We are talking about the “mystery of God.” In Eph. 1:9-10 Paul described it this way: “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.” In our previous post we talked about the term “dispensation.” I hope you noted that we did not call ourselves “dispensationalists.” If this explanation sounds to you like “dispensationalism” (a theological position, often seen in opposition to “covenant theology”) that is pure coincidence. What we have done is explain the meaning of words in the Bible, with explanations that can be found in any standard Bible study tools.
a. Psalm 2 actually refers to what Paul refers to in Eph. 1:9-10. Psalm 2 says that, before time began, the Father and the Son had a conversation where the Father promised to give His Son authority over all the nations. He would rule them all. Thus, this being the “mystery of His will” in Eph. 1, Rev. 10:7 tells us that this will become reality in the days of the sounding of the 7th trumpet. Just “coincidentally” (by which we mean, “true to God’s word”), at the sounding of the trumpet of the seventh angel, (Rev. 11:15) there is an announcement from heaven: “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Then, in Rev. 11:17, there is great worship of God because, “The One who is and who was and who is to come (the Son, Rev. 1:8; 4;8), because You have taken Your great power and reigned.” Over whom does Christ reign? In Rev. 11:18 they are the nations that “were angry,” just as Psalm 2 refers to them as nations that rage against the LORD and His Anointed (Ps. 2:1-3). Psalm 2 says it was agreed upon in Heaven; it is the will of God. The NT gives us details as to when and how it will happen.
There is one more aspect of “the mystery of God” we need to consider. In today’s reading Paul refers to “mysteries” plural. In the Gospels Jesus, on the same occasion that we have in Mark 4:10-12, Jesus spoke of “mystery” (Mk. 4:10-12) and “mysteries” (Mt. 13:11). How are we to understand this? My answer is that God’s “mystery” comprises several “mysteries.” THE mystery includes several events that were not known in the OT but that are revealed in the NT. We have room in this post to begin our list of eight “mysteries,” so we will conclude in the next post.
1) Rom. 11:25: The mystery of Israel’s partial blindness. Lord willing, in our next post, we will talk about this. Two posts before this we spoke of Israel’s “ignorance” and we plan to return to that subject shortly.
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