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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 12:1-10
Second Corinthians 12:1-10 is an excellent portion of the Word. These verses show that Paul was deep and also profoundly wise. The Judaizers boasted of how much they knew, claiming to be more knowledgeable than the Apostle Paul. Instead of arguing with them, Paul first boasted of his weaknesses. Now in 12:1-10 he comes to visions and revelations. Paul’s wise strategy is to defeat the arrogant Judaizers by showing that actually they do not have any vision or revelation. What the Judaizers know is vanity.
I believe that Paul’s purpose in writing these ten verses is to show to the believers at Corinth that he was much more knowledgeable than the Judaizers. He had the knowledge not only of human life on earth, but also of the things in Paradise and even in the third heaven. Paul not only knew these things; he also had a vision of them. Paul referred to this so that the follies of the Judaizers would be exposed.
If the Corinthians compared what Paul knew and what he had seen with the knowledge possessed by the Judaizers, they would say, “The Judaizers are superficial. They have only a little knowledge of the Old Testament concerning the Mosaic law and the traditional rituals. But here is a man with a full knowledge of the new covenant. He has a knowledge of human life and of things in Paradise and in the third heaven.”
I would say that in 12:1-10 we have Paul’s chief boast. Apart from the Lord Jesus, has there ever been a person besides Paul who has seen the things in the third heaven and in Paradise? As God, the Lord Jesus was in the heavens. Then He became a man on earth, died on the cross, and went to Hades. Thus, He traveled through the heavens, the earth, and the region under the earth. Paul, a man born on earth, went to the third heaven and saw what was there. He also went to Paradise and beheld the things there under the earth. To be sure, no one in human history can compare with the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul. What could the Judaizers possibly say about this?
In 12:1 Paul says, “To boast is necessary, though indeed not expedient; yet I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” The apostle was forced to boast because of the Corinthians’ follies. Though it was not expedient to himself, it was necessary for their profit. He must boast so that they might be brought back, for their building up, to a sober and proper understanding concerning their relationship with the apostle. The word “come” in this verse means that Paul would now come to boast of the visions and revelations he has received of the Lord.
In verse 1 Paul speaks of both vision and revelation. Revelation is the putting aside of the veil, the unveiling of hidden things. Vision is the sight, the view, seen at the unveiling. So many things concerning God’s economy and administration in the universe were hidden. The Lord has revealed, unveiled, these things to the apostle, and he has received visions of these hidden things.
According to verses 2 through 5, Paul regards himself as two persons. In verse 2 he says, “I know a man in Christ.” Referring to this man in Christ, he says in verse 5, “On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on behalf of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.” The man in Christ in verse 2 is the apostle (v. 7), not as the old creation but as the new creation (5:17). In this section the apostle desires to boast of the new creation in Christ by boasting of his weaknesses in the flesh, the old creation (vv. 5, 9).
The man in Christ mentioned in verse 2 was not Saul; it was Paul. Saul was the natural man, and Paul is the new man in Christ. It would be good if we all had two names: a name to denote the person before we were saved, what we were in Adam, and a name of the person who is now in Christ. Formerly we were a Saul; now we are a Paul.
Some time ago I heard that one writer said that there were two William Laws. The first William Law was a man of doctrine, knowledge, theology, letter, and tradition. The second William Law was a person of the Spirit and in the Spirit. The first William Law did not know anything concerning the Spirit, although he had much knowledge of theology and tradition. But one day he had a new beginning, and he became a person of the Spirit. This was the one who improved upon the teachings of certain mystical writers and made those teachings practical. We may say that eventually William Law became a man in Christ. Later Andrew Murray was helped by the writings of William Law.
When Paul speaks of a man in Christ, he is referring to his second man, to his second person. He would boast of this man, but he would not boast of the old self. In verse 5 the word “myself” refers to Paul’s old self, not to his new self. It refers to Saul, not to Paul. Paul’s new self was altogether in Christ. This man in Christ was a new creation.
If we would pay attention to ourselves as believers, we shall see that we also are two persons. On the one hand, we are a person with an old self; on the other hand we are a person with a new self. This person is in Christ and is a new creation. We should no longer care for the first person. Instead, we should follow the second.
