a question from the bible study of Ephesians
dave sent the email below. it was my question as i remember from our discussions with others. if you have ever thought about it, feel free to throw in your two-cents worth. i once read from a commentary, but vaguely remember how it's explained. even when you think you know as much, there are always things that you will learn more of from the Bible.
Ephesians 3:1-13
Hi Vy,
remember last time we were discussing study 4 in the leaders meeting when we read Eph 3:5, and it mentioned that the mysteries were made known to the apostles and prophets. We then ask how is it that the prophets knew about the mysteries. However, it just occured to me that Paul wrote that sentence in this way:
"which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
The first underline suggest that people before the time of Christ did not know about the mystery, therefore I dont think the prophets of the old testament knew about it either, and I dont think we could find references of the mystery being made known to the prophets of OT.
The second underline suggests that the revelation was made "NOW" by the spirit, which I think meant that only after the time of Christ the mystery was then revealed. The problem is then why is it necessary for Paul to write that the mystery was revealed to the "prophets" since there are no prophets after the time of Christ.
I think there may be 2 interpretations that can be drawn from the word prophets.
1. It may refer to the prophets of the OT, and that the spirit reveal to them the mystery of Christ, even after they are dead.
2. or it may refer to the prophets of the New Testament which as mentioned by Peter in the day of Pentacost; interpreting the word prophet as one who foretell the future ie: the second coming of Christ.
Ok so, what do u think?
2 comments:
Hey ... here is what I think:
1. I want to clarify that the mystery is as written in Eph 3, which is gentiles and israel TOGETHER being called into God's kingdom ...
2. In the old testament, I think there are a few occassions where the shadow of the above mystery had been revealed (Note: only the shadow). Rahab, Esther, Naaman were some examples of gentiles receiving God's mercy and there were many prophesies that predicted the coming Messiah, which also said that many nations will come and worship this coming King ...
3. I believe there are prophets in the new testament ... Paul also mentioned in one of his epistles that one gift of the Spirit is prophecy. At other occassion, he also mentioned it's better to prophesy rather than to speak in tongue ... In the new testament, Ananias, Peter was given a sight by God ... Another example, Agabus, being called a prophet in the new testament, tells the church that there will be famine and they need to get ready .. The new testament also says that the Spirit of prophesy is the testimony of Jesus, but I also believe some people by God's grace has a gift of prophecy, meaning able to tell what God wants to say to the church (which should be tested <-- test every spirit) ... Why doesn't it happen so much now, I don't know .. But I believe God knows what He is doing ..
What do the others think?
below some points are summarised from the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels:
in general sense, prophets are understood to refer to the OT prophets. the OT era looks forward to Christ. these prophets had been given a glimpse understanding of the gospel, but not in full (still a mystery).
apart from the OT prophets, there were also these prophets found in the Gospels, among them, zechariah, simeon, john the baptist (as well as elizabeth, anna).
Jesus was regarded by the people hearing his words as a prophet (Jn. 7:40). Jesus also made references to the prophets of his contemporaries (or early christian prophets yet to come after His death and resurrection). Mt. 10:41; 13:17; 23:34; Lk. 11:50.
there were people filled with Spirit in the early church with the gift of prophecy. 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11; 2:20.
simply speaking, prophets can also be referring to God's people who delivers or speaks of God's revealed Words (= christians today?).
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