The Above World

 

The Above World

Heaven

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

Wherefore

Confirming by Scripture what has just been said.

When he ascended... The first and last Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in Ephesians (Eph. 4:8; Psm. 68:18). This was at the ascension, 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3-11; Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19).

When He ascended, etc.

Quoted from Psm. 68:19 (Sept. 67:18). The Hebrew reads: Ascending to the height thou didst lead captive captivity and received gifts in man. So, Sept. Paul changes thou didst lead, didst receive, into the lead and he gave. The Psalm is Messianic, a hymn of victory in which God is praised for victory and deliverance. It is freely adapted by Paul, who regards its substance rather than its letter, and uses it as an expression of the divine triumph as fulfilled in Christ's victory over death and sin.

Three things which Christ did in His ascension:

1. He liberated the righteous immortal souls from captivity in the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:8; Psm. 68:18).

2. He took these captives captive to heaven (Eph. 4:8; Psm. 68:18).

3. He gave gifts to men (Eph. 4:8, Eph. 4:11).

Ascended

The ascent of Jehovah is realized in Christ's ascent into heaven.

up on high... Greek: hupsos, rendered height in Eph. 3:18; Rev. 21:16.

he led captivity... The captives that were taken to heaven with Christ were the saints who had died from Abel to Christ, and who were held captive by Satan in paradise under the earth until Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave liberating them (Heb. 2:14-15; Luke 16:23). He got these captives in the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:8-10; Mat. 12:40). They were still alive in soul and spirit since their physical death, but held captive, which proves the immortality of the soul. He could not have led captive, extinct souls. Now when a Christian dies, he does not go into the lower parts of the earth to be held captive but goes to heaven to live and await the resurrection of the body (2Cor. 5:8; Phlp. 1:21-24; Heb. 12:22-23; Rev. 6:9-11).

captivity... He led a host of captives to heaven, like an earthly conqueror. See, 2Cor. 2:14. Some were the many that were resurrected after Christ (Mat. 27:52-53), and the rest were the immortal souls that were not resurrected, but merely liberated from captivity to Satan (Heb. 2:14-15; 12:23).

Captivity

Abstract for the body of captives. See on Luke 4:18. The captives are not the redeemed, but the enemies of Christ's kingdom, Satan, Sin, and Death. Compare on Col. 2:15, and 2Cor. 2:14.

led captivity captive... Greek: aichmalosia. Only here, Rev. 13:10. The verb aichmalotizo is used in Luke 21:24; Rom. 7:23; 2Cor. 10:5.

gave gifts unto... Psm. 68:18 reads, thou hast received gifts for men. The Hebrew here suggests that the gifts which He gave were received in man; that is, by virtue of His incarnation, He received these gifts to give to human beings. They are really gifts of God to people.

Eight Gifts of God

1. Christ (John 3:16; 4:10); called the heavenly and unspeakable gift (2Cor. 9:15; Heb. 6:4)

2. The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33, 2:38-39; 5:32; 8:20; 11:17)

3. Salvation (Rom. 5:15-18; Eph. 2:8-9)

4. Eternal life (Rom. 6:23)

5. Grace (Eph. 3:7; 4:7)

6. Spiritual gifts (Rom. 12:6; 1Cor. 1:7; 12:4-11, 12:28-31; 1Tim. 4:14; 2Tim. 1:6; Heb. 2:4; 1Pet. 4:10)

7. Ministers (Eph. 4:11)

8. All good things (Mat. 7:11; Luke 11:13; Phlp. 4:17; Jas. 1:17)

and gave gifts... Greek: doma. Only here, Mat. 7:11; Luke 11:13; Phlp. 4:17.

Gave

In the Hebrew and Septuagint, received or took; but with the sense received in order to distribute among men. Compare Gen. 15:9, take for me: Gen. 18:5, I will fetch for you: Exo. 27:20, bring thee, i.e., take and present to thee: Acts 2:33, “received of the Father, etc., He hath shed forth. Thus Paul interprets the received of the Old Testament. His point is the distribution of grace by Christ in varied measure to individuals. He confirms this by Scripture, seeing in the Jehovah of this Old-Testament passage the Christ of the New Testament - one Redeemer under both covenants - and applying the Psalmist's address to Christ who distributes the results of His victory among His loyal subjects. These results are enumerated in Eph. 4:11 sqq.

Includes a quotation from the Old Testament, which confirms God’s giving of gifts. Most think it quotes Psm. 68:18 with five minor and two major changes. The two major variations are the change from the second to the third person, and the change of direction from having received gifts from men to the giving of gifts to men. However, it is better to think that Paul was not quoting one particular verse of the psalm but rather that he was summarizing all of Psm. 68:1-35, which has many words similar to those in Psm. 68:18. The essence of the psalm is that a military victor has the right to give gifts to those who are identified with him. Christ, having captivated sinful people by redeeming them, is Victor and gives them as gifts to the church. Whereas Rom. 12:1-21 and 1Cor. 12:1-31 speak of gifts given to believers, Eph. 4:7 speaks more of gifted believers given to the church (cf. Eph. 4:11).

Eph. 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

what is it... Question 1. The only one in Ephesians.

he also descended... Before He ascended to heaven, He descended to hell (Psm. 16:10; Mat. 12:40). He descended, not only from deity to humanity and from humanity to infamy and death (Phlp. 2:5-11), but also into the lower parts of the earth—into hell itself to conquer hell and liberate captive souls from Satan (Eph. 4:8-10; Psm. 16:10; 68:18; Mat. 12:40; Heb. 2:14-15).

Now that He ascended

Eph. 4:9 and Eph. 4:10 are parenthetical, showing what the ascension of Christ presupposes. By descending into the depths and ascending above all, He entered upon His function of filling the whole universe, in virtue of which function He distributes gifts to men. See Eph. 1:23. Rev., properly, inserts this, thus giving the force of the article which calls attention to the fact of ascension alluded to in the quotation. Now or this He ascended.

