2 Corinthians 12:7 - 9
"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was
given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to
torment me - to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times
that it might leave me.
And He has said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore,
I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of
Christ may dwell in me."
"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was
given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to
torment me - to keep me from exalting myself!
Concerning this I implored the Lord three times
that it might leave me.
And He has said to me 'My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore,
I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of
Christ may dwell in me."
The ambiguity lined up in this short passage is too much for my wanting mind to grasp. Was Paul's thorn a physical infirmity or was it a person who troubled him i.e. a Messenger of Satan. I was forced to look at the greek text of the passage but it didn't prove to be of much help. Instead more problematic.
If the thorn was a person, why did bible translators, translated verse 7, Paul's prayer to God to remove "IT". But if the thorn was a "IT" why did Paul use the verb "leave" only meant for persons? The pronoun "IT" is not found in the greek sentence. The translators had added that word in english to make it sound grammatically correct but beyond grammatic soundness I believe that they were trying to stay TRUE to the greek construction of the sentence.
The ambiguity was left intentionally by Paul. He could have told us what the 'thorn' was but he did not reveal it to us just as he did not reveal to us what the "surpassing greatness of the revelations"were in the closing chapters of 2 Corinthians.
In the greek sentence construction, we can't really tell for sure which is the SUBJECT, i.e. Thorn or Messenger of Satan. The word "leave" or "depart" in verse 8 is a verb used only for PERSONS and not Object. Therefore, Paul was asking God to remove "the messenger of satan" who was CAUSING the "thorn". Paul did what was right by asking God to remove the source causing his discomfort, if the source could be removed, the symptoms would naturally ceased. If Paul's thorn was a messenger i.e. a person, he could have simply said, "the messenger of satan was sent to torment me".
It was left open-ended intentionally. Whatever it is, God allows discomfort, irritants, pains in our lives for a reason. For Paul, it was a way of humbling him because it was revealed to him great things he was not supposed to share. Through those times of humbling, God taught him to boast in his weakness instead of boasting of his own strength. Through those times of humbling, he learnt what it meant to live by God's sufficient grace.
If the thorn was a person, why did bible translators, translated verse 7, Paul's prayer to God to remove "IT". But if the thorn was a "IT" why did Paul use the verb "leave" only meant for persons? The pronoun "IT" is not found in the greek sentence. The translators had added that word in english to make it sound grammatically correct but beyond grammatic soundness I believe that they were trying to stay TRUE to the greek construction of the sentence.
The ambiguity was left intentionally by Paul. He could have told us what the 'thorn' was but he did not reveal it to us just as he did not reveal to us what the "surpassing greatness of the revelations"were in the closing chapters of 2 Corinthians.
In the greek sentence construction, we can't really tell for sure which is the SUBJECT, i.e. Thorn or Messenger of Satan. The word "leave" or "depart" in verse 8 is a verb used only for PERSONS and not Object. Therefore, Paul was asking God to remove "the messenger of satan" who was CAUSING the "thorn". Paul did what was right by asking God to remove the source causing his discomfort, if the source could be removed, the symptoms would naturally ceased. If Paul's thorn was a messenger i.e. a person, he could have simply said, "the messenger of satan was sent to torment me".
It was left open-ended intentionally. Whatever it is, God allows discomfort, irritants, pains in our lives for a reason. For Paul, it was a way of humbling him because it was revealed to him great things he was not supposed to share. Through those times of humbling, God taught him to boast in his weakness instead of boasting of his own strength. Through those times of humbling, he learnt what it meant to live by God's sufficient grace.
This passage does not tell us that we must not stop praying for people to be healed. It simply tells us how we should respond to trials allowed by God and knowing that in tough times, God's grace is sufficient.
May I be found faithful.
May I be found faithful.
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