleled to the ascension of Christ. This is what Paul leaves us with. That the giving of gifts was the prize or the spoils of a king that had plundered his enemies and was now flaunting this victory in a homecoming parade of sorts.

But what about the specific phrase "HE LEAD CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES," How are we to understand this? Maybe this should not be taken in a way that demands that we find a direct parallel to Psalm 68, but instead we should try to see the overarching point that – just as David brought back The Ark of The Covenant in triumph, so Christ too ascended to the Father in triumph -–having conquered all of His enemies- and sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to bring gifts to men.

Yearning With You To Understand Scripture Better,

Mitchell L. Landress

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Generation of Mark 13:30

At the beginning of Mark chapter thirteen Jesus is leaving the temple area and one of his disciples points out the grandure of the temple buildings. Jesus' remark to that disciple concerns the fact that these buildings will one day be torn down. The disciples question Him further as to the times of these events, and so begins an extended teaching from Jesus on the end times.As Jesus' remarks are drawing to a close, He makes this comment in Mark 13:30: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." (NASB) So the reader is left to wonder the meaning of this statement. Either our understanding of generation is wrong, or we are understanding what Jesus meant by "these things" wrong. I think there are at least two solutions. The word for generation (genea: Greek) could mean, as some side column reference Bibles note, "the human race". This is possible, since the events have not all happened and the human race...
15 comments
Read more

Is That A Bible I See Before Me?

The Weakness of Islamic Evangelism Lately I have been struck by the testimony of those who have suffered at the hands of kidnappers in Iraq. One issue that comes to the front of my mind is Islamic evangelism. Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll spoke to ABC News of her captors holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to read the Koran, which she did. After several days they asked why she had not yet converted to their beliefs. Explaining that she needed more time she continued to read. Again the question came to her about conversion. Finally and saddest of all, she told them that she would convert because she feared for her life. But this leaves us with a strange view of the Koran and the way that Islam chooses to do their evangelism. If the Koran were powerful in and of itself, those who seek to convert Christians to Islamic beliefs would not need to use guns in the process. That is, you should automatically appeal to your most powerful source. The fact that they use guns s...
2 comments
Read more

There Is Light And It Is Good

I am a young earther. That means that I believe that The LORD created the heavens and the earth and all that they contain in six literal 24 hour periods. Those who hold that the evolutionary model is correct (billions and billions of years without a creator) often say that the six literal days is impossible because the sun (the basis for a 24 hour day) is not created until day four(Genesis 1:14-19). A good point to be sure, but what of the light that is spoken of in 1:3? The famous line "Let there be light" is often equated with the sun. But if the sun is created 3 days later than the light, what could this first act of creation be? I believe the hint to what is happening is found at the polar opposite end of the Bible. In Revelation 21:23 Scripture states: "And the city [New Jerusalem i.e., heaven] has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the lamb," and again in 22:5 it states; "And there will...
2 comments
Read more