55: The Hidden Mystery of Prophecy

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56: Is Baptism A Part Of The Gospel?

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Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

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Bible students exploring biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

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My name is Eddie Lawrence. If you like mysteries, the

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Bible is your book. It hides mysteries in plain sight.

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Clues to the greatest mystery ever told are scattered throughout the

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Old Testament. Everyone loves a good mystery.

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We're curious about what's concealed, eager for a satisfying reveal. We want to know what we don't know.

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The Bible speaks of mysteries too. Not fiction, but divine truths

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God hid for ages. Paul talks about such a mystery, one that reshapes how we understand history, salvation, and the will of God.

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However, the Bible doesn't use the word mystery exactly the way we use it.

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When Paul speaks of mystery, he's not referring to something that is currently hidden, but something that was once hidden and now is revealed.

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Klein Snodgrass explains it. Whereas in modern usage, mystery refers to what is unknown, in Jewish and early

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Christian literature, this word refers to the hidden divine plan now revealed by God. Jack Cottrell clarifies the meaning.

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What is a mystery? As the Bible uses this term, it is not something mysterious or unexplainable, something set forth in cryptic, obscure language that is too weird to understand.

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Rather, it simply refers to something that is being kept hidden or secret for the time being, kept undercover until the time comes for it to be revealed.

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In the case of God's mystery, he was keeping it concealed all through the Old Testament era and is just now unveiling it through the

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New Testament writers, especially the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians chapter 1, the mystery that Paul refers to is the previously hidden plan of God to unite all things in Christ, especially the inclusion of Gentiles into the people of God.

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Specifically, Ephesians chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 says, "...and he has made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ."

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Ephesians 1, 9, and 10. So the mystery is

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God's eternal plan, now revealed in Christ, to bring everything under Christ's authority and to reconcile both

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Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity. Paul plainly says this in Ephesians chapter 3, "...and

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he has made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ."

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Ephesians 3, 6. The secret was not that God planned to reconcile

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Jews and Gentiles into one body. This is so strongly hinted at in the

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Old Testament that one can't really miss it. In fact, one of the promises

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God made to Abraham was that all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.

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Genesis 12, 3. Christ brought this blessing to the nations to fruition 1 ,800 years later by reconciling all nations, that is, families of the earth, to God.

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The mystery was not the goal itself, but the means by which

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God would accomplish it. As Paul stated, the gospel was the method and therefore the gospel was the mystery.

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But why did God keep it a mystery? Through the Old Testament prophets,

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God gave clues as to how his plan to redeem the nations would unfold.

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However, he played a game of divine misdirection. The prophecies were cryptic such that the picture of how his plan would play out was deliberately concealed.

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Why the misdirection and incomplete picture? Dr. Michael Heiser points out that Paul has answered this question for us.

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By God's design, the Scripture presents the Messiah in terms of a mosaic profile that can only be discerned after the pieces are assembled.

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Paul tells us why in 1 Corinthians 2, 6 through 8, if the plan of God for the

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Messiah's mission had been clear, the powers of darkness would never have killed Jesus. They would have known that his death and resurrection were the key to reclaiming the nations forever.

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Quite simply, every good military leader keeps his battle plans a secret from the enemy.

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Likewise, in the spiritual war that God is waging with the powers of darkness, he also doesn't tell the enemy what he's doing.

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Heiser elaborates further. The story of the cross is the biblical theological catalyst to God's plan for regaining all that was lost in Eden.

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It couldn't be emblazoned across the Old Testament in transparent statements. It had to be expressed in sophisticated and cryptic ways to ensure that the powers of darkness would be misled.

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And it was. Even the angels didn't know the plan, 1 Peter 1, 12. What Paul is telling us is that biblical prophecy is intentionally cryptic.

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It only becomes clear after it has been fulfilled. Even after the resurrection,

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Jesus' disciples couldn't see the full picture. Though they had all the pieces, they needed supernatural help.

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Jesus opened their minds so that they could understand how the Old Testament pointed to him.

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Jesus said to them, these are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the

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Psalms. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, Luke 24, 44, and 45.

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Paul tells us that the devil couldn't discern God's plan even with the prophetic clues.

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The angels didn't know the details either. So it makes sense that God's people also remained in the dark.

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Peter says that the prophets themselves, though they delivered the messages, couldn't grasp the full shape of what

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God was doing. 1 Peter 1, 10 -11. Of course, some details were correctly understood.

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For example, the chief priests and scribes were able to discern the prophecies well enough to inform

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Herod where the Messiah would be born in Matthew chapter 2. However, the big picture remained a mystery, and the

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Jews of Jesus' day got a lot of it wrong. You see, prophecy's nature is rooted in mystery.

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We've seen that God concealed His redemptive plan in prophecy, revealing it only after key events had unfolded.

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The gospel itself remained a mystery until Christ fulfilled it. Neither the powers of darkness, nor angels, nor even the prophets fully grasped what

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God was doing. This pattern carries profound implications. If prophecy becomes clear only in hindsight, what does that mean for how we interpret end -times prophecy today?

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Could we be just as blind to the big picture of the end times as they were to the big picture of the

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Messiah? In the next episode of the Ephesians series, we'll explore how this affects our expectations and our theology about the last days.

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Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope this episode has deepened your understanding of Scripture.

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If you found this content valuable, please share it with your friends. For more biblical studies, visit our website at ReadyForEternity .com.

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That's the word ready, the number four, and the word eternity. ReadyForEternity .com.

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That's all for now. Keep studying your Bible, growing closer to God, and getting ready for eternity.