Ephesians Chapter 3

There is an important lesson here for believers who are constantly fixated on temporal justice. In this sin affected world there will be times when we are treated unjustly. There will also be times when we are afforded an opportunity by God to utilize our unjust circumstances as a vehicle for sharing the Gospel. May God give us the courage to look to Him in every circumstance.

Ephesians 3 [Author’s Translation]
 
1 For this reason therefore, I, Paul, the prisoner of Messiah Yeshua for the sake of you Gentiles— 
2 if indeed you have heard of the management of the grace of the God which was given to me toward you, 
3 that according to revelation He made known to me the mystery (of which I have already written a small amount, 
4 which will be to your advantage, when you read it, in order to understand with the understanding I have in the mystery of Messiah), 
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons (children) of humanity, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy (set apart) apostles and prophets: 
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Messiah through the good news, 
7 of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of the God, given to me by the active energy of His power.
8 To me, the least of all the holy (saints: set apart ones), to give this, the grace, that among the Gentiles I should announce the good news of the unsearchable riches of the Messiah, 
9 and to illuminate, reveal to all (individually and collectively) concerning the management of the mystery, concealed from the beginning of the ages in the God Who created all things; 
10 In order to make known now the origin and the authority in the heavens, through the body of believers (ecclesia[G]), the many colours of the wisdom of God, 
11 according to the purpose of the ages which He accomplished in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, 
12 in Whom we have unreserved freedom and access in confidence through the faith which is of Him. 
13 Therefore, I ask that you not lose heart because of my affliction for you, which is your glory.
14 For this reason therefore, I bow my knees to the Father, 
15 from Whom all family lineage (Patriarchy) in heaven and on earth is named, 
16 in order to give to you, according to the riches of the judgement of His power, to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner person, 
17 so that the Messiah may dwell through the faith, in your hearts (core being); that you, might be rooted in a foundation of all-encompassing love (agape[G]), 
18 In order that you may have the power to comprehend with all the holy (saints: set apart ones) what is the width and length and height and depth— 
19 to comprehend the all-encompassing love (agape[G]) of Messiah which transcends knowledge (intellect); in order that you may be fully filled with all the fullness of the God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that is active in and to us, 
21 to Him glory in the body of believers (ecclesia[G]) in Messiah Yeshua, to all generations, in the unbroken age, the worlds without end. Amen[H] (Agreed, faith, trust, firmly established, concluded).
 
Line By Line
 
1 For this reason therefore, I, Paul, the prisoner of Messiah Yeshua for the sake of you Gentiles— 
 
“For this reason,” refers to the work of God explained in the previous verses. The supremacy of Messiah, the inclusion of the Gentiles, the eternal dwelling etc.
 
“The prisoner of Messiah Yeshua.” Regarding Paul’s physical imprisonment, at that time it is likely that the letter was written while he was under house arrest (Acts 28:16, 30). However, the phrasing submits Paul’s temporary locational imprisonment to the Rule of Messiah Yeshua. Paul is not simply a prisoner of Rome but a prisoner of Messiah Yeshua. Like Yeshua Paul has sacrificed his own wellbeing in order to minister the Gospel to the nations (Gentiles).
 
Practically speaking Paul is a prisoner for the sake of the Gentiles as a result of his appeal to Caesar. Had he not appealed to Caesar he would not have ended up under house arrest and then subsequently imprisoned in Rome. It was not for the sake of his own vindication but for the sake of the Gospel (that is, in order that he might share the Gospel more widely among the Gentiles) that Paul appealed to Caesar, knowing that he would certainly have gone free had he not done so (Acts 25:9-12; 26:31-32). There is an important lesson here for believers who are constantly fixated on temporal justice. In this sin affected world there will be times when we are treated unjustly. There will also be times when we are afforded an opportunity by God to utilize our unjust circumstances as a vehicle for sharing the Gospel. May God give us the courage to look to Him in every circumstance.
 
