Daniel’s Gift of Revelation
Dreams are interesting things. Many people over-psychologize them. Many others over-spiritualize them. And many of us hardly ever remember them! Some think that they’re simply a result of whatever we were thinking or feeling that day. Some think that they’re direct messages from God and need to be interpreted to find a hidden meaning. Maybe you’ve had a vivid or recurring dream and asked your spouse or a friend what they thought about it. That can lead to an interesting and speculative conversation, as you both guess at the dream’s meaning.
What we’ve probably never done, however, is ask our spouse or friend to tell us what our dream was and then ask them to interpret it for us. That would be impossible. We can’t know things that we don’t know. We can’t look into people’s minds and see what’s there.
This actually happened in the Old Testament. One of the greatest kings in history, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, had a dream that left him troubled and sleepless. He demanded that someone not only tell him the interpretation of the dream, but the dream itself. The account is found in Daniel 2:1-30.
Nebuchadnezzar’s impossible request was about to result in the deaths of all the wise men in Babylon. Daniel and his friends prayed to God to spare their lives. And he did. He saved them by miraculously revealing to Daniel the king’s dream and its interpretation. Daniel knows that this is impossible for any man to do. He can’t see what’s in the mind of the king (v. 27). “But,” he says, “there is a God who can reveal things that are unknown to everyone else” (v. 28).
We can’t know things that we don’t know. Many times we don’t even know what we don’t know. One of my professors in college used to say, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” Our knowledge is limited and our ignorance is great.
God’s Secret
If we can’t look into people’s minds and see what’s there, then we certainly can’t look into God’s mind and see what’s there. If we’re to know what God thinks, he must reveal his thoughts to us. If we’re to know his plans, he must reveal them to us.
God’s people, the Israelites, had received much revelation from God. One of the things that God revealed to them was that he wanted to bless the whole world, all the nations, through them. God told Abraham clearly, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). God said repeatedly that he wanted all the nations to praise him. Psalm 117:1, “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!” He said through the prophet Isaiah that the Messiah would be a “signal for the peoples” and that the nations would inquire of him (11:10).
God separated Israel from the nations, but he said that they would be a blessing to the nations. That he would be praised among the Gentiles. This much was clear because God revealed it to them in many ways and at many times. But exactly how he would do this was never revealed. It would involve the “root of Jesse,” the Messiah, but exactly how was unknown. God would bless the nations, but exactly how he kept a secret.
But it wasn’t a secret forever. He revealed the mystery to his apostles. After Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God revealed his plan to bless the nations to the apostles. He opened his mind to them, he showed them what he was thinking. He told them what the King’s dream was and what it meant. He told them how he would bless all the nations of the world through Christ.
A Digression and a Prayer
This brings us to Ephesians chapter three. We learn here that God revealed the mystery of his plan to include the Gentiles in his family to Paul and the apostles (Eph. 3:1-6). Remember what Paul is doing in the letter to the Ephesians. He’s writing to a mostly Gentile church, describing for them in chapters 1-3 how God has supernaturally created a new humanity, a new race, made up of Jews and Gentiles. Then in chapters 4-6, he tells them how this new humanity should live.
We’re going to spend the next few weeks looking at chapter three. Chapter three is a prayer with a sanctified rabbit trail. The prayer begins in verse one, but doesn’t really start until verse 14. Paul digresses in verses 1-13 to given an account of his ministry to the Gentiles and how God has revealed his plan to him.
Paul a Prisoner because He’s a Prisoner
In verses 1-6, we learn that God revealed the mystery of his plan to Paul and the apostles. Verse one begins, “For this reason.” For what reason? For the reason of honoring all that Christ accomplished as described in 2:11-22. “For this reason” what? This is where he interrupts himself and digresses into an explanation of his calling to the Gentiles. In verse 14, he picks back up with his prayer. In light of all that Christ accomplished, Paul is compelled to pray.
