2 Corinthians 12
1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! 14 Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? 19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced. (2 Corinthians 12, ESV Bible)
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. (2 Corinthians 12:2-4, ESV Bible)
The Apocalypse of Sha’ul
In Galatians 2, Paul describes the meeting he had with the Pillars. Saul, Barnabas, and Titus came out of the meeting much relieved. Saul had received more than he anticipated. Not only did the apostles endorse his gospel to the Gentiles, they also accepted him into their exclusive circle by endorsing his apostolic status. Unlike the other sent ones, Saul was not an eyewitness to the risen Messiah except through visions and revelations. Nevertheless, he considered his credentials legitimate and his encounters with the risen Messiah no less potent than those of the other apostles:
Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Yeshua our Master? (I Corinthians 9:1)
Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles. (I Corinthians 15:8-9)
Saul experienced one of those mystical encounters with the risen Messiah on his previous trip to Jerusalem nine years earlier. While he was praying in the Temple, Yeshua appeared to him and commissioned him to go to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21). He had not been back inside the Temple since that day. Obviously, he was eager to return to the holy house where he had last seen the Master.
When their days of purification were over, Saul and Barnabas went up to the Temple. The Festival of Shavuot might have already been underway. Leaving Titus to worship and pray with the assembly that congregated in Solomon's Colonnade, Saul and Barnabas passed the dividing wall that marked off the court of the Gentiles and pressed into the inner courts. Nearly a decade had passed since Saul had felt the holy stones of the Temple courts beneath his feet.
In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Saul described a man (obviously himself) caught up to the third heaven at the level of Paradise (Gan Eden) "where he heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak." The experience was so real that he could not tell if he had physically ascended (like Enoch) or if only his spirit and consciousness had ascended. Several scholars date this vision to the year 44 CE, the year Saul and Barnabas brought famine relief to Jerusalem.
The type of vision Saul described sounds like a typical first-century apocalypse, in which case we may surmise some generalizations about the vision. The word apocalypse (ἀποκάλυψις) means "unveiling." An apocalypse involves an invitation to ascend to heaven in the manner of Enoch or Elijah. Once in the heavens, the person experiencing the apocalypse receives something like a guided tour by an angel or heavenly being. He is shown different rooms and levels of the supernal realm. He sees angelic beings and, sometimes, the throne of God. He sees the repose of the righteous in Paradise, and sometimes, he also sees the punishment of the wicked in Gehenna. He sees the powerful forces of good and evil locked in a cosmic struggle that manifests itself on earth. The forces of evil might appear in symbolic forms as monsters or beasts representing the spiritual power of imperial forces and human kingdoms on earth. He might hear prophecies, predictions, and revelations about the future, the present, or the past. He may be instructed to publish some of the things he sees and hears. He may be told to conceal other things. Ultimately, he is encouraged to see that soon, God will intervene directly and bring an end to the dominion of evil. Terrible days of judgment will come upon the earth, the wicked will face his wrath, and the righteous will receive reward. The dead will be raised for a final judgment. In the end, God's righteous judgment will vindicate those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Saul says that he was caught up to the third heaven. Jewish eschatology often speaks of seven heavens, but Saul probably had a different schema in mind where the first heaven is the firmament, the second heaven contains sun, moon, and stars, and the third heaven is the unseen abiding place of God outside the bounds of the created order. He describes the place at which he arrived as Paradise (Gan Eden), that is, the abode of the souls of the righteous dead where they await the resurrection. In that place, he heard utterances, which he was forbidden from repeating.
Some of the deep mysticism and high Christology of the Pauline epistles probably developed out of Saul's own mystical journeys and personal apocalypses.
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (2 Corinthians 12:7, ESV Bible)
Thorn in the Flesh
Lest "the surpassing greatness of the revelations" that Saul experienced cause him to become haughty and prideful, the LORD gave him "a thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment" him. Christian readers and Bible scholars have often speculated about the nature of that thorn: theological opposition, persecution, psychological distress, sexual temptation, theological temptation, migraines, epilepsy, macular degeneration, malarial fever, a speech impediment, etc., etc. Many of these theories can be dismissed. From a Jewish reading, it seems that the thorn was some type of physical ailment, illness, or disability. Chronic or recurring sickness of some kind seems probable based on his statement in his Epistle to the Galatians:
You know that it was because of [an infirmity of the flesh] that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as the Messiah Yeshua Himself. (Galatians 4:13-14)
Saul contracted this thorn in the flesh subsequent to his apocalypse in the third heaven. Whatever the ailment was, it caused Saul suffering, and it was ongoing. He considered it evil and demonic in origin, even though he conceded that it ultimately came from the hand of the LORD. It hampered his work and battered his strength. He prayed three times that God might remove it from him, but the LORD replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
References
This lesson is adapted from Daniel Lancaster's teachings in The Sent Ones, as presented by First Fruits of Zion for the Torah Club.