What is it but

What does it imply?

descended first (καὶ κατέβη)

His ascent implies a previous descent. A.V. reads first, following the Tex. Rec. πρῶτον. Rev., correctly, He also descended. Compare John 3:13.

lower parts of... Proof that hell is located in the lower parts of the earth, not on the surface of the earth as the grave (Mat. 12:40; Psm. 16:10; 63:9; Job 11:8; Deut. 32:22; Isa. 14:9; 66:22-24; Prov. 9:18; 15:24; Eze. 31:14-18; 32:18-24). Hell, here is contrasted with the highest heaven as being the lowest and deepest part of the earth. It could not possibly refer to the grave on the surface of the earth.

the lower parts of the earth (τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς)

The underworld. The reference is to Christ's descent into Hades. Some give the words a comparative force, deeper than the earth.

Eph. 4:9-11 serve as a commentary on two words of the quotation in Eph. 4:8, namely, ascended (Eph. 4:9-10) and gave (Eph. 4:11). In Eph. 4:9-10 Paul commented on the words He ascended. These two verses are parenthetical in thought because the issue of the passage is the giving of gifts. Before Christ could ascend, He had to descend. What is meant by to the lower, earthly regions, literally, into the lower parts of earth? The genitive of can be taken in three ways: (1) Into the lower parts, namely, the earth a genitive of apposition. This would refer to Christ’s incarnation, His descent to the earth. (2) Into the parts lower than the earth a genitive of comparison. This would mean that Christ descended into hades between His death and resurrection. (3) Into the lower parts which belong to the earth a genitive of possession. This would refer to Christ’s death and His burial in the grave. The third view best fits the context because in His death Christ had victory over sin and redeemed those who would be given as gifts to the church.

Eph. 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

that he might... That He might be the fountain of all spiritual, physical, and material gifts to human beings, dispensing them to all people liberally according to their needs and wants (Jas. 1:5-8, 1:17; Mat. 7:11; 21:22; Mark 11:22-24; John 14:12-15; 15:7, 15:16; Psm. 34:9-10; 84:11).

fill all things

that filleth all in all (τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν πληρουμένου)

Better, that filleth all things with all things. The expression is somewhat obscure. All things are composed of elements. Whatever things exist, God from His fullness fills with all those elements which belong to their being or welfare. The whole universe is thus filled by Him. Eph. 1:23.

All this the apostle keeps in view and allows for in his doctrine of the Church. He does not merge man in humanity, nor sacrifice the individual to the community. He claims for each believer direct fellowship with Christ and access to God. The earnestness with which in his earlier epistles St. Paul insisted on the responsibilities of conscience and on the personal experience of salvation, leads him now to press the claims of the Church with equal vigour. He understands well that the person has no existence apart from the community, that our moral nature is essentially social and the religious life essentially fraternal. Its vital element is "the communion of the Holy Spirit." Hence, to gather the real drift of this passage we must combine the first words of Eph. 4:7 with the last of Eph. 4:12: To each single one of us was the grace given-in order to build up the body of Christ. God’s grace is not bestowed on us to diffuse and lose itself in our separate individuality; but that it may minister to one life and work towards one end and build up one great body in us all. The diversity sub-serves a higher unity. Through ten thousand channels, in ten thousand varied forms of personal influence and action, the stream of the grace of God flows on to the accomplishment of the eternal purpose.

Like a wise master in his household and sovereign in his kingdom, the Lord of the Church distributes His manifold gifts. His bestowments and appointments are made with an eye to the furtherance of the state and house that He has in charge. As God dispenses His wisdom, so Christ His gifts "according to plan". (Eph. 3:11) The purpose of the ages, God’s great plan for mankind, determines the measure of the gift of Christ. Now, it is to illustrate this measure, to set forth the style and scale of Christ’s bestowments within His Church, that the apostle brings in evidence the words of Psm. 68:18. He interprets this ancient verse as he cites it, and weaves it into the texture of his argument. In the original it reads thus:

Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led Thy captivity captive, thou hast received gifts among men, -Yea, among the rebellious also that the LORD God might dwell with them. (R.V.) Let us go back for a moment to the occasion of the old Hebrew song. Psm. 68:1-35, is, as Ewald says, the greatest, most splendid and artistic of the temple-songs of Restored Jerusalem. It celebrates Jehovah’s entry into Zion. This culminating verse records, as the crowning event of Israel’s history, the capture of Zion from the rebel Jebusites and the Lord’s ascension in the person of His chosen to take His seat upon this holy hill. The previous verses, in which fragments of earlier songs are embedded, describe the course of the Divine Leader of Israel through former ages. In the beat and rhythm of the Hebrew lines one hears the footfall of the Conqueror’s march, as He arises and His enemies are scattered and kings of armies flee apace, while nature trembles at His step and bends her wild powers to serve His congregation. The sojourn in the wilderness, the scenes of Sinai, the occupancy of Canaan, the wars of the Judges were so many stages in the progress of Jehovah, which had Zion always for its goal. To Zion, the new and more glorious sanctuary, Sinai must now give place. Bashan and all mountains towering in their pride in vain look askance at the hill which God has desired for His abode, where Jehovah will dwell forever. So, the day of the Lord’s desire has come I From the Kidron valley David leads Jehovah’s triumph up the steep slopes of Mount Zion. A train of captive's defiles before the Lord’s anointed, who sits down on the throne that God gives him and receives in His name the submission of the heathen. The vanquished chiefs cast their spoil at his feet; it is laid up in treasure to build the future temple; while, upon this happy day of peace, the rebellious also share in Jehovah’s grace and become His subjects.

It is not one that went down, and another that went up. says Theodoret. He that descended, it is He also that ascended up far above all the heavens! (Eph. 4:10). Jesus of Nazareth is on the throne of God, -the same yesterday and to-day! But now the resources of the universe are at His disposal. Out of that treasure He can choose the best gifts for you and me.

Christ’s ascent above the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe probably refers to His regal relationship with the whole world, from which position He bestows gifts as He wills because of His work on the Cross. This fits well with Eph. 1:23, which speaks of Christ imparting all the fullness of His blessings to the church and to the universe. Christ, who embodies the fullness of the Godhead (Col. 2:9), fills the universe and is Head over it (cf. Col. 1:18).

Mat. 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

again with a... Seven sayings on the cross:

1. My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? (Mat. 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psm. 22:1)

2. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

3. Verily I say unto thee, to day shalt thou be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43).

4. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit (Luke 23:46).

