Ephesians 4 Commentary
Focus on verse 8. The quoted scripture is a celebration of triumph for Israel – a triumph for the LORD. The LORD went up Mount Zion and took captives. These captives brought gifts. They paid tribute. This was the LORD’s promise to Abraham. The verse in Palm 68 verse 18 seems to convey this thought.
The conquered mountain became the LORD’s dwelling place. The LORD gave it to Israel as a gift. Jacob’s children got pieces of land as gifts from the LORD. The apostle Paul seems to convey this thought in the reference we have in Ephesians.
The actual events being referenced here may be that of King David matching victoriously against Jerusalem – in a conquest that established Jerusalem as the seat of the LORD’s dwelling.
“When he ascended on high” may be a reference to the LORD’s mighty and all-conquering intervention. When the LORD shows up this way, everyone and everything submits in worship. Even the rebellious bring gifts. It is a point at which every knee bows down and every tongue confesses.
But the LORD is one. He is the same LORD that descended lower. The picture of the strong arm of the all-conquering El-Shaddai is sharply compared with the same LORD entering Jerusalem riding on a ‘borrowed’ donkey – not forgetting the manger birth!
The gifts that the LORD gives this time are spiritual, not pieces of land and greatness in the manner of a settled and prosperous King David on Mount Zion. But the hope is the same. The LORD is one. It is a unified space in which the unchanging God is working to achieve His purposes. The apostle seeks to have saints feel this unity in what the LORD has been doing all along. The conquest ‘on high’ is exactly the same as the gifts of the Spirit given when the LORD decided to descend without much beauty of appearance and admiration. It is the same workspace for the Spirit.
Maturity: Until we begin to understand the oneness of the LORD, our understanding of the mission of Christ still requires an upgrade. Paul the prisoner (verse 1) is the same Paul, the elevated ruler with Christ in the new conquest – or the real conquest that the Davidic conquest pointed to. It is this thought that brings maturity. The manifestation is a life of love, joy, peace, patience…
Why not, let’s live it: Heart and mind made completely new in Christ Jesus. Verse 23. Don’t give the devil a chance! No robbing – only honest living; no harmful words. Don’t make the Spirit sad. Be always humble, gentle, and patient. This is the plunder that you freely enjoy in the Spirit. It comes out of a transformed human – fully and entirely powered by the Spirit.
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