February 2008

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE MYSTERY THAT HAD BEEN HID IN GOD?

From my discussions with Christians who are honestly searching the Word of God, I have realized that many do not really understand exactly what the secret was that had been hid in God. I hope this paper will help alleviate that problem.

The mystery that had been hid in God is described in Eph. 3:6. Unfortunately, many do not understand the difference between the mystery of Christ and the mystery that had been revealed to Paul after the end of the Acts period. The correct understanding of these two mysteries is crucial to a correct understanding of the mystery hid in God. The reader is therefore encouraged to examine the paper on this web-site The Mysteries Of The New Testament to see that the mystery of Christ is not part of the mystery that had been hid in God.

Eph. 3:6, “That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel”.  A better understanding of some of the Greek words used in this verse will help a great deal in determining the correct understanding of this verse.

The three Greek words translated “fellow-heirs”, “same body” and “partakers” are, “sunkleronoma”, “sussomos” and “sunmetocha” respectively. Note that each begins with the preposition “sun” (The prefix in the word “sussomos” is spelled differently, but is the same prefix as is used by the other two words under consideration.) Appendix 104 in the Companion Bible gives the definition of “sun” as:  “denotes proximity to and hence conjunction or coherence”.  Webster’s Dictionary defines “conjunction” as, “state of being conjoined; union“. Otis Q. Sellers defines “sun” in these words, “Literally ..means ‘together’, and while it is often translated ‘with’, it denotes a far more intimate association then is expressed by ‘with”.

The Greek word translated “Gentiles” in the KJV of Eph. 3:6 is “ethnos”. “Ethnos” is the noun of this sentence and, as with many other languages, the adjective (in this case “sunkleronoma”, “sussomos” and “sunmetocha”) must agree in number with the noun in modifies. Because “ethnos” is obviously a plural noun, the adjectives are also plural. The correct definition of the prefix “sun” plus the fact that “sussomos” is a plural adjective makes it clear that the KJV translation of “same body” is not the best translation of “sussomos”. That is to say, because “sun” means “conjoined” or “union” etc., and because “sussomos” is a plural adjective, obviously there must be more than one “body” that is joined together. In the translation “same body” there is no sense of joining together and no sense of the plurality of the adjective.  A better translation of “sussomos” is “joint bodies”.  The question is then: who, or what, is joined to whom or what?

“Ethnos” occurs 164 times and is translated “Gentiles” 93 times, “nations” 64 times, “Heathen 5 times and “people” 2 times. Does the Greek “ethnos” in Eph. 3:6 refer to individuals or does it refer to nations?  In order to answer that question we must first understand that the prefix “sun” as it is used in Ephesians 3:6 gives us one of the most profound truths of the Bible.

That truth is that 1) ethnos are joint-heirs, i.e. none are favored over another, 2) ethnos are joint bodies, none are favored over another. 3) ethnos are joint partakers of the promises in Christ; i.e. none are partaking of a promise made to another. So then “ethnos” are joined together as equals. I believe that it is obvious that Gentiles were always equal with each other which should cause us to at least question the translation of “ethnos” as “Gentiles”. I believe that “ethnos” should be translated “nations” in Eph. 3:6. That nations are all equal is a truth that was never even hinted at before that secret was revealed to Paul. And it stands in sharp contrast to the situation as it existed before the dispensation of the mystery. Before the dispensation of the mystery Israel was the “apple of His eye”, She was His favored nation. With the putting aside of Israel at Acts 28:25 all nations are now equal in God’s sight, there is no nation favored above another.

The NIV translation of Eph. 3:6 is interesting because it tries to justify the translation of “ethnos” as “Gentiles” by adding several words that do not appear in the manuscripts. It reads, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”. The word “Israel” is not in any manuscript. And the phrase ” members of one” are not in any manuscripts. Also the phrase “one body” contradicts the fact that in the Greek “sussomos” is a plural adjective. While it is true that often times an ellipsis is added in the translation in order to make sense to the English reader, the translation of “ethnos” is the only element that demands the added words to the original. If “ethnos” had been translated “nations” the addition of words that are not found in the original would not have been necessary and it would not have contradicted the use of the plural adjective in the Greek.

It is true that nations are made up of individuals, and that the Bible uses the word “ethnos” in reference to the individuals in the nations as well as the nations as an entity in themselves. The truth that “ethnos” is used of people in the nation is seen in John 11:51-52, “…..he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation (ethnos); and not for that nation (ethnos”)only…..”. It is clear that Jesus died, not for a nation as such, but for the people n the nation.

The truth that “ethnos” is used of a nation as an entity is shown in such verses as Romans 4:17, where in reference to Abraham we read, “I have made thee a father of many nations“. I believe the reader will see that to translate “ethnos” in this verse to read, “I have made thee a father of many Gentiles” totally destroys the sense of this verse. In other words, we must use common sense when determining whether “ethnos” means nations or individuals in the nations.

Consider also Acts 13:18-19, “And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, He divided their land to them by lot”. Obviously, God did not destroy seven Gentiles and give their land to Israel. Again, common sense tells us that in this verse “ethnos” does not means individuals in the nations, but nations as an entity.

Let us continue our study of the Greek word”ethnos”. If we translated it as “Gentiles” that limits its meaning to only individuals. But if we translated it as “nations” we may understand it to refer to either nations as an entity, or to individuals in the nations. Because “Gentiles” cannot be joint bodies, we must translate it as “nations” with the understanding that nations as an entity are joint bodies, but individuals in the nations are joint heirs and joint partakers.

