Let's talk mysteries and revelation! This is one of my favorite topics and a passion of mine to study and meditate on. I hope you catch some of this passion and a deeper understanding of the "mysteries" of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Sadly, the biblical context of "mysteries" gets a bad rap, especially thanks to the English transliteration of the Greek word it was derived from: musterion (moos-tay’-ree-on). It is used 27 times in the New Testament and means: a sacred secret; something God has hidden from ancient times and that can only be revealed by God.Scholars and theologians throughout history have been stumped by difficult-to-grasp doctrines they considered “mysteries,” and therefore the concept of the “mysterious” things of God has become part of Christian doctrine. Thus many versions of the Bible translate the Greek word musterion as “mystery.” This is unfortunate because musterion does not mean “mystery.” “Mystery” is a transliteration of the word musterion, not a translation of it. A “transliteration” is when the letters of a word in one language are brought across into another language. Transliteration is literally “bringing across the letters.” In contrast, “translation” is bringing the meaning of a word in one language across into another language.The English word “mystery” means something that is incomprehensible, beyond understanding, unknowable. Thus it is common in religious circles to speak of things such as the “Trinity” as “mysteries” because they cannot be understood. In contrast, a “secret” is something that is known by someone but unknown by others. A surprise birthday party is a “secret” to the person having the birthday, but known by those who will attend it. The Greek word musterion means “sacred secret,” that is, a secret in the sacred or spiritual realm that must be made known by God.It is well documented by scholars that musterion refers to a secret, and not to our standard meaning of “mystery.” In the New Testament it denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and only by his Holy Spirit. Hidden truth in the Bible is not just revealed to anyone (Mark 4:9-12, 1 Cor 2:9-11, 13-15). A mystery which has been revealed is no longer a mystery to whom it has been revealed. It then becomes a truth. It is a mystery only to whom it has not been revealed. To them it is still hidden truth: a mystery.Whereas “mystery” may mean in contemporary usage a secret for which no answer can be found, this is not the connotation of the term mysterion in classical and biblical Greek. In the New Testament, mysterion signifies a secret which is being, or even has been, revealed, which is also divine in scope, and needs to be made known by God to men through his Spirit.In a biblical context, the term "revelation" refers to:• God's act of communicating unknown truths and facts about Himself to man.• God's disclosure of Himself through creation, history, the conscience of man, and Scripture.• An extraordinary and supernatural disclosure made by God, whether by dream, vision, ecstasy, or otherwise, of truths beyond man's unaided power to discover.• An uncovering, a bringing to light of that which had been previously wholly hidden or only obscurely seen. God has been pleased in various ways and at different times (Hebrews 1:1) to make a supernatural revelation of himself and his purposes and plans, which, under the guidance of his Spirit, has been committed to writing.The Greek word we get our word “revelation” from is apokalupsis (ap-ok-al’-oop-sis), meaning an uncovering, an unveiling, a revealing. Similarly, the Greek word, apokalupto (ap-ok-al-oop-to) means appearance, to uncover, reveal what is hidden/veiled/obstructed, bring to light, make plain or manifest, particularly what is immaterial (invisible).