THE APPOINTED TIMES OF THE GREAT JUBILEE — THE SACRED SECRET OF GOD’S ADMINISTRATION

THE WOMAN AND HER SEED AND THE SNAKE AND HIS SEED

The word “secret” has an electrifying effect on some people. When this word is spoken, the listeners’ curiosity is piqued, and they are eager to learn the secret’s revelation. This should particularly be in connection with God’s secrets, of which even the angels want to know.

THE THINGS IN WHICH THE ANGELS ARE DESIRING TO PEER

The apostle Peter wrote two letters, and in his first letter, he wrote something that alludes to God’s sacred secret. He refers to the heavenly hope of those whom he addressed in 1:3 – 5, 8, 10-12:

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for YOU, ⁵ who are being safeguarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last period of time (kairos eskhatos)

⁸ Though YOU never saw him, YOU love him. Though YOU are not looking upon him at present, yet YOU exercise faith in him and are greatly rejoicing with an unspeakable and glorified joy, ⁹ as YOU receive the end of YOUR faith, the salvation of YOUR souls.

¹⁰ Concerning this very salvation a diligent inquiry and a careful search were made by the prophets who prophesied about the undeserved kindness meant for YOU. ¹¹ They kept on investigating what particular season or what sort of [season] the spirit in them was indicating concerning Christ when it was bearing witness beforehand about the sufferings for Christ and about the glories to follow these. ¹² It was revealed to them that, not to themselves, but to YOU, they were ministering the things that have now been announced to YOU through those who have declared the good news to YOU with holy spirit sent forth from heaven. Into these very things angels are desiring to peer.

The main point in the quoted verses is “salvation” (“an unfading inheritance…in the heavens,” “a salvation,” “this very salvation,” “the glories to follow.”) This salvation goes back to the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15:

¹⁵ And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”

Adam and Eve were sentenced to death. But the words about the seed of the woman suggested that there would be a future for Adam’s progeny, which would imply salvation. This is confirmed by the words about crushing the snake’s head. But how and when this prophecy would be fulfilled was a sacred secret.

The prophets knew about this prophecy, which was a sacred secret. And they made efforts to understand this sacred secret. Several important words that illuminate their search are found in verse 11; I will provide a new translation of this verse. The NWT84 rendering is above, and my rendering is below:

 (NWT84)¹¹ They kept on investigating what particular season or what sort of [season] the spirit in them was indicating concerning Christ when it was bearing witness beforehand about the sufferings for Christ and about the glories to follow these.

(RJF) ¹¹ They continued investigating which and what kind of appointed times (kairos) the spirit of Christ in them kept on declaring and foretelling regarding the sufferings of Christ and the glories (doxa) after these things.[1]

Because appointed times (kairos) are mentioned in connection with Jesus’ first coming to the earth (Mark 1:15) and to his second coming and his presence (Luke 21:24), it is also fitting that appointed times (kairos) are mentioned in connection with the future salvation of Jesus’ followers. The prophets were searching to understand more about these appointed times (verse 11).

Peter’s inspired comments on these appointed times are found in verse 5. I quote NWT84 above and present my translation below:

 ⁵ who are being safeguarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed (apokalyptō) in the last period of time (kairos eskhatos)

 ⁵ who are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation prepared to be revealed (apokalyptō) in the final appointed time (kairos eskhatos)

The topic is the salvation of those to whom the letter is addressed. When Peter says that this salvation will be revealed, the meaning is not that they will be taught its nature. According to verse 4, they have already been taught that salvation is “an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens.”

The meaning of “be revealed” must be the same as in 1 Thessalonians 1:7, “the revelation (apokalypsis) of our lord Jesus Christ from heaven,” which implies both understanding and action. When Jesus is “revealed,” according to this verse, people will understand it, and he will act as the judge in the great tribulation.

Jesus presented the same idea as Peter did in Matthew 24:31:

31 And he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity.

According to Matthew 24:22, some humans (“flesh”) will survive the great tribulation, and according to 24:31, they will be gathered by angels. This is the same situation Peter describes as a salvation prepared to be revealed (apokalyptō) in the final appointed time (kairos eskhatos). One will be taken along and will be saved, and another will be left behind. (Matthew 24:40)

We note the time element here. Peter uses kairos (“appointed time”) in the plural in 1:11 and in the singular in verse 5. The singular form of kairos is determined by the adjective eskhatos (“last, final”). This means  there is a period of appointed times, and in the last or final one of these appointed times, the salvation will be revealed. In the article “The appointed times of the great Jubilee — the importance of the year 1975 (Part III)[2] I show that there is an antitypical creation week of seven days, where each day conceptually is 7,000 years long. The last day of 7,000 years is Jehovah’s day of rest, and the last thousand years of this day of rest are the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

The whole week of 7,000-year-long days can be viewed as “appointed times,” and Jehovah’s day of rest with six periods of a thousand years before the antitypical Jubilee of Jesus’ thousand-year reign can also be viewed as “appointed times.” According to 1 Peter 1:5, salvation should be revealed in “the final appointed time.” The setting of Matthew 24 is the presence of Jesus and the time of the end, and according to verse 31, the salvation of the “chosen ones” (= the great crowd mentioned in Revelation chapter 7) will occur at the end of the time of the end, immediately before the great tribulation. This can be expressed as “the final appointed time.” (1 Peter 1:5)

Peter wrote to “the temporary residents scattered about in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” According to verses 3 and 4, they had a living hope of a heavenly salvation.

THE MEANING OF THE FIRST PROPHECY — GENESIS 3:15 

I will now examine how God has arranged things for his eternal purpose from a prophetic perspective. In addition to the joy of learning new sides of Jehovah’s purpose, the way the prophetic statements occur in the books of the Bible represent strong evidence that all 66 books have one author, Jehovah God.

From one point of view, the Bible can be compared with a crime novel. In such a story, the persons are presented in the first chapter, and the crime is committed. In the following chapters, “threads” are placed that cannot be immediately understood. Then, in the final chapter, the mystery of the crime is solved, and the guilty parties receive their sentences. And now—when everything is cleared up—we can look at the threads in the different chapters and see how each one fits into the same clear pattern.

In Genesis, the persons are presented: God, Adam, Eve, and Satan. The crime—the rebellion against God—is committed, and in all the books of the Bible, there are “threads” that cannot be immediately understood. In the last book of the Bible, the criminals—Satan and his seed are convicted, and they receive their final sentence, which is eternal annihilation. On this basis, we can understand the threads in the different books and recognize that one author, Jehovah God, has woven them into each book.

After the rebellion of Adam and Eve, God uttered a prophecy and said regarding the serpent (Genesis 3:15):

¹⁵ I will set enmity between you and the woman and between your seed (zæra‘) and her seed (zæra‘). He will bruise you, that is, the head, and you will bruise him, that is, the heel.