Paul also notes in verse one that he’s “a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles.” The language here is interesting. He’s a “prisoner for Jesus on behalf of you.” So who is he in prison for, Jesus or the church? Both. His imprisonment is a result of his bondage to Christ. He’s a prisoner because he’s a prisoner. He’s enduring the consequences of being chained to Christ. He was willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus and the church. Our calling is no different. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:8, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.” May we endure any consequences that come as a result of being chained to Jesus Christ.
All Because of Grace
In verse 2, Paul digresses within his digression. Some of the readers of the letter might not have known Paul personally, as it had been several years since he was in Ephesus. So he reminds them that he was made a “steward of God’s grace” for them. One of the things that I love about Paul is that he wasn’t a whiner and complainer. He was in prison and he couldn’t stop talking about God’s grace (vv. 7-8). Despite less than ideal circumstances, God’s kindness is what Paul focuses on. God’s kindness to Paul was never lost on Paul.
He says here that grace was given “to me for you.” He’s saying that grace came to him so that it could go to them. He was made a “steward of God’s grace” for them. A “steward” is someone who takes care of other people. We’re served drinks and snacks by “stewardesses” on flights. They’re responsible for our safety and well-being. Paul was a “steward of God’s grace.” He was appointed to look after the message of God’s grace for their sake. He wasn’t given grace in order to hoard it for himself. He was made a steward of grace in order to serve it to others. What if all the stewardesses just sat in the back of the plane and ate all the peanuts and drank all the coffee? We’re given grace to steward grace for the sake of others.
A Mystery Revealed
The “stewardship of God’s grace” is parallel to the “mystery” in verse 3. Each was “given to” or “made known to” Paul. Paul’s role as steward is connected to the revelation he was given. The thing he was supposed to “steward” was the “mystery.” A steward has to have something to steward. If a flight is empty, the stewardesses don’t have anything to do, so they cease to be stewardesses and become passengers.
Paul makes it clear by using the passive voice here that the “stewardship of God’s grace” and the “mystery” were both given to him by someone else, namely, God. He didn’t appoint himself a steward and go and get the mystery himself. Paul is a steward and knows the mystery as a result of God’s initiative. He didn’t hire himself. He didn’t write the mail. He was just asked to deliver it.
He says that he received the mystery “by revelation” so that we won’t think that he or someone else made it up. The language here is meant to remind us of Daniel 2:29-30, where Daniel says, “He who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me.” Daniel says that God revealed something to him that was hidden to others. God is the revealer of mysteries in Daniel’s day and in Paul’s day and in our day.
God made the “mystery” known to Paul by “revealing” it to Paul. He gave Paul something that was previously hidden. Verse 9 says that it was “hidden in God.” Only God knew how the Gentiles would become part of his people. No human knew this. It was God’s “sacred secret.”
A Revealed Religion
God has not only revealed his plan for the nations, he’s revealed his nature and character, his law, his promises, his Son Jesus, his triune nature, his gospel, his judgment. All of this and more has been revealed to us in the Scriptures. Theologians call this “special revelation.” We can know some things about God through “general revelation,” things like his power and wisdom and divinity. But we need a special message from him if we’re to truly know him.
We have this “special revelation” in the Bible. This is why Christianity is called a “revealed religion.” Christianity is based on what God says about us, not on what we say about God. Some will argue that the Bible is merely a collection of documents concerning what humans have said about God. This is partially true. The Bible was written by humans. But historically, Christians have said that the Bible was written by human agents writing under the inspiration and superintendence of God. This is what Paul refers to in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” And what Peter means in 2 Peter 1:21, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The Bible is written by God the Holy Spirit through the agency of men. The Bible thus has a dual nature: from man and from God. If this isn’t true, then the Bible is just like every other religious text. If it’s from man, it’s not unique. But if it’s from God, then God is still revealing himself today to all those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.
When Did Paul Receive the Revelation?
We don’t know when Paul received the revelation. Maybe on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:15, 26:16-18; Gal. 1:11-17). Maybe while he was praying in the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 22:17-21). It might’ve been given to him over a period of time. The church was still debating the inclusion of the Gentiles at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, sixteen years after Jesus’ resurrection. It took years for the church to understand God’s plan. But Paul had been gifted a special understanding of God’s plan for the church.