Spiritually speaking Paul’s imprisonment reflects the self-sacrificial nature of the Messiah Yeshua Whose Gospel he carries to the nations. In Messiah Paul is willingly imprisoned, not because he enjoys suffering but because he considers the riches of God of greater value than temporal human comfort (Heb. 11:26).
 
After this opening verse Paul breaks off into an explanation of the “mystery” of the revelation of the Gospel, which is given to both Jews and Gentiles.
 
2 if indeed you have heard of the management of the grace of the God which was given to me toward you, 
 
As is the case with numerous other ancient works of the first century CE, Paul digresses here by way of explanation of the mystery revealed in Messiah and his role as one who has been given management of the growing household of faith. He doesn’t return again to the “reason” (v.1) until verse 14. The reason ultimately being the impartation of the knowledge of the indwelling of the Person of Messiah, made continually available to the Jew and also to the Gentile.
 
The management of the grace of God, given toward the Ephesian believers is, as the following verse says, “according to revelation… made known to” Paul (Acts 9).
 
3 that according to revelation He made known to me the mystery (of which I have already written a small amount, 
 
The mystery made known to Paul by the revelation of the Person of Yeshua is being conveyed to the Ephesian believers in order that they might receive, by revelation the Person of Yeshua in full comprehension of His power and indwelling. Part of the fullness of that mystery is the inclusion of Gentiles in the redemptive purposes of God (1:9). An inclusion that grafts Gentiles on to the native plant Israel but neither usurps Israel’s continued and unique identity, nor steals the identity of the Gentiles, instead it unites the two in Messiah (Romans 11).
 
“Of which I have already written a small amount,” references the previous two introductory chapters which are a type of overview of the mystery of the Gospel. Paul’s initial words (chapters 1 & 2) reveal aspects of the mystery of the Gospel such as the fact that God decided beforehand, and therefore chooses by election, redeems in justice, regenerates through the Messiah, saving by grace through faith.
 
Mystery, as it’s understood by the godly Biblical Hebrew consciousness, most often refers to things once hidden that are now being revealed, made known, accessible to the humble (Daniel 2:18-19, 27-30, 47).
 
We should not understand mystery as being revealed only to the initiated. This is the satanic modus operandi of the mystery religions. To the contrary, through Yeshua the Messiah God reveals His mystery of redemption to the uninitiated so as to make them more than initiates. By the work of God we are redeemed unto an inheritance as children of God adopted through Messiah. The demonic mystery religions on the other hand involve a constant searching after greater mysteries in order to elevate the self toward god status. Adherents of vain/false religion are always initiates, never heirs.
 
4 which will be to your advantage, when you read it, in order to understand with the understanding I have in the mystery of Messiah),
 
Paul expects the holy ones (saints: set apart ones) to understand with the understanding he has received from God through Yeshua because he trusts God to reveal Himself and by His Spirit illuminate the consciousness of every humble believer. Paul is not relying on his ability to articulate truth but on God’s revelatory power in Messiah (Galatians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 2:1).
 
5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons (children) of humanity, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy (set apart) apostles and prophets: 
 
Paul is not saying that the mystery was not revealed at all in the past but that it “was not made known… as it has now been revealed.” After all, the TaNaKh (OT) does make this mystery known to a certain extent.
 
It’s important to understand that Paul is pointing back in order of chronology to the prophets of Israel via the apostles of Messiah. The mystery of the inclusion of the Gentiles is “Revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles” (Acts 15:15-21) “and prophets” (Amos 9:11-12).
 
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Messiah through the good news, 
 
“Fellow heirs” and not Supersessionist (Continuationist, Replacement, Successionist) usurpers. A curse on the apostate replacement gospel of many in the modern (apostate) church (Galatians 1:8-9)!
 
7 of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of the God, given to me by the active energy of His power.
 
Paul, by God’s grace, he being the greatest of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), became a servant of the Gospel of Yeshua HaMelekh through the living and active power of God (Acts 9).
 
8 To me, the least of all the holy (saints: set apart ones), to give this, the grace, that among the Gentiles I should announce the good news of the unsearchable riches of the Messiah, 
 
Paul identifies as “the least of the holy ones” because of his persecution of the community of faith prior to salvation in Messiah (1 Corinthians 15:9).
 
