“However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say,

    ‘When he ascended to the heights,

    he led a crowd of captives

    and gave gifts to his people.’”

 “Notice that it says ‘he ascended.’ This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself” (Eph. 4:7-10, NLT). What is happening here, and what is Paul’s point in these verses?

 Paul here quoted Psalm 68:18, which reads: “When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you” (NLT). Psalm 68:18 portrays the Lord, Yahweh, as a conquering general who, having conquered His enemies, ascends the hill on which His capital city is built, with the captives of battle in His train (see Ps. 68:1, 2). He then receives tribute (“received gifts”) from His conquered foes (noting that Paul adjusts this imagery to the exalted Christ “giving gifts,” based on the wider context of the Psalm, see Ps. 68:35).

 If we follow the order of Psalm 68:18, the ascent — Christ’s ascension to heaven (Eph. 1:21-23) — occurs first, followed by the descent in which the risen, exalted Jesus gives gifts and fills all things. This is Paul’s way of depicting the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2). This view is confirmed by Ephesians 4:11, 12, which identify the gifts provided by the exalted Jesus as gifts of the Spirit.

 “Christ ascended on high, leading captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. When, after Christ’s ascension, the Spirit came down as promised, like a rushing, mighty wind, filling the whole place where the disciples were assembled, what was the effect? Thousands were converted in a day.” — Ellen G. White, Ye Shall Receive Power, p. 158.