Insight through Reading
This is what he says in verse 4. He says that when the Ephesians read, or hear read, what Paul has written, they’ll realize that he has indeed been given insight from God into this mystery. The “this” is probably referring specifically to 2:11-22, which details how God has made “one new man in place of the two” through Jesus’ death.
There’s a principle here that we must not miss. He says, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight.” He’s saying that, by reading his words, or by hearing them read, they’ll understand his insight into the mystery of Christ. The insight won’t come on its own. It’ll come through reading his words, “When you read this.” The church will understand Paul’s understanding of the mystery by reading Paul’s words.
Christianity is a revealed religion. It’s a supernatural religion from start to finish. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a closed religion. It’s not for a special, select group of super spiritual people. God wants people to know and understand him. Paul even prays that all Christians would grow in their spiritual understanding (1:16-18a).
The way this happens practically is by reading what’s been written. God aims to be known through his Spirit-inspired word. He wants us to know him through words, not dreams and visions and signs and wonders and pictures and icons. God reveals his glory to us as we are helped by the Spirit to see his glory on the pages of Scripture. This of course means that we have to spend time in the pages of Scripture reading, thinking, and praying for understanding.
Our text for Wednesday evening is 2 Timothy 2:7, where Paul tells Timothy, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” When we read and think and ask for God’s help, we can know and understand God and his ways. This knowing and understanding is never divorced from reading the Bible. As one of my pastor friends says, “The single best way to grow in your faith is to read the Bible. I completely agree.
Mystery Not Revealed in Other Generations
In verse 5, Paul tells us that other generations didn’t have the privilege of having the mystery revealed to them. The mystery of Christ was inaccessible to humans until God chose to reveal it (Rom. 16:25-27; Col. 1:26).
What makes this a new revelation if the Old Testament already said that God would bless the nations? As I said earlier, the reason is because God didn’t reveal how he would bless and save the nations. The incorporation of Jews and Gentiles into one the body of Christ wasn’t revealed. Paul was given this revelation, made a steward of it, and spent his life unfolding the wonder of it to the church.
This verse also says that the “apostles and prophets” received this revelation “by the Spirit.” The apostles were the primary witnesses of the gospel events. The “prophets” in the New Testament were divinely aided to explain the meaning of those events. Both of course did lots of explaining. But the primary “explainer” was the Holy Spirit. He revealed the implications of the gospel to, and through, the apostles and prophets.
The Mystery Defined
Paul defines the “mystery of Christ” in verse 6. The thing that was hidden and now revealed is that Gentile believers were joint-heirs of God’s kingdom, part of the same family, and sharers of the promises of the Messiah. The mystery is simple: believing Jews and Gentiles are united into one body. Before Christ, Gentiles had to become Jews to be part of God’s people. Now, “through the gospel,” Gentiles don’t have to become Jews and Jews don’t have to become Gentiles in order to be in God’s family. The mystery is that, through Christ, God has created one new entity out of Jews and Gentiles.
All of these blessings come “through the gospel.” The Jewish law doesn’t define God’s people any longer. God’s gospel does. The law said you had to become a Jew to be part of God’s people. The gospel says you have to admit you’re a sinner to join. The law says you have to do certain things. The gospel says that someone else has already done everything for you. The law says that God favors Jews. The gospel says that God favors those who favor his Son Jesus. The law brings spiritual death because we can never keep it. The gospel brings spiritual life because Jesus’s keeping of the law is applied to our account. The law is no longer the door that a person has to walk through to be part of God’s people. God has swung the door wide open and said, “Whoever is thirsty, come and drink the waters of eternal life for free.”
The King’s Dream
The King of the universe had a dream to bless all the nations through his people Israel. In Jesus Christ, his dream has been realized. Through Paul and the apostles, his dream has been revealed. God, in his grace, has made a way for anyone anywhere to be part of his family. “To all who receive Jesus, who believe in his name, God gives the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12). May God give you eyes to see the beauty of God’s revelation in the gospel of Jesus.