Paul's Thorn in the flesh
When we read about Paul's thorn in the flesh in 2 Cor. 12:7 it stirs up a curiosity as to what it really was. The same as I was prone to do. I found that studying the point that the majority of theologians feel that it was a disease or an actual demonic spirit. But when I read and studied it I really don't think it was that at all. Let me explain . . .
First of all lets roll time back a while. In Acts 9 we see Paul, a pharisee of the Jews was commissioned to go to Damascus to continue persecuting the Christians and binding them and killing some. He was riding to Damascus with a troup of men to gather and imprison them when a bright light shined from heaven and blinded Paul. When he fell from his horse he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me". Not knowing who spoke but knowing that it was supernatural he answered, "Who art thou, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks". Now, Paul knows the voice and says, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Since no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit 1 Cor 12:3, we can know that Paul was saved at that moment.
First of all lets roll time back a while. In Acts 9 we see Paul, a pharisee of the Jews was commissioned to go to Damascus to continue persecuting the Christians and binding them and killing some. He was riding to Damascus with a troup of men to gather and imprison them when a bright light shined from heaven and blinded Paul. When he fell from his horse he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me". Not knowing who spoke but knowing that it was supernatural he answered, "Who art thou, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks". Now, Paul knows the voice and says, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Since no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit 1 Cor 12:3, we can know that Paul was saved at that moment.
Exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations: Going to the text in 2Cor. 12:7 in the King James Version, it states, "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."
Unlike any of us, Paul was taken to the third Heaven (where the Godhead resides). According to Gal. 1:11-12 man did not teach Paul since Jesus did so Himself. This is why he had to have a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble.
Thorn in the flesh: The Bible states it is from Satan and it was for the purpose of keeping Paul humble. Now if we study about the "abundance of revelations" we find that Paul was taught by Jesus Himself Gal. 1:11-18, Eph. 4:21. Some say that Satan gave him a thorn to harass him and make his preaching less meaningful. They could surmise this from Num. 33:55, Jos. 32:13, Jdg 2:3. The Bible doesn't teach this. As I just said, Paul had just met the creator of the universe, and had been taken to Heaven itself. Paul would be so fired up he wouldn't care what others said. This has been proven out by all the hardships he suffered. Did he stop then? No!
The vast majority of teachers state that they think it was an illness. In my study of the Bible thorn or thorns are never referred to as an illness. Now, they do refer to hindrances for God's people but never illness. The ones that believe this, reference Paul's infirmity in the flesh. An infirmity in the flesh doesn't necessarily mean sickness. It could be a disability such as some parts of the body not functioning as they are supposed to Joh. 5:5-9. I believe that due to the abundance of revelations he suffered from solar retinopathy. The possibility of visual damage after direct observation of the sun has been known since ancient times and the clinical features of solar retinopathy have been well described (Duke Elder, 1954). Permanent retinal damage occurs after staring for just a few minutes! We also see this in arc welding and lasers. We read in Act 9:3 that a light from heaven shone about him. How bright must a light be in order to see in broad daylight? The light was brighter than the sun at noon (Acts 22:6 NKJV}. So, what can the logical conclusion be?
The thorn was his eyesight:
When would an infirmity be seen? It was seen by Paul twenty four hours a day seven days a week. We know that Paul transcribed all of his epistles through someone else . . . that is, all but one, Galatians. We see in Galatians 4:13-15 that he said that they didn't reject him for his infirmity and would have given him their own eyes if it were possible. Why would Paul bring this up at the time he is talking about his infirmity?
Also in Gal. 6:11 he said, "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand". Some will protest that he meant that the letter he was writing was so long (had so many words). When we study we find that Galations was fifth down the list from the largest. Now, you have a man that looked into a very bright light and became blind, then when he could see, everything he saw was blurry, so, he had to find someone to transcribe his letters to. When people saw this they said they would pluck out their own eyes and give them to him (Gal 4:15 NKJV). Then he brags a little about how he wrote one letter with large letters!
Why make things in the Bible so difficult? Keep everything in context and let the Bible interpret itself!
Unlike any of us, Paul was taken to the third Heaven (where the Godhead resides). According to Gal. 1:11-12 man did not teach Paul since Jesus did so Himself. This is why he had to have a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him humble.
Thorn in the flesh: The Bible states it is from Satan and it was for the purpose of keeping Paul humble. Now if we study about the "abundance of revelations" we find that Paul was taught by Jesus Himself Gal. 1:11-18, Eph. 4:21. Some say that Satan gave him a thorn to harass him and make his preaching less meaningful. They could surmise this from Num. 33:55, Jos. 32:13, Jdg 2:3. The Bible doesn't teach this. As I just said, Paul had just met the creator of the universe, and had been taken to Heaven itself. Paul would be so fired up he wouldn't care what others said. This has been proven out by all the hardships he suffered. Did he stop then? No!
The vast majority of teachers state that they think it was an illness. In my study of the Bible thorn or thorns are never referred to as an illness. Now, they do refer to hindrances for God's people but never illness. The ones that believe this, reference Paul's infirmity in the flesh. An infirmity in the flesh doesn't necessarily mean sickness. It could be a disability such as some parts of the body not functioning as they are supposed to Joh. 5:5-9. I believe that due to the abundance of revelations he suffered from solar retinopathy. The possibility of visual damage after direct observation of the sun has been known since ancient times and the clinical features of solar retinopathy have been well described (Duke Elder, 1954). Permanent retinal damage occurs after staring for just a few minutes! We also see this in arc welding and lasers. We read in Act 9:3 that a light from heaven shone about him. How bright must a light be in order to see in broad daylight? The light was brighter than the sun at noon (Acts 22:6 NKJV}. So, what can the logical conclusion be?
The thorn was his eyesight:
When would an infirmity be seen? It was seen by Paul twenty four hours a day seven days a week. We know that Paul transcribed all of his epistles through someone else . . . that is, all but one, Galatians. We see in Galatians 4:13-15 that he said that they didn't reject him for his infirmity and would have given him their own eyes if it were possible. Why would Paul bring this up at the time he is talking about his infirmity?
Also in Gal. 6:11 he said, "Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand". Some will protest that he meant that the letter he was writing was so long (had so many words). When we study we find that Galations was fifth down the list from the largest. Now, you have a man that looked into a very bright light and became blind, then when he could see, everything he saw was blurry, so, he had to find someone to transcribe his letters to. When people saw this they said they would pluck out their own eyes and give them to him (Gal 4:15 NKJV). Then he brags a little about how he wrote one letter with large letters!
Why make things in the Bible so difficult? Keep everything in context and let the Bible interpret itself!