“[Christ] In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being Predestinated According To The Purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will:” (Eph. 1:11). God’s hidden eternal purpose was and is first for the heavenlies, as revealed in His Word.

God’s planned purpose concerned both “the earth” and “the heavens” “far above” the earth. But it was first necessary that His purpose for “the heavens” be worked out so that His plan for “the earth” could ultimately be accomplished. Thus these two purposes are dependent on each other to a certain degree.

Paul’s Ephesians “fellowship [i.e., dispensation] of the mystery [secret]” that concerns “the heavenlies” was first in God’s mind from “before the foundation [Grk. katabole, ‘the overthrow’] of the world [Grk. kosmos” [Eph. 1:4, cf. Gen. 1:2]. That is, even before Lucifer’s sin entered and corrupted the first ‘kosmos’ [i.e., God’s original order or arrangement of the government of ‘the heaven and the earth’].

Paul’s Post-Acts prison epistles concern the restoration of order in “the heavenly places” and those who will be resurrected and manifested to “appear with Him [Christ] in [heaven’s] glory” (Col. 3:4b, 2Tim. 2:12).

God has planned that all “the families [Gentile]” of the earth were to be blessed through Abraham and his seed after him, that is, through Israel (Gen 12:3). From Israel would come the Messiah, the promised “Seed” (Gal 3:16) to accomplish all this. But Israel fell (Rom. 11:10-12, 15, 25), failing in her calling, so then there was no channel of blessing for the nations [Gentiles] unto this day. This has been so for almost 2,000 years. Question: Since the nations can’t be blessed of Israel, then what has been going on? Few people know the answer to this question because they don’t know the Scriptures ‘rightly divided.’ Right division of the Scriptures gives us the answer.

Many who claim to know about today’s dispensational age of “the mystery” seem to be confused as to when exactly it began. They know the word ‘dispensation,’ but they do not really know it clearly. So when did the dispensation of ‘the mystery’ begin.’ It began when Israel was divorced of God (Jer. 3:8, Acts 28:28), set aside, having failed to believe in their Messiah and take part in the promised Kingdom to come on earth.

Several important N.T. books were written after the ‘setting aside’ of Israel, when a new program began. First was John’s Gospel, which was written concerning the whole world of “whosoever(s)’ (cf. Jn. 3:16). It was written that ALL men might believe, so it was written to the unbelievers. And the purpose was that ALL men might have “life” [Grk. zoe, Christ’s resurrection life] with His Spirit-nature as a new creation within them, so they might then also be able to comprehend the later Gospel of the dispensation or administration of The Mystery – the “Great Mystery” (Eph. 5:32) of “the church, which is His body.”

As we will see, the “Mystery [secret]” gospel was first proclaimed by Paul in his hired house in Rome, though he was in chains. The Mystery was set forth in Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and Colossians after Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles to explain how Israel had fallen and was now set aside for a time (cf. Rom. 11:10-12, 15, 25). Acts was ultimately in defense of Paul and his special ministry of the ‘Mystery [secret]’ plan of God.

God’s first purpose was “made known” by Paul to be “the revelation of The Mystery” (Rom. 16:25) of the “One body” of Christ (Eph. 4:4) that is destined to “reign with Him” (2Tim. 2:12) “in the heavenly places.”

Now we can recognize how that in that ‘hired house’ in Rome there occurred one of the most significant and far-reaching events (Acts 28:28) in world history. Then began the great parenthetical gap of “the times of the Gentiles” that interrupted the Biblical Prophetic timeline of ages concerning Israel. Israel as the chosen Nation of God (Exo. 19:5) left the scene from that day to this.

Because of the widespread ignorance of God’s purpose in connection with “the heavenly places,” most of Christendom has gone back to former things of “another gospel” and dispensation that pertained to Israel. They seek to revive the old things of Israel that have passed away. This is idolatry like Israel’s the worship of Moses “brazen serpent” some 800 years after it had served its purpose in the wilderness (2 Kings 18:4). With Israel now Lo-Ammi (i.e., “not My people”), religious protestant Gentiles, much like the Roman Catholic churches have adopted Israel’s religious feasts, washings, and the like, setting them up as objects of worship, while adding other manmade religious dictates. This conglomeration largely constitutes today’s Christendom.

