When Paul said Jesus first descended to the lower parts of the earth, where was this?
Also when Jesus descended was it to free the captives such as Abraham because he wasn't under the new covenant?
Ephesians 4:9
NKJV - 9 (Now this, "He ascended" - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
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Asked January 22 2014
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Daniel Wallace
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JD Abshire
My understanding is that the Hebrew "sheol" (Deuteronomy 32:22) and Greek "hades" (Matthew 11:23) both represent death, the grave, place of departed spirits, also called hell (Psalms 16:10). We learn from reading Luke 16:19-31 that hades had two compartments separated by a great gulf or chasm. The righteous dead were in one compartment being comforted, the unsaved tormented in the other. There was no movement from one side to the other. Christ also used the term hell when referring to “Gehenna”, the future place and eternal state of torment and punishment for the unrighteous (Matthew 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28, 18:9, etc.) The word "atonement" is used some 80 times in the Old Testament which basically meant to cover, to appease, pacify, to propitiate. Atonement is only used once in the New Testament (Romans 5:11) and has a different meaning; make an exchange, to restore, reconcile. The pre-resurrection saint’s sin was atoned for (covered) but God’s righteous demands required full payment of man’s sin which was not met until after Calvary and the resurrection (Hebrews 10) Having declared the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) our great God and savior knew and planned Christ would one day come and make this payment; God created a “lay-away” plan and effectively laid-away those believers in paradise. Upon the debt being “paid in full” our precious Savior took those spirits he purchased to heaven. I believe this shows that God, who is always righteous and just in his requirements of man, requires the same of himself. He is faithful that has promised (Hebrews 10:23). I praise God he has marked my debt “paid in full”.
William Ingersoll
I praise God he has marked my debt “paid in full”. Paid to God? - God is the liberator from sin, death, and the bondage of the devil through the shed blood of the cross. Revelation 5:9 (the Biblical word is liberated - loosed) Paid to justice? Mercy triumphs over legalistic justice, judgement, and forensics justification. James 2:13 Paid to the devil? No, but freedom is not free - freedom, being loosed, liberation, is costly. The Passover sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was costly (the meaning of the Biblical word), but the blood of Jesus was not paid to anyone. Jesus taught forgiveness, not payment of a debt or punishment; instead Jesus’ parables and messages taught forgiveness, not payment: Matthew 6:12, Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:27-35, Mark 11:26, Luke 7:42, Luke 11:4, Luke 23:34. Where there is forgiveness - there is no payment; where there is payment - there is no forgiveness. Forgiveness is costly - the shed blood of the cross. The New Testament teaches that the shed blood of Jesus, the blood of the cross, was sprinkled to cleanse, heal, and free from sin, death, and the bondage of the devil. The atoning salvation of Jesus is about forgiveness, not payment, purification not punishment, freedom not forensic justification. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; the sacrificial shed blood of the slain Lamb of God cleanses from the disgusting defilement and perversion of sin, heals from the horrific disease and corruption of death, and frees from the terrifying and tormenting bondage of the devil. God raised Jesus from the death by the blood of the everlasting testament - the blood of the cross.
Jack Gutknecht
NET translation: "Now what is the meaning of “he ascended,” except that he also descended to the lower regions, namely, the earth?" The NET Bible has in the Greek, “to the lower parts of the earth.” Translate the phrase “of the earth” as a genitive of apposition: “to the lower parts, namely, the earth” (as in the present translation). Many recent scholars hold this view and argue that it is a reference to the incarnation. At Dallas Seminary in our Greek classes, we had to learn the different uses of the Genitive Case. The Genitive of Apposition was one of them. Here is another example of how to identify this Genitive: an appositional form is when you want to use a noun to clarify another noun. θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν (“God our Father”) identifies “God” as being our “Father.” If you want to confirm that a word is appositional, insert something like “which is,” “that is,” “namely,” or, “who is.” “God, who is our Father.” If it makes sense, you probably have an appositional construction. BM So Ephesians 4:9 most probably means that Christ descended (at His incarnation) into the lower parts (of the universe), namely the earth. RSB
David Cory Enderby
He descended into Hell. Hell is toward the center of the Earth. According to a testimony by Bill Wiese (who was taken there by Jesus), Hell is about 3700 miles down. The Earth is supposedly 8000 miles in diameter.
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