To read Part Two, click here.

Paul's Thorn—A Case Study:

Let's do an exercise in rightly dividing the Word by looking at a classic example that has been "divided" several ways. Let's do a mini-study on "Paul's Thorn!"

"It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above 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. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

"Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. 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. 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." (1 Corinthians 12:1-10)

The Traditional View Of Paul's Thorn:
First, we need to know that the traditional view of Paul's thorn and one that is widely held among many sincere, genuine, Jesus loving believers today is this. The traditional view says that Paul is speaking on himself in this passage. He had received incredible visions, revelations and even a "trip" to heaven where he heard things beyond words. Because of the amazing things God had shown him, and in order that Paul didn't become conceited, arrogant, inflated with pride or begin to exalt himself; God gave him a thorn in the flesh.

This thorn in the flesh has been defined as a possible eye disease, or some other type of physical sickness or infirmity. Paul then asked the Lord three times to take this thorn away, but the Lord said, "no." The Lord told Paul, He would give him enough grace to endure and bear this thorn and that through it all his weaknesses, probably to be prideful, would in the end make him strong. Therefore, Paul says, "OK, Lord go ahead and beat me up and send whatever thorns I need to learn the lessons you want to teach me—because no matter what when I am weak because of this thorn, then I am really getting strong and growing closer to You."

Have you heard something like this? The result of this view is that believers feel they should be just like Paul. They should expect God to send them thorns too - to teach them lessons, to get their attention, to draw them closer to Him and to keep them humble; and through it al God will give them the grace they need to endure until the end! Is that what this passage is teaching us?

Is The Traditional View Of Paul's Thorn Wrong? Is it possible that this passage has been wrongly divided for centuries and the lack of revelation knowledge on this one passage has caused multitudes of God's people to be duped into signing for packages the devil sent and to face unnecessary destruction? Is it possible that Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge ..." has come to pass in the lives of many well-meaning believers simply because of a lack of knowledge on this passage?

What The Story of Paul's Thorn Doesn't Say:
Here's what the story of Paul's thorn does NOT say. We are never told that God gave Paul the thorn. We are told that the thorn in the flesh was a messenger of Satan, not God! Big clarification there! This story doesn't say that the thorn was given to keep Paul humble or to keep him from being conceited or proud. First of all, Satan would want Paul to be full of pride and conceited, so he surely wouldn't try to keep Paul humble!

Second, God does not hire the devil to do His dirty work. God did not give Paul a messenger of Satan. God did not call up the devil and say, "Hey, send one of your best demons to harass my servant will you?" That doesn't even make any sense. We are not told anywhere that the thorn was a sickness. That's a theory theologians have devised based upon not rightly dividing the Word. When Paul asked God for help, God did not say "No!". The Lord simply let him know the "how"! By grace!

Basic Questions Regarding Paul's Thorn:
To begin, we must ask some basic questions and set the premise. According to this passage, what is a "thorn in the flesh"? Who gave it to Paul? Did God give Paul a thorn or did Satan give Paul a thorn? Did God employ Satan to do His "dirty work"? Why did Paul receive this thorn? What type of revelations had Paul received? What does "lest I should be exalted above measure" mean? When Paul asked God to remove the thorn did God really say "No!"? What did the Lord mean when He said, "My grace is sufficient for you"? Grace to endure? Grace to resist? Grace to rebuke? Grace to stand? Grace to help in time of need? When Paul rejoiced in the power of Christ resting upon him, why was he so happy? All of these questions are important if we are to rightly divide the Word and avoid assumptions, presumptions, or outright ignorance.

For example, when we ask the question, "What is a ‘thorn in the flesh'?" Rather than guessing or leaning on human wisdom for the answer, let's see if the Word has already established the definition for a "thorn" or "thorn in the flesh" in two or three other verses of Scripture. It has! We see the phrase, "thorn" or "thorns," "thorn in the side," "thorn in the eyes," "scourges in the sides," "pricks in the eyes" used in dozens of verses. In looking at a comparable context to Paul's thorn, we see that a thorn is described in Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13, Judges 2:3, 2 Samuel 23:6 and in numerous places.

From looking at these passages, we see that a "thorn in the flesh" or "thorn in the side" always referred to a personality, person, being or enemy sent to oppose God's people. A thorn was always used to describe a person or being, not a disease or physical infirmity. Therefore, we can conclude that the "thorn in the flesh" that Paul received was some type of personality, person, being or enemy, not a disease or physical infirmity. Can you see that?

In fact, the passage in 2 Corinthians 12, clearly tells us that the "thorn in the flesh" was "the messenger of Satan". The Greek word for "messenger" literally is "angelos" defined as: a messenger, or angel or an envoy, one who is sent. Satan sent a messenger! Satan sent one of his angels to buffet Paul—literally to hit him over and over!

We could use this same treatment for every word and phrase in the story of Paul's thorn to help us rightly divide the Word, and avoid leaning on traditions or experience that is not congruent with the Word.

Rightly Dividing The Story Of Paul's Thorn:
Let's present another look at how this passage might be interpreted and how revelation knowledge helps us to rightly divide the Word. Because Paul had received such an abundance of revelation and visions and was filled with a reservoir of revelation knowledge, Satan didn't want Paul or his message to be exalted in any way. Satan definitely didn't want Paul's ministry to gain greater influence or be exalted and so he, Satan, sent a messenger, a demon spirit or evil angel, called a "thorn in the flesh" to buffet, harass, persecute, disrupt and hinder Paul wherever he went.

We see the results of the buffeting in reading the accounts of Paul's persecutions in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul recognized this and cried out to God, "Please God make the devil stop! Take away this thorn—this messenger of Satan. Stop all this persecution and harrasment!" God's response to Paul was just like it is to us today, He said, "My grace is sufficient for you ..." God didn't say, "No." By grace, God encouraged and revealed to Paul even more about the invisible enemy and ensuing persecution every Christian must face, He showed Paul even more about who he was in Christ, his authority as a believer in Jesus. God let Paul know that if Satan and his hosts persecuted and harassed Jesus for preaching the gospel and the revelation knowledge of God, then Paul and all believers would be persecuted as well.

At the same time, grace was sufficient for Paul to have faith to exercise his authority as a believer over all the works of the devil, of using the Word as his Sword of the Spirit, of using the Name that is above every name—the Name of Jesus, of recognizing that by the blood of Jesus he, Paul, had been transferred out of the clutches of the devil and of clothing himself in the armor of God and to stand against all the wiles of the devil.

Is it possible that as these revelations dawned on him by God's grace, that he was strengthened in his inner man and where we was weak, now he had been renewed in strength as to who he really was in Christ. Is it possible that what Satan meant as a means to thwart the spread of revelation knowledge; actually turned out to be a catalyst for increasing its reach? Paul wrote over the half of the New Testament and it was through the revelation that God gave to Paul that the church and every believer today has the knowledge of all the things listed above.

I hope this gives you a new look, a more Scripturally accurate look at Paul's Thorn. I encourage you to dig into your own Bible and show yourself approved unto God!

For further study, I recommend my book, "Getting a Grip on the Basics of Health and Healing."

Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.