12:7 What was Paul's thorn in the flesh?
12:7 What was Paul's thorn in the flesh?
Many Christians believe that Paul's thorn in the flesh was some form of sickness of which God would not heal him, but the bible does not teach that. The bible teaches that Paul's thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan - a demon - sent to cause extreme hardships to befall Paul so that he would not be lifted up with pride because of what he had seen and heard in heaven when he was taken there for a time of learning with Jesus, about fourteen years earlier (CP V1-10).
The third heaven referred to here is the very presence of God - the highest of the heavens. Buffet in V 7 means to maltreat, treat with violence. It conveys the notion of punishment for the correction and betterment of Paul; to keep him in touch with his limitations (CP 1Cor 4:11 with 1Pe 2:20). The outworking of the demon's buffeting of Paul is recorded for us in 2Cor 11:23-33 and Ga 4:13-14.
Five times Paul received thirty-nine lashes; once he was stoned and left for dead, but God raised him up again. Three times he was beaten with rods; three times he was shipwrecked, and one time he was in the water for a night and a day; he was attacked by robbers; he was attacked by unbelievers; he was attacked by his own countrymen; he was imprisoned many times.
Paul suffered many things for the gospel's sake. He was often cold and weary, and hungry and in pain, but he was never sick (CP 2Cor 11:23-33 with Ga 4:13-14).
Paul's "infirmity of the flesh" in Ga 4:13 refers to his physical appearance after his near-death stoning which happened at Lystra soon after he and Barnabas took the gospel to Galatia on his first apostolic mission (CP Ac 13:1-3; 14:1-20).
Paul's appearance was so repulsive after being stoned that he wondered how the Galatians would receive him, but they welcomed him like they would Jesus Himself. Everywhere the word infirmity is used in the scriptures we have been studying here it means feebleness, want of strength, or physical weakness. It never means sickness, yet many modern translations and paraphrased versions of the bible refer to it as sickness in Ga 4:13-14.
The same translators and interpreters however refer to it as weakness in 2Cor 11:30 and 12:5, 9-10. This is a contradiction in terms (CP 2Cor 11:30; 12:5, 9-10 with Ga 4:13-14).
Paul never prayed to be healed of sickness, but that the demon would be removed from him. God would not remove the demon though because he had instigated its presence in the first place (CP 2Cor 12:7-8). Paul was not sick, and nowhere in the bible does it teach that he was ever sick. Paul knew the power of God in him - no sickness could touch him. We only have to read Ac 28:1-10 to learn that (CP Ac 28:1-10).
Paul's thorn did not hinder the faith of Publius and the others that got healed here, and we should not let it hinder ours either. Furthermore, how could Paul labour more abundantly than the false apostles he had to contend with in Corinth if he was always sick, as we have been led to believe (CP 2Cor 11:22-23).
To say Paul's thorn in the flesh was sickness that God refused to heal destroys the very foundation upon which faith for healing must rest. This means that faith does not come by the word of God alone, as scriptures teach, but that it comes by praying until a special revelation comes that it is God's will to heal us. That is false teaching (CP Ro 10:17 with 1Jn 5:14-15).
God does not promise Christians protection from buffeting by Satan through ungodly men, such as Paul suffered. He actually does promise that we will have persecutions and fiery trials etc. (CP Mt 10:38; Mk 10:29-30; Ac 14:22; Ro 8:17; Php 1:29; 2Ti 2:11-12; 3:12; 1Pe 4:1, 12-19).
But God also promises us protection from sickness and disease, and that is what we should expect (CP Psa 91 with Isa 53:5; Ga 3:13; 1Pe 2:24). See also comments on 1Cor 4:9-13 and author's study Paul the Apostle - a Chosen Vessel unto God in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 2).