It may seem strange that the same word could be used of both nations and individuals in the nations. But consider that the word translated “sleep” is used of a normal sleep and death. And the Greek word “egiro ” is used of a normal rising up and of resurrection. I will not attempt to explain why that is, I believe we should accept that as fact. But I would like to say a word about how the use of “ethnos” in Eph. 3:6 is quite profound in its perfection.

The event that made nations joint bodies (equal) was of course, the putting aside of Israel. That is to say, that as long as Israel was the “apple of His eye” all nations could not be equal. As we have already seen, the prefix “sun” is used three times in Eph. 3:6. Three times we are told that all nations and all individual believers in all nations are equal. But we are not told that Gentiles are equal to Israelites (even though that is obviously the implied message, because Israel had been set aside). No, instead the Holy Spirit directed Paul to write that all are equal without even bringing Israel into the discussion. In my opinion, this makes the point so beautifully, and so much stronger than if Paul had written that Gentiles are equal to Israelites. That is to say, it is one thing to say that Gentiles ar equal to Israelites, but Paul, through the Holy Spirit, by not even mentioning Israel, makes the point so obvious that Israel is reckoned among the nations, and that being the case, all are equal.

Let us try to summarize what we have learned by a different translation of Eph. 3:6, one that more accurately represents the meaning of the original Greek. “That the nations should be joint (equal) heirs, joint bodies (equal nations) and joint (equal) partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel”.

Now that we understand that “ethnos” of Eph. 3:6 should be translated “nation, we must consider the phrases “joint heirs” and “joint partakers”. May I remind the reader that “ethnos” is used for both the nation as an entity and for individuals in the nation. It is clear that in regard to being joint heirs and joint partakers it is not nations as such that is in mind, but the individual believers in the nations.We might ask then, if “ethnos” refers to individuals in regard to joint heirs and joint partakers, shouldn’t we translate it as “Gentiles”? Let’s try that out. “Gentiles are joint heirs”. But the fact that Gentiles are joint heirs was never a secret hid in God. That Gentiles are joint heirs is something that has always been true. Paul could not write that Gentiles are joint heirs with Israelites, because Israel no longer occupied a position separate from the nations. Israel, after She was put aside, was numbered among the nations, hence the equality. Let me put that another way.

In one sense, after Israel was put aside there were no Gentiles because “ethnos” was used in contrast to Israel, i.e. the nations (plural) in contrast to the nation (singular). After Acts 28 when Israel was put aside, Israel was counted among the nations. That means that “ethnos” is no longer used in contrast to Israel, it is used of all people and all nations.

To what are those of the nations joint heirs and joint partakers? We read in verse 6, “partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel”. I believe that once we determine which gospel Paul had in mind, we will then be able to determine to what those Gentiles were joint heirs and joint partakers.

If, for the sake of clarity, we omit the phrases about Paul’s unworthiness to preach this gospel, it will become more clear what the gospel of verse 6 is. Verses 6c to 9 would read, “joint partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel……that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; even (Gr. “kai”) to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery”. The gospel Paul is preaching is not the gospel of salvation, it is the gospel, i.e. the good news, concerning the unsearchable riches in Christ that are revealed by the the fact that all nations are equal. In other words, the fact that all nations are equal is the subject of this passage. Salvation has nothing to do with all nations being equal, therefore, the gospel of Eph. 3:6 has nothing to do with salvation. What are these “unsearchable riches” to which Paul refers? The answer to that question is found in the parallel passage, i.e. Col. 1:26-27.

Col. 1:27 reads, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory“. The Greek word translated “in” is the preposition “en” and the Companion Bible tells us that when used with a plural it should be translated “among”. So the riches of the mystery among the Gentiles is “Christ among you, the hope of glory“. Who are the “you” that Christ is among? The epistle to the Colossians, like all Paul’s epistles, are wtitten to believers (see Col. 1:2). That means that Christ is among believers. What does that mean? The next phrase will help us to answer that question. “Christ is among you (believing Gentiles) the hope of glory“.

In order to fully appreciate that the believing Gentiles have the hope of glory we must understand the place of the believing Gentiles before the mystery was revealed. We read in the Old Testament that Israel will be glorified in the millennial reign of Christ. Gentiles were grafted into Israel but the glory was not theirs as such, it was Israel’s glory. There was no glory for believing Gentiles apart from Israel. Let’s look at just a few of those Old Testment passages that speak of the glory of Israel in the millnenium.

Is. 60:14,”The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you (Israel); all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you The City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel”

 Isaiah 60:3, “Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn”.

Is. 60:5,”Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you riches of the nations will come”.

Is. 60:10, “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you”.

These passages all show the glory of Israel in the millennium. But now, in the dispensation of the mystery, believing Gentiles have been promised glory in resurrection that has nothing to do with Israel. Where we read of the “riches of the glory of this mystery” we are reading of the fact that Christ is among the Gentiles apart from Israel, and that glory will be theirs in resurrection, again apart from Israel.

CONCLUSION

After considering what the mystery hid in God is not (i.e. the mystery of Christ) and after coming to a correct understanding of the Greek “ethnos”, we are now ready to answer our question: what exactly is the mystery that had been hid in God? It is that all nations are joint bodies, i.e. there is no nation favored above another. And that individual believers in the nations are equal heirs and equal partakers of the promise given to them by God that because Christ is among the believing Gentiles, they will be glorified apart from Israel.

If you would like to respond to this paper, please e-mail me at: [email protected]