swinging over to extremes in the matter of what the will of God really is. The word

thelema occurs seven times in Ephesians, in six references, where God is the One Who is

in view, the word is translated "will", but in Eph. 2: 3 the same word is translate

"desire", when used of the flesh. Eph. 1: 9 is not discussing the mysterious nature of the

will of God, but that His will contains some items that were kept secret, not revealed until

the appropriate time. It was the revealed will of God that Israel should accept their

Messiah and, under the New Covenant which He would ratify, become a kingdom of

Priests, and the channel of blessing to the Gentile world. Nothing can be discovered in

the scriptures, outside of Paul's epistles or the closing chapters of the Acts, to tell us what

God would do if Israel, the chosen channel, should fail, or whether He had any plans

made to cope with such an emergency. Satan, the arch enemy of truth must have felt that

having prevented the repentance of Israel, he had effectively thwarted the Divine

purpose. This is where the wisdom of God becomes so evident. He had purposely kept

as a secret hidden in Himself, what He had planned, and what He would do, if Israel

failed. Of course seeing that He knows the end from the beginning, we are but speaking

in the manner of men, when we use these terms of conjecture or surprise. Before the

overthrow of the world He had chosen from among the outcast Gentiles, those who

should be called into high favour during such a period of rejection, but for His own wise

purposes God had refrained from making such a fact known to Prophet or Apostle, until

Paul became the Prisoner of Christ Jesus for us Gentiles. This "mystery of His will"

includes all the mysteries that form a part of the revelation made known through Paul the

prisoner, but the expansion of this must of necessity await the time when the other

references to mystery are before us.

We devoted a good deal of our available space in the last article to the consideration

of the import of the word usually translated "will". Before going on to the next theme

that awaits us, namely "The Fullness of Times", we must note that the Mystery of His

will is said to be "according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself"

(Eph. 1: 9), and as these words are an extension of the conception of "His will" and the

mystery that belongs to it. We must give them some attention. The preposition kata

"according to" occurs twenty-four times in Ephesians and is found in every chapter,

being distributed as follows: in the doctrinal portion (Eph. 1: - 3: 13) it is found

thirteen times, in the practical portion (Eph. 4:-6:) it is found nine times, and in the

great central prayer (Eph. 3: 14-21) it is found twice. The very presence of this word

emphasizes the harmonious outworking of God's purpose, it can be translated many

times "in harmony with". So, the choice before the foundation of the world, and the