What happened to Paul, a man in Christ, as recorded in these verses, is mysterious. Not even Paul was able to tell whether he was in the body or outside the body. In verse 3 he says, “Whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know — God knows.” It is certain that Paul did not go into a trance. We should not think that what is described here is the experience of someone in a trance. What happened to Paul was beyond his ability to express, for not even he himself was altogether clear about it.
According to verses 2 and 4, two things happened to Paul. First, he was caught away to the third heaven; second, he was caught away into Paradise. In verse 2 Paul says, “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body I do not know, or outside the body I do not know — God knows), such a one was caught away to the third heaven.” The Greek word rendered “caught away” here is the same word as in Acts 8:39 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Literally the Greek word translated “to” means till within, that is, as far as. The visible clouds may be considered the first heaven, and the sky, the second heaven. The third heaven must refer to the heaven of the heavens, the highest heaven (Deut. 10:14; Psa. 148:4), where the Lord Jesus and God are today (Eph. 4:10; Heb. 4:14; 1:3).
Notice that verse 2 does not speak of Paul being caught up; it says that he was caught away to the third heaven. There is an important difference between being caught up and being caught away. In Acts 8:39 Philip was caught away by the Spirit. He knew that he was in the body when he was thus caught away. However, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or outside the body when he was caught away to the third heaven.
The third heaven is a Hebrew expression denoting the highest heaven. As we have pointed out, the clouds may be regarded as the first heaven and the sky beyond the clouds as the second. The third heaven, therefore, must be the heaven above the sky, in biblical terms, the heaven above the heavens. Today the Father and the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, are in this highest heaven. Paul was caught away to this highest heaven.
In verses 3 and 4 Paul continues, “And I know such a man (whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know — God knows), that he was caught away into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not allowed a man to speak.” The conjunction “and” is an important word here. It indicates that what is mentioned in verses 3 and 4 is another matter in addition to what is mentioned in the preceding verse. Verse 2 tells us that the apostle was caught away to the third heaven. Now verses 3 and 4 tell us something further, that the apostle was also caught away to another place, into Paradise. This indicates strongly that Paradise is not synonymous with the third heaven in verse 2. It refers to a place other than the third heaven.
Many interpreters or expositors of the Bible regard the third heaven and Paradise as the same place. According to their understanding, when Paul was caught away to the third heaven, he was also caught away to Paradise. However, Paradise is not synonymous with the third heaven. The conjunction at the beginning of verse 3 indicates that here Paul is describing two different experiences. First, he was caught away to the third heaven. Then he was caught away to Paradise.
Paradise is the pleasant section in Hades, where the spirits of Abraham and all the just are, awaiting the resurrection (Luke 16:22-23, 25-26), and where the Lord Jesus went after His death and stayed until His resurrection (Luke 23:43; Acts 2:24, 27, 31; Eph. 4:9; Matt. 12:40). This Paradise differs from the Paradise in Revelation 2:7, which will be the New Jerusalem in the millennium. In this section the apostle tells of the transcendence of the revelations he has received. In the universe there are mainly three sections: the heavens, the earth, and Hades under the earth (Eph. 4:9). As a man living on earth, the apostle knows the things of the earth. But men do not know the things either in the heavens or in Hades. However, the apostle was brought away to both of these unknown places. Hence, he received visions and revelations of these hidden regions. For this reason he mentions these two uttermost parts of the universe. When the Lord Jesus died, He did not go immediately to the third heaven. Rather, He went to a place called Paradise. One of the thieves said to Him, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The Lord Jesus answered, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (v. 43). Furthermore, according to Acts chapter two, the Lord Jesus went to Hades after He died (v. 31). If we put together these two portions of the Word, we see that Paradise must be in Hades.
In Luke 16 we have a picture of the two sections of Hades, the section of comfort and the section of torment. When Lazarus died, he went to the section of comfort, where Abraham was. When the rich man died, he went to the section of torment. Paradise, therefore, is the comfortable, restful section of Hades.
Paul, the new man in Christ, was on the one hand caught away to the third heaven. On the other hand, he was caught away to Paradise, the comfortable section of Hades. Because Paul came to know the things in heaven and the things under the earth as well as the things on earth, he had a complete view of the universe. Anyone who would have a full view of the universe must know these three sections: the third heaven, the earth, and the region under the earth.