In O.T. Israel there was Moses, the prophets, judges, and kings. Thereby they knew the signs of the times, and they knew what they were to do. So Israel had plenty of instruction. Yet they wandered far from God at times. And so it is today with Christendom’s churches of man’s authority, now under Satan’s deceptive influence.

The spiritual unity of the real church today is already made as seen in Eph. 4:3-6. All we need to do is to ‘keep the unity we have in Christ.’ But men turn their backs on it trying to make fleshly unities of their own, all in vain. There is only one “unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3). Those who keep this unity are “the faithful,” worshiping “God in Spirit and in truth,” having “no confidence” the externalities of “the flesh.”

Everywhere you go, it seems many want to start their own studies, whether at home or within their church organization. They most often study Jesus’ words in the gospels that were spoken to, and concerned Israel. But the Gospels do not speak of the Pauline Hope and calling for us today. Israel’s Gospel is about the King and the Kingdom to come on earth as “the hope of Israel,” as promise of Israel’s prophets.

Not only do men today try to go back to Israel’s ordinances, they also seek Israel’s spiritual gifts that they read of in the early Acts period, those connected with the promised Kingdom on earth. Yet, nowhere in the Word can you find anyone manifesting spiritual gifts who also had the hope of going to heaven. They had the hope of the now set-aside Kingdom to come on earth. By contrast, today we of the spiritual “Church, which is His Body” have “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3), but No spiritual miraculous gifts.

A good “workman” today is to “rightly divide” the Scriptures (2Tim. 2:15). Thereby we know the difference between the promised Kingdom on earth and the spiritual, heaven-bond, “church, which is His body.” We know the difference between Jew and Gentile as they appear in the “rightly divided” word of truth.

All people apart of Israel are called Gentiles in the Bible. Have you noted that in the Biblical record, the nations of the Gentiles are only mentioned in their connection and contact with Israel, since Israel was the focus. For example, we notice Egypt, Assyria, Moab, Ruth, Rahab, Rome, and others as they are mentioned only in relation to Israel. The Gentiles make up the 70 Biblical nations. But “The Nation [singular]” is Israel. This simple right division can help us to avoid many interpretive errors. These nations and Israel were both named before they existed. See Genesis 10:5 and compare it with Deuteronomy 32:8. There we discover that in the Bible, history is recorded … only when Israel is on the scene. Whenever Israel goes Lo-ammi or off the scene, then “mystery [the secret]” begins. The Word “mystery” first occurs in Daniel 2:18, where it is translated as a ‘secret,’ but the LXX (Septuagint) has it as the Greek ‘musterion.’ The KJV NT translates ‘musterion’ as “the mystery [secret]” as used in Paul’s 7 Post-Acts epistles such as Ephesians and Colossians.

The ‘mystery’ was revealed when Israel was Lo-Ammi (‘Not My people,’ cf. Hos. 1:9). Today, since Acts 28:28, Israel is off the scene again, and so this is the time of “the mystery” being revealed. When the purpose of this ‘mystery is completed,’ “His body” will be removed from planet earth and “appear in the [heaven’s] glory” (Col. 3:4), only then will Israel be back in their place again as the focus of God.

The captivity of Israel in Babylon was the beginning of “the times of the Gentiles.” It is evident from Scripture that the prophetic times of the Gentiles were to run for 581 years, from 496 BC to A.D. 85. Today there has been a break in this prophecy, and that is where “the mystery” comes in. Although there was a kind of break of almost 400 years between what we call the O.T. and N.T., there is no break. Malachi tells us that the Messiah is coming, and Matthew tells the same people, Israel, He has come.

At the time our Lord was on earth in the flesh, the religious masses of Israel were superficial. Few were faithful, much like the Christians of today. People haven’t changed. The same indifference to spiritual things is seen on every hand, just as it was over 1,900 years ago. The world, the flesh, and the devil have done their evil work in religion.

