<b><i>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. 
<p>
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.</i></b> ( 2 Cor. 12:7-10 )
<p>
This thorn in the flesh that Paul mentioned has been used and misused
by Christians to justify submitting to nearly any problem that comes
along. Satan has twisted this passage of Scripture to deceive many,
many people into believing that God would not heal Paul, so how can
they expect to be healed? Let us examine this closely and find out
exactly what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was.
<p>
First of all, this <b><i>thorn</i></b> came because of the abundance of revelations
Paul had received. Until a person has an abundance of revelations,
similar to what Paul had, he is not going to have a <b><i>thorn.</i></b> That would
disqualify just about all of those who have been hiding behind Paul’s
thorn.
<p>
Then, verse 7 says it came lest Paul should be exalted above measure.
Traditionally, that has been interpreted to say the thorn was to keep
Paul humble. Therefore, God had to be the author of it, because only
God would want Paul to be humble. But there is a godly way of being
exalted. First Peter 5:6 says, <b><i>Humble yourselves therefore under the
mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.</i></b> Those who
submit (humble) themselves to God will be exalted by God. 
<p>
Paul was not
speaking of exalting himself above measure through pride, but rather,
the thorn came from Satan to keep Paul from being exalted by God in the
eyes of the people. Many more people would have received what Paul
preached if everything was always <b><i>rosy</i></b> for him. But there was this
messenger of Satan who always buffeted Paul and scared away the faint-
hearted from committing themselves to Jesus, whom Paul preached.
<p>
 God magnified, or exalted, Joshua in the sight of his people (Josh.
3:7). He continued to do that with the people He used on into the new
covenant ( Acts 5:13 ). So, we see that the exalting spoken of is not a
negative kind but a godly kind. That just further strengthens the fact
that the thorn was not God’s doing.
<p>
In verse 7, right after the thorn in the flesh is mentioned, there is a
phrase set off by commas which says, <b><i>The messenger of Satan to buffet
me.</i></b> This is an explanation of what the thorn was. It was not a thing
but rather a demonic messenger. The word used as <b><i>messenger</i></b> here is
always translated as angel or messenger and refers to a created being.
<p>
So, Paul’s thorn was literally a demon sent from Satan to buffet him.
The word <b><i>buffet</i></b> means to strike repeatedly as waves would buffet the
shore.
<p>
How did this demonic force continually strike Paul? Traditionally it
has been taught that it was with sickness, and the thing that made many
accept that is the use of the words <b><i>weakness</i></b> and <b><i>infirmity</i></b> in
verses 9 and 10. Infirmity definitely does mean sickness and is used
that way in 1 Timothy 5:23, but that is not the only meaning of the
word. 
<p>
The number two definition is any lack or inadequacy. For
instance, Romans 8:26 says, <b><i>the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.</i></b>
In this case, the context makes it clear that it is not speaking of
sicknesses but rather not knowing what to pray for. Our finite minds
are an infirmity, or an inadequacy.
<p>
If we look at the context of Paul’s thorn in the flesh, we find that
infirmity does not mean sickness in 
 2 Corinthians 12:9,10. In 2
Corinthians 11:30 , Paul uses the exact terminology of <b><i>glorying in
infirmities</i></b> that is used just a few verses later in speaking about
this thorn. In the eleventh chapter he had just finished listing what
those infirmities were. 
<p>
In verses 23-29, he lists such things as
imprisonment, stripes, shipwrecks, and stonings; none of these speak of
sickness. Verse 27 mentions weakness and painfulness, which some have
tried to make mean sickness, but it is just as possible he could have
been weary and suffered painfulness from such things as being stoned
and left for dead ( Acts 14:19 ). 
<p>
All these things listed in 2
Corinthians 11 refer to persecutions as infirmities. So, in context,
Paul’s thorn was a demonic angel or messenger sent by Satan which
continually stirred up persecution against him. This is also verified
by three Old Testament references ( Num. 33:55 ; Josh. 23:13 and Judg.
2:3 ), where people are spoken of as being <b><i>thorns in your sides</i></b> and
<b><i>thorns in your eyes.</i></b>
<p>
Paul asked the Lord to remove persecution from him, not sickness, and
the Lord told him His grace was sufficient. We are not redeemed from
persecution, and Paul later stated that when he said in 2 Timothy 3:12,
<b><i>All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.</i></b>
Most gladly, therefore, he gloried in persecutions, reproaches,
necessities, and distresses that the power of Christ might rest upon
him ( 2 Cor. 12:9 ). 
<p>
The word <b><i>glory</i></b> is an old English word which means
to have dominion over or command. It is used in Exodus 8:9 where Moses
told Pharaoh to glory over him, or command him, when to destroy the
frogs. So when Paul spoke of glorying in these infirmities or
persecutions, he was speaking of victory even in the midst of continual
harassment.
<p>
In Acts 14:19 , Paul was stoned and left for dead, but God raised him
up, and the next day he walked at least twenty miles into the next town
and started preaching again. The Lord did not stop the persecution, but
God’s strength was certainly made perfect in Paul’s weakness (verse 9).
<p>
Can you imagine what those that stoned him must have thought? They
could see Paul’s humanity in the cuts and bruises, but they could also
see the supernatural strength of God flowing through him. <b><i>For when I
am weak, then am I strong</i></b> (verse 10).
<p>
There are two other passages of Scripture that those who believe Paul’s
thorn in the flesh was sickness have tried to use to verify that. One
is Galatians 4:13-15 . Here Paul says that he preached the Gospel to
these Galatians through an infirmity of the flesh, and in verse 15, he
makes reference to these people being willing to poke out their own
eyes and give them to him. 
<p>
From this, I have heard ministers preach
that Paul’s thorn was a rare, ancient disease which was characterized
by runny, puffy eyes. But let us look at whom Paul was speaking to when
he said this. He was writing to the people who lived in the region
known as Galatia, which had as its major cities, Derbe, Lystra, and
Iconium. The instance we mentioned earlier, where Paul was stoned and
left for dead, happened in Lystra, a city of Galatia. 
<p>
The next day Paul
walked to Derbe, another city of Galatia, and began preaching unto
them. I’m sure he had runny, puffy eyes, along with multiple cuts and
bruises, but they were not the result of some disease. They were the
result of having just been stoned. He also says in verse 13 that his
infirmity was <b><i>at the first,</i></b> which leaves the impression it was only a
temporary thing that he recovered from.
<p>
The next scripture used to say Paul’s thorn was bad eyes is also in Galatians 6:11 . It says, <b><i>Ye see how large a letter I
have written unto you with mine own hand.</i></b> People have said Paul’s eyes
were so bad that he had to write in large letters, and this is what he
was making reference to. 
<p>
That is only a supposition and not a very good
one at that. It is a lot more credible to believe that he was simply
referring to the long letter he had written to the Galatians.
<p>
The reason it is so important to realize that the thorn in the flesh
was not something which Jesus died to redeem us from, such as sickness,
is so that we won’t submit ourselves to these things. James 4:7 says,
<b><i>Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.</i></b> 
<p>
We have to resist, or actively fight against, the devil and
the things he brings, to see them flee. Satan has used traditional
teaching about Paul’s thorn to bring many Christians to a place of
submitting to him. But, praise God, you shall know the truth and the
truth, shall set you free.
<p>
-- Andrew Wommack<br>
Capitalization of keywords by Randy Lucas 