It is obvious that the first human pair and the people of Israel, who later read the prophecy in Genesis, did not understand it. They could not know who the woman and her seed were, and who the snake and his seed were. The Hebrew word zæra‘ (“seed”) has the same form in the singular and plural. But the use of “he” (singular) in connection with the bruising of the head of the snake and “you” (singular) in connection with the bruising of the heel suggests that one singular person is referred to.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE SNAKE AND HIS SEED

About four thousand years after the prophecy was uttered, the snake was identified for the first time. In John 8:44, Jesus calls the Devil “the father of the lie,” and because the snake was the one who told the first lie, the snake must represent the Devil. In the same verse, Jesus says that the Devil “was a manslayer from the beginning,” and because the snake was responsible for the death of Adam and Eve, because he caused them to sin, the snake was the first manslayer and must be identified with the Devil.

The verse of John 8:44 also identifies the seed of the snake. Jesus says about the Jews who stood there: “You are from your father, the Devil.” All humans who follow the Devil are part of his seed, as well as the demons, symbolized by stars in Revelation 12:4.

This was a thread in the big crime novel, but almost no one would understand this. How the snake’s head would be bruised was first revealed sixty years after Jesus identified the snake as Satan. In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, the grand finale of the crime novel is described. Revelation 20:1–3, 10 tells that the Devil will be bound in the abyss for 1,000 years, and after the end of the 1,000 years, the Devil will be annihilated in the symbolic lake of fire. This must be the fulfillment of the bruising of the snake’s head.

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE WOMAN AND HER SEED

But who is the woman and the seed of the woman? In Revelation 12:1, a woman is seen on the point of giving birth to a son. Before her is the Dragon, who represents the Devil, and 12:17 says that the Dragon was angry and “went to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed.” Because of the words of verse 17, we understand that this is the woman who is mentioned in the prophecy in Genesis 3:15. But who is she? Her seed is also mentioned, and we learn that her seed is plural.

This opens up for another question: Regarding the seed of the woman, the snake should bruise his heel. So, which person among those who constitute the seed of the woman is the one who will get his heel bruised? The first thread we find is the promise given to Abraham in Genesis 22:17, 18:

¹⁷ I shall surely bless you and I shall surely multiply your seed (zæra‘) like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand that are on the seashore; and your seed (zæra‘) will take possession of (yārash, masculine singular) the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ And by means of your seed (zæra‘) all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves due to the fact that you have listened to my voice.’”

As already mentioned, the Hebrew word zæra‘ (“seed”) has the same form in singular and plural, just like the English word “sheep.” The first occurrence of zæra‘ in verse 17 is plural because it is said that the seed will be multiplied. The second time zæra‘ occurs in verse 17, it is singular. In Hebrew, the person is incorporated into the verb form. In verse 17, the verb yārash (“to take possession of”) is masculine singular, and the pronoun “his” is also masculine singular. A word-for-word translation of the last part of verse 17 would be: “he will take possession of the gate of his enemies”.  Verse 18 says that “by means of your seed (zæra‘)” all the nations of the earth will bless themselves. In this verse, there is no verb or pronoun that could tell whether zæra‘ is singular or plural.

As we see, the seed of Abraham refers to one person and to many. When the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 says that the snake will crush “his heel,” this must refer to the singular person who is the seed of Abraham. Abraham had a son, Isaac, and Isaac had a son, Jacob. When Jacob, on his deathbed, blessed his sons, he said to Judah (Genesis 49:10):

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs (shiloh) comes, to whom the nations will be obedient.

The Hebrew expression “Shiloh” (“to him”) is ambiguous. Its meaning is “belongs to him.” But it is not stated who the person is or what “belongs to him.” But it is clear that a ruler will come from the tribe of Judah, and the nations will be obedient to this ruler. King David was of the tribe of Judah, and according to 2 Samuel 7:12, 13, God would raise up his seed, and his throne and kingdom would be established to time indefinite. The prophecy in Daniel 9:25–27 tells that the anointed one (masshiah) should come after a period of 69 weeks of years. This “anointed one” must be the same as the seed of David. The prophecy of the 69 weeks of years ended in 29 CE, and that year, Jesus Christ began his work. When Jesus was born, an angel said regarding him, according to Luke 1:32, 33:

³² He will be great, and he will be called the son of the Most High, and Jehova God will give him the throne of his father David. ³³ And he will rule as king over the house of Jacob forever; his Kingdom will never end.

All the threads we have seen so far point to Jesus Christ as the seed of the woman. (Genesis 3:15) But how did Satan bruise his heel? Evidently, it was when Satan caused Jesus to be killed. Bruising of the heel can cause severe pain, but it is usually not life-threatening. After being dead in parts of three days, Jesus was resurrected (Matthew 28:6), and later he was taken up to heaven. (Acts 1:9, 10) Thus, the wound of his heel was healed. The death of Jesus represented the ransom sacrifice, and by his loyalty until death, he settled the issue raised by Satan, whether humans were only loyal to God when they had benefits.

I will now look more closely at the seed of Abraham. Galatians 3:16 says:

¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. The saying was not: “and to seeds,” as if there were many, but as to one, “and to your seed,” who is Christ.

As mentioned, the Hebrew word for “seed” has the same form in the singular and the plural. But because the 3rd person pronoun is used instead of “seed” in Genesis 22:17, Paul’s argument is valid—only one person is referred to as Abraham’s seed. However, Genesis 22:17 also shows that Abraham’s seed will become numerous, and Paul says in Galatians 3:29:

²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

These words show that the primary seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ, and the secondary seed is those who belonged to the Christian congregations in the days of Paul. According to the promise given to Abraham, all the nations of the earth will bless themselves by means of Abraham’s seed. How can that be? Jesus told his disciples, who were the seed of Abraham, to preach the good news of the Kingdom to all nations (Matthew 24:14) and to make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19, 20)

This means that Abraham’s seed is used to offer reconciliation to all who want to be reconciled with God on the basis of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20) Those who are reconciled will receive blessings, and therefore they will bless themselves by means of those preaching the good news. Based on the words about Abraham’s seed in Galatians, we can understand the threads in the Book of Daniel.

I quote Daniel 12:4 (above) and 12;8, 9 (below):

“And you, Daniel, conceal the words and seal the scroll until the time of the conclusion (end).”

“And I heard, but I could not understand. And I said: ‘My Lord, what is the final part of these things?’ And he said: ‘Go, Daniel, because these words are concealed and sealed until the time of the conclusion (end).’”

This means that any attempt to draw the threads of the scrolls together in order to understand the whole drama before the time of the end would be futile. The book of Revelation, which describes the restoration of all things, was written at the end of the first century CE. In 1:1, we read that the book is written “to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place.” The wicked world is still standing, and this shows that all the prophecies, including the binding of the Devil, have not yet occurred.

