2 Corinthians 12:2

I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up, even to the third heaven.

A man in Christ ... The center and circumference of Pauline theology are summed up in the phrase "in Christ." The thought behind the use of the third person here is that it was not as himself that these experiences came to him, but that "as Christ" and "in Christ" he was granted those things. On this account, his glorying is "glorying in the Lord," not in himself.

Whether in the body ... out of the body ... Paul simply did not know what state he was in; and modesty should restrain all commentators from elaborating on what it was.

Such a one caught up to the third heaven ... Since the apostle Paul here quite obviously resorted to the third person when narrating these events, the critics who deny the authorship of the book of Jonah on the ground that it was written in the third person are refuted. The words "caught up" are the same that Luke used of Philip (Acts 8:39) and that Paul used of the resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Fourteen years ago ... "This was in 41-42 A.D., some years after his escape from Damascus."[5] There is nothing known of any vision Paul had at that time, except what is related here; although he had numerous visions. It is futile to attempt to identify this with any of the known visions recorded elsewhere.

The third heaven ... This is mentioned only here in the New Testament; and there is no certainty about what is meant. Lipscomb outlined the three heavens as understood by the Jews thus:

(1) The air or atmosphere where the clouds gather (Genesis 2:1,19), (2) the firmament containing the sun, moon and stars (Deuteronomy 18:3; Matthew 24:29), and (3) God's dwelling place (Matthew 5:12,16,45,48).[6]

There are no geographical connotations whatever in these words, for the third heaven where God dwells is not a thing of space and physical location at all. It is a state of being beyond, above and higher even than the second heaven. Robinson's remarkable blindness to this fact enabled him to write: "Now it seems there is no room for God, not merely in the inn, but in the entire universe; for there are no vacant places left."[7] The eternal Spirit is ubiquitous; and as Paul said, "in him we live, and move and have our being" (Acts 17:26). Finite man cannot understand infinity. The great value of this astounding revelation of Paul the apostle does not lie in what is explained (as a matter of fact, he did not EXPLAIN anything); but its value lies in the revelation that no explanation of such things is possible.

There has never been anything written that carries any greater internal evidence of being the truth, than what Paul wrote here. The visions and revelations referred to occurred more than fourteen years previously; and it may be assumed that Paul would never have mentioned them at all, except for their connection with the "thorn in the flesh." Furthermore, when he finally recorded them, he did so with the most tantalizing brevity, requiring only ten words in Greek to describe both the visions of the third heaven and of Paradise. Plainly, Paul did not intend to convey any information at all beyond the fact that he had experienced such marvelous events. He explained his brevity (2 Corinthians 12:4) by declaring it to be: (1) an outright impossibility to elaborate, and (2) contrary to God's will, even if he could have done so. Finite, limited, mortal and sinful people simply do not possess the intellectual tools to comprehend, either the God and Father of mankind, or the nature of his dwelling place. Of God, men may know only what is revealed; and, even with regard to that, only a fool could believe that man fully understands all of that, in any complete sense. Therefore, as far as "the third heaven" is concerned, this writer does not profess to know anything beyond the truth that an apostle was "caught up" into it.

[5] Norman Hillyer, The New Bible Commentary, Revised (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1086.

[6] David Lipscomb, Second Corinthians (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company), p. 157.

[7] John A. T. Robinson, Honest to God (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1963), p. 13.