D21-14: How Deuteronomy 21:10 Demystifies This NT Text That Has Baffled Scholars For Centuries

Today I want to point how understanding Torah can help us demystify certain texts in the New Testament.

Let’s take a look at Deuteronomy 21:10:

“When you go out to war against your enemies,
and Adonai your God hands them over to you,
and you take prisoners…”

The Complete Jewish Bible uses the phrase “and you take prisoners”.

However, other English translations will use a phrase which should sound much more familiar to our ears.

For example, the King James version says…

…”and thou hast taken them captive”.

The NIV also says…

“…and you take captives”.

Now doesn’t that phrase have a familiar ring?

It should…because it comes from the following famous NT verse.

“This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended”
mean except that he also
descended to the lower,
earthly regions?”
-Ephesians 4:8-9

A common question that is often asked is what happened to those righteous men who died before the advent of Yeshua?

I’m talking about those faithful Hebrew saints in the Tanach who obeyed the Torah, faithfully followed the Levitical sacrificial system and died trusting HASHEM.

Well, here’s the thing.

They didn’t go to heaven but to a place called “Abraham’s Bosom”.

What the heck is “Abraham’s Bosom”, you say?

It is one of two places existing under the earth where departed souls go to.

One place is called “Abraham’s Bosom”.

The other place is called “Hades”.

Here’s the NT reference.

“The time came when the beggar died
and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away,
with Lazarus by his side.”
-Luke 16:22-23

I think in other places, Yeshua also referred to as “Abraham’s bosom” as a paradise.

So after death, the Hebrew Saints of old were kept captive in Abraham’s bosom which was a place of joy and peace…

…UNTIL Yeshua completed his earthly work.

Upon completing his earthly ministry, the Messiah then took the inhabitants of Abraham’s bosom with him to heaven.

This is another perfect example of how studying Torah sheds a lot of light on some mystifying NT verses.

Because in Deuteronomy 21:10, we pretty much have the exact same phrase.

And even though the NT is written in Greek, understand that behind them Greek words are Hebrew thought, culture and phraseology.

We have to interpret the NT from a Jewish perspective or we’ll get a lot of things wrong.

So what exactly does Ephesians 4:8 mean?

It simply means that Yeshua freed the Hebrew saints of old from their captivity in Abraham’s bosom and escorted them into heaven.

Basically what we’re seeing in Deuteronomy 21:10 and Ephesians 4:8 is an amazing change in status.

In Deuteronomy 21, the gentile female prisoners of war had their status changed from being free Canaanite women to being held captive by Israel.

And as I mentioned yesterday, some of these females would go on to marry Israelite men and over time lose all of their Canaanite identity.

In Ephesians 4:8, the prisoners who are being held captive in Abraham’s bosom are set free and their status is changed to that of being citizens of Heaven in the very presence of HASHEM.

It’s also been said that once Yeshua freed these captives, Abraham’s bosom ceased to be.

Why is that?

Simply because after Messiah, Abraham’s bosom became completely empty.

Now all those who trust God by trusting in His only and begotten son have direct access to heaven minus having to go to some intermediate waiting room.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain where
Yeshua had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshiped him;
but some doubted.
Then Yeshua came to them and said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. ”
-Matthew 28:16-18

“In the presence of God
and of Messiah Yeshua,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and in view of his appearing
and his kingdom,
I give you this charge:”
-2 Timothy 4:1