Revelation 1:1 shows that those who would understand the purpose of God were called “his slaves.” When we go back to Daniel, the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan are mentioned in 12:10: “None of the wicked will understand, but the wise ones will understand.” It is obvious that “the wise ones” are the same as “the slaves of God” mentioned in Revelation 1:1. Daniel 7:27 calls this group “the holy ones of the Most High,” and Daniel 11:33 says that “those of the people who are wise, will instruct many.” The wise ones, in contrast to the wicked persons, will be teachers. This suggests that they belong to Abraham’s seed, the ones who will bring blessings to the nations.

In Romans 16:20, there is a clear allusion to the prophecy in Genesis 3:15. We read that God will “crush Satan under your feet.” This refers to the Christians in Rome, and we must conclude that those belonging to the seed of the woman were the members of the Christian congregations. We also note that the seed of the woman mentioned in Revelation 12:17, and the Dragon “went off to wage war with the remaining ones of her seed who observe the commandments of God and have the work of bearing witness to Jesus.” This is the work of Abraham’s seed by whom all nations on the earth would bless themselves. Thus, this verse also confirms that the seed of the woman and the seed of Abraham are one and the same.

But who is the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15? Which threads do we find? Chapter 54 in the book of Isaiah describes a woman, and verse 5 says, “For your Maker is your husband.” The context shows that a collective woman is described, namely, the nation of Israel. We learn from this that the term “woman” can be applied to a group of persons. But the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15 cannot be the nation of Israel, because of Paul’s words in Galatians 4:26.

In the previous chapter, the seed of Abraham is described, and in this verse, Paul says, “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” Revelation 21:2 speaks of the heavenly Jerusalem, so the “mother” of Abraham’s seed resides in heaven. Just as the nation of Israel, with its capital, Jerusalem, was, in a symbolic sense, the wife of God, the angels in heaven can be viewed as the wife of God. This is the woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15, corroborated by the fact that the symbolic woman in Revelation 12:1 resides in heaven.

The end of the crime novel is described in Revelation, chapters 20 and 21. The Devil will have his head crushed when he and all his seed will be annihilated in the lake of fire. In this way, the “test case” (basanos) is concluded, and the precedent of this case stands forever. Jehovah God is fully vindicated!

The primary seed of the woman, who also is the primary seed of Abraham, had his heel bruised, and as a result of this, all of Adam and Eve’s offspring who believe in God and his Son will no longer feel the effects of their inherited sin. Instead, all things will be restored, as we read in Revelation 21:3, 4:

³ Look the dwelling of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ And he will wipe every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor crying nor pain. The former things will have passed away.

When Daniel wrote down his prophecies, he said that he did not understand them. When he asked for the meaning, he was told that no one would understand the prophecies before the time of the end. (Daniel 12:8) It is obvious that we must understand the full purpose of God before we can look at all the threads and make a synthesis of them. This was not possible before the end of the 1st century CE, when the last book of the Bible was written. And it was not even possible then because first, the prophecies of the time of the end had to be fulfilled, which they are right now before our very eyes.

There is one important conclusion we can draw regarding all the threads of the drama regarding the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan, namely that the Bible has only one author. The different books of the Bible were written over a period of 1,600 years, but the 40 writers did not understand the threads they laid. When we look at today, we can gather all these threads across the different books of the Bible and see that they form a coherent picture. This suggests that one person directed all the writers and what they wrote down during the 1,600 years. This person must be The Creator, Jehovah God, and therefore the Bible must be inspired by God.

Table 1.1 The identification of the persons in the prophecy in Genesis 3:15

John 8:44	The snake pictures the Devil
Revelation 20:1.3, 10	The Devil’s head will be bruised — eternal annihilation after the 1,000 years.
John 8:44; Revelation 12:4	The seed of the Devil — all humans and demons that follow the Devil.
Luke 1:32, 33	The seed of the woman is Jesus Christ.
Roman 16:20	The seed of the woman includes the anointed brothers of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:6; Acts 1:9, 10	Bruising the heel of the seed of the woman: Jesus was killed, but he was raised from the dead.
Galatians 4:25; Revelation 12:1	The angels in heaven are a symbolic wife of Jehovah. They are “the woman.”
Ephesians 1:10	The sacred secret is that there will be unity in heaven and on earth through Christ. This means a restoration of the earthly paradise.

[1]. The Greek word kairos has the meaning “appointed time,” as in “the appointed times of the nations” (Luke 21:24) The use of “seasons” blurs the point that Peter speaks of a specific period of appointed times. The pronouns “which” (tina) and “what kind of” (poion) are used to describe the kind or class of something. One appointed time is not different from another appointed time, but the lengths may be different. So, the use of the two pronouns evidently shows that the prophets knew there were appointed times connected with salvation, and they were seeking to distinguish the appointed times connected with future salvation from other appointed times (kairos). The last words of “these things” refer to “the sufferings of Christ,” and “the glories” refer to heaven as in 1 Timothy 3:16.

[2]. https://mybelovedreligion.no/2026/07/03/21699/

JEHOVAH’S SACRED SECRET

We have now identified the different persons mentioned in the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15. Now, I will study several details that connect this prophecy with the sacred secret of God. This secret concerns all aspects of God’s purpose of salvation for the descendants of Adam. Therefore, it is described in various ways, as I show below.

Table 1.2 References of the sacred secret

	THE SACRED SECRET OF CHRIST
Romans 16:25	The preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the sacred secret (mysterion) which has been kept in silence for long-lasting times
Ephesians 3:3	The sacred secret (mysterion) of the Christ.
Colossians 1:27	This sacred secret (mysterion)…It is Christ in union with you.
Colossians 2:2	The sacred secret (mysterion) of God, namely, Christ.
Colossians 4:3	That we may proclaim the mystery (mysterion) of Christ.
1 Timothy 3:16	The sacred secret (mysterion) of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He was made manifest in flesh’.
Ephesians 5:32	This sacred secret (mysterion) is great. Now I am speaking with respect to Christ and the congregation.
	THE SACRED SECRET OF HEAVENLY AND EARTHLY SALVATION
Ephesians 3:5, 6	The sacred secret (mysterion) of the Christ…namely, that people of the nations should be joint heirs and fellow members of the body and partakers with us of the promise.
Ephesians 6:19	The sacred secret (mysterion) of the good news.
1 Corinthians 15:51	I tell you a sacred secret (mysterion): We will not all fall asleep [in death], but we will all be changed.
Romans 11:25	This sacred secret (mysterion)…that dulling sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in.
Ephesians 1:9, 10	The sacred secret (mysterion)…for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.
	THE SACRED SECRET OF LAWLESSNESS
2 Thessalonians 2:7	The mystery of lawlessness (mysterion) is already at work.

 

THE SACRED SECRET OF CHRIST AND THE CONGREGATION 

The first prophecy was uttered after Satan had caused Adam and Eve to break the law of God. So, this prophecy pointed to the restoration of God’s purpose. But its fulfillment was a sacred secret. By all the prophecies given by the prophets, this was the most important one. And this was the one the angels wanted to understand.

