These occurrences confirm the LXX translation of the word in Daniel, and indicate the

primary idea of a mystery, or secret, but not necessarily anything mysterious in the

modern sense of the word.

The word is of frequent use in the Apocrypha. Ecclesiasticus uses it of the secrets

of private life in such statements as "Whoso discovereth secrets loseth his credit"

(27: 16). Wisdom uses it in connection with heathen sacrifices and rites: "They slew

their children in sacrifices, or used secret ceremonies." But the most frequent use of

musterion is in relation to secrets of state, such as the plans and purposes of a king: "It is

good to keep close the secret of a king" (Tobit 12: 7). Here we have a statement that

approximates to the words of Matt. 13:, "The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven", for

the marginal note in the English translation of Tobit says, "The secrets of the Kingdom"

as in the Hebrew.

In Judith we read that there was a rumour in the house of the King of Assyria that he

would "avenge himself on all the earth". He called together all his officers and nobles

"and communicated with them his secret counsel (to musterion tes boules, 2: 1, 2). This

passage is helpful in appreciating the expression in Eph. 1: 9, "the mystery of His will"

(to musterion tou thelematos), where however the purpose is not one of vengeance on all

the earth, but of a dispensation of grace beyond dreams. The precision of this statement

of Eph. 1: 9 will be better appreciated when it is examined in its context. At the moment

we are confining our attention to the usage of the word itself.

In II Maccabees the word is used of the betrayal of the secret plans of the Jews to

their enemy, who because of their persecutions resorted to stratagems.

Before the N.T. was written therefore, the word "mystery" had a definite meaning

among the readers of the Greek O.T. and Apocrypha. That meaning was "a secret",

generally "a secret purpose", and at times "a secret purpose because of an enemy". This

meaning must be kept in mind when we find the word in the Gospels, the Epistles, or the

Apocalypse. Now the essence of a secret is that it is known only to one person, and

therefore unknowable to any other by any process of reasoning. It must therefore ever

remain a secret unless revealed by the possessor of the secret.

This leads us to the other word in our title "The Mystery Manifested". Before the

Apostle could make manifest the secret counsel of the Most High, it must be made known

to him, by revelation. The O.T. Scriptures do not contain "the secret", for Eph. 3: 9

tells us that it was "hid in God", while Col. 1: 26 says that the mystery was "hid from

ages and generations". Not only do the O.T. Scriptures not contain this "secret", but it is

not found in the Gospels, nor even in the early epistles of Paul. The passages in Eph. 3:

and Col. 1: already quoted assure us that this mystery was "revealed" to Paul only when

he had become the "prisoner of Jesus Christ", and through him it was "made manifest" to

His saints. It follows therefore that the mystery and its manifestation will constitute the

essence of Paul's prison ministry, and consequently we hope in this series to be of help to

all who seek to know "what is the dispensation of the mystery".