A “mystery,” in Scripture, is not something mysterious and enigmatic, but an open secret, which before it was revealed, was unknown by men (Deut. 29:29). W. Kelly said, “‘The mystery of His will:’ this does not mean something you cannot understand, but what you could not know before God told you....The word ‘mystery’ means what God was pleased to keep secret—something He had not before revealed—but is quite intelligible when it is unfolded. ‘Mystery’ in the popular sense, is totally different from its use in the Word of God” (Lectures on the Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 25).
“The mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1; 13:2; 14:2) are certain lines of truth that God did not make known to men until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 3:5; Col. 1:26). Essentially, they constitute the Christian revelation of truth. The apostles were the “stewards” of these mysteries, and thus were responsible to make them known to the Church (1 Cor. 4:1). W. Kelly said, “‘Stewards of the mysteries of God’ means those called and responsible for bringing out the special truths of Christianity” (An Exposition of Timothy, p. 63).
As believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians in general are privileged to have been brought into these secrets of God’s heart (John 15:15; Rom. 16:25-26; Eph. 1:8-9; Col. 2:2-3). Since these truths have been openly revealed in the inspired writings of the apostles, they are now the common property of all believers. Hence, there is no such thing as a special class of initiated Christians having an “inside track” on these things; these precious truths are for the whole Church of God. The Christian revelation of truth has not been delivered to the apostles, but rather, through the apostles “to the saints.” Thus, the saints are the custodians of the truth; they are to “earnestly contend” for it by knowing it, by walking in it, and in disseminating it (Jude 3).
There are a number of references to these “mysteries” in the New Testament. The word in the Greek text (musterion) appears some 27 or 28 times, and it has led Bible teachers to categorize them. Some say there are seven mysteries, others say ten, and others twelve, fourteen, seventeen, etc. The difference of opinion as to how many there really are stems from not taking into account that some of the references are speaking of the same mystery, but with slightly different wording. Most say that there are ten. These are:
1) The Mysteries of The Kingdom (Matt. 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10).
The Lord indicated to His disciples that there are several “mysteries” (plural) in connection with the kingdom. He was alluding to a sub-set of ten similitudes outlined in the Gospel of Matthew, which are a special kind of parable that begins with the phrase, “The kingdom of the heavens is like unto....” (Matt. 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47; 18:23; 20:1; 22:1; 25:1). These similitudes describe the unusual form which the kingdom would take in this present day when the King is rejected and visibly absent from this world. These parables serve a two-fold purpose. They give an understanding of these things regarding the kingdom to those who have received the Lord, but they also work to conceal the truth from those who have not believed on Him (Matt. 13:10-17).
These ten similitudes indicate that the kingdom in this present day would be without a visible King, without an earthly administrative center, with no national boundaries, and that most of its professed subjects (who are merely professing believers) would not regard the authority of the King, and live as if He doesn’t exist. Furthermore, these similitudes indicate that this strange set of circumstances and the mixture of real and merely professing believers would continue to exist in the kingdom until the Lord appears. These “mysteries of the kingdom” present truth that was unknown in Old Testament times, but is now open to all who believe. (See Kingdom of the Heavens.)
2) The Mystery Of God’s Will Concerning Christ And The Church (Rom. 16:25; Eph. 1:9-10; 3:3-4, 9; 5:25-32; 6:19; Col. 1:26, 27; 2:2-3; 4:3).
This mystery is said to be “great” because it is the jewel of all the mysteries and is something that is near to the heart of God (Eph. 5:32). It discloses the truth of Christ and the Church, and presents God’s great purpose to display the glory of this relationship before the world in a coming day.