PASSAGES THAT POINT TO CHRIST ALONE AS THE SACRED SECRET 

The most important side of the first prophecy from a human point of view was the seed of the woman. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul shows that the identity of the seed of the woman had long been a mystery. This is Christ! We read in 2:1-2 (above) and 4:3 (below):

¹ For I want YOU to realize how great a struggle I am having in behalf of YOU and of those at Laodicea and of all those who have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be comforted, that they may be harmoniously joined together in love and with a view to all the riches of the full assurance of [their] understanding, with a view to an accurate knowledge of the sacred secret (mysterion) of God, namely, Christ.

³ at the same time praying also for us, that God may open a door of utterance to us, to speak the sacred secret about the Christ, for which, in fact, I am in prison bonds.

The sacred secret has been revealed in different ways, and in Romans 16:25-26, Paul says that it has been known through the prophetic scriptures. He also says that there is a purpose of the revelation of Christ, the sacred secret, namely, to promote obedience by faith.

²⁵ Now to him who can make YOU firm in accord with the good news I declare and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the sacred secret (mysterion) which has been kept in silence for long-lasting times ²⁶ but has now been made manifest and has been made known through the prophetic scriptures among all the nations in accord with the command of the everlasting God to promote obedience by faith.

In his first letter to Timotheus, Paul describes various aspects of Jesus Christ that constitute the sacred secret. We read in 3:15-16:

¹⁵ but in case I am delayed, that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in God’s household, which is the congregation of [the] living God, a pillar and support of the truth. ¹⁶ Indeed, the sacred secret (mysterion) of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, appeared to angels, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in [the] world, was received up in glory.’

Jesus came to the earth as a righteous man. The angels who wanted to peer into the sacred secret observed his sojourn on the earth. The good news about the savior Jesus Christ was preached among the nations, and after he had died as a ransom sacrifice, he received his heavenly glory. All these things were important sides of the sacred secret.

PASSAGES POINTING OUT THE GLORIOUS RICHES OF THE SACRED SECRET 

The first prophecy in Genesis 3:15 not only identifies particular persons but also shows that, in connection with the sacred secret, God’s purpose will be accomplished. Paul shows in Ephesians 6:19, 20 that the sacred secret is expressed by the good news:

¹⁹ also for me, that ability to speak may be given me with the opening of my mouth, with freeness of speech to make known the sacred secret of the good news, ²⁰ for which I am acting as an ambassador in chains; that I may speak in connection with it with boldness as I ought to speak.

In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul speaks about marriage and the relationship between the man and his wife. He compares the congregation of new creations who are sons of God to a wife for Jesus Christ, and in verse 32, he says:

³² This sacred secret is great. Now I am speaking with respect to Christ and the congregation.

These words show that the sacred secret includes both Jesus Christ and all his followers, who are members of spiritual Israel. In Colossians 1:24-27, Paul shows that the sacred secret extends beyond Jesus Christ. But there are glorious riches included as well, which include the hope of glory:

²⁴ I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for YOU, and I, in my turn, am filling up what is lacking of the tribulations of the Christ in my flesh on behalf of his body, which is the congregation. ²⁵ I became a minister (diakonos) of this [congregation] in accordance with the stewardship (oikonomia) from God which was given me in YOUR interest to preach the word of God fully, ²⁶ the sacred secret (mysterion) that was hidden from the past systems of things and from the past generations. But now it has been made manifest to his holy ones, ²⁷ to whom God has been pleased to make known what are the glorious riches of this sacred secret (mysterion) among the nations. It is Christ in union with YOU, the hope of [his] glory.

In Ephesians 3:1-9, Paul shows that the sacred secret had not been known in previous generations. But now Paul got a revelation of the sacred secret, and it was also revealed to “his holy apostles and prophets by spirit.” Paul now elucidates the expressions “the glorious riches” and “the hope of glory,” showing that a part of the sacred secret is that the people of the nations will also be a part of spiritual Israel:

¹ On account of this I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus in behalf of YOU, the people of the nations ² if, really, YOU have heard about the stewardship (oikonomia) of the undeserved kindness of God that was given me with YOU in view, ³ that by way of a revelation the sacred secret was made known to me, just as I wrote previously in brief. ⁴ In the face of this YOU, when YOU read this, can realize the comprehension I have in the sacred secret of the Christ. ⁵ In other generations this [secret] was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by spirit, ⁶ namely, that people of the nations should be joint heirs and fellow members of the body and partakers with us of the promise in union with Christ Jesus through the good news. ⁷ I became a minister (diakonos) of this according to the free gift of the undeserved kindness of God that was given me according to the way his power operates. ⁸ To me, a man less than the least of all holy ones, this undeserved kindness was given, that I should declare to the nations the good news about the unfathomable riches of the Christ ⁹ and should make men see how the sacred secret is administered which has from the indefinite past been hidden in God, who created all things.

This side of the sacred secret is also expressed by Paul in Romans chapter 11, and I quote verses 25-32:

²⁵ For I do not want YOU, brothers, to be ignorant of this sacred secret, in order for YOU not to be discreet in your own eyes: that a dulling of sensibilities has happened in part to Israel until the full number of people of the nations has come in, ²⁶ and in this manner all Israel will be saved. Just as it is written: “The deliverer will come out of Zion and turn away ungodly practices from Jacob. ²⁷ And this is the covenant on my part with them, when I take their sins away.” ²⁸ True, with reference to the good news they are enemies for YOUR sakes, but with reference to [God’s] choosing they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are not things he will regret. ³⁰ For just as YOU were once disobedient to God but have now been shown mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹ so also these now have been disobedient with mercy resulting to YOU, that they themselves also may now be shown mercy. ³² For God has shut them all up together in disobedience, that he might show all of them mercy.

The principal point in Romans chapter 11 is that spiritual Israel consists of a finite number, and both Jews and people of the nations will be part of spiritual Israel. This has been part of the sacred secret revealed in the first century CE.[1]

In Colossians 1:27, Paul shows that the sacred secret includes “the hope of glory.” In 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52, Paul shows what this glory means for the members of spiritual Israel. Those who are living during “the last trumpet” will not sleep in death. But they will be changed and get a spiritual body so they can reign with Jesus Christ in heaven.

⁵¹ Look! I tell YOU a sacred secret: We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, during the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised up incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

There is another important aspect of the sacred secret that Paul mentions. We have seen that the sacred secret revealed in the first century CE made known that there will be a congregation of spiritual Israel, consisting of Jews and people of the nations. But it was also revealed that an additional group of believers is included in the sacred secret. Paul explains this in Ephesians 1:5-10:

⁵ For he foreordained us to the adoption through Jesus Christ as sons to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ in praise of his glorious undeserved kindness which he kindly conferred upon us by means of [his] loved one. ⁷ By means of him we have the release by ransom through the blood of that one, yes, the forgiveness of [our] trespasses, according to the riches of his undeserved kindness.

