Commentaries:
Paul twice says, ". . . lest I should be exalted above measure." God gave him this "thorn in the flesh" so that the apostle would not get too big for his britches, as it were, because God had given him some revelations. That sort of communication from God could swell a person's head. Thus, the apostle says God allowed Satan to afflict him so that Paul would not venture beyond what he had been given.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Countering Presumptuousness
Paul turned what could have sent him into deep bitterness and passivity (an affliction God decided not to heal when Paul felt he needed it) into a strength (humility and a deeper reliance on God). As painful, frustrating or hindering as it was, his circumstance never deterred him from being an apostle who by the grace of God labored more abundantly than all others (I Corinthians 15:10).
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Two
These verses show us two examples regarding prayer: First, it illustrates how God can respond to our prayers, and second, how Paul reacted to God's answer. We, like Paul, want God to remove our afflictions any time we are in discomfort, but especially when the affliction is chronic and, we feel, inhibits accomplishment. God's response to Paul, however, fit a far greater need, perhaps to keep Paul humble so that his many gifts did not become a curse. Instead, God gave him strength to bear up under the affliction, thus keeping him in a constant state of dependency for strength to go on. Paul humbly accepted this and continued his ministry despite his affliction, knowing it was fulfilling God's will.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Nine
When II Corinthians 12:1-7 is thoroughly examined, it is obvious that the person who was taken up in a vision to the "third heaven" was the apostle Paul himself!
In the eleventh chapter of II Corinthians, Paul explains his physical sufferings and persecutions. In chapter 12, however, he begins to relate some of his spiritual experiences. Notice that in the first seven verses, the pronoun "I" is mentioned fourteen times! In the very first verse, Paul says, ". . . I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord." This is clear from II Corinthians 12:7, where Paul said, "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh."
Paul begins to tell about his vision in verse 2 by saying, "I know ["know" is the correct translation, not "knew," which can be verified by checking the original Greek] a man in Christ about fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven."
Paul is speaking about himself! He was "caught up to the third heaven"—in vision. This "third heaven" is where God's throne is. The vision was so vivid and realistic that he was unable—at the time—to tell whether he was taken bodily to heaven, or whether he was merely seeing it in his mind's eye. But God's Word provides the answer! "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13).
But why speak of seeing the third heaven by using the roundabout "I know a man"? Paul gives the answer in II Corinthians 12:6, "For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." Paul simply did not want others to think of him as some great, exalted personage! By speaking indirectly ("I know a man") he emphasized this point.
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986)
What Is the Reward of the Saved?
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Colossians 3:12
Titus 3:1-2
1 Peter 5:5
Library resources that contain this verse:
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