Mr 4:11 And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
Ro 11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Eph 3:3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Many of us in reading the Bible have the tendency to import our own meaning into what we are reading. This is not the way to go in reading the sacred Scriptures. Sadly, it is often the case.
Take for example the word "mystery." In reading the Bible, we often understand it as something mysterious, something that is puzzling and inexplicable, something hard to understand. But that is not so.
In the Bible, the word "mystery" refers to a truth that is not revealed previously but is now revealed, by the apostle Paul for example. Truth that is not directly and expressly revealed in the Old Testament but is now revealed and disclosed by a prophet of God in the New Testament.
It is a truth that is not discoverable by human effort but can only be known if God chooses to reveal it to us. That's the meaning of the word. In fact, Paul himself explains the meaning of the word to us:
Eph 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
In the Old Testament, God revealed to the prophets that Israel would become the top nation of the world, with the Gentile nations serving Israel. That blessing will flow from God to Israel to the Gentiles. Israel first, Gentile nations second.
But in the Church Age, it is different. It is a new program by God. In this dispensation, Jews and Gentiles are on equal footing with each other in the Body of Christ. They occupy the same position in the Church Age, one in His body. Jews are not over the Gentiles and vice-versa. No, as verse 6 above states, they are "fellow heirs."
I once attended a wedding in which the pastor quoted Ephesians 5:31-32. There he said that even Paul did not understand marriage. It was a mystery to him. Take a look at the verses:
Eph 5:31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
On the contrary, Paul clearly understood what he is saying here about marriage. Marriage is a picture of the union of Christ and His Church. This is a mystery. This is a truth not revealed in the Old Testament but is now revealed by him. A truth that no one could ever know if God did not choose to reveal it in our dispensation.
Read the entire Old Testament, nowhere is it predicted or prophesied there that the Messiah would be united to a group of people composed of Jews and Gentiles, with Him being the head, and they, His body.
This is proof that Israel is not the Church. The Church is a separate program in this age and dispensation in the economy of God. All the prophecies about Israel's glorious future in the Old Testament will be realized in the millennium. But, in the meantime, before that takes place, God is now building and forming His Church, God's distinct program in this age.
Read again about the Bible's own definition of a mystery:
Ro 16:25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith--