⁸ This he caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and good sense, ⁹ in that he made known to us the sacred secret of his will. It is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself ¹⁰ for an administration (oikonomia) at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.

Verse 8 speaks of the sacred secret, and all its aspects point to the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:15: “to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.” The adverbial “again” shows that the peace between heaven and earth that existed before the humans sinned will be restored. The words show that not only is the purpose of God a heavenly government of resurrected humans (“the things in the heavens”) included in the sacred secret. But his purpose that billions of humans will live forever in an earthly paradise (“the things on the earth”) is also included in the sacred secret.

Paul also discusses the sacred secret in the letter to the Colossians, and in this letter, he also shows that the sacred secret includes God’s purpose that some humans will receive heavenly life while others will live forever on the earth. I quote Colossians 1:20, 25-27:

²⁰ and through him to reconcile again to himself all [other] things by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.

²⁵ I became a minister of this [congregation] in accordance with the stewardship from God which was given me in YOUR interest to preach the word of God fully, ²⁶ the sacred secret that was hidden from the past systems of things and from the past generations. But now it has been made manifest to his holy ones, ²⁷ to whom God has been pleased to make known what are the glorious riches of this sacred secret among the nations. It is Christ in union with YOU, the hope of [his] glory.

The angels in heaven do not need reconciliation through the blood of Jesus. So, “the things in the heavens” refer to humans with a heavenly hope, and “the things upon the earth” refer to humans with the hope of living forever on the paradise earth. This is the sacred secret, according to verse 26.

Hebrews chapter 11 describes the faith of several persons who lived before Jesus Christ came to the earth. Among these was Abraham, and verse 10 says that “he was awaiting the city having real foundations.” Verse 13 speaks about a number of faithful men of old who did not get “the [fulfillment of the] promises, but they saw them afar off.” Now, Paul points to the reality that the promises they saw far off have now been revealed as a part of the sacred secret.

The purpose of God, as we read in the first chapters of Genesis, was that the first two humans should procreate children, who, in turn, should procreate children, until the earth was filled with descendants of the first human pair. All these should live forever in the earthly paradise. God’s purpose was temporarily disturbed because of the rebellion of Satan and the human pair. But God’s purpose is the same.

Before the human pair sinned, there was unity between God’s family in heaven and on earth, and Paul’s words in Ephesians 1:10 show that this unity will again be established in heaven and on the earth through Jesus Christ.

The prophecy in Genesis 3:15 points to a restoration of the situation that existed on the earth before the two humans sinned; when and how this would happen was a sacred secret. But now this sacred secret has been revealed, and Paul explains it. Ephesians 1:9 says that the unity mentioned through Christ is part of the sacred secret. This is fitting because the seed of the woman is Jesus Christ, and the unity, both in heaven and on earth, implied by the prophecy in Genesis 3:15, will be achieved through Jesus Christ.

Table 1.3 The different parts of the sacred secret

Ephesians 6:19	The sacred secret is the contents of the good news of the kingdom.
Colossians 1:2	The sacred secret is Christ.
Ephesians 5:32	The sacred secret is Christ and the congregations.
Ephesians 3:6; Romans 11: 25	The sacred secret is that people of the nations will be part of spiritual Israel alongside native Jews.
1 Corinthians 15:52	The sacred secret is that the members of spiritual Israel need not sleep in death but will be changed instantly through a heavenly resurrection.
Ephesians 1:10	The sacred secret is that there will be unity in heaven and on earth through Christ. This means a restoration of the earthly paradise.

In the next section, there is a detailed study of “how the sacred secret is administered,” as Paul writes in Ephesians 3:9.

 

[1]. A detailed discussion of Romans chapter 11, showing how Jews and people of the nations become part of spiritual Israel, and that the finite number of spiritual Israelites mentioned in chapter 11 counts 144,000 members, is found in the article, “‘For many are called, but few are chosen’ — What the members of the Governing Body do not understand,” https://mybelovedreligion.no/2022/09/25/for-many-are-called-but-few-are-chosen-what-the-members-of-the-governing-body-do-not-understand/

THE ADMINISTRATION, WHICH IS THE THOUSAND-YEAR REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST

In order to understand the details of the relationship between oikonomia (“administration”) and mystērion (“sacred secret”), I will study the meaning of oikonomia.

THE MEANING OF THE NOUN OIKONOMIA 

The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, by J.P. Louw and E. Nida, says about this word:

To manage and provide for a household… In biblical times a household would consist of more than the nuclear family, that is to say, more than simply husband, wife, and children, for servants, slaves, and permanent hired workers living with the family would be regarded as a part of the total household.

The word oikonomia occurs three times in the letter to the Ephesians and one time in the letter to the Colossians, and the contexts of these occurrences are the focus of this study. But first, I will show how the word is used in the other five occurrences in the Christian Greek Scriptures. In Luke 16:2, 3, oikonomia occurs three times:

¹ Then he went on to say also to the disciples: “A certain man was rich and he had a steward, (oikonomos) and this one was accused to him as handling his goods wastefully. ² So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Hand in the account of your stewardship (oikonomia), for you can no longer manage the house.’  ³ Then the steward said to himself, ‘What am I to do, seeing that my master will take the stewardship (oikonomia) away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, I am ashamed to beg.  Ah! I know what I shall do, so that, when I am put out of the stewardship (oikonomia), people will receive me into their homes.’

The Greek word oikos means “house”; oikonomos means “householder/administrator,” the person in charge of the household, who was often a slave. And the word oikonomia refers to the household itself. A word can have one or more meanings and several references, which are the things in the world denoted by the word.

In the situation with the rich man and the steward (householder), the rendering “stewardship” is good. The focus is on how the man handles the household. Below are the NWT84 renderings of three other passages with oikonomia:

1 Corinthians 9:17

¹⁷ If I perform this willingly, I have a reward; but if I do it against my will, all the same I have a stewardship (oikonomia) entrusted to me.

Colossians 1:25

²⁵ I became a minister of this [congregation] in accordance with the stewardship (oikonomia) from God which was given me in YOUR interest to preach the word of God fully.

1 Timotheus 1:4

⁴ nor to pay attention to false stories and to genealogies, which end up in nothing, but which furnish questions for research rather than a dispensing (oikonomia) of anything by God in connection with faith. [1]

In 1 Corinthians 9:17 and Colossians 1:25, the focus is on Paul’s work, compared to that of a householder managing the household. The verb “dispense” means “to give out things,” and the point in 1 Timothy 1:4 is that false stories and genealogies give rise to speculation rather than giving out anything good from God’s “household.”