5. Woman, behold thy son! ... Behold thy mother! (John 19:26-27)

6. I thirst (John 19:28).

7. It is finished (John 19:30).

a loud voice... Showing normal strength to the end, proving He voluntarily laid down His life (John 10:18).

yielded up the... A voluntary act. He dismissed His soul and spirit (Jas. 2:26; Luke 23:46; John 10:18; 19:30).

yielded up the ghost (ἀφῆκε τὸ πνεῦμα)

Lit., dismissed his spirit. Rev. yielded up his spirit. The fact that the evangelists, in describing our Lord's death, do not use the neuter verb, ἔθανεν, he died, but he breathed out his life ἐξέπνευσε, Mar. 15:37, he gave us his spirit παρέδωκε τὸ πνεῦμα, John 19:30), seems to imply a voluntary yielding up of his life. Compare John 10:18. Augustine says, He gave up his life because he willed it, when he willed it, and as he willed it.

Luke 23:46 "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."

Jesus dismissed His spirit from His body and told it to go to the Father. Even this was in His control and not someone else's. The teaching going around that Jesus was taken from the cross by two demons and suffered in hell for us is blasphemy. He went to hades to take the keys away from the devil, and to preach to those in hades, and bring them out with him not to suffer.

Jesus had everything under control all the time. The cross was no defeat, but the greatest victory mankind has ever known. Jesus is no longer on the cross. He is not the suffering Christ. He is the victorious Christ.

From the sixth hour to the ninth the darkness lasted, and at the ninth hour Jesus yielded up the ghost. The agony is over. The feeling of separation, of utter loneliness, is gone, for the last word has been, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit"; and as the spirit of the Son of man returns to the Father’s bosom, the gloom is gone, and the sun shines out again upon the earth.

With one last cry Jesus… gave up His spirit, committing it into the hands of His Father (Luke 23:46). Jesus was in complete control of His life and died at the precise moment He determined by dismissing His spirit. No man took Jesus’ life from Him, as He had said (John 10:11, 10:15, 10:17-18). He laid His life down in keeping with God’s plan and He was involved in taking it back up again in His resurrection.

Mat. 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Verses 51-53: The events immediately following Jesus’ death are remarkable indeed. The veil of the temple refers to the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (Exo. 26:31). This symbolizes the permanent opening of God’s presence to man and man’s direct access to God through the atoning death of Christ.

veil of the... I.e., There were two veils: one at the entrance of the Holy Place and the other between this and the Holy of Holies into which the high priest alone went once a year to atone for the sins of the people (Heb. 9:2-9). They were 60 feet high from the ceiling to the floor. The rending of the veil signified that the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles was broken down (Eph. 2:14-18) and that each believer now could have personal access to God (Heb. 9:8; 10:19-23; Eph. 2:14-18). The curtain that blocked the entrance to the Most Holy Place Exo. 26:33; Heb. 9:3). The tearing of the veil signified that the way into God’s presence was now open to all through a new and living way (Heb. 10:19-22). The fact that it tore from top to bottom showed that no man had split the veil, God did it.

The veil of the temple

According to the Rabbis this was a handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy-two twisted plaits, each plait consisting of twenty-four threads. It was sixty feet long and thirty wide. Two of them were made every year, and according to the exaggerated language of the time it needed three hundred priests to manipulate it. This veil was the one which covered the entrance to the holy of holies, and not, as has been asserted, the veil which hung before the main entrance to the sanctuary. The holy of holies contained only a large stone, on which the high-priest sprinkled the blood on the day of atonement, occupying the place where the ark with the mercy-seat had stood.

How appropriate the rending of the veil. (Mark 15:38; Luke 23:44-45) At the time of Jesus’ death, three momentous events occurred. First, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This curtain separated the holy place from the holy of holies in the temple (Heb. 9:2-3). The fact that this occurred from top to bottom signified that God is the One who ripped the thick curtain. It was not torn from the bottom by men ripping it. God was showing that the way of access into His presence was now available for everyone, not simply the Old Testament high priest (Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22).

Mat. 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

bodies of the... These bodies made part of the multitude of captives Christ captured from Satan in the underworld of departed spirits and which He took captive with Him when He ascended on high (Eph. 4:8-10; Heb. 2:14-15). Now when Christians die, they no longer go into the lower parts of the earth held captive by the devil against their will but go to heaven to await the resurrection of the body (2Cor. 5:8; Phlp. 1:21-24; Rev. 6:9-11; Heb. 12:22). The wicked continue to go to hell to await their resurrection (Luke 16:19-31; Rev. 20:11-15).

Matthew alone mentions this miracle. Nothing more is said about these people, which would be unlikely if they remained on earth for long. Evidently, these people were given glorified bodies; they appeared to many verses 53, enough to establish the reality of the miracle; and then they no doubt ascended to glory, a kind of foretaste of (1Thes. 4:16).

A third event mentioned was recorded only by Matthew. The tombs of many holy (righteous) people (Mat. 27:52) were opened, probably at a Jerusalem cemetery.

Mat. 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

And came out... The resurrection of Christ; for he rose as the first fruits, as the first begotten of the dead, and the firstborn from the dead. For he was the first that was raised to an immortal life; for though others were raised before him, by himself, and in the times of the prophets, yet to a mortal life.

The narrative of Matthew does not determine whether they came to life before Jesus rose, and remained in the tombs, or came to life after he died. The latter is probably the correct opinion. This is the reason why they were raised. It is not improbable to suppose that it was, amid the other wonders attending the death of Jesus, to convince the Jews that he was the Messiah.

What became of them after they had entered into the city whether they again died or ascended to heaven, is not revealed, and conjecture is vain.

after his resurrection... They could not have come out before for Christ was to be resurrected first and enter into immortality in a human body (1Cor. 15:20-23; Rev. 1:5; Luke 24:39).

and went into... Which though now a very wicked city, was so called, because of the temple, and the worship of God, and his residence in it. The burying places of the Jews were without the city and therefore these risen saints, are said to go into it.

