Thorn in the Flesh
or Crops and Creeps
“And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, in order to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, then, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Thus, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” —2 Cor. 12:7-10
What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Theories abound, from a bad temper, to bowlegs, to eye trouble and even epilepsy. Why is it that so many commentators fail to check their concordances for “previous.” These days, with Bible wordsearch software, we have no excuse.
Thorns are the curse of the wilderness. Thorns are the theme of the original curse upon Adam and his offspring. Thorns easily catch fire. The Canaanites whom the Israelites failed to drive out of the Land would become irritants in their eyes and thorns in their sides. Thorns are the opposite of vines; they are a Covenant curse because all Covenants are “agricultural.” God gives Adam the Land as a tenant and comes to collect His part of the crop. The grain, grapes and olives are gathered and the fruitless branches are thrown into the furnace.
I think a good contender for this particular thorn might be the persecution Paul suffered from his brothers, the Jews who rejected his gospel. The New Testament is full of references, both subtle and blatant, to them being spiritual Cainites. They were a bad crop that came out of good ground, ground-crawling thorns like Abimelech in Judges, a hybrid between true and false worship, financing a first century temple of Baal as did this wicked Israelite “king.”
The key is The Land. Jesus turned the curse into glory by wearing it as a crown. He became the cursed Land, Israel. He became the harlot people, drinking the cup of testing. He became Abimelech and Herod, the thorn kings who murdered the innocent brothers. The word “thorn” that Paul uses can also mean an impaling stake. Jesus was “crowned”, lifted up on this “throne”, and took all Israel’s barren, thorny history with Him to the grave. Then He rose again as a new Israel, a New Land capable of fruit pleasing to God. He turned thorns into vines.
Is there any clue for us in the structure of the passage? Yes, I am going to try the Bible matrix on it.
Genesis – Word – Sabbath
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,Exodus – Delegated Representative – Passover
there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, in order to keep me from exalting myself.Leviticus – Ascension of High Priest – Firstfruits
Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.Numbers – Testing in the Wilderness – Pentecost (Law given)
And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’Deuteronomy – Resurrection/Witness – Trumpets
Most gladly, then, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.Joshua – Conquest – Atonement
Thus, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”Judges – Covenant Succession – Tabernacles
I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.
The last point often concerns wisdom, so Paul’s reference to being thought a fool is telling. Paul contrasts himself with the self-styled Solomons of Corinth, the super-apostles. We might speculate that the Corinthians were just like Israel in Canaan, handed the Land but too unwise to govern. Paul was held in disrepute both within and without the church.
Just as God used Saul as an “angel” to humble David, the Lord used the Jews to humble Paul. Paul calls on the Corinthians to be humble. He is pierced and he begs them to be willingly pierced also. When God’s people are proud, he hedges their way with thorns (Hosea 2:6). Wisdom understands humiliation, by whatever means it comes to us, as a work of God.
Jordan surmises that Paul’s thorn was symbolically in his foot. Well, thorns do grow on the ground. That is the whole point! They sprout but are bowed down like beasts, not upright and reaching heavenward. The second step of the matrix often involves God’s man bowed down to the ground or falling as dead before he is lifted up and given a task or a revelation. All men fall, but God’s man does not stay down. He turns thorns into vines.
The most the Jews could do to the apostles, even when they succeeded in assassinating them, was to bruise their heels. Like thorns—and scorpions—they would soon be crushed underfoot along with their “father”, the ultimate creeping thing.
“And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.” —Ezekiel 2:6