THE ADMINISTRATION (oikonomia) OF THE SACRED SECRET (mystērion)

In the previous section, the Greek word mystērion (“sacred secret”) was discussed, and it is important to note that oikonomia (“administration”) is closely related to mystērion, as we see in Ephesians 3:9 (above) and 1 Corinthians 4:1, 2 (below):

⁹ and should make men see how the sacred secret (mystērion) is administered (oikonomia) which has from the indefinite past been hidden in God, who created all things.

¹ Let a man so appraise us as being subordinates (hypēretēs) of Christ and stewards (oikonomos)  of sacred secrets (mystērion) of God. ² Besides, in this case, what is looked for in stewards (oikonomos)  is for a man to be found faithful.

The Greek words in Ephesians 3:9 are hē oikonimia tou mystēroiou, and the literal meaning is “the sacred secret’s administration” or “the administration of the sacred secret.”[1] This shows that the words oikonomia and mystērion are related — oikonomia refers to the way the sacred secret is administered or managed, and mystērion refers to the sacred secret itself.

First Corinthians 4:1, 2 shows that Paul and his fellow Christians were subordinates of Christ and “stewards” (“administrators”) of God’s sacred secrets. Here, the word mystērion is plural and refers to the various aspects of God’s sacred secrets, as shown in Table 1.3.

In the previous section, I discussed six different sides of the sacred secret of God. I will now discuss Ephesians 1:8-12, where all the different sides of the sacred secret are combined in one unit.

⁸ This he caused to abound toward us in all wisdom and good sense, ⁹ in that he made known to us the sacred secret (mystērion) of his will. It is according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself ¹⁰ for an administration (oikonomia) at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.

[Yes,] in him, ¹¹ in union with whom we were also assigned as heirs, in that we were foreordained according to the purpose of him who operates all things according to the way his will counsels, ¹² that we should serve for the praise of his glory, we who have been first to hope in the Christ. ¹³ But YOU also hoped in him after YOU heard the word of truth, the good news about YOUR salvation. By means of him also, after YOU believed, YOU were sealed with the promised holy spirit, ¹⁴ which is a token in advance of our inheritance, for the purpose of releasing by a ransom [God’s] own possession, to his glorious praise.

What is the relationship between the words “sacred secret” (mystērion) in verse 9 and “administration” (oikonomia) in verse 10? The mystērion is connected with oikonomia with the preposition eis, with the meaning “(an idiom, literally ‘to be into’): to change from one state to another — ‘to change, to become.’” (Louw and Nida). This means that the “sacred secret” is equivalent to “administration.” The word oikonomia, as used in Luke 16:2, 3, includes the administration of the household and its slaves, the harvesting of crops, the production or purchase of food, and the distribution of food to all members of the household at the proper time. In a similar way, mystērion (“the sacred secret”) is here an abstract word that includes the work and actions of Christ to the benefit of human beings, according to Ephesians 1:10, to  those with a heavenly hope and those with an earthly hope, and the “restoration of all things”. (Acts 3:21). God’s administration will achieve all this, and therefore, this administration is equivalent to the sacred secret. The Watchtower of October 15, 1974, page 636 said:

“The term ‘administration’ does not mean the Messianic kingdom of His Son Jesus Christ,” the speaker emphasized. No, rather, it refers to God’s way of administering or managing things, his procedure in handling matters with a view to producing unity. The instrument God uses in his “administration” or management of things, it was shown, is the kingdom of his Son Jesus Christ.” (the author’s italics)

These words are true.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXPRESSIONS IN EPHESIANS 1:8-12

The three main expressions in Ephesians 1:8-12, seen in brown script, I will consider in turn.

THE THINGS IN THE HEAVENS AND THE THINGS UPON THE EARTH 

The things in the heavens and on the earth will be gathered together in Christ. The expression “all things” is a translation of the Greek ta panta (literally “the all”). According to Ephesians 1:10, ta panta would be gathered in Christ. This expression also occurs in Colossians 1:20:

²⁰ and through him to reconcile again (apokatalassō) to himself all [other] things (ta panta) by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens. ²¹ Indeed, YOU who were once alienated and enemies (ekhtros) because YOUR minds were on the works that were wicked.

I will first look at the Greek word apokatalassō (“reconcile again”). It has the meaning, “to reestablish proper friendly interpersonal relations after these have been disrupted or broken (the componential features of this series of meanings involve (1) disruption of friendly relations because of (2) presumed or real provocation, (3) overt behavior designed to remove hostility, and (4) restoration of original friendly relations.” (Louw and Nida)

We note that NWT84 has the rendering “reconcile again.” One definition of Louw and Nida is “restoration of original friendly relations.” This was needed, since verse 21 says that all humans were enemies of God. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they had friendly relations with God; they were reconciled to God. But this was lost. Thus, when Paul uses the Greek word apokatalassō, he refers to the restoration of the reconciliation between God and man that existed before the human pair sinned. Therefore, the rendering “reconcile again” captures the original text’s nuance. The following three translations stress the idea of “reconcile again”:

Good News Translation

²⁰ Through the Son, God decided to bring the whole universe back (apokatalassō) to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

New Century Version

²⁰ And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again – things on the earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.

New International Reader’s Version

²⁰ God was pleased to bring all things back to himself because of what Christ has done. That includes all things on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ’s blood, through his death on the cross.

In Colossians 1:26, Paul connects the reconciliation to “the sacred secret” that has been made manifest. And this connects the reconciliation with the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15, which points to a restoration of all things. This idea is also expressed in Acts 3:21:

²¹ whom heaven, indeed, must hold within itself until the times of restoration (apokatastasis) of all things of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time.

The noun apokatastasis has the meaning «to reestablish previous friendly relations,” and is a synonym of the verb apokatalassō, as we see in the definitions by Louw and Nida. So, apokatalassō refers to the restoration again of the good relationship between God and humans — a reconciliation, and apokatastasis refers to the restoration of the whole situation that existed before the sin was introduced. That apokatastasis points to a restoration supports the idea of “to reconcile again” in Colossians 1:20. And both the noun and the verb allude to the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15.

But who are they that should be reconciled? They are described as “all [other] things” (ta panta), and “the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.” The angels in heaven do not need any reconciliation. So, “the things in heaven” refer to humans who have become new creations, are adopted as sons of God, and will receive a heavenly resurrection to reign with Jesus Christ.

The situation is exactly the same in Colossians 1:20, 26, and Ephesians 1:8-12. The same Greek words for “all things” and “the things in the heaven and the things on the earth” are used. Therefore, “to gather all things together again in the Christ” (Ephesians 1.10) refers to those who will inherit the heavenly kingdom and those who will get everlasting life on earth. All the members of the congregation in Ephesus had the heavenly hope, as described in 1:13, 14.

TO GATHER ALL THINGS TOGETHER AGAIN 

There is an important difference between the NWT13 and the NWT84 in verse 10. The rendering of NWT84 is “to gather all things together again.” The footnote says:

‘To gather…together again.’ According to G.H. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, fourth ed. (1901) p. 39 ‘to bring together again for himself.’

