Accepting, then, the R.V. as the more accurate, let us proceed in our study, keeping in

mind that the special feature of the series is not only to ascertain what the mystery is, but

how it is manifested.

The mystery of Col. 2: 2 is not the mystery of Eph. 3: 3, which speaks of the

church, nor of Eph. 3: 4, which speaks of Christ, but it is the mystery of God, the

manifestation of which is Christ. Alford draws attention to a most important correction

in the translation of Col. 2: 3. The A.V. reads: "In Whom are hid all the treasures of

wisdom and knowledge." He says, "The rendering which I have adopted is that of

Meyer, and I am persuaded on consideration that it is not only the only logical but the

only grammatical one also".

Alford's rendering (given below[?]) is supported by the 70: There are eleven

occurrences of apokruphos which is used consistently as an adjective, and never as a

verb. For example, in the passage: "He shall have power over the treasures of gold and

silver" (Dan. 11: 43) the LXX uses the word apokruphois for "treasures", evidently with

the idea that treasures would be hidden by reason of their value.

Again, in Dan. 2: 22 the same word is used of "secret things", and it is interesting to

observe that in 2: 19 the word "secret" is the word musterion, or "mystery". In

Isa. 45: 3, "the hidden riches of secret places" is, in the LXX, apokruphous aoratons,

"secret, unseen". The context speaks of treasures, using the same word as is so translated

in Col. 2: 3.  Psalm 27: 5 provides a good illustration of the use of the verb and the

adjective: "He shall hide me (krupto) in His pavilion; in the secret (apokruphos) of His

tabernacle." In II Maccabees 1: 23 we have a parallel with Col. 2: 3 which cannot be

ignored:  "He took the hidden treasures which he found" (Tous thesaurous tous

apokruphous). Therefore instead of reading as in the A.V. we must read: "In Whom are

all the secret treasures of wisdom and knowledge." These treasures are priceless. They

include "all riches of the full assurance of understanding". They involve the "knowledge

of the mystery of God" which is manifested only to those who know Christ in the light of

the revelation of the mystery. Often men talk of God as though it were a simple matter to

comprehend Him. They argue about His person as though He were subject to the same

laws and limitations as themselves. To such philosophers and expositors God might well

say, as He said to the wicked in Psalm 1: 21: "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such

an one as thyself."

Yet God is spirit, and, apart from revelation, what do we know of that realm of being?

Even angels, who are spirits, take upon themselves the forms of men before man can

perceive them. The Saviour declared, in the days of His early ministry concerning the

Father, "Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape" (John 5: 37).

God Himself must ever remain a mystery, indeed the greatest of all mysteries, unless He

manifest Himself in such a way that His creatures can apprehend and understand. In

general, our knowledge of the outside world is derived through the medium of the senses

of sight, hearing and touch, supplemented by taste and smell. In that other sphere where

the answer to the mystery of God is Christ, we can understand what may be known of

God only by the manifestation of it in His Person. The works of His hands reveal "His