The phrase, “Least of the saints/pious devotee” (קְטָן חֲסִידִים) is a rabbinical descriptor used of Rabbi Yossi of Babylon to infer that he was a scoundrel or on the other hand, that he was the last of the Chassidim (devoted ones), presumably following the exile (Mishnat Eretz Yisrael on Pirkei Avot 4:20:6). The Penei Moshe on Jerusalem Talmud Bava Kama 3:7:2:3 affirms this meaning.
 
The Tosefta Kifshutah on Sotah 14:5:3 uses the title to infer that Rabbi Yossi of Babylon is least among the Chassidim (pious devotees).
 
We need not make a false choice here. Paul is both “the least” in terms of his previous acts of persecution and the “last” in terms of his unique role among the apostles as the last to whom Yeshua revealed Himself in a unique way in manifest post resurrection meta-physical form. Paul’s inclusion in the 12 apostles and their ministry of disseminating the Gospel, is predicated on this unique personal encounter with the Person of Yeshua.
 
Paul writes according to his calling, announcing the good news of the unsearchable riches of the Messiah.
 
9 and to illuminate, reveal to all (individually and collectively) concerning the
management of the mystery, concealed from the beginning of the ages in the God Who created all things;
 
Paul understands his role as being one of conveying the good news to the Gentiles, trusting the illumination of that saving mystery to God, and working in Messiah to properly manage the growing body of faith as the Apostle to the nations. All this in God the Creator, Who had concealed the full mystery of the Gentile inclusion in His redemptive purpose from the beginning of the ages.
 
Establishing the mystery of the Gospel in God as Creator points to Paul’s previous allusion to the election of believers from before the foundation of the worlds (1:4).
 
What Paul says of the Gospel here is also said of the Torah in Jewish tradition. Our rabbis say that many ages before the creation of all things the Torah was written and rested in the bosom of God awaiting its gifting to Moses, Israel and by the light of Israel in God, to the nations (Talmud Bavliy Shabbat Chapter 9: Amar Rabbi Akiva 88b):
 
“And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on High to receive the Torah, the ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, what is one born of a woman doing here among us? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: He came to receive the Torah. The angels said before Him: The Torah is a hidden treasure that was concealed by You 974 generations before the creation of the world, and You seek to give it to flesh and blood? As it is stated: “The word which He commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8).”
 
- Talmud Bavliy Shabbat Chapter 9: Amar Rabbi Akiva 88b [Sefaria]
 
10 In order to make known now the origin and the authority in the heavens, through the body of believers (ecclesia[G]), the many colours of the wisdom of God, 
 
God, in the first century CE, made manifest within time and space His Person in the Son Yeshua the promised Messiah (Colossians 2:9), establishing the knowledge of Yeshua’s deity from the beginning (John 1) and His Kingship over all things including the body of believers through whom He now reveals Himself to the wider world in the many colours (the pure diverse unity) of His wisdom. This picture of God’s wisdom likens it to the pure white light that feeds the prism of colours, the rainbow of redemptive significance once given as a sign to Noah and to all the earth. This makes perfect sense given that the rainbow predates the Torah and its commandments, the dividing wall and its resulting animosity/hostility (2:14).
 
11 according to the purpose of the ages which He accomplished in Messiah Yeshua our Lord, 
 
God purposed and accomplished all this from before the beginning and throughout the ages of humanity in Messiah Yeshua, Who is God in the beginning and God with us, revealed at the appointed time in history unto the salvation of all who believe, past, present and future unto eternity.
 
12 in Whom we have unreserved freedom and access in confidence through the faith which is of Him. 
 
“We” means both Jews and Gentiles. Both Paul and the Ephesian ecclesia are part of the “we.” All believers have “unreserved freedom and access in confidence” to the Father “through the faith which is in” Yeshua.
 
We note that confidence in Messiah is not arrogance. We are confident because of His work and not arrogant based on our own efforts.
 
