No matter what it is, people somewhere, at sometime will abuse the information.
that's right Quaffie. This brings to my remembrance what my careleader's wife said the other day, when we were looking at all her tons of Christian books in her bkshelf:"You must know how to pick the meat out of the bones."
that goes for the POJ bk, one can go to one extreme and condemn it totally, another can go the other extreme and use it as a formula to get things, or you could just try to get the nuggets of God's truths out of it. IOW, the mature Christian can read and not be stumped, and pick out the meat from the bones, and see what the Lord wants to teach him.
We don't know what that thorn was, and we don't know if God intended to keep it there for very long.
ok Sunstone, I'll try one last time *L ...
The expression "thorn in the flesh" is never used in the Bible to mean sickness. And every time the phrase is used in the Bible, it is specifically stated what the "thorn" is.
Witness 1
Before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, Moses told them:
* Numbers 33:55
55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and
thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Here, the scripture itself tells us plainly that the "pricks in your eyes" and "thorns in your sides" of the Israelites were the inhabitants of Canaan, and not eye disease or sickness. Moses was warning them that the Canaanites, if allowed to remain, would be a constant annoyance to them.
Witness 2
Many years later, Joshua said the same thing about the Canaanites:
* Joshua 23:13
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and
thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
Again, it is clearly stated here what the "thorns" were, and it was certainly not eye disease or sickness.
Witness 3
In the book of Judges, the Lord told the children of Israel the same thing:
* Judges 2:3
3 Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as
thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.
Here also, the "thorns" refer to people, not sickness.
Witness 4
Our fourth witness is David, who said:
* 2 Samuel 23:6
6 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as
thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
In all four cases, the Bible makes it explicit what the "thorns" are, so there is no need for wild speculations. And in every case, the "thorns" refer to personalities, not sicknesses. I told this to a friend and he said: "Well, there's a diff betw the Hebrew and Greek expressions." I said: "You think Paul didnt know Hebrew?"
Usage today
Today, we still use the same expression. According to The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (New Edition), when we say that someone is "a thorn in one's flesh/side", we are saying that that person is "a continual cause of annoyance or problems". Similar expressions are "pain in the neck" and "pain in the ***".
Paul's case is no different
As with the first four cases presented, the apostle himself tells us plainly what the "thorn in the flesh" was -- "the messenger of Satan":
* 2 Corinthians 12:7
7 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.
The original Greek word for "messenger" here is "angelos". According to Strong's Concordance, it means "a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God".
In Paul's case, it was an angel of Satan. So, Paul's thorn was a demonic spirit sent by Satan to torment and annoy him. Or, a person or persons carrying that demonic spirit. It was certainly not eye disease, migraine or some sickness as many have wildly speculated.
This Greek word "angelos" appears 186 times in the Bible, and is translated "angel" 179 times and "messenger" the other seven times. In all 186 cases, without exception, it refers to a person and not a thing or disease.
It is also interesting to note that the Rotherham and Weymouth translations use the pronoun "he" to refer to Paul's "thorn" or "the messenger of Satan". In other words, they tell us that Paul's thorn was a satanic personality and not a disease.
Nature of Paul's thorn
Paul not only tells us that his "thorn" was an angel of Satan, but he also tells us what that demon came to do: "to buffet me".
The word "buffet" means "to strike repeatedly" or "blow after blow". If Paul's thorn was sickness, then it would mean that Paul was continuously sick. But we don't see a sickly Paul in the Bible. And how could the apostle travel great distances, preaching boldly and healing the sick if he was so sickly? The sick would have laughed at him for preaching about God's healing power!
What we do find, however, is a Paul who was frequently persecuted by people, not sicknesses. Paul enumerates his sufferings or "buffetings" in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29 and 2 Timothy 3:10-12. Not one time does he mention sickness. (See Sufferings we can expect.)
Did God say "no" to Paul?
* 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9 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.
10 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.
Many Christians think that God's reply to Paul's thrice repeated prayer to be rid of the satanic messenger was, "Nope, I want you to stay sick."
Our Lord never said that, only the traditions of man! And we have already established that Paul's thorn was an angel of Satan and not some illness.
Essentially, God's reply to Paul is that He fights for Paul best when Paul is totally helpless, weak and dependent on Him. This is God's grace in action -- God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
All self-efforts to fight the enemy must be put aside if God is to have full control over the situation. God works best without our interference and our efforts to "help" Him.
And when we see the victory, we will know that it is all by God's grace. That is why God told Paul that His grace was all that Paul needed to overcome the constant attacks of the messenger of Satan.
When Paul realised that this was God's way of doing things -- by grace --, it is no wonder he said that he would gladly "glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" and that "when I am weak, then am I strong [in and through Christ]".
So, did God answer Paul's prayer and show Him the solution? Yes! Certainly, God did not give Paul a negative answer and leave him weak and defeated. After all, how can it be true that Christ's strength was made perfect in Paul's weakness (verse 9) if he was left weak. No, I believe Paul was an actual partaker of Christ's strength, which would remove the weakness, whether it was physical or spiritual.