David B. Curtis
David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans. We are continuing our study in 1 Peter 3 this morning—
well sort of. Before we move on to chapter four, I want to back up and talk a little more about verse 19. I know that we have already spent two weeks on this verse, but I think it is important to understand.
in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 1 Peter 3:19 ESV
This verse is the origin of the statement "descended into Hell" in the Apostles' Creed, which assumes that "prison" here is Hell, "spirits" are men, and Christ went there between his death and resurrection. The doctrine of Christ's descent into hell is known throughout the Christian world primarily because of the Apostles' Creed. I believe that it is totally erroneous.
"He went and proclaimed"—"he" here is Christ. The verb "went" means to go from one place to another and is used in v22 to describe Christ's ascension. It refers to a personal going.
The main point, says France, "is that there is no mention of going down, or of Sheol or Hades (which is never called phylakē [prison] in biblical literature). Christ went to the prison of the fallen angels, not to the abode of the dead, and the two are never equated."
"Proclaimed"—is the Greek term kērussō (from the noun keruxz) which means "a herald for a king." In fact, the official kerux or herald would stand in the marketplace and blow a trumpet in order to call the attention of the crowd to the edict of the emperor. His proclamation was as a command. He declared the policy of the king. Kerusso, then, means to declare the policy of the king.
Christ went somewhere and made a proclamation to Spirits in prison. Who is that? There are two theories concerning this the "Spirits in prison." One holds that it refers to dead men. To support that contention, they use 1 Peter 4:6.
For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 1 Peter 4:6 ESV
This has nothing to do with preaching to dead people in Hades, as I will demonstrate when we look at this text.
The other view is that "spirits" refers to spirit beings—what we would call gods, watchers, or angels. Peter is talking about Christ's proclaiming victory to the fallen angels whose sin is mentioned in Genesis 6. They tried to stop the redemption of man by corrupting the human bloodline to prevent Christ from being a sinless substitute.
Probably because of the Apostles' Creed, many take this verse to mean that after his death and before his resurrection Christ when to Sheol and preached to the people in Sheol. Many of the ancient church fathers and early writers believed that between His death and His resurrection He descended into Hades where He preached deliverance to the captives (those who trusted in God in the Old Covenant) and opened the gates and brought them to heaven.
Some say that he preached the gospel to those in Hades, and they were given a second chance to believe, while others say that teach that he preached the victory of the cross. This view is not biblical as we hopefully have seen. The Bible NEVER says that Christ preached to men in Sheol. The Church says he did, but the Bible never does.
We basically spent two weeks on verse 19 which should be enough, but we didn't talk about another verse (Ephesians 4:8-9) that is used to support the view of Christ's preaching to men in Sheol/Hades.
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Ephesians 4:8-9 ESV
To help us in our understanding of 1 Peter 3:19, we are going to look at these verses this morning and see if we can figure them out. I'm doing this because I think it is very important to understand what 3:19 is saying and what it is not saying.
Let's back up and get the context. At the beginning of chapter 4, Paul urges his audience, and in fact all believers,
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Ephesians 4:1 ESV
"Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called." He lists five characteristics of those who walk in that manner:
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, Ephesians 4:2 ESV
We are to walk like this,
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:3 ESV
Paul takes this phrase and begins to speak to that unity. This is an organic, spiritual unity founded on seven essential unifying factors related to the three members of the Trinity (4:4-6). The same unity that the Father, Son, and Spirit share is the same unity that the church actually has.
But beginning in verse 7 he is moving away from that corporate unity, and he begins looking at believers individually.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesians 4:7 ESV
"To each one of us"— he speaks to each Christian that makes up the Church of Yeshua, that is, the body of Christ. Verses 7-16 are a distinct unity within the section as a whole (verses 1-16). The presence of "each one" in verses 7 and 16 form an inclusio. An inclusio is a literary device whereby a writer or speaker uses similar phrases or themes at the beginning and end of a work or section of a work to emphasize a main idea or point.
These are not the easiest verses in Ephesians to understand. There are some difficult interpretive matters where godly scholars disagree. Nonetheless, the overall theme is fairly clear. Paul is showing that Yeshua is the ascended, victorious Lord over all, and that He has sovereignly given various spiritual gifts to His church so that "He might fill all things" (4:10).
