I am meditating upon the Biblical revelation about Satan and the demonic forces under his control. Today I invite you to consider what the Apostle Paul calls his thorn in the flesh. Here's what he writes:
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
These Bible verses continue to be much discussed. Here are some of the questions that arise:
- Who gave Paul his thorn in his flesh?
- What was the nature of this thorn?
- Why does he call it a messenger of Satan? Did Satan give it to him? And was it a live messenger or merely a message?
- He pleads for the Lord Jesus to take it away and receives an answer. But how did the answer come?
- What is grace promised? Is it the same as Christ's power?
In this chapter Paul refers to great revelations that occurred fourteen years earlier when he was caught up to the third heaven. He doesn't know whether it was a bodily catching up or something that he experienced in his spirit, without his body. That raises a whole host of questions about out of body experiences (OBE). There are even people who claim they can teach you certain techniques for triggering an OBE and, as you may have guessed, there are many books about near-death and out-of-body experiences. The whole thing is also called "astral projection." I hesitate to give you links to this information, lest you think that the Scripture and God's revelation speak of the same thing and approve of it, for it is but another of the many ways by which the demonic powers confuse and seduce people. For Paul this was an experience "in Christ," one reborn and renewed by Christ's saving grace (2 Cor. 5:17-21). It was not an experience he gained by his own magical or scientific technique.
Paul's experience was not something he sought. He writes about it in a passive tense. He hesitates even to name himself as the one who was caught up, although it is obvious he speaks about himself as the one who received these revelations. Where is this "third heaven" to which Paul journeyed? I have written some detailed Blogs about these questions. See
Heaven and Parallel Universes and
What And Where Is Heaven? Essentially Paul is saying that the third heaven is outside our atmosphere and beyond the heavens or universe out there among the stars. He was taken beyond the second and into a third heaven, into the very presence of God. There certain things were revealed to him that no mere mortal may discuss. Beyond that, we have no information about how it happened or where the third heaven is.
When did this happen? Paul says it took place "fourteen years ago". Some suggest that this occurred fourteen years prior to writing this letter when Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra (Acts 14:19-20). Near death, he traveled to the third heaven, but returned to his body and continued his mission work. Others suggest this was part of Paul's Damascus trance (Acts 22:17-21). We cannot speak about the incident Paul describes here with certainty, however, since there are no other references to it in the New Testament. It may indeed have been a unique experience and not refer to anything mentioned in the book of Acts.
All this is background to our questions about Paul's thorn and Satan's messenger.
The word for messenger in Greek is our word 'angel'. Some speculate that Satan sent a particular demon, a fallen angel, to attack the Apostle. We know that demonic influence upon unbelievers and believers alike can be great. They who give themselves to this influence can also eventually become completely possessed by one or many demons (Mark 5:7-15). In Paul's case, the demons operated through men and the attacks were relentless.
What was the nature of those attacks? He defines them in v. 10 when he writes "For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities." In the previous chapter we read of the Judaizers who sought to discredit his apostleship and thus undermine the work of the Gospel among the Gentiles (2 Cor. 11:13-15). They said, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account." Again and again Paul was mocked, reproached, persecuted, stoned, shipwrecked, etc. He details these experiences in the previous chapter (2 Corinthians 11:23-33).
In addition to the organized opposition he encountered Paul had some kind of physical weakness (Galatians 4:13-14). Was it poor eyesight (Galatians 6:11)? Did he have a high pitched voice? Did he lack in oratory skills (1 Corinthians 2:1-4)? Did he have malaria? We don't know. The point, however, is that Paul's demon attacked him both physically and spiritually until he was beaten down to the point of exhaustion.
The lesson for us today? Satan and his minions want to devour you like a ravenous lion devours its prey (1 Peter 5:8). He wants nothing less than to overwhelm your heart and soul with disappointment, despair and hopelessness. He wants to weigh you down until you can no longer arise. He wants to convince you that life is meaningless and that there is nothing for which to hope. He wants you to curse God and die (Job 2:9). Once that happens he has you for all eternity and can forever feed upon your wretched and helpless soul.
To accomplish this the demons attack us when we are physically and spiritually weak. They taunt and tempt us to abandon our faith in God and His undeserved mercy in Christ. In these times we do well to learn with Paul to rejoice in our weaknesses and throw ourselves completely upon Christ's mercy. Then we will learn of Christ's power at work in us and not our own. Then will we learn of the strength and power that does not reside in us, but comes from beyond us. Then will we learn to say with Paul, "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
