Solved Mysteries

On July 2, 1937, famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator disappeared mid-flight during an attempt to circle the globe along the equator. While theories from island castaways to prisoners of war have abounded, no one has discovered what became of the ill-fated two. It is to this day one of the world’s most enduring mysteries.

Mysteries in the Bible refer to knowledge that will be revealed, truths that will be uncovered, by God. For instance, “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) concerns the Antichrist, who deceives people into believing that he is Christ but who “is revealed” (v. 3) eventually to be a counterfeit of Christ. Recall that the Antichrist is the sea beast of Revelation 13; that is, the Antichrist is the Roman Catholic Church. These two mysteries are actually one.

Notice that Scripture is making an airtight case as to the identity of this beast. This is not the second beast with two horns like a lamb; this is the first beast, the sea beast. Notice also that the beast is depicted only in relation to the woman—he “carries her.” It is the harlot, the church, not the state, that is given primary attention.

Also important, it is God’s messenger, His angel, that brought understanding to John. Over and again, we have seen that Satan’s motives are to deceive, to confuse, to conceal truth. The serpent deceives, as does the false prophet; his lies are, in fact, indicative in his name. Babylon is the epicenter of confusion. And the devil has proven himself to be the master counterfeiter. Through the beast power, he has manufactured a fake law, a fake Christ, a fake salvation, to name but a few.

In contrast, it is God who is “the truth” (John 14:6). God’s “law is truth” (Psalm 119:142); God’s “word is truth” (John 17:17). And living by God’s truth results in salvation, for God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Revealer of secrets, thank You for not leaving mysteries unsolved but uncovering saving truth in Your Word.

For Further Study: Luke 12:2; 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 1:20

Key Bible Texts

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. (Revelation 17:7 KJV)