The difference is that NWT84 has the adverb “again,” whereas NWT13 lacks it. The NWT84 shows that the unity between the things in the heavens and the things on the earth that will occur had one time earlier existed. But this idea is lacking in the NWT13.

Applying the principles of lexical semantics, we find that the use of “again” has a strong basis.  I will bring three quotations to show that. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. III, page 682, has the following comments on the verb anakefalaioō:

Iren. [Irenaeus, c. 130 — c. 200 CE, Church father] used anakafalaioō in the sense of gathering together, summation. Since every summation implies a kind of repetition, the word may sometimes have the direct sense of “to repeat.” The ana- thus assumes an iterative sense which it does not have elsewhere…Apsines [a Greek philosopher in the 3rd century CE] used anakafalaioō with reference to the repetition of an event. The recapitulare in Iren. [Irenaeus] is also to be understood in the first instance as repetition, though it is to be noted that it sums up the original and is thus qualitative…In this summation, however, the prominent element may be, not that of repetition, but that of the affirmation and confirmation implied in repetition.

We note the comment on the preposition ana (“up, upon, on”), which is often used distributively (= referring to each individual of a group rather than collectively to all individuals). The use of this preposition with a distributive meaning at the beginning of the verb anakefalaioō could signal the repetitive meaning of doing again, the argument goes. Additions of prepositions to a word may change its meaning. For example, the Greek word gnosis means “knowledge,” but when prefixed with the preposition epi (“over, upon”), as in epignosis, the meaning may be “accurate knowledge.”

Several commentators of Ephesians also argue about the repetitive meaning of 1:10. Galatians and Ephesians in Meyer’s Commentary on the New Testament (1883, 1979), page 322, says in comments on Ephesians 1:10:

Consequently, anakefalaioō, summatim recolligere, “recapitulate summarily,” which is said in Rom xiii 9 of that which has been previously expressed singulatim, “individually,” in separate parts, but now is again gathered up in one main point, so that at Rom. l.e en touto to logo denotes that main point in which the gathering up is contained. And here this main point of gathering up again, unifying all the parts, lies in Christ.

The important point is that the commandments in Romans 13:9 have been stated before and are now summarized again (anakefalaioō) in the saying, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

The commentator A.S. Wood in Ephesians in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (1978) Vol. 11, page 26, also stresses the repetitive nature of the verb:

The verb anakefalaioō (“to bring together”) means to sum up together again (Rom 13:9). It is derived not from kefalē (“a head”) but from kephalaion (a summary, or sum total”). When a column of figures was added up, the total was placed at the top.

The three quotations above show that the use of the adverbial “again” in NWT84 has a solid linguistic basis. I do not know why the Governing Body deleted this important word from NWT13. But a characteristic of this translation is that subtleties and nuances in the original text are often ignored and are not rendered into English.

In the context of this study, the use of the adverb again is important because this word points to the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:15. When Adam and Eve were created, there was peace and unity in heaven and on the earth. When they rebelled and sinned, this unity and peace were lost. The words in Genesis 3:15 about the seed of the woman who should bruise the serpent’s head point to the restoration of all things. And this restoration is seen in the expressions “to gather all things together again.” (Ephesians 1:10) and “to reconcile again to himself all [other] things.” (Colossians 1:20). When NWT13 in both places have failed to render the word “again,” the relationship between the words of Paul and the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 is destroyed, and the idea of the restoration of the situation before Adam and Eve sinned is deleted.

By deleting the word again from Ephesians 1:10 and Colossians 1:20 in the revised NWT13, the members of the Governing Body have removed an important part of the sacred secret from The Christian Greek Scriptures.

[1]. The expression tou mysteriou is in the genitive case, which can have different meanings, including the two alternatives mentioned.

THE ADMINISTRATION AT THE FULL LIMIT OF THE APPOINTED TIMES (kairos)

The prophecy in Genesis 3:15 points to God’s purpose to remove Satan and all his works and restore the paradise that existed in the Garden of Eden. In connection with this restoration, the word kairos (“appointed time”) is important.

The first coming of Jesus is referred to in Mark 1:15 (above) and Galatians 4:4 (below):

¹⁵ and saying: “The appointed time (kairos) has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Be repentant, YOU people, and have faith in the good news.”

⁴ But when the full limit of the time (kairos) arrived, God sent forth his Son, who came to be out of a woman and who came to be under law.

This “appointed time” connected with Jesus evidently refers to the 70 weeks mentioned in Daniel 9:24-27. The promised Messiah should come after 69 weeks, 483 years from the year 20 of Artaxerxes I, which is 455 BCE. This time ended in the year 29, when Jesus began his preaching.[1]

The second coming of Jesus and his invisible presence are referred to in Luke 21:24:

²⁴ and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times (kairos) of the nations are fulfilled.

There is both a linguistic and a thematic parallel between the appointed times of the nations and the 7 appointed times mentioned in Daniel 4:16. These 7 appointed times can be calculated to total 2,520 years and span from 607, when Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar II, to 1914.[2]

The word kairos (appointed time) is also used in three passages that point to the great tribulation and the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Jesus: 2 Thessalonians 6:15, Acts 3:20, and Ephesians 1:10.[3]

I will now compare Acts 3:19-21 (above) with Ephesians 1:10 (below) to see the similar ideas in these passages:

¹⁹ “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get YOUR sins blotted out, that seasons [appointed times] (kairos, plural) of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah ²⁰ and that he may send forth the Christ appointed for YOU, Jesus,  ²¹ whom heaven, indeed, must hold within itself until the times (khronos) of restoration (apokatastasis) of all things (pas) of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets of old time.

¹⁰ for an administration at the full limit of the appointed times (kairos, plural), namely, to gather all things (pas) together again (anakefalaioō) in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. [Yes,] in him.

The object in both cases is all things, expressed by the adjective pas. The expression all things is modified by the noun “restoration” in Acts 3:21 and by the verb phrase “gather together again” in Ephesians 1.10.

There is also a time element in both cases. The Greek word kairos means “appointed time,” often referring to time periods that follow one another and can be counted. The word khronos refers to time generally. But in some contexts, it can also refer to appointed times. In Acts 3:21, is khronos in the plural, and does it parallel kairos in verse 19? Therefore, the word khronos in this verse means “appointed times,” as in verse 19.

The conclusion of the comparison between Acts 3:19-21 and Ephesians 1:10 is that both refer to the restoration of paradise in Eden with perfect humans before Adam and Eve sinned. Both events show that there are appointed times that mark the beginning of this restoration.

The word kairos (“appointed time”) in Acts 3:20 and Ephesians 1:10 refers to the thousand-year reign of Jesus, when the restoration of all things will occur. This helps us to understand what “the administration” in Ephesians 1:10 and the gathering of all things in heaven and earth refer to.