Here is victory to the utmost. What all the prophets and holy men before Him had not been able to do, Jesus did. Jesus had opened the way to the Holy of Holies in heaven to His followers. God had torn down the curtain of partition that had kept the people from getting close to God. All believers have been made perfect by the blood of the Lamb (His precious Son).

These graves opened when Jesus came out of the earth and brought captivity captive with Him. The Sunday that Jesus arose is the feast of the firstfruits with the Jews. This is the first of the harvest. Truly these coming from the graves were the firstfruits of the rapture. These resurrected from the dead were seen of many in Jerusalem, as Jesus was seen by over 500.

The NIV suggests that these saints were resurrected when Jesus died and then went into Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. A number of commentators agree with this view. Many others, however, say that since Christ is the firstfruits of the dead (1Cor. 15:23), their resurrection did not occur till He was raised. In this view, the phrase after Jesus’ resurrection goes with the words were raised to life and came out of the tombs. This is possible in the Greek and is suggested in the KJV and the NASB. The tombs, then, broke open at Christ’s death, probably by the earthquake, thus heralding Christ’s triumph in death over sin, but the bodies were not raised till Christ was raised.

Isa. 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

Therefore hell hath... We see here that since Christ lead captivity captive out of paradise Abraham's bosom believers now go directly to the Father in heaven. Paradise is no longer needed the space is now all reserved for the wicked.

Therefore...

כֵּן

kên

kane

From H3559; properly set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjugation) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles): - + after that (this, -ward, -wards), as . . . as, + [for-] asmuch as yet, + be (for which) cause, + following, howbeit, in (the) like (manner, -wise), X the more, right, (even) so, state, straightway, such (thing), surely, + there (where) -fore, this, thus, true, well, X you.

hell Hebrew: She’owl. The term Sheol in this context pictures death as a great monster with wide open jaws, ready to receive its victims. Such was to be the fate of those who perish in the captivity God will send to punish the people’s sinfulness.

שְׁאֹל שְׁאוֹל

sh^e'ôl sh^e'ôl

sheh-ole', sheh-ole'

From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.

enlarged herself, and... Since so many will go to hell that should go to heaven, it is enlarged—not its actual dimensions but in the sense of more people going there. Hell is already measureless; it simply opens its mouth to the extra multitudes who would be saved from such a place if they would obey God.

hath enlarged...

רָחַב

râchab

raw-khab'

A primitive root; to broaden (intransitively or transitively, literally or figuratively): - be an en- (make) large (-ing), make room, make (open) wide.

herself...

נֶפֶשׁ

nephesh

neh'-fesh

From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): - any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.

and opened...

פָּעַר

pâ‛ar

paw-ar'

A primitive root; to yawn, that is, open wide (literally or figuratively): - gape, open (wide).

her mouth...

פֶּה

peh

peh

From H6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literally or figuratively (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according to: - accord (-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command (-ment), X eat, edge, end, entry, + file, hole, X in, mind, mouth, part, portion, X (should) say (-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, X spoken, talk, tenor, X to, + two-edged, wish, word.

without...

בְּלִי

b^elı̂y

bel-ee'

From H1086, properly failure, that is, nothing or destruction; usually (with preposition) without, not yet, because not, as long as, etc.: - corruption, ig[norantly], for lack of, where no . . . is, so that no, none, not, un[awares], without.

measure...

חֹק

chôq

khoke

From H2710; an enactment; hence an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage): - appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree (-d), due, law, measure, X necessary, ordinance (-nary), portion, set time, statute, task.

A sinful way of life leads to total destruction and to hell. I personally believe to be a Christian in name only brings about the same thing. God does not want lukewarm followers, He wants 100% of you, or none of you at all.

glory, and their... Four things that inherit hell:

1. The glory of sinful men (Isa. 5:8-10)

2. Great numbers of sinful men (Isa. 5:13-14)

3. The pomp of sinful men (Isa. 5:11-12)

4. All who rejoice in sin

הָדָר

hâdâr

haw-dawr'

From H1921, magnificence, that is, ornament or splendor: - beauty, comeliness, excellency, glorious, glory, goodly, honour, majesty.

Notice the word multitude in the verse above. Christianity is not a religion of the masses. It is a walk-through life in personal relationship with Him. He does not save the masses, but individuals in those masses.

and their multitude...

הָמֹן הָמוֹן

hâmôn hâmôn

haw-mone', haw-mone'

From H1993; a noise, tumult, crowd; also, disquietude, wealth: - abundance, company, many, multitude, multiply, noise, riches, rumbling, sounding, store, tumult.

Pomp indicates someone who is conceited.

Some-one not humble, but pompous, finds it very difficult to be humble before God. The accepting of the Lord with our head is not what He wants. He wants our heart.

שָׁאוֹן

shâ'ôn

shaw-one'

From H7582; uproar (as of rushing); by implication destruction: - X horrible, noise, pomp, rushing, tumult (X -uous).

עָלֵז

‛âlêz

aw-laze'

From H5937; exultant: - that rejoiceth.

Hell enlarging herself indicates that it must be enlarged to hold, not only the professing non- believer, but also those who are Christians in name only.

descend into it... Hell is beneath the earth, so the wicked descend into it (Isa. 5:14; Num. 16:30-33; Psm. 63:9; 68:18; Eze. 31:14-18; 32:24-27; Mat. 12:40; Eph. 4:8-10).

shall descend...

יָרַד

yârad

yaw-rad'

A primitive root; to descend (literally to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively to fall); causatively to bring down (in all the above applications): - X abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come (-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go (-ing) down (-ward), hang down, X indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.

Many would die, both nobles and masses, since death has no respect for rank (Isa. 5:14). The carousing drunkards (brawlers and revelers) of whom Isaiah had just spoken (Isa. 5:11-12) would also die (Isa. 5:14).

Jehovah redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that take refuge in Him shall be condemned, Psm. 34:21-22. Those who do not take refuge in Him will be condemned to hell aka. Lake of Fire.

2Cor. 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

Of course, Paul is speaking of himself. Paul was truly in Christ as most Christians can only dream of.