The subject here, therefore, is spiritual gifts. From our perspective, spiritual gifts are not a subject that we associate with unity. It is, in fact, just the opposite. This brings up the need to talk here about audience relevance. We know that the Scriptures were written for us but not to us. That brings up the question: What in the Scripture applies to us and what doesn't? From my perspective, unless I have strong reason not to, I apply the principles of the New Testament to believers today. For example, I think we, twenty- first century American Christians, are to walk worthy. In other words, we are to be humble, to love one another, to put others before ourselves. To me these things are timeless. But there is much in the New Testament that does not apply to us because we do not live in the Transition Period. This text is case in point. I don't believe that spiritual gifts are available today. I'm not going to get into this today; we'll look at spiritual gifts in our study of 1 Peter 4.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesians 4:7 ESV
The uniform interpretation of this verse is that Christ has given different spiritual gifts to different believers. But this verse does not say that. Such a meaning must be imported from the parallel passages of 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12, and the immediate context of verse 11.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, Ephesians 4:11 ESV
These are gifts given to the first-century church to minister to the body.
"Grace was given"—the word "grace" in our text is from the Greek word charis, which is a very general, abstract noun. But when an abstract noun has an article, as it does here, a particular aspect of the noun is stressed. In this context, it is referring to an enablement given to each believer to empower them for ministry. It is very closely connected with charisma, which is a grace gift. Paul uses these two terms side by side in 1 Corinthians 1:4 and 7 and in Romans 12:6.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; Romans 12:6 ESV
The Greek word here for "gifts" is charisma. It means "gift of grace" (charis). So, we see that Paul uses charisma (grace gift) as a particular manifestation of Yahweh's enabling charis (grace).
I think we can conclude, then, that Ephesians 4:7 is talking about spiritual gifts. Paul is not referring to the grace that saves but, rather, to the grace that equips each believer for service and ministry. The context shows that this is what he has in mind (v. 9-16).
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesians 4:7 ESV
"To each one"—in verses 4-6 the word "one" has been used in relation to a sevenfold unity of the body of Christ; now it refers to the individuals, "each one." So, we have a shift from the one body to the individual members of that body. "Each one of us" refers to those first-century believers and Paul.
Paul is telling them that if they have received Yahweh's gracious gift of salvation, they have also received His gracious spiritual gift to use for His glory. This means that every single individual in the first-century body of Christ had a specific spiritual gift.
This leads pastors and commentators who don't understand the Transition Period to say that all believers today have a spiritual gift. One commentator writes, "God has given each one of us a spiritual gift. And it is our responsibility to know that gift, and to exercise it in the body of Christ." This can be very frustrating to believers today as they try to figure out what their gift is when they don't have one.
"According to the measure of Christ's gift"—the word "measure" is the Greek word "metron" from which we get metric or meter. It has to do with quantity. In other words, each one of them had a measured-out gift, a certain quantity. The word "gift" is dorea, a word that emphasizes the freeness of it. Dorea—it's a free gift; they didn't earn it; they were given it, and it was measured out by the determining purpose of Christ.
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." Ephesians 4:8 ESV
"Therefore it says"—What is "it"? This most likely implies: "Scripture says," although for Paul, "Scripture says," "Yahweh says," and "David says" are simply different ways of expressing the same thing. When Scripture speaks, Yahweh speaks.
Paul is quoting Psalm 68:18. There has been much ink spilled over this verse and there is a myriad of different opinions on what this Psalm originally meant. This Psalm is considered as textually and exegetically the most difficult and obscure of all the Psalms. On top of that, there is also much discussion as to why Paul did not quote it exactly. If you compare the Hebrew Masoretic Text with the LXX, you will find that they are identical. But in the Greek of Ephesians 4:8, Paul made six changes from the LXX. And the discussions on this go on and on. I'll spare you the details. Let's first look at the Psalm and then look at Paul's changes.
I want to look at the two main interpretations that Scholars take of this Psalm. The first interpretation is found in the Aramaic Targum, which is like a commentary on the Tanakh that the Jews used from time to time. It says that this Psalm speaks of Moses on Mount Sinai when the Law was delivered to him. Look at verse 7.
O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, Selah Psalms 68:7 ESV
They say that this depicts God's marching in triumph before all Israel—from Egypt, right through the Red Sea, taking them right through in deliverance into the promised land —that is God's exodus of His children, God's marching before His children in triumph. Then He brings them through the Red Sea and to Sinai's Mount, where He gives them His Law and He reveals to them His great name through His righteous Law.
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. Psalms 68:8 ESV
In Exodus chapter 20 we read that the Mount shook, there was a great thundering and lightning, and fire and smoke, when the Law was given.
The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host: "The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!" The women at home divide the spoil— though you men lie among the sheepfolds— the wings of a dove covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold. When the Almighty scatters kings there, let snow fall on Zalmon. Psalms 68:11-14 ESV
Here we see that kings and armies flee while the people of God sleep beside their camp fire peacefully, in the safety of their Almighty God. Look at verses 16 to 17.
