What If…the Mysteries of God

Understanding what was Revealed

I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I grew up a fan of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And particularly of his “hero” Sherlock Holmes. The insights and perceptions of the fictitious “highly functioning sociopath” were intriguing. Every little detail was analyzed, catalogued and stored – mostly without prejudice – somewhere in the recesses of Mr. Holmes mind. Or so Sir Arthur wrote…

Of course Sherlock Holmes benefitted from the exceptional creativity of Sir Doyle. It was Doyle’s ability to weave into a story the literary elements that included some level of intrigue, mixed with a combination of either the naivete or innocence and the roguish or occasionally even brutish behavior of the supporting cast. He then, first through the manufacturing of what was perceived as an unsolvable mystery, followed by the often slow, meandering (even plodding), disclosure of a solution that was imperceptible – or at least presented as imperceptible to all of the other fictitious characters in the story – and thereby presented the “genius” of Holmes – just as a magician pulls a rabbit out of the hat that no one else knew was in there all along.

Doyle understood that the best way to cloak the appearance of genius was to create an intermediary; in fact the insertion of Watson into the formula was undoubtably why Doyle’s stories were and are so loved. Few if any of us can relate to “Sherlock” and that was on purpose; but Watson – well he was written to “play” the reader – and Doyle developed him remarkably.

I point this out for two reasons: first, when the story being told is “finished” in the mind of the author/reciter beforehand (as all mystery stories are) then only the path of revelation is being uncovered. Doyle never actually had Sherlock “solve” a mystery – Doyle began with a little known physical or medical phenomenon and then wrapped it into a tale that ended (in the back to front creation) with an “empathetic” portrayal of a character whose life was tragically (or at least dramatically) impacted by said little known phenomenon.

The second, and more important reason is that our use and understanding of our word “mystery” has slipped, almost 180º from its historic, etymological beginnings. We tend to focus on that which is unknown or even unknowable. Making the “mystery” all about one’s ineptitude or ignorance or inattentiveness; or possibly, more kindly, about the unsearchable depths of God’s omniscience – that which we can never be expected to grasp.

And certainly God’s thoughts are beyond our thoughts, which makes our misunderstanding of the original meaning of “mystery” explainable, even in its inaccuracy. But…

What if we fully understood the rights we have, as the people of God and citizens of His kingdom, to those truths and doctrines that enable and equip us to best fulfill His desires for us? What if we grasped Him and His wonders more fully, simply by knowing that it is His plan that we do so?

Let me say that there are, within His Word, certain bits of knowledge and disclosure that He designates as unknowable by us; any of us and all of us. There are others bits of knowledge and disclosure that are common – meaning that they are obvious to the degree that to deny them requires a sort of willful blindness or ignorance.

There is at least one other category that can be found in the Bible: that of the “mustērion” the mystery. These, at most, require His people to desire to “search out the matter”; to probe and investigate and examine the evidence in order to come to an understanding of the “word” (which is what is behind our translation “matter” – see Prov.25:2).

When, in the past, I have read that word (mystery) in the Bible, I unthinkingly applied our current usage (and its philosophy, really) of the idea of a mystery. That being: something that is basically unknowable…

As soon as I typed that last statement my mind went through what I imagine yours did: an expansion of the base thought to include the mystery’s solution. Which may imply that I am chasing the wind by asserting that there is something lacking in my (or our) understanding.

But then I recalled what happens when we, as Christians, talk about “going to church”. In the moment we say that, there is an absolutely clear and undeniable picture that overlays itself in our hearts and minds; a picture of the physical facility that enables the comfortable (except the parking lot) gathering of people on coordinated occasions – usually Sundays.

By the time you read that, if you are like most of us Christians, you mentally replaced (or at least amended) the picture of the facility with a picture of the people within the facility: because everyone “knows” that that is what the Bible refers to when the word “church” is used. It is “the citizens or people of His kingdom that happen to gather together in order to exchange their individual, Spirit provided gifts with one another for the mutual edification of each and of the body of Christ as a whole…or at least as much of the whole body that is found within the physical confines of the building that facilitates our getting together.”

With effort, a person can replace the picture/idea of the facility with that of the community of believers. To do so requires the discipline to, in essence, reframe the statements made by anyone else that signifies the facility: (“the church was way too cold today, I could hardly take notes”) with the “corrected” version (“the building we gather in as the people of His kingdom was way too cold today, I could hardly concentrate on the exercising of the gifts of the Spirit by the members of His body”).