I knew (οἶδα)

Rev., correctly, I know.

fourteen years ago... This takes us back to about 46 A.D., some 14 years after Christ died. Just where he saw the vision is not known. This had taken place 14 years before the writing of 2 Corinthians so the specific vision Paul relates cannot be identified with any incident recorded in Acts. Probably took place between his return to Tarsus from Jerusalem and the start of his missionary journeys.

above fourteen years ago (πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων)

Above, of A.V., is due to a misunderstanding of the Greek idiom. Lit., before fourteen years, that is, fourteen years ago, as Rev.

in the body... It could have been in the body, as in the case of Enoch, Elijah, and John (Gen. 5:24; 2Kgs. 2:1-25; Rev. 4:1). The fact he did not know proves the possibility of a natural body going to heaven. It also proves that he believed in the consciousness of souls after leaving the body (2Cor. 5:8; Phlp. 1:21-24; Heb. 12:23). Whether Paul had a vision or was carried away into heaven to the presence of God, really does not matter. What does matter is that Paul had a close encounter with God. There are very few instances like this in the Bible.

caught up to... Caught up, like in 1Thes. 4:16-17. Paul was not doubtful about being caught up to the third heaven. He was certain about that (2Cor. 12:2, 12:4). It was whether in the body or out of it that he was doubtful (2Cor. 12:2-3).

caught up (ἁρπαγέντα)

Compare Dante:

“Thou knowest, who didst lift me with thy light”

Paradiso, i., 75.

The verb suits the swift, resistless, impetuous seizure of spiritual ecstasy. See on Mat. 11:12; and compare Acts 8:39; 1Thes. 4:17; Rev. 12:5.

Verse 4 shows this third heaven and Paradise is the same place. The first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere; the second is interplanetary and interstellar space; and the third is the abode of God.

the third heaven... There are three heavens:

1. The clouds or atmospheric heavens (Gen. 1:8; Psm. 77:17-18; 104:2-3)

2. The starry space (Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Deut. 1:10; Isa. 13:10; 14:13)

3. The planet heaven (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 14:12-14; 66:1; Rev. 21:2, 21:10)

Third heaven

It is quite useless to attempt to explain this expression according to any scheme of celestial gradation. The conception of seven heavens was familiar to the Jews; but according to some of the Rabbins there were two heavens - the visible clouds and the sky; in which case the third heaven would be the invisible region beyond the sky. Some think that Paul describes two stages of his rapture; the first to the third heaven, from which he was borne, as if from a halting-point, up into Paradise.

Paul’s indirect reference to himself as a man in Christ showed that he regarded this great experience not as a consequence of inherent worthiness or spiritual excellence but because he was in Christ. As such it anticipated what everyone in Christ will one day experience, the presence of Christ in heaven.

This event occurred 14 years earlier, sometime in the years a.d. 42-44 before Paul’s missionary journeys reported in Acts. Paul was raptured caught up is from the same verb harpazo4 used in 1Thes. 4:17 of saints at the Rapture to the third heaven, the dwelling place of Christ and the saints, which Jesus called paradise (Luke 23:43; cf. Rev. 2:7). Temporal and spatial sensations were absent whether he was in the body or apart from the body he did not know.

2Cor. 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

up into paradise... This paradise is in the third heaven (2Cor. 12:2, 12:4).

in paradise (παραδείσῳ)

Originally an enclosed park, or pleasure-ground. Xenophon uses it of the parks of the Persian kings and nobles. There at Celaenae Cyrus had a palace and a great park παράδεισος, full of wild animals, which he hunted on horseback....Through the midst of the park flows the river Maeander (Anabasis, i., 2, 7). And again' The Greeks encamped near a great and beautiful park, thickly grown with all kinds of trees (ii., 4, 14.) In the Septuagint, Gen. 2:8, of the garden of Eden. In the Jewish theology, the department of Hades where the blessed souls await the resurrection; and therefore equivalent to Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22, 16:23). It occurs three times in the New Testament: here; 2Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7; and always of the abode of the blessed. Ref. Luke 23:43;

Abraham’s bosom A phrase used among the Jews to signify paradise. It is called paradise in Luke 23:43 and was located in the lower parts of the earth (Eph. 4:8-10; Mat. 12:40). There is another paradise in the third heaven (2Cor. 12:1-4; Rev. 2:7). The Greek for paradise is paradeisos, a park, forest, or orchard; it is used in the Septuagint for the garden of Eden. The Hebrew: pardec is translated orchard (Son. 4:13; Ecc. 2:5) and forest (Neh. 2:8).

Being in the bosom of another means the one next to him at the time (John 13:23). It is also an idiom of close relationship (2Sam. 12:3; Isa. 40:11; John 1:18).

Before the resurrection of Christ all righteous souls went to paradise where they were held captive by the devil against their wills (Heb. 2:14-15). When Christ died His body went to the grave, but He went to paradise and liberated those righteous captives taking them to heaven with Him when He ascended on high (Mat. 12:40; Eph. 4:8-10). Now when a Christian dies he is no longer held captive by the devil in the lower parts of the earth, but he goes immediately to heaven awaiting the resurrection of the body (2Cor. 5:8; Phlp. 1:21-24; Heb. 12:22-24; Rev. 6:9-11). Christ now has the keys of hades and of death (Rev. 1:18). Paradise under the earth is now empty, but the torment department of hades is being filled more every day. It will hold all the wicked dead until the end of the Millennium when hades will deliver up the souls in it, and the graves will give up all the bodies in them. Then the bodies, souls, and spirits of the wicked will be cast into the eternal hell (Rev. 20:11-15). Ref. Luke 16:22.

We mentioned in a previous lesson, that Paradise is where the Tree of Life is.

Revelation 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."

heard unspeakable words... This simply means that human lips and tongue could not express them. They were too sacred to repeat.

Unspeakable words (ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα)

An oxymoron, speaking which may not be spoken.

is not lawful... Paul may have been forbidden to utter these words, like John was commanded to seal up and write not what the seven thunders uttered (Rev. 10:4). If the words are unlawful for man to utter, there would be no way we could know what they were. More than likely these words were for Paul alone and he was forbidden to repeat them.