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain, at the mount that God desired for his abode, yes, where the LORD will dwell forever? The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary. Psalms 68:16-17 ESV
This depicts God's looking from the Mount of the Law, Mount Sinai, across to Mount Zion and Jerusalem and beginning to walk with all His people. The Psalmist says that there are tens of thousands of chariots, and He walks right up Mount Zion, up the slopes of Jerusalem in victory, leading His captives in His train, and giving gifts unto His own men.
You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. Psalms 68:18 ESV
That's the first interpretation of the Psalm, understood to be Moses and the God of Moses delivering Israel out of Egypt, and bringing them to Mount Sinai and then to Mount Zion.
The second interpretation, believed by many, is that this Psalm simply speaks of David's triumph. It is a victory hymn depicting David's defeat of his enemies in the conquest of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem (remember that Jerusalem was not always inhabited by the Jews). David, in his triumph, tramples through the Jebusites in Jerusalem and then goes up to Mount Zion in triumph because of the victory of God. As he does so, he brings gifts to all those who have fought in the battle with him.
I believe that Paul is borrowing from the imagery of this Psalm in order to picture a triumphant Christ returning from His battle on earth to the glory of the heavenly city, bringing with Him the trophies of His great triumph and great victory and giving gifts to His followers.
One commentator writes: "This phrase, 'led captivity captive,' is referring to Jesus' liberating the Old Testament saints. At the death of Jesus, He descended into Sheol and took these captives captive. He then took them to heaven, into the very presence of God, and vacated that part of Sheol."
What's wrong with this statement? What he is talking about is the resurrection. The removal of saints from Sheol to heaven is synonymous of getting eternal life. Eternal life is life in the presence of Yahweh. The saints in Sheol were separated from Yahweh, so when did they receive this resurrection into the presence of Yahweh? Was it at Christ's death? No, it wasn't until the Second Coming, which took place at the end of the Old Covenant Age.
who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:30 ESV
The present age became the age to come at AD 70. Until then no one went to heaven.
As I said, Paul made six changes to this verse, but most just mention one of these changes. The big question that is asked is why did Paul change "received" from Psalm 68:18 into "gave" in our text in Ephesians?
You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. Psalms 68:18 ESV
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." Ephesians 4:8 ESV
Is Paul changing the text? Let me give you a couple of different views.
Some claim that Paul simply misquoted the Tanakh here. I certainly don't buy that. I believe that Paul was a Rabbi with semikhah. In Yeshua's time, there was a small group of what are called Rabbis with semikhah. We know of about a dozen of them by name who lived from 30 B.C to A.D. 70. They were not common, and they didn't exist in Judea.
What is a Rabbi with semikhah? They were masters of the Torah and the Haftorah. Haftorah is a Hebrew word that simply means "the rest." They were masters of the whole Tanakh. These Rabbis knew the entire Tanakh by memory.
Others say that the original Psalm speaks of God's receiving the Levites from among Israel and then giving them back to Israel as gifts. They believe that Paul had Numbers 8 and 18 in mind here. In Paul's mind, then, the receiving of gifts and the giving of gifts are the same thing, and it is the giving of gifts that is the focus of what Paul is about to tell us.
This reading of "giving gifts" is also found in the Psalm 68:18 of the Syriac Peshitta, which may reflect a textual tradition different from that represented by the MT and the LXX.
Here is the text of the Psalm from the OT Peshitta (First Century Aramaic Bible):
'You have ascended on high and you have captured captivity and you have given gifts to the children of men and rebels will not dwell before God. ' Psalm 68:1>
There has been a tradition of Christian interpretation which has argued that the notion of "giving" was also implied in the Tanakh. The Hebrew verb lâqach (rendered "receive"), it is suggested, sometimes has the sense of "to take in order to give" to someone else.
My position here is that if Paul did change this word from "receive" to "give," he did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In the ancient time, when the kings received gifts as spoils of war, they would share these with the people. Paul could simply be using this ancient custom to convey his point.
However one explains Paul's change of words, his overall point is that this verse about a victorious Israelite king leading his captives in triumphal procession and receiving gifts of booty applies to the victorious, ascended Christ in relation to His Church.
(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Ephesians 4:9 ESV
In verse 9, Paul is reasoning that if Christ ascended, He first had to descend. As Yeshua explained to Nicodemus:
No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. John 3:13 ESV
Yeshua claimed to have come down from heaven to this earth, sent by the Father (see John 6:33, 38, 51, 58).
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. John 6:38 ESV
So, when He ascended into heaven, Yeshua was returning to the place where He dwelled before the foundation of the world.
Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? John 6:62 ESV
"The lower regions, the earth"—again there is no end to the opinions that people have as to what this means. Some take it to refer to Yeshua's descent into Hades during the time between His death and resurrection (based on a faulty interpretation of 1 Pet. 3:19). Many of the ancient church fathers and early writers believed that between His death and His resurrection He descended into Hades, He preached deliverance to the captives (i.e., those who trusted in God in the Old Covenant), and He opened the gates and brought them to heaven.
