Words matter. They have literal meanings but, sometimes, because of our experience, or because of the passage of time, they also carry meanings and associations which add to their significance. Take for example the word Palestine. Before 1948, it referred to the area administered by England where now the State of Israel exists. Now, unfortunately it means a word that it is used as something opposite to the State of Israel. I had to spend a great deal of time explaining to a pastor last week why he shouldn’t use the word Palestine to refer to Israel. Sadly, last week seven young people were brutally executed by terrorists who want Palestine to replace Israel.
Another word that I find very interesting because how it has changed meanings is the word apocalypse. The moment we hear that word, images of destruction and suffering come to our mind. If we look it up in a dictionary, the first definition that comes out is, “an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale.” There are countless movies with this name, such as Zombie Apocalypse of even the very famous Apocalypse Now.
And yet, the original meaning of this word has nothing to do with destruction. It has a lot to do with power, but not destructive power. You see, the original meaning of the word apocalypse in Greek as it appears in the Bible means . . . (drum roll) revelation! That is the reason why, in my Spanish Bible the last book of the Bible is called Apocalipsis instead of Revelation, as it appears in our English Bibles. It is because of the content of the book of Revelation (which describes the end of the world) that apocalypse means what it means in our modern culture.
Paul uses this word in Ephesians 3 when he says “. . .as I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.” What is the mystery that God revealed to Paul which he now is trying to convey to the Ephesians? That no matter who we are, Jews or Gentiles, we are all part of the same family of God, which is the Church. This is powerful! Actually, Paul uses this word in the book of Acts to describe his experience with Jesus which changed His life forever. Something powerful was required to change Shaul, (His name in Hebrew) the one who persecuted and hated followers of Jesus into the Apostle we have come to know.
As we dig deeper, we find out that the word reveal means “to uncover” which is what God’s revelation did to Paul. It showed Him the awesome nature of Jesus the Messiah. May this be an encouragement to us. Let’s study, let’s reflect, let’s read God’s Word more. As we do that, we will uncover more about our God and, just as Paul was transformed, we will be as well.
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