The rapture had a second stage, under the same incomprehensible conditions, and in it the Christian man passed out and up from the third heaven into Paradise. Many of the Jews believed in a Paradise beneath the earth, the abode of the souls of the good while they awaited their perfecting at the Resurrection; (Luke 16:23, 23:43) but obviously this cannot be the idea here. We must think rather of what the Apocalypse calls the Paradise of God, (Rev. 2:7) where the tree of life grows, and where those who overcome have their reward. It is an abode of unimaginable blessedness, far above all heavens, to use the Apostle’s own words elsewhere. (Eph. 4:10) What visions he had, or what revelations, during that pause in the third heaven, Paul does not say; and at this supreme point of his rapture, m Paradise, the words he heard were words unspeakable, which it is not lawful for man to utter. Mortal ears might hear, but mortal lips might not repeat, sounds so mysterious and divine: it was not for man ανθρωπω is qualitative to utter them.

The experience, however, no doubt contributed to Paul’s conviction that our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”(2Co. 4:17).

2Cor. 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.

Of such an... Again he repeats that he will not glory in himself and his attainments, but in his infirmities and other experiences suffered for Christ (2Cor. 12:1, 12:5; 11:30).

There would be no way to prove to anyone on the earth that this had happened to you, so there is no way to glory in this. Also, Paul had nothing to do with this, God took Paul on this journey. The glory then, must lie in his infirmities.

Though Paul’s reluctance to boast caused him to refer to himself in the third person as (in verse 2), the context there makes it obvious that he was speaking about himself as relating the experience of another man would hardly have enhanced Paul’s apostolic credentials. Also, Paul’s thorn in the flesh afflicted him not someone else.

I will not... But why, we may ask, if this rapture has its meaning and value solely for the Apostle, should he refer to it here at all? Why should he make such solemn statements about an experience, the historical conditions of which, as he is careful to assure us, are incomprehensible, while its spiritual content is a secret? Is not such an experience literally nothing to us? No, unless Paul himself is nothing; for this experience was evidently a great thing to him. It was the most sacred privilege and honor he had ever known; it was among his strongest sources of inspiration; it had a powerful tendency to generate spiritual pride; and it had its accompaniment, and its counter-weight, in his sharpest trial. The world knows little of its greatest men; perhaps we very rarely know what are the great things in the lives even of the people who are round about us. Paul had kept silence about this sublime experience for fourteen years, and no man had ever guessed it; it had been a secret between the Lord and His disciple; and they only, who were in the secret, could rightly interpret all that depended upon it. There is a kind of profanity in forcing the heart to show itself too far, in compelling a man to speak about, even though he does not divulge, the things that it is not lawful to utter. The Corinthians had put this profane compulsion on the Apostle; but though he yields to it, it is in a way which keeps clear of the profanity. He tells what he dare tell in the third person, and then goes on: On behalf of such a one will I glory, but on behalf of myself will I not glory, save in my infirmities. Removere debemus τὸ ago a rebus magnis (Bengel): there are things too great to allow the intrusion of self. Paul does not choose to identify the poor Apostle whom the Corinthians and their misleading teachers used so badly with the man in Christ who had such inconceivable honor put on him by the Lord; if he does boast on behalf of such a one, and magnify his sublime experiences, at all events he does not transfer his prerogatives to himself; he does not say, I am that incomparably honored man; reverence in me a special favorite of Christ. On the contrary, where his own interest has to be forwarded, he will glory in nothing but his weaknesses. The one thing about which he is anxious is that men should not think too highly of him, nor go in their appreciation beyond what their experience of him as a man and a teacher justifies (2Cor. 12:6). He might, indeed, boast, reasonably enough; for the truth would suffice, without any foolish exaggeration; but he forbears, for the reason just stated. We are familiar with the danger of thinking too highly of ourselves; it is as real a danger, though probably a less considered one, to be too highly thought of by others. Paul dreaded it; so does every wise man. To be highly thought of, where the character is sincere and unpretentious, may be a protection, and even an inspiration: but to have a reputation, morally, that one does not deserve-to be counted good in respects in which one is really bad-is to have a frightful difficulty added to penitence and amendment. It puts one in a radically false position; it generates and fosters hypocrisy; it explains a vast mass of spiritual ineffectiveness. The man who is insincere enough to be puffed up by it is not far from judgment.

in mine infirmities... Five phases of Paul’s thorn in the flesh:

1. Greek: astheneia, want of strength; weakness; infirmity, which means a moral, mental, or physical weakness or flaw. Used of utter helplessness of the body in death (1Cor. 15:43; 2Cor. 13:4); infirmity of body (Mat. 8:17; Luke 5:15; 8:2; 13:11-12; John 5:5; 11:4; Act_s ; 1Tim. 5:23); weakness of ability as a nation to cope with more powerful forces in war (Heb. 11:34); weakness of human nature (Rom. 6:19; 8:26; Gal. 4:13; Heb. 4:15; 5:2; 7:28); weakness of human ability (1Cor. 2:3); Paul’s weakness and helplessness before Satan’s angel (2Cor. 11:30; 12:5, 12:9-10). The fact that Paul’s thorn in the flesh consisted of reproaches, necessities, persecutions, distresses, and infirmities proves that the infirmities had to do with his trials, troubles, and sufferings of body and soul which he lists in 2Cor. 11:23-33, and not physical disease. The fact that he still had power to do apostolic signs, wonders, and mighty deeds while he had this thorn in the flesh (2Cor. 12:12), proves that it was not a bodily disease (Mat. 8:17 with Isa. 53:4-5; 1Pet. 2:24). Paul had special power to heal diseases even up to the last days we read of him (Acts 19:11; 28:1-9). See, Mat. 8:17.

2. Greek: hubris, insults; reproaches (2Cor. 12:10); hurt (Acts 27:10); and harm (Acts 27:21)

3. Greek: anangke, necessities (2Cor. 12:10; 6:4; 9:7; 1Cor. 7:37; 9:16; Phlm. 1:14; Heb. 7:12; 9:16, 9:23); distress (Luke 21:23; 1Cor. 7:26)

4. Greek: diogmos, persecutions (2Cor. 12:10; Mat. 13:21; Mark 4:17; 10:30; Acts 8:1; 13:50; Rom. 8:35; 2Cor. 12:10; 2Thes. 1:4; 2Tim. 3:11)

5. Greek: stenochoria, distresses (2Cor. 12:10; 6:4; Rom. 8:35) and anguish (Rom. 2:9)

These five classes of sufferings constitute the buffeting of Paul by the angel of Satan which was his thorn (2Cor. 12:7-10).

