When Did Satan Learn the Mystery? Tracing His Discovery Through Paul's Epistles | RD with DR

When and how did Satan discover the mystery of the Body of Christ? This Bible Q&A traces Paul's epistles in chronological order to identify the earliest and latest points Satan could have learned it.

Key points:

Ephesians 3:9-10 indicates the principalities and powers learn of the mystery by observing the church. Colossians 2:13-15 frames this as a public humiliation Satan hid from his subordinates. Acts 19:13-15 and 26:12-18 show Satan took special notice of Paul after Damascus, though Acts 9:7 and 22:9 confirm that revelation was for Paul alone. 1 Thessalonians 2:18 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 show Satan actively opposing Paul once he grasped the stakes. Working backward from 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 through 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Romans 16:25, and Galatians 3:27-28, the evidence points to Paul already preaching the mystery in Acts 16, likely receiving it at Sinai in Acts 9 (Galatians 1:15-17, Colossians 1:25-27). Acts 13-14, Paul's first missionary journey, shows the mystery of Romans 11:25 already unfolding.

Conclusion: Satan learned the mystery by observing Paul's ministry, at the latest by the first missionary journey, but hid it from the other fallen angels since it was his own humiliation.