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There are five mysteries specified in the epistles written before
Acts 28, that must claim our attention:
(1) The MYSTERY of Israel's blindness (Rom. 11:25).
(2) The MYSTERY that had been kept secret (Rom. 16:25).
(3) The MYSTERY of the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 2:7).
(4) The MYSTERY in relation to resurrection (1 Cor. 15:51).
(5) The MYSTERY of iniquity (2 Thess. 2:7).
Let us examine these five mysteries, and see whether we find
them in agreement with the Old Testament Scriptures, or
whether we shall have to admit that they go beyond them.
The mystery of Israel's blindness (Rom. 11:25).
`For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened
to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in' (Rom. 11:25).
In this same chapter we have another reference to the
blindness that fell upon Israel, in verses 8-10:
`According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; unto this day.
And David saith ..., Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see'.
We have here three quotations taken from Isaiah 29,
Deuteronomy 29, Isaiah 6:9 and Psalm 69:22. If we turn, first,
to Isaiah 29:10 we find no hint of the `secret' revealed in
Romans 11, but as we read on to verses 17 and 18 we become
aware of the fact that a change is intended. Instead of judgment
we have restoration; Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful
field, the deaf shall hear, and `the eyes of the blind shall see'.
The secret of Romans 11 is here, for those who are able to
discern it.