Ephesians 3:3

"As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me."

it is not clear here where Paul ”briefly wrote earlier” about God's mysterious plan. It could be a reference to earlier in the same letter at Ephesians 1:9-10, where he does mention God's mysterious plan. In this reference it is about God's plan to bring everything under the authority of Christ. it is possible that Paul is referring to another letter which we do not know about.

paul says here that God himself revealed His plan to him. We can't be sure how that revelation to place. However, the wording suggests a sudden, singular event.

the Greek construction does not mention God. It simply says “ the revelation that was given to me.” The word for “was given” is in the aorist tense, Which means it was an action that occurred once. The imperfect tense would mean an event that happened over a period of time.

If Paul had been studying the Old Testament, or perhaps hearing the testimony of the apostles, over a period of time, he would have used the imperfect tense.

rather, he suggests it was a sudden event, perhaps like his conversion event on the road to Damascus, in which the power and person of Jesus came as a sudden revelation. Sometimes people talk about a “download” of divine information in the sense that what was previously unknown suddenly becomes obvious.

The word “revelation”, in both Greek and English, tells us that this was all at God's behest. It is God who makes the information known. It cannot be deduced by human effort, but requires an action by God to make obviouswhat was previously hidden.

the iconic case of this is the example of Moses who sees a burning bush in the wilderness. The bush becomes a vehicle for God's self- revelation and his commissioning of Moses to set his people free.

in the New Testament, we have the entire Book of Revelation in which John is given a series of visions of heaven. This is something that could only have been “revealed” by God, and not learned or worked out.

regardless of the form in which the revelation came to Paul, it is clear that he had a sudden insight into God's plan of salvation.

the word “mystery” (the NLT renders it as “mysterious plan”) can be somewhat misleading to modern readers. We might think of a mystery as something that is complicated, obscure, or even criminal. The word mean simply something that is or was hidden.

Even the prophets in the Old Testament did not see clearly the fullness of God’s plan. They caught glimpses of the nature of the Messiah and the future of Israel, but never enough to see the totality of what was to come. In the New Testament we see the apostles struggling to understand what Jesus’ ministry really meant, even up to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

So God's plan was hidden prior to Christ, but now it has been revealed to Paul in a sudden and powerful way. It is as if we were all asleep to what God was up to, but then Paul's eyes suddenly open, and he sees for the first time, the meaning of the gospel, the Kingdom, and salvation. Paul’s mission then is to call others to see the same thing that he sees, allowing all people everywhere to come to Salvation .

key points in this verse

• Paul's teaching about salvation is not something he worked out himself

• God revealed this to Paul

• God's ultimate plan was previously a mystery- something hidden

• the revelation came as a divine download, a sudden impartation of knowledge