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#10.
The Censorship of Information.
pp. 147, 148
The full inspiration of the Scriptures and the divinely appointed limits of the
subject-matter revealed in them, as, for example, indicated in I Cor. 13: 12, do not
conflict with one another any more than the effectiveness of the electric torch as "a lamp
unto our feet, and a light unto our path", is nullified because it does not equal the light of
day. In this respect the Scriptures are as and what they are because "There's a war on".
Another indication of intentional limitation of information, parallel to the censorship
of news in war-time, is the presence in the Scriptures of a series of "mysteries". This
word, as used in Scripture, must not be limited to its modern usage, as, for instance, the
"mysterious" nature of the spirit-world, but rather has the meaning of a "secret",
purposely hid because of the presence of an enemy, and revealed only at the appointed
time. This can be seen in passages where we first meet with the word. "The mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven", which fill the thirteenth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, with their
twofold teaching concerning the outer and inner courses of the purpose relating to the
kingdom in the absence of the rejected King, reveal the presence and activity of an
enemy. In the parable of the Tares, we read, "An enemy hath done this" (Matt. 13: 28),
and because the time was ripe, the disciples then hear and see truth that many prophets
and righteous men had desired to see (Matt. 13: 16, 17).
So, too, "The mystery" that fills the present dispensation with its distinctive glory was
"hid in God", and "hidden since the ages and generations" and therefore not revealed
until the people of Israel, together with their hope and calling, were temporarily set aside
at Acts 28: Inasmuch as this mystery goes back to a period "before the overthrow
(katabole) of the world", when the great enemy of all truth was cast out as profane, we
can understand the wisdom that decreed that certain aspects of the purpose of the ages
should be kept secret until the appropriate time. The phrase, "The mystery of His will",
found in Eph. 1: 9, is very similar to one found in classical use, where it refers to the
"plan of campaign" made by a king but naturally kept secret because of the enemy.
A feature which has never been absent from warfare but which has come very much to
the fore in the present conflict is the use of the "spy" and his confederates. So much is
this the case that it has given rise to the new names of "Quisling" and "Fifth Columnist".
The Churches of Galatia suffered from the activity of fifth columnists (Acts 15: 1, 5), and
when the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem about this very matter he found that "false
brethren" had been brought in "unawares", who had come in "privily" "to spy out our
liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage" (Gal. 2: 4).
These churches had a "troubler" (Gal. 1: 7) in their midst, whose object was "to pervert
the gospel of Christ". The truth and the church were being "leavened" (Gal. 5: 9), the
cross of Christ emptied of its sacred worth, and its message nullified.