And, or so it seems to me, we must do the same with the “mysteries of God”. We begin by picturing something unknowable – at least by “me”. We may amend that thought with something akin to “…unless God”. Which is not exactly wrong, but it sits as an amendment in our hearts. What if, instead, we understood it immediately in the way He intended for us to understand it?

W.E. Vine defines the distinction this way (paraphrased):

In the Greek, “mustērion” does not denote the unfathomable (as the English word “mystery” tends to be used) but of that which can only be fully understood with the aid of divine revelation (either first or second hand). It (“mustērion”) infers that which is not only made known by God – but that which is made known at His appointed time to those enlightened by the Spirit.

In our normal use “mystery” implies knowledge withheld; Biblically “mystery” refers to Truth unveiled. As Paul puts it in Col.1:25b-27:

“…so that I might complete the word of God, the “mustērion” which has been hidden from the ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this “mustērion” among the Gentiles/Nations, which is the Anointed One in you, the hope of glory. Col.1:25-27

The nuanced emphasis in the Word of God is that of the revealing, not on the withholding of the doctrine.

In secular use, that idea (which we see first communicated in all three of the synoptic versions of the Good News about Jesus) was focused on those initiated into the doctrine, teaching or understanding; the one initiated, not the initiation or the topic. That is the emphasis to which Mr. Vine is steering our understanding. The subtle shift in our understanding is in not focusing on a new knowledge to be learned or attained but instead focusing on the new relationship that has already (for those born again, of the Spirit) been realized.

Interestingly there is no such concept available in the Hebrew or even in the Greek version of the Old Testament, except in parts of Daniel written in Aramaic. So, the Chaldeans had the idea of mystery; of the disclosure of doctrines to the initiated; whereas there is no direct evidence of that in the Hebrew.

The Aramaic word is “râz”; it means “a secret” and it is found in two passages. The first is the story about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and his demand that the wise men (of which Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were members) not only interpret the dream but disclose or reveal the dream as well.

We are told that after being granted time by the king to declare the interpretation, Daniel and his friends sought the Lord, the God of heaven, concerning the “mystery” (“râz”) so that they would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise guys.

Then the “râz” was revealed (“g^elâh”) to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Dan.2:19

The word is “g^elâh” in Aramaic, “gâlâh” in Hebrew and it means “to uncover, remove” and is used to describe the process of honing or attenuating in order to reveal that which was sought, but was hidden within. It is a fairly common word in the Hebrew, used over 165 times. The inference is that the answer existed all along, that which was sought was in hand, but that the extraneous or unnecessary needed to be removed in order for it to be “revealed”.

This word is seen in one other story and it has to do with Daniel’s reputation as one whose God is not “oppressed, overcome” by any (“râz”) secret (see Daniel 4:9).

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Back to the first time we see the concept of the people of God having access to the previously unknown doctrines or words of God; which is also the only time that it is brought forward during the ministry of Jesus, the Anointed One.

In the middle part of Jesus’ three and a half years of training His followers, and after Jesus has been using parables (the word means “a placing beside, a comparison” and it come from the idea of tossing (mentally) two things next to each other in order to ascertain their similarities and their differences), they are wondering why He chooses this particular method of teaching.

(I will draw from Matthew since his audiences was particularly the Jews, and this particular insight was especially important to the Jews, who were constantly challenging Jesus.) The question has been voiced by His followers regarding the use of parable:

Jesus answered [the disciples], “To you it has been granted to know the “mustērion” of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘WITH A HEARING YOU WILL HEAR, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; SEEING YOU WILL SEE, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,

OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matt.13:11-17

[The section above in all caps is from the prophet Isaiah and is the most commonly quoted passage from the spokesman. I have included that passage for consistency; I have also included the explanation from the Lord to Isaiah as to why and how long this will continue: he is told, there will be punishment for their decision to remain unhearing and un-perceiving; but there will be a tenth portion, a remnant – the holy seed.]

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.’

“Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people and the land is utterly desolate, the LORD has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

“Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.” Isa.6:8-13

Before I get too carried away in Isaiah, the operative statement from Jesus is found at the beginning of His explanation. “To you it has been granted to know (“ginōskō” which means “to come to know, recognize, perceive”) the mysteries (“mustērion”) of the kingdom of heaven…” (I will also point out that the versions in Mark and Luke, though less robust in accordance with their varied audiences, use the term “kingdom of God” which reinforces the idea that they are one and the same – that the difference in the descriptions of the kingdom has to do with the audience’s understanding as opposed to the Lord’s intentions.)