Paul was an educated person concerning the things on the earth. One day the Lord took him away to the third heaven and let him see what was there. He also took him away to Paradise to show him what was there. Regarding Paradise, Paul said that he heard things “which it is not allowed a man to speak” (2 Cor. 12:4). Thus, he was not at liberty to tell the Corinthians about them. Paul, a new man in Christ, certainly had a complete knowledge and a full view of the entire universe.
Compared to Paul, the Judaizers were like frogs in a well. They could not see beyond the circle of the well of the Old Testament and of Judaism with its rituals. But Paul could boast of visions and revelations of the Lord. He could say, “Corinthians, the Lord has given me a wonderful view of the whole universe. He brought me away to the third heaven, and he brought me to Paradise. In Paradise I heard utterances which I am not allowed to speak of.” No wonder Paul refers to the transcendence of the revelations given to him (v. 7). Only two people, Jesus and Paul, have received such a full view of the universe.
In verses 6 and 7 Paul goes on to say, “For if I should desire to boast, I shall not be foolish, for I will speak the truth; but I refrain, lest anyone should account of me above what he sees of me or hears from me. Wherefore also, that I should not be exceedingly lifted up by the transcendence of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, that he might buffet me, that I should not be exceedingly lifted up.” The Greek word rendered “transcendence” also means superabundance, exceeding greatness, excess. The word for thorn is often used in classical Greek in the sense of a stake or of a sharp-pointed staff. Here it may refer to a kind of physical suffering, like the trouble Paul had with his eyes. The Greek word for “buffet” means to beat with a clenched fist. This is different from the word rendered buffet in 1 Corinthians 9:27, a word that means to beat under the eye.
Verse 7 indicates that revelation is always followed by suffering. For a human being to see a view like that beheld by Paul is very dangerous. Even for Paul there was a risk in seeing such a view. The danger is that after receiving this kind of transcendent revelation, Paul would be lifted up and become proud. In His sovereignty, the Lord, in order to enlarge Paul and to broaden his view to a universal extent, brought him to the third heaven and also to Paradise. But the Lord also knew that there was the danger that Paul would be spoiled or damaged by this. Therefore, He sent Paul a thorn, a messenger of Satan, to buffet him and cause him pain. The purpose of this thorn was to bring Paul down and keep him low.
Here we see that it is not a simple matter to be in the Lord’s hand. Sometimes the hand of the Lord will lift us up. But after the Lord has lifted us up, He will bring us down. Because the Judaizers were not in the Lord’s hand, with them there was neither lifting up nor putting down. Rather, they were like a plain. But Paul’s experience was full of mountains and valleys. This means that the Lord lifted him up and then brought him down.
Verses 8 and 9 say, “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me.” Sufferings and trials are often the Lord’s ordination for us, that we may experience Christ as grace and power. For this reason, the Lord would not remove the thorn from the apostle as he entreated.
Paul might have prayed like this: “O Lord, take away the thorn. Get rid of this messenger of Satan. I am suffering, and I cannot bear this thorn any longer.” The Lord answered Paul’s prayer, but not according to Paul’s way. Likewise, the Lord will answer our prayer, but He may not answer it according to our way. The Lord seemed to say to Paul, “No, I shall not remove the thorn. This thorn is being used by Me to keep you down. I realize that you are suffering, and I shall give you the grace you need. Paul, My grace is sufficient for you. Don’t ask Me to take away the thorn. If I were to take it away, I would have to take away the visions and the revelations, and I would have no way to do that except by taking you away. Paul, if you do not have this thorn, you may be too proud and lifted up too high. I cannot allow that to happen. The best way to keep you down is to leave this thorn with you. But I shall grace you and support you so that you may be able to bear this suffering. Also, in your experience, My grace will become power made perfect in weakness. The thorn exposes your weakness. Without it, you would not realize how weak you are. Now you need Me to be your grace. In your experience, your enjoyment, My grace will become power tabernacling over you.”
The grace experienced by Paul was actually the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I believe that in his experience Paul realized that the Lord’s grace became power spread over him like a tent. Hence, this grace-power became a dwelling place for Paul in his sufferings. As he was suffering, Paul could dwell in the tabernacle spread over him. This tabernacle, this tent, sustained him, supported him, maintained him, and kept him.