13 Therefore, I ask that you not lose heart because of my affliction for you, which is your glory.
 
Some may well have worried excessively about Paul’s incarceration. Some perhaps were becoming dejected over the apparent failure of God to rescue Paul. Therefore, he reminds them that he is a prisoner for their sake and that his affliction is for their good and a badge of honour in Messiah. Paul’s temporal suffering reflects the sacrificial love of God in Messiah.
 
14 For this reason therefore, I bow my knees to the Father, 
 
“This reason,” describes the reason of verse one, which, among other things is the revelation of the mystery of God’s including the Gentiles in His redemptive purposes.
 
Paul uses the phrase “I bow my knees” to denote a prayer posture. Jews pray in many different positions, standing, sitting, kneeling, prostrate etc. Here Paul is referencing the prayer posture of certain ancient Biblical Jews such as Melekh Shlomo (King Solomon) [1 Kings 8:54].
 
15 from Whom all family lineage (Patriarchy) in heaven and on earth is named, 
 
The name and role of a “father” in every family in all creation, stems from the Father in the heavens. God is family before creation, Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, all lineage, progeny, and the families of the heavens and the earth owe their very existence to Him, the angelic beings, the Jew perpetually first and also the Gentile (Romans 1:16).
 
Jewish tradition frequently alludes to the family of angels, the family above and the family below (e.g. Talmud Bavliy Berakhot 17).
 
16 in order to give to you, according to the riches of the judgement of His power, to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner person, 
 
From the beginning God the Father purposed to give to every believer, the Holy Spirit in the inner person. In Messiah, having been born of the womb we are now born from above (often mistranslated “born again”) of the Father and filled with the Spirit of the Father and the Son (John 3:1-21; 1 Peter 1:23; Matthew 10:20; Romans 8:9-11; Galatians 4:6).
 
17 so that the Messiah may dwell through the faith, in your hearts (core being); that you, might be rooted in a foundation of all-encompassing love (agape[G]), 
 
The Spirit of God imparted to the believer is the Spirit of the Son within us, Who dwells through faith (faith that He has given and we have received and returned to Him [Rev. 3:14]). As a result of our salvation by grace through faith we are now rooted in a foundation of all encompassing love. The love of God, which is a decision established through sacrifice and maintained in commitment. As long as God endures we are secure in the Messiah. That is, we are eternally secure.
 
18 In order that you may have the power to comprehend with all the holy (saints: set apart ones) what is the width and length and height and depth— 
 
God has established all this so that we might have the power (of Him) to comprehend His all-encompassing love, its width, its length, its height, its depth. The use of these measures is idiomatic and denotes the four corners of the universe and all that is contained in creation under God’s rule. In short, there is nowhere we can go to escape Gods love.
 
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, not angels nor principalities not powers, nor things present nor things to come, not height nor depth, not any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”
 
-Romans 8:38-39 [Author’s Translation]
 
19 to comprehend the all-encompassing love (agape[G]) of Messiah which transcends knowledge (intellect); in order that you may be fully filled with all the fullness of the God.
 
God gives us the ability to comprehend the love of Messiah beyond the bounds of human intellect, so that we might be set free from the delusion of our minds and be fully filled with the fullness of God the Father.
 
Stupidity relates to the intellect. It is not only the uneducated who are prone to stupidity but the educated also. Stupidity is the progeny of Pride, the brother of delusion. It resides in the soil of the evil inclination and numbs us to the reality of God. Messiah has come to put stupidity to death and give us transcendant comprehension through His atoning blood and life giving Spirit, to the glory of God the Father.
 
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or understand, according to the power that is active in and to us, 
 
God is able, without limitation, to act beyond our comprehension. We are secure in Messiah.
 
21 to Him glory in the body of believers (ecclesia[G]) in Messiah Yeshua, to all generations, in the unbroken age, the worlds without end. Amen[H] (Agreed, faith, trust, firmly established, concluded).
 
All glory is God’s in Messiah our King Redeemer and Intimate Friend! Now and into worlds without end. We agree with the agreement that is in Messiah, Who is the Amein (rev. 3:14)!
 
Copyright 2025 Yaakov (Brown) Ben Yehoshua