The truth disclosed in this mystery has been “hid” in God’s heart from the foundation of the world (Eph. 3:9). The secret which has now been made known is that God will display Christ’s glory before the world through a specially formed vessel of testimony—the Church, which is His body and bride (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:25-32; Rev. 21:9-22:5). This display will be in two spheres (heaven and earth) and will take place in “the dispensation of the fulness of times,” which is the Millennium (Eph. 1:10 – “the Christ” refers to the mystical union of Christ and the Church). W. Kelly said, “There are two great parts in this hid, but now manifest, mystery. The first is that Christ should be set in heaven above all principalities and powers, and have the entire universe given to Him as Head over the inheritance on the footing of redemption— Himself exalted as Head over all things heavenly and earthly, and the Church united to Him as His body, He being thus given as Head to the Church over all things. Then, the other side of the mystery is Christ in the saints here below....In Ephesians the Apostle dwells more upon the first of these aspects, in Colossians on the second” (Lectures on Colossians, p. 107).
3) The Mystery Of The Faith (1 Tim. 3:9).
This refers to the special revelation of truth that has been revealed through the coming of the Holy Spirit. It entails the specific blessings of the believer in connection with Paul’s doctrine and the ordering of the Christian’s conduct in accord with the present dispensation (1 Tim. 1:4 – J. N. Darby Trans.). All this was unknown in Old Testament times.
4) The Mystery Of Godliness (1 Tim. 3:16).
This refers to the secret of godly living. Paul told Timothy that if he wanted to know “how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house” (1 Tim. 3:15), all he needed to do was to look at the Lord Jesus and His perfect pathway in this world. Thus, the secret of being godly is to be acquainted with the walk and ways of Christ and to emulate it. This could not have been something that the Old Testament saints knew about because Christ had not yet come to give us the perfect pattern of godliness. W. Kelly said, “The secret (now revealed) of piety or godliness is the truth of Christ. He is the source, power, and pattern of what is practically acceptable to God—His Person as now made known” (An Exposition of Timothy, p. 72). Meditation on Him and His walk will lead us to emulate His life, and thus we will walk in true godliness in this world.
5) The Mystery Of The Glorification Of The Saints (1 Cor. 15:51-57; 1 Thess. 4:15-18).
This refers to the revelation of truth concerning “life and incorruptibility” being brought to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10). Resurrection itself was not a secret. Old Testament saints knew that God would raise the dead, and they looked forward to the time when it would happen (Job 14:10-14; Psa. 16:10-11; Psa. 17:15). In fact, it was a part of the orthodox Jewish faith (John 11:24; Acts 23:8; 26:8; Heb. 6:2). It is the manner in which they would be raised, and the condition into which they would be changed, that they didn’t know. Neither did they know when this would occur. They simply believed that somehow it would be taken care of “at the last day” (John 11:24).
These things have been brought to light through the gospel and are an open secret in the New Testament. We now know that the saints who have “fallen asleep through Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14), will be raised in “incorruption”—a glorified condition—at the time of the Rapture (1 Cor. 15:51-56; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess. 4:15-18). We also know that at that same time, the living saints will also experience a miraculous change of glorification, and will “put on immortality” (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:53; 2 Cor. 5:4). The result will be that the saints will “bear the image of the heavenly”—Christ (1 Cor. 15:49). They will be like Him morally (1 John 3:2) and like Him physically (Phil. 3:21). This was not known in Old Testament times.
6) The Mystery of the Stars & Candlesticks (Rev. 1:12, 20).
This refers to the responsibility that elders/overseers have (in the local assemblies where they reside) to order the assembly according to the mind of the Lord in doctrine and in practice. In interpreting what John had seen in the first vision of the book (Rev. 1:12-16), the Lord explained that “the seven golden candlesticks” are the local assemblies set in the earth as a public witness for Him as light-bearers in the communities where they are located. He also said that the seven “stars” are the “angels” of those assemblies, and that these were in His “right hand” (Rev. 1:20; 2:1). As “stars,” the elders in these assemblies were to provide light, wisdom, and guidance for the various situations that the assemblies would face. Being also called “angels” indicates that these spiritual leaders were to act as the Lord’s messengers by making sure that things were done rightly. The fact that they were in His “right hand” indicates that they were to act for Him as His representatives and thus were directly responsible to Him. This, too, was not known in Old Testament times, because this function only pertains to the Church and its testimony on earth, and the truth of the Church in those days had not yet been revealed.