Paul boasted about a man (cf. a man in Christ, 2Cor. 12:2, and this man, 2Cor. 12:3) because his accent was on Christ, not himself. The Corinthian preoccupation with the external and the spectacular was regrettable to Paul (cf. 1Cor. 14:20).

2Cor. 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

whilst we are... While we live in the body we are in our temporary home and absent from the eternal home with the Lord.

This body of flesh gets in the way of total fellowship with the Lord. This world, or this body, should not be thought of as our permanent home. We are just traveling through this earth on our way to the Promised Land (heaven).

While we are still in our body, we are attached to this earth. We are in the earth. To live in heaven, we must leave this earthly dwelling place. Just as the children of Israel had to leave Egypt type of the world, before they could go to their Promised Land, we must leave this world to get to our Promised Land. The Lord is inside of us, but to fully enjoy fellowship with no boundaries, we would have to be with Him at the throne of God in Heaven.

are at home (ἐνδημοῦντες)

Ἑν in, δῆμος people. Only in this chapter. To be among one's own people, and not to travel abroad.

absent from the... Paul was not saying he had absolutely no contact, because there is prayer, the indwelling Spirit, and fellowship through the Word. Paul was simply expressing a heavenly homesickness, a strong yearning to be at home with his Lord.

we are absent (ἐκδημοῦμεν)

Lit., we live abroad. Only in this chapter. Compare Phlp. 1:23; 3:20; Heb. 11:13; 13:14. There is a play upon the words which might be expressed by at home, from home.

This seems plain enough, but we must remember that the confidence which Paul has been expressing in the first verse is meant to meet the very case in which this desire is not gratified, the case in which death has to be encountered, and the tabernacle taken down. If this should befall us, he says, we have another body awaiting us, far better than that which we leave, and hence we are confident. The confidence which this hope inspires would naturally, we think, be most perfect, if in the very act of dissolution the new body were assumed; if death were the initial stage in the transformation scene in which all that is mortal is swallowed up by life; if it were, not the ushering of the Christian into a condition of "nakedness," which, temporary though it be, is a mere blank to the mind and imagination, but his admission to celestial life; if to be absent from the body were immediately, and in the fullest sense of the words, the same thing as to be at home with the Lord. This is, in point of fact, the sense in which the passage is understood by a good many scholars, and those who read it so find in it a decisive turning-point in the Apostle’s teaching on the last things. In the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, they say, and indeed in the First to the Corinthians also, Paul’s eschatology was still essentially Jewish. The Christian dead are οι κοιμωμενοι, or οι κοιμηθεντες those that sleep; nothing definite is said of their condition; only it is implied that they do not get the incorruptible body till Jesus comes again and raises them from the dead. In other words, those who die before the Parousia have the soul-chilling prospect of an unknown term of nakedness. Here this terror is dispelled by the new revelation made to the Apostle, or the new insight to which he has attained: there is no longer any such interval between death and glory; the heavenly body is assumed at once; the state called κοιμασθαι being asleep vanishes from the future. Sabatier and Schmiedel, who adopt this view, draw extreme consequences from it. It marks an advance, according to Schmiedel, of the highest importance. The religious postulate of an uninterrupted communion of life with Christ, violated by the conception of a κοιμασθαι, or falling asleep, is satisfied; Christ’s descent from heaven, and a simultaneous resurrection and judgment, become superfluous; judgment is transferred to the moment of death, or rather to the process of development during life on earth; and, finally, the place of eternal blessedness passes from earth (the Jewish and early Christian opinion, probably shared by Paul, as he gives no indication of the contrary) to heaven. All this, it is further pointed out, is an approximation, more or less close, to the Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and may even have been ex-cogitated in part under its influence; and it is at the same time a half-way house between the Pharisaic eschatology of First Thessalonians and the perfected Christian doctrine of a passage like John 5:24 : "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life."

With this perspective Paul could be confident (2Cor. 5:6, 5:8; cf. 2Cor. 7:16) and encouraged (cf. 2Cor. 4:1, 4:16), even in his period of mortality. These verses (2Cor. 5:6-8) recapitulate the theme first discussed in 2Cor. 4:16-18. To be at home in the body means to dwell in the earthly tent (2Cor. 5:1), to be outwardly wasting away (2Cor. 4:16), to be in a state of mortality away from the immediate presence of the Lord (cf. 1Cor. 13:12).

What sustained Paul was the realization that this was a temporary and transitory state (2Cor. 4:18). He focused not on present but on future conditions, not on the seen but the unseen.

2Cor. 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

We are confident... When we leave this body of flesh, we are instantly in heaven with the Lord in our spiritual body. Jesus told the thief on the cross that today he would be with Him in Paradise. Jesus dismissed His Spirit from His body and commanded it to go to the Father. Both the Spirit of Jesus and the spirit of the thief instantly went to paradise/heaven, when they left their bodies of flesh.

Revelation 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."

The Tree of Life (Jesus), is in heaven with God. Paradise is now in heaven.

are willing (εὐδοκοῦμεν)

The translation might well be made stronger as well as more literal: we are well-pleased.

to be absent... To die and be absent from the body means we go to heaven to be with the Lord (Phlp. 1:21-24; Heb. 12:23; Jas. 2:26; Rev. 6:9-11). This is proof that the inner man does not go to the grave at death, but to heaven if one is righteous. If one is wicked he goes to hell awaiting the resurrection of his body (Luke 16:19-31, see; Rev. 20:11-15).

to be absent - present (ἐκδημῆσαι - ἐνδημῆσαι)

The same verbs as in 2Cor. 5:6: to be from home, at home.

great white throne, and him that sat on it

Three of Seven Judgments of Scripture

1. Judgment of believers’ sins in the cross of Christ (John 12:31-32)

(1) Subjects: believers as to sin (Rom. 6:10; Heb. 9:25-28)

(2) Time: on the cross (John 3:14; 1Pet. 2:24; John 17:4)