Jesus goes on to say: to “them” it has not been granted – and in all three occurrences of this event, “them” is a reference to those hearing His parables/comparisons – those of the Jews. The proper interpretation of Jesus’ words from Isaiah is that their lack of perception and understanding is not imposed on them by the Lord, but is a response and consequence based on the attitudes and behaviors initiated by the Jews themselves. (Let me quickly affirm, that we too, as His New Covenant people, can make the same error!)

When Jesus taught His followers to pray and included the supplication that “His kingdom come and His will be done in earth as it is in heaven”, it was an invitation for them to live their daily lives as citizens of His kingdom…in their “now”…not in some future sense. In earth, at that time, as it already is in the heaven, which is the throne room of God!

Here He is telling them (and us) that as His followers they (we) have been granted access to the teachings of the kingdom. That though not everyone on earth has – those who are born again, born of the Spirit, those who enter the kingdom of Heaven – not after the first death, but exactly when they are born again – have been “initiated” into that which had previously been covered over.

I love that Jesus, patient and kind, follows this revelation of their kingdom rights, with taking the time to explain to them the meaning of His previously spoken “comparison” of sowing seed to…well, some unknown spiritual lesson – but for which He demands: “He who has ears, hear!” Without this explanation (see Matt. 13:18-23) it was not really a parable in the strict sense, more of a metaphor of an unexplained principle. The lesson for them, His followers, was the more important point: they (we) have the right to the doctrines of the kingdom of God!

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I imagine that it is no surprise to any of us that, until the Revelation of Jesus Christ, only in the writings of Paul do we find this idea of the “mysteries” that have been revealed to us as citizens of His kingdom.

My mentor and the Dean of the Bible College I attended, Kevin J. Conner, lists 15 separate mysteries from the New Testament (the word is used 27 times); W.E. Vine writes of 12.

[I debated turning this “What if…” into a series on the mysteries found in the Bible before I posted this particular exposition and decided that I would not wait. That said, the series is likely a project that I would need several days if not weeks to formulate and write, but I believe it will be well-worth pursuing…

I have included, at the end of this post, a listing of the passages that include “mustērion” and the generally understood issue being discussed – these would then, be the framework for the series (if you have any thoughts about it, please feel free to leave a comment).]

For our purposes on this “What if…” there are a few passages, along with the one Mr. Vine referenced from Colossians, that I will take the opportunity to dig into. I will continue to replace “mystery” with the Greek phonetic transliteration “mustērion” in the hope that doing so helps us think of it as it was originally meant, instead of how we currently understand our word.

As we read above:

“…so that I might complete the word of God, the “mustērion” which has been hidden from the ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this “mustērion” among the Gentiles/Nations, which is the Anointed One in you, the hope of glory. Col.1:25-27

And the correlated passage from Ephesians chapter one:

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the “mustērion” of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the good news of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the release of God's own possession by the payment of our ransom, to the praise of His glory. Eph.1:7-14

You may have noticed that I referred to these passages as correlated not corresponding. What I love about these two expressions of the “mysteries” is the idea of Him being “in us” as the hope of glory to those in Colossae and to those in Ephesus it is us being “in Him” with the promise of the seal of the Holy Spirit allowing us to be “to the praise of His glory”! We honestly cannot fully (maybe even mostly) comprehend all that He has prepared for those who love Him!

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the “mustērion”, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the “mustērion” of the Anointed One, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy sent ones and spokesmen in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of the Anointed One, and to bring to light what is the administration of the “mustērion” which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the people of His kingdom to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Eph.3:1-12

Here Paul expands our understanding both of the revealed doctrines, the “mustērion” that apply to all of the citizens of the kingdom of God, but also of how those same doctrines are made real, made perceptible to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”!

Paul also puts into words the very dichotomy that was alluded to by Vine’s differentiation between our present use of the word “mystery” and how the Greek word is primarily used in the Bible. He notes the “unfathomable” riches (the riches that are untraceable, un-trackable, that cannot be fully accounted), that somehow simultaneously bring to light how we are to be the managers, the stewards of the “mystery” that for ages was, but is no longer, hidden in God.