I don't see this as talking about a speculated time spent by Yeshua in Hades but to the fact that Yeshua came down to earth from heaven in the first place.
Some say that it could refer to the grave. Some say that it simply means "the earth as contrasted with heaven." The NIV translates it this way and so does the Complete Jewish Bible.
Now this phrase, "he went up," what can it mean if not that he first went down into the lower parts, that is, the earth? Ephesians 4:9 CJB
I see this as a reference to the incarnation in that He descended into the lower parts of the earth—in regards to His humanity and His suffering within the cross.
The idea here, then, is parallel to Philippians 2:5-11 where Paul states that Yeshua laid aside the glory that He had in heaven and took on the form of a bond-servant. He became obedient even to death on a cross:
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, Philippians 2:9 ESV
The words "highly exalted" are the Greek word huperupsoo it means "to elevate to a surpassing position, to exalt beyond all others, to exalt to the highest, maximum majesty." This particular exaltation is so grand that this particular Greek word is not used anyplace else in the whole Bible.
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) Ephesians 4:10 ESV
The idea of this verse is similar to Philippians 2:9-11, but in the context of Ephesians, it takes us back to Ephesians 1:20-21.
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:20-21 ESV
Does this sound familiar? This is just what Peter said in 1 Peter 3:22.
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 1 Peter 3:22 ESV
This is the exaltation of Yeshua. Kings place at their right hand those whom they design to honor or whom they associate with themselves in dominion.
Do you remember where Peter is quoting this from? This imagery is drawn from Psalm 110:1.
The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." Psalms 110:1 ESV
Psalm 110 is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. Paul and Peter used this verse in reference to Yeshua. And if you think that this is simply Paul and Peter reading too much into the life of Yeshua, let me remind you that Yeshua Himself claimed this verse was referring to Him. When Yeshua is teaching the in the temple, He said,
"How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.'" Mark 12:35-36 ESV
Yeshua quotes Psalm 110 in reference to Himself.
Paul goes on in Ephesians to say:
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV
Yeshua's filling all in all, or all things, refers to His sovereign rule over all. "The fullness of him who fills all in all"—this is an idiom for pervasive influence and control; it refers to His sovereign rule over all. In His exalted position, Christ is "head over everything for the Church" (Ephesians 1:22).
In the context, Paul has been speaking of the attitudes which reflect Christ and which facilitate Christian unity.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, Ephesians 4:1-2 ESV
The fundamental attitude is that of humility. I believe that Paul's reference to Psalm 68 has a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is to show that spiritual gifts have their origin in the victory of Christ over the death, the grave, and His enemies. The second purpose is to demonstrate that spiritual service is intimately related to humility.
In our text in 1 Peter, Peter is using Christ as our example of undeserved suffering that ultimately ends us in triumph. I see in 1 Peter 3:18-22 a text very similar to what we see in both Philippians 2:5-11 and in Ephesians 4:1-10. In all three texts we see the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. It takes humility to endure unjust suffering.
In Ephesians 4 I believe that this link between ascended and descended is the point of Paul's words in verses 9 and 10. What Paul is showing us is that even in our Lord's life and ministry the way "up" was "down." Christ descended in order to ascend.
So, this text like our text in 1 Peter has nothing to do with Christ's descending into Hades and preaching to anybody. This is about Christ's incarnation and exaltation.
These texts show us Christ's humiliation and exaltation. So, too, as our Lord taught His disciples, the way to greatness is through humble service.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:12 ESV
The word humbled here is tapeinoō which means "abase, bring low, humble." Luke quotes the Lord saying the same exact thing in Luke 14:11 and again in 18:14. The Lord says it slightly different in Matthew 18.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4 ESV
Philippians 2:8-9 tells us that Yeshua humbled himself and Yahweh exalted him. James says,
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:10 ESV
Peter says,
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6 ESV
Yeshua said it several times, James said it, and Peter said it. Notice what Peter said in the previous verse.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5 ESV
The word "opposes" here is from the Greek antitassomai which means "to range in battle against." Do you want Yahweh to range in battle against you or do you want Him to give you grace? Pride brings judgment; humility brings grace and exaltation.
I believe that this is a timeless truth that applies to us today. Yahweh exalts the humble. And so, the Lord Yeshua is like a triumphant sovereign. Having accomplished His work, He's ascended up on high, He's received from the Father the gift of the Holy Spirit, and He has poured out the Holy Spirit in that age so that every individual believer was indwelt with the Holy Spirit and given a specific spiritual gift.
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