Author: Charlie Garrett

Saturday, 26 December 2015

And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
2 Corinthians 12:3

Paul now seems to repeat himself for the purpose of emphasis, and many scholars generally take it that way. So far the words of verses 2 and 3 can be compared by noting them side by side –

*I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

*And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—

In verse 3, he has added in the word kai, or “and.” This then seems to indicate not emphasis of the same thought, but the introduction of a new thought. Verse 4 will bring that revelation to light, but regardless of what verse 4 says, Paul continues on with the same line of reasoning which is found in verse 2. He is referring to himself in the third person, and he is completely unaware of whether what he will describe actually occurred in the body or out of the body. To him, it remained an enduring mystery which only God knows.

The word “whether” is used in both verses. If there is a distinction being made between the two events, then he was unsure of his state in both circumstances as they occurred.

Life application: Paul, as an apostle of Christ, has the right to make the claim that he is making concerning his visions. His words are a part of the biblical record and God used Paul for that very purpose. He will note that the things he saw and heard while in this state were “unlawful for a man to utter.” It would logically follow then that what he saw was not to be described by him (which he refrains from doing) and therefore the same would apply to anyone else who claims to have made such a heavenly visitation. It is better to not trust the visions of others than it is to find out that their words were not true. In the end, we have the Bible and so any such extra revelations, even if true, would not add to what we need for our faith and practice. So why buy the book?

Lord God, it is very hard to know the truth of the words of others at times. They make convincing stories about heavenly visits, marvelous visions, prophetic utterances, and other such things. Over the years, they are normally proven false. But one thing I know… You have already given us Your word. So why would I need extra revelations anyway? If the Bible is all-sufficient for my faith and practice, then I’ll be content to let the other stuff fall by the wayside! I’m all in for Your superior word which tells me all I need to know for my trip back to You. Thank You for this precious book of love and doctrine. Amen.

Friday, 25 December 2015

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 2 Corinthians 12:2

Verse 1 said, “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast.” This verse now moves into the third person to avoid any such hint of boasting. He says, “I know a man in Christ.” This is referring to himself. There are a couple of ways of knowing this is so.

First, anyone else’s visions wouldn’t have had any bearing on his comments here. They would be superfluous to the intent of his letter. Secondly, in verse 7 he moves to the first person, still talking about the same thing. Paul is accomplishing his feat of not boasting while still conveying a thought which the Corinthians could boast in concerning his status as an apostle.

This man, meaning himself, is “in Christ.” He was, at the time of the occurrence, already a Christian. This is something he speaks of concerning the redeemed several times. One example is –

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” Galatians 6:15

The dating of this epistle can be fixed at 57/58 A.D. Next he says it was “fourteen years ago.” This would make the event he is writing about around 43/44 A.D. Therefore, this is after his conversion, but it is something not specifically mentioned in Acts. Speculation as to when and where the vision occurred is just that, only speculation.

After this, he says, “…whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows.” The vision was so real to him that he felt as if he was in a body, but yet, he could not prove that he actually was. This resembles visions of the OT, such as in Ezekiel –

“And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. ² Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. ³ He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. ⁴ And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.”

Ezekiel said he had a vision while he “sat in my house with the elders of Judah,” wherein he was transported to Jerusalem, having been taken “by a lock of my hair.” There he saw and heard and experienced, and yet his body surely remained in his house. This may be something akin to what Paul experienced. The vision was so real that he simply couldn’t tell the state of his earthly body at the time.

Still referring to himself, he next says, “…such a one was caught up to the third heaven.” Nonsensical debates are made as to what Paul is referring to when he says “the third heaven.” What we can deduce is that it is a real place, and that it is “other” than where we are. People write lengthy commentaries on celestial gradations of what one “heaven” or another “heaven” is like, but it is all wasted ink. What we have from Paul is all that we need to understand the rest of the vision’s details.

As a point of interest though, he uses the term harpazo which is translated as “caught up.” This is the same term he uses for what believers will experience at their own rapture which is noted in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Thus, there is no reason to not believe in a literal rapture where our bodies will be changed and we will be transported to be with the Lord. Those who deny this must then deny Paul’s vision in these verses. With God, all such things are possible.

Life application: The Bible gives us enough information to understand what happened in certain circumstances in only a limited way. The admonition to not go beyond what is written is good at such times. We should be careful to not make up things, stating them as fact, concerning things of which we cannot be sure. In other words, when someone analyzes a passage such as that of Paul’s vision, make sure that it is in line with his words, but that it does not unnecessarily go beyond them.

Lord God, it sure is wonderful to peer into Your word and try to determine what is being said from the past so that we can determine what will occur in the future. Will there be a rapture? What will heaven be like? How much worse will the world get before Jesus returns? These things excite our curiosity. But help us to not go beyond what is written. Instead, help us to carefully analyze Your word only as far as You have revealed it to us. And then, help us to be patient as we wait on its full realization! Amen.

Thursday, 24 December 2015

It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:
2 Corinthians 12:1

Paul’s first words can be taken in a couple ways. One is that they might be an ironic statement to the Corinthians. When he says, “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast” he might be saying, “As you can see, I have done nothing worthy of boasting. I have not suffered at all as my previous words testify quite clearly.” This is the highest of irony because everything he has said from verse 11:22-33 shows that he had, in fact suffered greatly for Christ. Further, he had gone to extreme lengths to preach the gospel.

The second way his words might be taken would be as an admission that it was unbecoming of him to continue to boast in the manner which he had through the previous verses. He felt that it was improper, but that he was urged on by the fact that the Corinthians were looking for just this type of thing to boast in.

Whichever way his words are to be taken, from this “boasting,” which was “doubtless not profitable,” He turns to a new line of thought with the words, “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” Paul’s visions and revelations are noted throughout Acts. The word “visions” is described well by Albert Barnes –

It “…is used in the Scriptures often to denote the mode in which divine communications were usually made to people. This was done by causing some scene to appear to pass before the mind as in a landscape, so that the individual seemed to see a representation of what was to occur in some future period. It was usually applied to prophecy, and is often used in the Old Testament.”

“Revelations” would be the truths which were learned as a result of the visions. At least six times in the book of Acts he had specific visions that are recorded. Also in Galatians 2:2, we read this –

“And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.”

Life application: Paul claimed to have had visions because he was an apostle of the Lord. His visions led to his revelations and they have become a part of the Holy Bible. However, the apostolic period is over. It is best to not accept any supposed vision from the Lord at this time. There is a constant stream of such claims and the vast majority of them in no way match the Bible in content or intent. False visions have led to entire cults of people being led astray, such as those of Ellen G. White of the Seventh Day Adventists. It is far better to stick to the Bible than worry about whether someone’s supposed “vision” is true. Even if it is, which is unlikely, it is unnecessary for proper faith and practice.

Heavenly Father, help us to be discerning in the truths found in Your word and to never enter anything else into our doctrine. We can learn truths about the Bible from external studies, but they cannot add to the message of the Bible and still be considered true. Help us to cling to Your word alone for that which directs our proper faith and practice and to not get led astray by false visions, claims of extra-biblical revelations, or words which are not in line with Your superior word. Amen.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

…but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.
2 Corinthians 11:33

Here Paul details how he made his escape from Damascus. His words here explain “the things which concern my infirmity.” There are other examples of people escaping in such a manner in the Bible. One is found in Joshua 2 –

“Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.” Joshua 2:15

Another similar account, with less detail, is found in 1 Samuel 9 –

“So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped.” 1 Samuel 19:12

What is explicit in the Joshua account, and which might be inferred from the story of David, is that these men let themselves down by a rope which was thrown over the side for them. However, in Paul’s case, he had to be let down by a “basket.” It shows that he was too infirm on his own to climb down a rope. Thus he seems to be hinting at the shame he felt for having to rely on others to deliver him in this way.

It was in a basket, through a small opening in the wall called a thuris that he was let down. The thuris is only mentioned twice in the Bible, once here and once in Acts 20:9 where Eutychus fell out of the window he was sitting in. Such little windows or doors were placed into the walls of a city for those who dwelt in houses along the wall. Paul was able to get free from his foes in this manner.

Of interest is that the word “basket” here is not the same as that used in Acts 9:5. There it was called a spuris, which is a tightly wound plaited basket of reeds. Here, Paul calls it a sargané. This is a plaited rope basket. This is the only use of this word in the Bible. This probably comes from the Hebrew word sarag, which means to be intertwined. Thus, the same idea is conveyed for both words. If this comes from sarag, which is likely, Paul is subtly continuing with his comparison of himself to the false apostles by using a word of Hebrew rather than Greek origin.

Life application: God uses those who are dependent on Him and often that dependence on Him is realized in the assistance of others. Paul was placed in a situation where he needed the help of others in order to find his relief. There is nothing wrong with showing such dependence on those around us, particularly when we realize that God placed them in our lives for that very reason.

Lord, it is good to know that You are there for those who depend on You. And even more, You often put us in a position where we need to depend on others. If you have put us in that position, then the help from those others is Your divinely directed way of providing us relief. And so Lord, help us to not shun the help of others through pride, but to be thankful to You for those who do come into our life in order to relieve our needs. In the end, You have us just where You want us, even in such times. Amen.

Tuesday, 22 December 2015

In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; 2 Corinthians 11:32

Paul just said in verse 30 that “I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.” After that, he gave a solemn testimony that his words were true. Now suddenly, he introduces this statement as his first evidence of his “infirmity.” To set up what he considered this infirmity to be, he opens with this verse concerning his time in Damascus. It is referred to in Acts 9:23-25, but with different detail given here.

He first notes, “…the governor, under Aretas the king.” The term for “governor” is used only here in the New Testament. It is ethnarches. It is a word consisting of two separate words: ethnos which means “a race” or “a people group,” and archo which means “rule” or “reign.” Thus he was the leader of the people of Damascus. Aretas, or Hareth, was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas whose capital was the city cleft out of rock at Petra. Historians suppose that Caligula placed Damascus under Aretas as a gift to him.

This unnamed governor under Aretas had “the city of the Damascenes” guarded with a garrison. This was done so that if Paul was located he was to be arrested. In addition to this guard, Acts 9 shows that Paul had other foes waiting for him as well –

“Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. ²⁴ But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him.” Acts 9:23, 24

Paul was hemmed in and any chance of getting out of the city in a normal way was considered impossible. Therefore other means had to be employed to get him out. This is detailed in the next verse and shows why he chose to name this under his list of infirmities.

Life application: If you are hemmed in from all sides, and if the Lord still has purposes for you in this life, He will get you out of the situation. Never fear that He has every circumstance in our lives completely within His capable hands.

Lord God, at times we feel hemmed in from every side and it seems that there is no avenue of escape from our troubles. At times like these, why would we consider turning anywhere but to You? You have the span of our lives safely in Your capable hands and there is no trial or hardship that we face which is unknown to You. Help us to trust this and to remember that there is nothing that we are facing which is not also without Your attentive eye upon it. Thank You for this wonderful reassurance. Amen.