It is that stewardship of the impossible, the accounting for the riches of the Anointed One (in Whom we have our promise of the Holy Spirit and the praise of His glory AND Who in us brings about our hope of glory), that will reveal the manifold wisdom of God!

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These last two passages lean toward the “last things” and the “things that must soon come into being”. Things that Paul (or a guy he knows – 2Cor.12:1-4) witnesses while he is in the desert of Arabia and that John witnesses after he is called to, “Come up here, and I will show you what must soon come into being after these things” (the “after” things being that which John had just witnessed in our chapters 2 and 3 – Rev.4:1). It is my belief that whatever unfathomable riches are still to be discovered, within the confines of time, can be expected to be made known to those born of the Spirit as the promises of God are fulfilled.

These two passages, though pointed to antithetical truths, are among those to be revealed.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the “mustērion” of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 2Thess.2:1-10

The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. This mystery, as I read the whole of the Bible, goes all the way back to all that led to the serpent being allowed to enter the garden – the serpent whom we are told is the red dragon of Revelation 12, 13, and 17-20. It is he (the serpent) that will be taken out of the way, but not until after the apostasy (the defection, revolt) and the man of lawlessness (though a part of it, he is not synonymous with the mystery of lawlessness) is revealed (the beast from the sea (Rev.13, 14, 16, 19)). Eventually, (Rev.19) the lawless one and all that he leads astray in the final battle will be slain by the words of His mouth – the Sharp Sword that comes from His mouth.

There is less mystery in the end of their part in the week of Redemption than in the beginning. And though it is not given us to know the details – we have every reason to understand the implications of them: and for me that is sufficient.

I saw another strong messenger coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little book which was open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land; and he cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. When the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” Then the messenger whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh messenger, when he is about to sound, then the “mustērion” of God is finished, as He preached to His servants His spokesmen. Rev.10:1-7

I believe this promise, which (for those interested in “last things”) comes after the sounding of the sixth trumpet and triggers the new commissioning of John to “proclaim again concerning many peoples and nations and languages and kings” (which I believe he fulfills in parts of the next three chapters of the Revelation) is one of the most glorious: “…there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice/sound of the seventh messenger, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished (completed, brought to an end), as He preached to His servants His spokesmen.”

Since we understand that the word “mystery”, in context, is a reference to the revealed truth that being a citizen of His kingdom gives us access to, we can understand this promise to mean that at the time stated there will no longer be the need for further disclosures; no longer the need because everything will have been disclosed. We are told that juncture in time is just prior to the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

Interestingly, and in the only direct reference in the Revelation to that event: in our chapter 11 verse 15 we are told of the sounding of the seventh trumpet and then we hear the declaration from heaven that, “The kingdom of the “kosmos” has become of our Lord and of His Anointed One…” Note the past tense “has become” is used, not “will become” or “is becoming”. This promised end of the need for disclosure announces the transfer of our inheritance from the rulers of the “kosmos” to our Kinsman Redeemer – that the restoration of our lost legacy takes place and then the seventh trumpet sounds! And the King of kings and Lord of lords rides to battle!

Talk about so much winning!!!

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The Twelve Mysteries:

(It is helpful to remember to think of these not as withheld knowledge but as revealed doctrines to those who have been born of the Spirit – the citizens of the kingdom of God!)

• Romans 11:25 – The Mystery of the partial hardening of natural Israel

• Romans 16:25, 1Cor.2:7, Eph.6:19, Col.4:2-4 – The Mystery of the Good News

• 1Cor.15:51 - The Mystery of the transformation of those alive, remaining

• Eph.1:9 – The Mystery of the summing up of all things in the Anointed One

• Eph.3:1-12 – The Mystery of the Gentiles as Fellow Heirs and Members of the Body

• Eph.5:25-32 – The Great Mystery of the Unity of Christ and His People

• Col.1:24-27 – The Mystery of Christ in us, our Hope of Glory

• Col.2:1-5 – The Mystery of Christ in Whom are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge

• 1Tim3:7-9 – The Mystery of Confidence/Faith with a clear conscience

• 1Tim.3:16 – The Mystery of Godliness – the birth, ministry, justification, ascension, and glorification of Jesus

• 2Thess.2:7 – The Mystery of Lawlessness

• Rev.17:7 – The Mystery of the woman/harlot and the beast that carries her