7) The Mystery Of The Olive Tree (Rom. 11:25).
This mystery has to do with dispensational truth. Dispensational truth is Bible teaching that distinguishes the various dispensations (administrations) that God’s house has had, or will have, through the ages of time. (See Dispensations.) The dispensational truth in connection with “the olive tree” refers to the suspension in the legal dispensation wherein God has been dealing with Israel. This was brought about through the Jews’ rejection of Christ. During the suspension, God has reached out to the Gentiles and has brought them into a place of favour. This is indicated in Romans 11:17, where the Apostle Paul states that the natural branches of the olive tree have been “broken off” and branches from “a wild olive tree” have been grafted into the tree. This does not mean that the Gentile world has been saved by the gospel, but that opportunity and grace has been extended to them.
The passage goes on to mention that the mass of the Gentiles, who will outwardly (professedly) embrace this privilege, will prove themselves to be unbelievers, and they too, as branches, would be “cut off,” and God would take up with the natural branches and graft them in again (Rom. 11:18-24). Paul adds that this re-grafting would not take place “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). This refers to the full number of believers from among the Gentiles who have been “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48), believing the gospel and being saved. Once that has taken place, Paul says that God will turn His attention to Israel again and will save the nation (Rom. 11:26-29). Again, this outreach to the Gentiles is not found in the Old Testament, and therefore, the Old Testament saints knew nothing about it (Deut. 29:29).
8) The Mystery Of Iniquity [Lawlessness] (2 Thess. 2:7).
This “mystery” has to do with the spirit of disobedience stirring in the Christian profession and in the world generally. It refers to the working of the human mind in opposition to the will of God in all things, divine and secular, through the influence of the devil. The secret working of lawlessness is something that was going on in the apostles’ day, and it would continue to grow until it would be fully displayed in the apostasy of “the man of sin” (the Antichrist).
It is not that God hasn’t put a restraint on the working of lawlessness. The Apostle Paul mentions that God has two restrainers which He has set on earth that work to curtail the progress of lawlessness. Paul defines these as:
• “That which restrains” (2 Thess. 2:6).
• “He who restrains” (2 Thess. 2:7).
“That which restrains” refers to the principle of law and order in human government which God put in man’s hand to exercise after the flood (Gen. 9:5-6; Eccl. 5:8; Rom. 13:1-7). J. N. Darby said, “‘That which hinders’ therefore, is the power of God acting in government here below as authorized by Him. The grossest abuse of power still bears this last character. Christ could say to Pilate, ‘Thou couldest have no power against Me, except it were given thee from above.’ Wicked as he might be, his power is owned as coming from God” (Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, on 2 Thessalonians 2). Mr. Darby also said, “‘That which restrains’ in the Greek means a thing. What is it? God has not told us what it is, and this, doubtless, because the thing which restrained then is not that which restrains now. Then it was, in one sense, the Roman Empire, as the fathers thought; who saw in the power of the Roman Empire a hindrance to the revelation of the man of sin, and thus prayed for the prosperity of that empire. At present the hindrance is the existence of the governments established by God in the world” (Collected Writings, vol. 27, pp. 302-303).
The second Restrainer that Paul mentions is “He who restrains” (2 Thess. 2:7). This refers to a divine Person—the Holy Spirit residing on earth in the Church—acting to restrain evil in various spheres. The Apostle Paul says that the Spirit will restrain “until He be taken out of the way [be gone].” Thus, there is a time when the Holy Spirit will no longer reside on earth. Since the Spirit will dwell in the Church “forever” (John 14:16), when the Church is called away from the earth by the Lord at the Rapture, the Spirit will go from the earth at that time as well. E. Dennett said, “What Paul teaches in 2 Thessalonians 2 is that the thing which restrains the manifestation of this monster of iniquity at the present moment is the presence of the Holy Ghost on earth in the Church” (Christ as the Morning Star and the Sun of Righteousness, p. 46). The Spirit’s being “gone” does not mean that the Spirit will cease to work on earth. He will continue to work on earth, but it will be from heaven as He did in Old Testament times.