The Watchtower of October 15, 1974, page 622, has the following description of the fulfillment of the words in Ephesians 1:9-11

¹⁰ When God’s Son Jesus Christ was glorified in heaven and founded the Christian congregation at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost of 33 C.E., the “administration at the full limit of the appointed times” started operation in its first stage, the most essential stage. The congregation of those who were to be associates in the unifying work with Jesus Christ in the heavens had to be gathered and unified under its Head, God’s Chief Servant. In this way “the things in the heavens,” the things destined for the heavens, would be ‘gathered together again in the Christ,’ so that the “body” used by God in his administration might be complete.​—Eph. 1:9-11.

¹¹ However, according to God’s purpose, the due time must come for the second feature of his “administration,” namely, to ‘gather together again in the Christ’ “the things on the earth.” This time arrived when the Gentile Times came to their fulfillment in autumn of the year 1914 C.E. There the time came for the Messianic Kingdom rule as formerly exercised by King David over in the Middle East to be reinstated, not in earthly Jerusalem, but in the heavens.

¹² In heaven, at God’s right hand, was where the permanent Heir of King David was now located, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then it was that Jehovah installed this heavenly Heir of King David on the throne, with royal power not just over the territory of ancient Israel but over all the earth, over all mankind for whom Jesus Christ had died as a perfect human sacrifice. Thereby the Kingdom of the Messiah went into operation. At that time, in a culminating way, the “full limit of the appointed times” had been reached when the “administration” that God was conducting ‘should gather together again in the Christ’ the estranged “things on the earth.” This would be the second stage of the gathering or uniting work according to God’s purpose.

The explanation is that the “full limit of the appointed times” has two stages. The first stage referred to the year 33, when people with a heavenly hope (“the things in the heavens”) began to be gathered. And the second stage referred to 1914, when people with an earthly hope (“the things on the earth”) began to be gathered.

The word “restoration” (apokatastasis) in Acts 3:21 and the adverbial “again” in Ephesians 1:10, together with the phrase “gather all things together,” show beyond a doubt that the explanation in The Watchtower of October 15, 1974, is wrong.

Neither Peter nor Paul speaks about a gathering occurring in this old system of things. But both speak about the restoration of the situation that existed in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. They speak of the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 3:15, and this will first occur during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. The things in the heavens and on the earth will be gathered together at the same time, when the thousand years begin.

This means that the word “administration” in Ephesians 1:10 refers to the way Jesus Christ will administer all things during his thousand-year reign. Therefore,we can say that “the administration” is the htousand-year reign of Jesus.

The explanation in The Watchtower of October 15, 1974, that the gathering of all things in the heavens (Ephesians 1:10) began in 33 CE and that the things on earth began after 1914 is wrong. The adverbial “again” shows that this “gathering” refers to the restoration of the paradise in Eden during the thousand-year reign of Jesus. And the expression, “the full limit of the appointed times,” refers to the prophetic period of time that ends when the thousand-year reign of Jesus begins. The following expressions have been used with reference to the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ: Sabbath (Matthew 12:9) Sabbath resting (Hebrews 4:9) Refreshing rest (Acts 3:19) Restoration (Acts 3:21) Administration (Ephesians 1:10)

THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY IN GENESIS 3:15

The prophecy in Genesis 3:15 was uttered at a critical time in the lives of Adam and Eve and their descendants. Because of the revolt against God and the introduction of sin, all humans were enemies of God, and all of them were sentenced to death. We read:

¹⁵And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.”

There are two opposite poles, the wicked side and the righteous side. The fulfillment of this prophecy was a sacred secret for 4,000 years. During these years, many prophecies that would be fulfilled in connection with Jesus Christ were written down by the prophets. But they did not see the connection between these prophecies and the first prophecy.

On one occasion, Jesus said to the disciples that “the sacred secret (mystērion) of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” The disciples understood more about the kingdom of God than the general public. But it was first when the books of the Christian Scriptures were written that the different sides of the sacred secret expressed by the first prophecy began to be understood.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures, we find six sides of the sacred secret:

It includes the good news of the kingdom.

Its basis is Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Israel is a part.

Spiritual Israel will reach its full number of Jews and people of the nations.

Members of Spiritual Israel will instantly be changed in a heavenly resurrection during the last trumpet.

There will be a restoration of the situation that existed before Adam and Eve sinned. Some humans will live in heaven, and others will live on the paradise earth.

The words of Ephesians 1:9-10 introduce a concept that corresponds to the Greek words mystērion (“sacred secret”) and oikonomia (“administration”). These two concepts relate to the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 in two different ways. The sacred secret points to the different aspects of the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, and “administration” points to how those aspects will be managed and fulfilled during the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

Both the hopes of a heavenly resurrection and the hope of an earthly resurrection are mentioned many times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. But the only places where these two groups are explicitly shown to be part of the sacred secret are in Ephesians 1:9, 10 and Colossians 1:20, 26.

The prophecy in Genesis 3:15 implies that God’s purpose will be fulfilled: an earthly paradise filled with Adam’s descendants. This is shown in the context of Ephesians 1:9, 10. The other important side of the sacred secret is that God will have a heavenly government with 144,000 members.

The words in Ephesians 1:9, 10 combine all six sides of the sacred secret into one unit, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth. And Paul, by using the words “to gather all things together again” in verse 10 and by using the words “to reconcile again to himself all [other] things” in Colossians 1:20, connects the gathering of all things in the heavens and on the earth with the prophecy in Genesis 3:15:

All the effects of Satan’s revolt are gone, and the situation of peace and unity that existed before Adam and Eve sinned have been restored!

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After I completed this study, I was stunned by the way Jehovah has dealt with the revolt in Eden, and how he will give all Adam’s descendants who have not sinned against the holy spirit, the same chance as Adam got: As perfect humans at the end of the thousand-year-long Judgment Day to choose to serve Jehovah or to follow Satan. The words of Paul in Romans 11:33-36 excellently express how much I admire our heavenly Father:

³³ O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments [are] and past tracing out his ways [are]! ³⁴ For “who has come to know Jehovah’s mind, or who has become his counselor?”³⁵ Or, “Who has first given to him, so that it must be repaid to him?” ³⁶ Because from him and by him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

           AMEN

 

 

[1] . See the article, «The importance of the year 1914 — Understanding the appointed times of the nations (Part II).” https://mybelovedreligion.no/2026/06/28/the-importance-of-the-year-1914-understanding-the-appointed-times-of-the-nations-part-ii-2/

[2]. See the article, «The importance of the year 1914 — Understanding the appointed times of the nations (Part III).” https://mybelovedreligion.no/2026/06/28/the-importance-of-the-year-1914-understanding-the-appointed-times-of-the-nations-part-iii-2/

[3]. See the article, “The appointed times of the great Jubilee— the importance of the year 1975” https://mybelovedreligion.no/2026/07/03/21699/