Prophecy and Mystery

by Pastor Richard Church

One of the most astounding proofs of the truth of the Bible is the vast amount of fulfilled prophecy that it contains. In the Bible, God foretold the rise and fall of nations and the reigns of great historical rulers. In fact, much of the world's history was written in advance by God.

Sometimes these prophecies even included the names of great leaders, such as Cyrus the Persian, conqueror of Babylon and king of the Medo-Persian empire, whose name and reign were foretold by the prophet Isaiah nearly one hundred and fifty years before Cyrus was even born.

Isa 45:1a, 4 (KJV) Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

At other times, the prophets included the exact dates on which their prophecies would be fulfilled. For instance in Daniel 9:25, the prophet Daniel was told that it would be exactly 483 years (69 weeks of years) from the command to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah. This prophecy was fulfilled to the very day when Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

But in the Bible we also find a message that God kept hidden from the prophets. In the letters of the apostle Paul, this secret message is called "the mystery."

Rom 16:25,26a (KJV) Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest...

It is only through the apostle Paul that God saw fit to reveal this mystery which he had kept secret from the prophets. Paul says that it was given to him "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery." (Eph 3:9)