(3) Place: Calvary (Luke 23:33; John 19:1-42)

(4) Basis: Christ’s perfect work (John 3:16; 5:24; Rom. 6:8)

(5) Result: death to Christ; life to believers (Rom. 4:1-24; 5:1-21; 8:1-16)

2. Believers’ self-judgment throughout life (1Cor. 11:31-32)

(1) Subjects: believers walking in the the light (1Jhn. 1:7)

(2) Time: every day (Rom. 6:16-23; 8:1-13; Eph. 4:22-32; Col. 3:5-17)

(3) Place: in the earth (Rom. 8:1-16; Heb. 12:5-11)

(4) Basis: obedience to God and His Word (Jas. 1:22-25)

(5) Result: chastisement or approval from God (Heb. 12:5-11)

In the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, they say, and indeed in the First to the Corinthians also, Paul’s eschatology was still essentially Jewish. The Christian dead are οι κοιμωμενοι, or οι κοιμηθεντες those that sleep; nothing definite is said of their condition; only it is implied that they do not get the incorruptible body till Jesus comes again and raises them from the dead. In other words, those who die before the Parousia have the soul-chilling prospect of an unknown term of nakedness. Here this terror is dispelled by the new revelation made to the Apostle, or the new insight to which he has attained: there is no longer any such interval between death and glory; the heavenly body is assumed at once; the state called κοιμασθαι being asleep vanishes from the future.

It is to live in light of ultimate rather than immediate realities (cf. Rom. 8:24-25), to be obedient to God’s commands despite the hardships that obedience produces (e.g., 2Cor. 11:23-29). Such was Paul’s life. If the choice were his, he would have seized the opportunity to depart this pilgrimage life and take up residence be at home with the Lord (Phlp. 1:21-23). But the constraints of his commission caused him to press on (cf. Phlp. 1:24; Eph. 3:1-13).

Rev. 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

I am he... This identifies the person to be Christ (Acts 2:25-36; 1Cor. 15:1-23; Col. 2:14-17; Eph. 2:14-15; John 21:14).

Jesus is explaining here. He is the same one who took on the form of flesh and died on the cross for our sins.

The third time to show Himself to the majority of apostles (John 20:19, 20:26; 21:1-14). It was the seventh appearance since the resurrection.

The Twelve Appearances of Christ:

1. To Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:15-16)

2. To the women at the tomb (Mat. 28:9)

3. To two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-31)

4. To Peter (Luke 24:34; 1Cor. 15:5)

5. To the ten apostles (John 20:19)

6. To the eleven apostles (John 20:26)

7. To the seven apostles (John 21:1-22; this was after the second Sunday)

8. To the eleven apostles on a certain mountain in Galilee (Mat. 28:16)

9. To the twelve apostles, including Matthias (1Cor. 15:5; Acts 1:26)

10. To five hundred brethren (1Cor. 15:6)

11. To James, the Lord’s brother (1Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19)

12. To all the apostles (1Cor. 15:7; Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:3-12, 1:26).

We read (in Romans 10), what we must do to be saved.

Rom. 10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

This is interesting.

We must not only believe who He is and that He saved us, but we must believe that He rose from the grave.

His body is what died and rose again.

Jesus, when He descended into hades, took the keys of hell away from the devil. When He arose, He did away with death.

Death was the last enemy to be done away with.

The devil cannot put anyone in hell.

Jesus is the only one who can do that.

Jesus has the key. No one can enter, or exit, without Him.

We will read later how Jesus locks the devil up for 1000 years.

Jesus is the Judge.

The only ones Jesus will put in hell are the devil, the devil's angels, and those who reject Him. When Jesus said I am He that liveth, it is life forevermore.

Death and Hades are essentially synonyms, but death is the condition and Hades, equivalent to the Old Testament Sheol, the place of the dead (see note on 20:13).

Christ decides who lives, who dies, and when.

Jesus Christ, as the absolute living one, He has life in Himself, He is life, He is our source of life, and He has control of everything, in heaven, earth, and hell.

He called Lazarus' life back into him.

Jesus brought many souls out of hades when He preached there.

Jesus is Life. He controls our destiny.

We choose (He controls), either heaven or hell eternally.

Keys of hell and of death. Keys signify power and authority (Rev. 3:7; Mat. 16:19; 18:18; Isa. 22:22).

thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, not to Peter only, for the same power is promised all believers (Mat. 17:20; 18:18; 21:22; Mark 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; Luke 10:19; John 14:12-15; 15:7, 15:16; Acts 1:4-8; 2:38-39; 5:32; 1Cor. 12:1-31).

keys of the kingdom of heaven, keys are a symbol of authority (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7). Here they mean authority and power to do the works of Christ (Mat. 18:18; 16:15-20; John 14:12-15). Whatever He bound and loosed is the true idea.

bind on earth shall be bound in heaven

Binding

1. Men with chains (Mat. 12:29; 14:3; 22:13; Mark 5:3; Acts 9:2, 9:14, 9:21)

2. Tares in bundles (Mat. 13:30)

3. Men by Satan’s power (Luke 13:16)

4. Men with obligations (Acts 20:22)

5. Men in marriage bonds (Rom. 7:2; 1Cor. 7:27, 7:39)

6. Satan and angels in chains (Rev. 9:14; 20:2)

7. Animals in chains (Mat. 21:2)

8. Men by God’s power (Mat. 16:19; 18:18)

loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven

Loosing

1. Infirmities (Luke 13:12-16; Mark 7:35)

2. Satan and angels from chains (Rev. 9:14; 20:3, 20:7)

3. Men from chains and prison (Acts 16:26; 22:30; 24:26)

4. Men from sin (Rev. 1:5)

5. Men from bonds of death (Acts 2:24)

6. Marriage bonds (1Cor. 7:27)

7. Satanic powers (1Jhn. 3:8)

8. Animals (Mark 11:2-4)

9. Earth from bondage and the curse (2Pet. 3:10-13; Rom. 8:21)

10. Men by God’s power (Mat. 16:19; Mat. 18:18).

One can see from these examples of binding and loosing that it means more than declaring something lawful or unlawful by preaching. It also means to confirm the truth by power as Christ and the apostles did.