Lawlessness exists in the world and in the Church. Apostasy—the abandoning of a profession that one once made of holding the truth—is also at work. (Real believers do not apostatize. They may get swept along with the current of apostasy, and begin giving up certain doctrines and practices, but they will never publicly abandon the profession of their faith in Christ.) The secret working of lawlessness is rising on earth because the first restrainer is slowly weakening through a steady increase of apostasy in human government. Also, since the Spirit of God is more and more being disregarded by Christians, He is becoming more and more grieved, and consequently, is not exercising His power to restrain evil as He might if He were given His rightful place in the Christian testimony. But when the Church and the Holy Spirit are “taken out of the way,” evil will flood in, in an unprecedented way. This open secret gives us to know that there is an end to the working of lawlessness in the judgments of the Lord at His Appearing (2 Thess. 2:8).
9) The Mystery Of Babylon, The Mother Of Harlots (Rev. 17:5).
This mystery reveals that after the true Church is called away from the earth at the Rapture, the false church of merely professing believers (which will be left behind), will be headed up by the Roman Catholic system. It will have the character of religious confusion and blasphemy that the Babylon in history was known for; hence the same title is given to that system. The false church will use its money and influence in the political arena to unite the nations in western Europe into a ten-nation confederacy (Rev. 6:1-2; 17:12-13). This is really a revival of the Roman Empire (Dan. 2:40-43; 7:7-8; Rev. 17:7-11). Thus, the Church of Rome in its ecclesiastical corruption will control the western super-powers, as depicted in the woman riding the beast (Rev. 17:1-4). This controlling power will only “continue a short space” (Rev. 17:10). That is, it will only last for the first three and a half years of Daniel’s 70th week (Dan. 9:27). In the middle of the prophetic week, the political side of the empire energized by Satan will rise up and destroy that corrupt religious system (Rev. 17:16-18). Since the whole subject of the Church was not known by Old Testament believers, the existence of the false church and its corruption would also be something they didn’t know about.
10) The Mystery Of God (Rev. 10:7).
(This “mystery” is not the same as “the mystery of God” in Colossians 2:2, which is an aspect of the mystery of Christ and the Church.) The “mystery” in Revelation 10 has to do with the secret of God’s “ways” with men, which are “past finding out” (Rom. 11:33), finally being made plain. For thousands of years God has allowed evil men to continue in their wickedness and to seemingly get away with it. Indeed, His longsuffering patience and forbearance with sin and sinners in this world is a perplexing thing. However, when Christ publicly intervenes at His Appearing, and He judges this world in righteousness (Acts 17:30-31), the mystery of God will be “finished [completed].” That is, when God brings His judgments upon the earth, this mystery will become an open secret, and the rightness of all His dealings through the ages will be seen, and thus He will be justified in it all.
The dark and sinister working of evil that is going on today, seemingly unchecked, has always been difficult for the mind of man to grasp. Why, it is often asked, would God allow evil to go on and grow in the world without judging it? This perplexity is depicted in the complaint of Asaph in Psalm 73. While all the previous mysteries have been disclosed to us now and are opened secrets, we must wait for this last mystery to be disclosed—which will happen when the Lord appears.
W. Kelly said, “The mystery here is not Christ and the Church, but God’s allowing evil to go on in its present course with apparent impunity” (The Revelation Expounded, p. 127). He also said, “God would terminate the mystery of His present seeming inaction in the public government of the earth” (The Revelation Expounded, p. 126). H. Smith said, “The mystery of God in this passage refers to the fact that for long ages God has not publicly intervened in the affairs of men. The wickedness of men has grown unchecked by any public display on the part of God. Men have been allowed to gratify their lusts, attain their ambitions, to increase in their rebellion against God and persecution of His people. Through the ages God’s people have been tortured on the rack, banished from their homes, and martyred at the stake, and God, it might seem, has not interfered. All this—which has been called the silence of God—is a great mystery” (The Revelation, p. 60).