To magnify the sufficiency of the Lord’s grace, our sufferings are required. To show forth the perfectness of the Lord’s power, our weakness is needed. Hence, the apostle would most gladly boast in his weaknesses, that the power of Christ might tabernacle over him. Grace is the supply, and the power is the strength, the ability, of grace. Both are the resurrected Christ, who is now the life-giving Spirit dwelling in us (1 Cor. 15:45; Gal. 2:20) for our enjoyment.
The Greek word translated “tabernacle” in verse 9 is episkenoo, a compound verb composed of epi and skenoo. Skenoo, meaning to dwell in a tent, is used in John 1:14 and Revelation 21:3. Episkenoo here means to fix a tent or a habitation upon. It portrays how the power of Christ, even Christ Himself, dwells upon us as a tent spread over us, overshadowing us in our weakness.
In verse 10 Paul concludes, “Wherefore I am well pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, and distresses, on behalf of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am powerful.” The Greek word rendered “well pleased” also means well content, as in Matthew 3:17. Insults are mistreatments, and necessities are constraints, urgent needs that press much. Literally, the Greek word for “distresses” means narrowness of room; hence straits, difficulties, distresses. At the end of this verse Paul speaks of being weak and also of being powerful. He was weak in his old being, but he was powerful in the overshadowing Christ.
What we have in these verses is the Lord’s “cooking” of Paul. The Lord “cooked” Paul and made him a delicious “dish” for us all to enjoy. For more than fifty years, I have been enjoying the Apostle Paul. But I must testify that I have never enjoyed Paul as much as I have recently. He certainly is a delicious feast cooked by the Lord Jesus.
Sometimes in preparing Chinese food, the food is first put into the fire and then in cold water. It seems that this process of cooking results in the best taste. This illustrates how the Lord dealt with Paul, how the Lord cooked him. First the Lord uplifted Paul to the third heaven, then He carried him away to Hades, and following that He allowed a thorn to come to him. If I had been Paul, I probably would have wondered what was happening to me. I surely would have told the Lord that I was not able to bear the thorn. But as we have pointed out, the Lord’s sufficient grace was supplied to Paul, and this grace became power tabernacling over him.
As Paul considered the high visions and marvelous revelations, the thorn worked on him to keep him from being proud and lifted up. But as the thorn worked to keep Paul low, grace supplied and sustained him, and power overshadowed him. This was the Lord’s wonderful way of cooking Paul to cause him to experience the all-extensive Christ. As a result, Paul was rich in the experience of Christ.
The Judaizers certainly could not compare with Paul. How foolish the Corinthians had been to be distracted by them! The Judaizers had no revelation or vision. Likewise, they did not have the thorn, the grace, or the power tabernacling over them. They were utterly devoid of the experience of Christ. Paul, on the contrary, had seen visions and received revelations. Furthermore, he had been dealt with by the Lord through the thorn in order to experience Him as grace and as power in a very practical way. Therefore, Paul was a man full of vision, suffering, experience, and enjoyment of the Lord. The Lord became grace to him and also the power spreading over him like a tent.
What the Apostle Paul experienced is very much lacking among today’s Christians. Many believers are natural and traditional. Like the Judaizers, they have an old, traditional religion, a Bible in dead letters, and many rituals and regulations. In principle, they are the same as the Judaizers, even in the matter of preaching a Jesus who is not altogether genuine. With them there is no vision, no revelation, no thorn, and no grace. They interpret the Bible in a natural way, and they follow traditions and regulations. With them there is no power tabernacling over them. What a contrast between the experience of Paul and today’s Judaizers!
Do not be disappointed if a thorn comes to you after you receive a revelation from the Lord. Visions and revelations are always followed by sufferings. It is not necessary for you to pray much concerning the thorn. The thorn will not be removed. Instead, the Lord will allow it to remain for the purpose of bringing in grace for your enjoyment. This grace will then become your daily strength and even your dwelling place, a tabernacle overshadowing you. This will enrich your spiritual experience. When we enjoy the Lord’s grace and dwell under the overshadowing of His power, we shall always have something to say regarding Christ and the church.