Jesus, as the Son of Abraham, the Son of David, the Son of God, came and walked their streets, mingled with the people, walked their highways, proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom, but He was rejected and crucified. All that was perpetrated by Jesus of Nazareth’s own people, Israel. They missed what they had looked for over the centuries, and they as a nation will not see Him again until they see Him appear, even as He did to Saul of Tarsus. Then they will mourn. But a genuine believing remnant of Israel will one day be ready for Him at His 2^nd coming at the end of the Tribulation period. Then, as the Lord said through Zechariah;

¹⁰ … I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12:10 (KJV)

His 2^nd coming will not only be good news to the Jews but also to the Gentiles of the Millennium. For it was promised that in Him ALL the nations [non-Israelites] shall be blessed. Gentiles will be blessed by “the Seed of Abraham” (Gal 3:16). The 12 apostles will be raised from the dead at the beginning of the Millennium (cf. Rev 20:6); only then will their ‘great commission’ to teach all nations begin (Matt. 28:18-20). The earth’s purpose will be started again and finally come to its fruition; at that time the blessing of the nations [the Gentiles] on earth will come thru Israel as God’s chosen channel of blessing. Meanwhile, “His body” will have already quietly ‘appear[ed] in [heaven’s] glory’ (Col. 3:4), years earlier.

Hebrews 1:1-2 tells us that the three synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are merely a continuation of the O.T. Just study the words carefully. Before Israel could help usher in a Kingdom of righteousness, they needed a Saviour to save them from their sins, as well as the nations (the Gentiles).

• Bible students should note that the first ~2,000 years, which deal with the nations (non-Israelites, Gentiles), are covered by the first 11 chapters of Genesis.
• The next 2,000 years are dealt with in the remainder of Genesis, plus, though some would debate this, the 38 remaining books of the O.T., plus the three synoptic gospels, the Revelation, the 7 epistles of “the Circumcision (Israel);” plus the first 7 epistles of Paul which were all written during the Acts period.
• In the present era of almost 2,000 years Since Acts 28:28, salvation unto “everlasting life” stands on John’s “whosoever believeth” Gospel, and Paul’s Post-Acts last 7 epistles written, concerning the Gentile “body of Christ” that is destined to “reign with Him” “in the heavenly places,” with Christ as its “head.”

We read in Matthew 12:6 and 41-42 that Israel rejected ‘the One’ who was ‘greater than’ any priest, prophet, or king. Then Matthew 12:43-45 tells of the apostasy among Israel and the end. Thus, God’s purpose with earth today appears to be failing. But that is only from man’s viewpoint. Actually, all is on schedule.

It is significant that then in Matt. 12:46-50, the Lord severs His fleshly ties with His human family. Then Jesus offers in parables the “mysteries of the Kingdom” (Matt. 13:11) to “come on earth” with its postponement, to reveal the “children of the wicked one” versus ‘the children of the kingdom’ (Matt. 13:38).

Many think the history of Israel ended when they rejected and murdered Jesus, “the King.” But Israel’s history did not end as now seen until they were rejected as God’s People in Acts 28:28, in ~A.D. 64. Paul then quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, as the axe fell on Israel in v28. From that day till now, Israel has been neither a kingdom, nor His nation, nor even a people of God. No blessing could come to the nations (Gentiles) through fallen Israel.

There is a vast difference between ‘the mysteries’ of Luke 8:10 and “THE Mystery” of Eph. 3:3. We must keep in mind that Israel and the earth’s purpose have to do with things SINCE the overthrow [Gk. katabole] of the world [kosmos, the heaven/earth arrangement]. The “Great Mystery” (Eph. 5:32) has to do with things that Occurred In Heaven BEFORE the overthrow (katabole), that resulted in the consequent need to restore of God’s authority in the government of “the heavenly places” above the earth.

Nevertheless, Israel still has a future. The Lord has said when He returns in “wrath” to save Israel’s believing remnant; “They [Israel] shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced” (Zech. 12:10-14). Israel’s conversion will occur “in a day” just as Paul’s conversion did on the Damascus Road. Paul was the “Grk. protos,’ or “pattern” of all them (Israel) who should someday believe. Paul spoke of himself as “one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15:8). Paul is a ‘type’ or metaphor for Israel’s remnant (cf. Rom. 11:1). According to Isaiah 61:6, Israel is to ultimately become the Lord’s agent on the earth as “the priests of the Lord.” Priests could make sacrifices, as well as be mediators between God and the nations [Gentiles] on earth. So then Paul takes the place of a priest where in Romans 15:16 he ‘offers up the Gentiles’ in this priestly role. Something is about to happen.