The Truth comes to Corinth Part 2 Volume 43

Paul was given a Thorn in the Flesh

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 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. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. KJV

Pride is what controls the entire unsaved population here on the earth and the devil or the evil one is the mastermind behind all pride in the world (1 John 5:19). Pride is what made the devil rebel against God the Father and pride is the root or author of every sin in the hearts of men and women. Despite our regeneration and new birth “in Christ”, even true believers are very vulnerable and susceptible to this very deceitful, debilitating, and deadly sin. King Solomon (who penned the Book of Proverbs) listed seven things that God hated and number one on that list was and is pride (Proverbs 6:17). Therefore, even the mighty “man of God” Paul the Apostle was not immune to this sin becoming embedded in his heart.

Paul now reveals to the Corinthian believers how our Lord Jesus Christ (the searcher of every heart) (Jerimiah 17:10) allowed Satan to send one of his emissaries to Paul to inflict him with a thorn or the Greek word skolops which means a sharp point or prickle that was stinging or an annoyance or disability. Paul was visited by this “messenger of Satan” (either a demon or the false apostle in Corinth), because of the tremendous revelations that had been given to Paul by our Lord Jesus Christ, beginning with the “mystery” hidden from all of the Old Testament Prophets as he testified of to the Ephesians in this manner, “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power” (Ephesians 3:1-7) and this subsequent revelation of the awaiting glories of Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:4) Paul was given this thorn.

Many far greater commentators than I the son of the Lord Jesus Christ have speculated that this thorn was only physical in nature such as blindness, migraine headaches, some disease like malaria or epilepsy, but what I read in this text is that the thorn was the “messenger of Satan” and not separate from the messenger. Paul has just listed for us the great trials, beatings, imprisonments, nakedness, starvation, and attempts on his life and nowhere in any of his letters did I read him praying to our Lord Jesus Christ to be delivered out of these things, but he does request prayer from the brethren for the “Word of God” to be declared in all places and to be delivered from men that have not faith in Christ (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3). When Paul was about to sail from Miletus back to Jerusalem these words were recorded by Dr. Luke, “As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’’ When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, ‘The will of the Lord be done!’” (Acts 21:10-14).

Paul was not moved by physical pain and suffering for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord and His Gospel, but in this instance, this thorn, this “messenger of Satan” brought this great Apostle to his knees as he wrote in this manner, “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me” (2 Corinthians 12:8), whereas none of his other harsh, cruel, and brutal afflictions ever brought him to such deep petition for deliverance. It is reminiscent of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane as recorded by the Apostle Matthew with these words, “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.’ And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?’ ‘Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.’ Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more” (Matthew 26:36-44). Surely our Lord Jesus knew the physical pain that he must endure, but it was the temptation and testing from Satan along with the knowledge of His separation from God the Father that caused His soul such deep grief and so it was with the Apostle Paul that the spiritual attacks caused him more grief (whether the messenger was a demon or the false apostle) than any of his temporary physical afflictions.

This was personally designed for Paul to keep him humble and to root out any chance of him becoming haughty and arrogant toward others who had not seen what he had seen. Our Lord Jesus knew Paul’s heart thoroughly and completely and this was done for his good preventing him from disdaining others and having some form of superiority because of these great revelations shown to him alone. If there was no chance of Paul behaving in such a negative way, our Lord Jesus would never have allowed this “messenger of Satan”  to get through to him as Christ declared of the Apostle Peter and of Job that Satan must always get His permission to inflict or attack any of His children with these words, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31) and “The LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’ Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.’ Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:8-12).

Grace (the divine influence upon the heart) to endure the afflictions or attacks was the answer the Apostle Paul received form our Lord Jesus Christ and not the removal of the afflicting messenger. Paul came to the conclusion that it was much more needful for him to “take pleasure” in or the Greek word eudokeo which means to affirm or sanction or approve of and accept his feebleness of body or mind or any malady or moral frailty, his insults and injuries for the proclamation of the true Gospel, his distress and needs, his persecutions from non-believing Gentiles and his countrymen the non-believing Jews, and any disasters or tragedies he me encounter along his walk of faith all for the sake of Jesus Christ who knocked him off his horse on the road to Damascus and blinded his eyes physically but opened them spiritually to Himself the Truth. For it is in our surrender to complete human weakness, when the Grace of God (divine influence on the heart that affects the life) makes us strong and powerful in His Might as Paul declared to the Ephesians in this manner, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12).

My own Personal Note: Bible commentators over the centuries have divided on whether this thorn was mental, physical, or spiritual. I believe the thorn was mental/spiritual because this Apostle has just listed for us some of the most horrific instances of physical pain and suffering any one man could experience and endure and he never once wrote about praying to our Lord Jesus Christ to be delivered from them. Paul did not pray for our Lord Jesus to deliver him from prison, not once. In my humble opinion, it was both, in order to buffet him or the Greek words kolazo and kolaphizo which mean to rap or beat with the fist, to punish, and chastise, or to curtail, restrict, or limit him.

“A messenger or angel of Satan to buffet me - Perhaps both visibly and invisibly; and the word in the original expresses the present, as well as the past, time. All kinds of affliction had befallen the apostle. Yet none of those did he deprecate. But here he speaks of one, as above all the rest, one that macerated him with weakness, and by the pain and ignominy of it prevented his being lifted up mere, or, at least, not less, than the most vehement head ache could have done; which many of the ancients say he labored under. St. Paul seems to have had a fresh fear of these buffetings every moment, when he so frequently represses himself in his boasting, though it was extorted from him by the utmost necessity.” John Wesley

“After experiencing the state of the blissful angels, he is now exposed to the influence of an evil angel. The chastisement from hell follows soon upon the revelation from Heaven. As his sight and hearing had been ravished with heavenly ‘revelations,’ so his touch is pained with the ‘thorn in the flesh.’” JFB Commentary

“Christ Jesus understands our case, and knows our need, and will proportion the remedy to our malady, and not only strengthen us, but glorify Himself. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Thus His grace is manifested and magnified; He ordains His praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.” Matthew Henry

“For this late and rare word from kolaphos, fist. The messenger of Satan kept slapping Paul in the face and Paul now sees that it was God’s will for it to be so. Concerning this thing (huper toutou). More likely, ‘concerning this messenger of Satan.’ That it might depart from me (hina apostēi aph’ emou). Second aorist active (intransitive) subjunctive of aphistēmi in final clause, ‘that he stand off from me for good.’” Robertson’s Word Picture

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…