5-22 The Messenger Of Satan
2 Corinthians 12:7: “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”.
Popular Interpretation
This is read to suggest that Satan brings problems into our lives.
“Messenger” being the same original word as “angel”, it is argued that
Satan uses a sinful angel to do this.
Comments
1. The work of this messenger of Satan resulted in Paul developing
the spiritual characteristic of humility. The Satan stopped Paul from
being proud. Pride is produced by the devil - 1 Timothy 3: 6-7. So we
have the situation where Satan stops the work of Satan. Again, this
does not make sense under the traditional interpretation of Satan. Mark
7: 20-23 says that pride is a result of our evil heart. Thus the trial
brought on Paul by a person acting as a Satan to him stopped his evil
desires - another use of the word “Satan” - from leading him into the
sin of pride.
2. We have seen in the Debate that “Satan” can be used to describe a
man (e.g. Matt. 16:23) and that the word for messenger/angel can also
apply to men (e.g. Matt.11:10; Lk. 7:24; James 2:25). “Satan” may also
refer to the Jewish system, and thus the messenger of Satan is most
likely a man acting on behalf of the Jews.
3. The passage can be translated “a messenger, an adversary...”.
4. Everywhere in Paul's writings, as well as in Revelation, 'satan'
always has the definite article- apart from here. Likewise, this
is the only time Paul uses the form satan rather than his
usual satanas. One reason for that could be that Paul is
alluding to or quoting from known Jewish literature or ideas which
mentioned a "messenger of satan". Another possibility
is that he refers here to an Angel-satan- for the Greek word translated
"messenger" is also that for Angel. In this case, he saw
himself as Job, suffering affliction from an Angel-adversary, in
order to bring about his spiritual perfection. I have noted the
similarities between Job and Paul elsewhere (1).
Suggested Explanations
1. “The messenger of Satan” is probably the same as the ministers of Satan
referred to in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, which we have interpreted
as the Judaizers in the early church who were discrediting Paul
and seeking to undermine Christianity. The buffeting done by this
“messenger of Satan” is defined in v. 10: “Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions...”
(i.e. in my thorn in the flesh which God will not take away). Note
the parallel between the thorn and those things it caused. The reproaches
refer to the Jewish ministers of Satan saying things like, “his
bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible” (2 Cor.10:10),
as previously explained. The necessities and persecutions quite
clearly refer to the constant waves of persecutions he received
by the Jews which the book of Acts describe. This would fit the
language of “buffeting” - implying physical discomfort that he experienced
periodically. The infirmities would refer to the ill health which
his persecutions by the Jews no doubt resulted in - being beaten
until he appeared dead (Acts 14:19) must have done permanent damage,
as would receiving “forty stripes save one” five times and thrice
being “beaten with rods” because of the Jews (2 Cor.11:24-25). Thus
the passage probably refers to an organized program of persecution
of Paul by the Jews which began after the vision of 2 Corinthians
12:1-4, from which time he dates his experience of the thorn in
the flesh. It was from this time that Paul’s zealous preaching to
the Gentiles no doubt stimulated the Jews to more violent opposition
to him. Their complaint against him was often that he was adulterating
the Jewish religion by allowing Gentiles the chance of salvation
by what he preached.
2. There is the implication that one particular “messenger” of the Jewish Satan
organized the persecution of Paul - Alexander (2 Tim. 4:14-15; 1
Tim. 1: 20). The link between the messenger of Satan in 2 Corinthians
12:7 and those of 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15 indicates that this person
was a member of the ecclesia also. Whilst the prophecy about “the
man of sin” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 has clear reference to the Papacy,
a primary application of it may well be to this individual being
in the temple (i.e. to church - 1 Tim. 3:15) of God, “whose coming
is after the working of (the Jewish) Satan” (2 Thess. 2: 9). This
person could do miracles - same as v. 9 - and the Jewish Christians
in the early church who brought the ideas of Judaism into the church
could also do them (Heb. 6: 4-6). These Jews thus crucified Christ
a second time (Heb. 6: 6) - the Jews having done it once already.
This man of sin is “the son of perdition” (2 Thess. 2: 3), a phrase
used to describe Judas (Jn. 17:12). This suggests an allusion back
to Judas, and indicates that the man of sin might also be a Jew,
who was within the ecclesia, as Judas was, but who betrayed Christ
because he wanted the aims of Judaism to be fulfilled rather than
those of Christ. The “day of Christ” referred to in 2 Thessalonians
2: 2-3, before which time the man of sin must be developed, was
primarily the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 - which again
indicates a primary Jewish fulfillment of the “man of sin”. Notice
that organized Jewish opposition to Paul’s preaching was very intense
at Thessalonica - Acts 17: 5-13.
3. “A thorn in the flesh”. The word for “thorn” can mean a “stake” -
as was used for crucifying. This was to buffet Paul, as Christ was
buffeted at the crucifixion (Matt. 26:67). Like Christ in His last
hours, Paul prayed for the buffeting of Satan to be removed (2 Cor. 12:
8 cp. Lk. 22: 42). Paul “besought the Lord thrice” for this and so did
Jesus in the Garden (Matt. 26:39, 42, 44). Also like Christ, Paul’s
prayer for release was not granted, ultimately for his spiritual good.
Thus it is implied that because of Paul’s sufferings at the hands of
the Jewish Satan throughout his life, his whole life was “crucified
with Christ” in that he experienced constantly the sufferings Christ
had in His last few hours. This is exactly what we see in Acts 26:18
(see “Suggested Explanations” No. 3 on that passage).
4. There are several other references to the idea of a “thorn in the flesh”
in the Old Testament. Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; and
Ezekiel 28:24, all use this figure of speech to describe the nations
surrounding Israel who were eventually the reason for their rejection
and their failure to fully inherit the kingdom - Israel failed to
destroy them during their initial conquest of the land as they were
commanded. These nations are the Arab nations, and the Arabs are
figurative of apostate Israel who still trusted in the Law (see
“The Jewish Satan” for more details on how
Hagar and Ishmael, the Arab ancestors, are connected with apostate
Israel ). Thus it is understandable that Paul should use this figure
of a thorn in the flesh to describe the apostate Jews who were persecuting
him. The figure of the thorns in the flesh is always used in the
Old Testament in the context of something that hinders the chances
of God’s people of entering the kingdom. Thus this thorn of Jewish
opposition to Paul was a big temptation to keep Paul out of the
Kingdom. Paul implies that for him to stop making the effort to
preach was an especial temptation that would keep him from the Kingdom
(1 Cor. 9:16; Eph. 6:20; Col. 4: 4; Acts 18: 9), therefore at the
end of his life he could thankfully say that he had finished his
ministry of preaching (Acts 20:24; 2 Tim. 4: 7). He was tempted
not to preach because of the Jewish opposition - the Jewish thorn
in the flesh. So the Old Testament figure of a thorn in the flesh
tempting a man not to be in the kingdom was being used by Paul in
2 Corinthians 12: 7.
5. Joshua 23:13 describes the nations as “thorns” to Israel - “nails
in your heel” in the Septuagint version. This is alluding back to
Genesis 3:15, where the seed of the serpent was to bruise the seed
of the woman in the heel. Thus the “thorns in the flesh” are linked
with the seed of the serpent. Romans 16: 17-20 describes the Judaizers
as a Satan who would be shortly bruised under the feet of the Christians,
again using the language of genesis 3:15 (see 2-4
“The Jewish Satan” for more on this). Therefore it is fitting
for Paul to call the “messenger” of the Jewish Satan a “thorn in
the flesh”.
Notes
(1) See my Bible Lives Section 3-3-8.
