12:1
Paul then carries on his “boasting”. It is quite possible that some of the false apostles claimed to have visions and revelations. Paul could easily “out claim” them on this score, though he saw no personal advantage in doing this. So why is he continuing to “boast”? Because he wants to show that even in the areas where the false apostles claimed to be good or experts, they were really nothing much at all. He will then move the argument on to the things he really wants to talk about, namely strength in weakness.
12:2
Paul then describes a vision. He does not even talk directly of the vision having been seen by himself, though it is generally assumed that it is a vision received by himself that he is talking about. The third heaven probably means the place where God lives. In Hebrew thought the first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere (Deut 28:12). The second heaven is space, the cosmos (Ps 19,4,6). The third heaven is the dwelling place of God. He does not know whether he went there just in spirit, or in body as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment