What is the meaning of 2 Corinthians 12:2? I know a man in Christ • Paul chooses third-person language to shift attention from himself to the Lord. This echoes his earlier refusal to “boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). • “In Christ” stresses union with Jesus, the ground of every believer’s identity (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 15:4). • By avoiding his own name, Paul models humility while still testifying to God’s work (2 Corinthians 10:17-18). who fourteen years ago • The detail roots the experience in real time, underscoring its historicity. Calculated from the letter’s writing (c. AD 55-56), the event likely occurred during Paul’s early ministry in either Tarsus or Antioch. • Scripture often anchors divine encounters to specific dates (Luke 3:1-2; Ezra 7:7-9), reinforcing their factual nature. • The span of fourteen years reveals Paul’s restraint; he waited until compelled by critics to mention this revelation (2 Corinthians 11:30-33). was caught up to the third heaven • “Caught up” translates the same verb used of the Church’s future rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:17), indicating a sudden, sovereign transport. • Biblical cosmology speaks of (1) the atmospheric heaven where birds fly (Genesis 1:20), (2) the stellar heaven of sun, moon, and stars (Deuteronomy 4:19), and (3) the highest heaven, God’s dwelling (Psalm 115:16). Paul reached this third realm. • Similar throne-room scenes—Isaiah 6:1-4; Ezekiel 1:1; Revelation 4:1-2—show the consistency of Scripture’s testimony: heaven is a real, glorious place. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows • Paul confesses the limits of human perception when encountering the supernatural (compare Acts 12:9, where Peter “did not know that what was happening…was real”). • The uncertainty does not diminish the event’s reality; rather, it highlights God’s power over both physical and spiritual realms (Matthew 10:28). • Believers’ future transformation—“flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50)—illustrates why Paul could not discern his bodily state. • The phrase “God knows” rests the entire experience on divine authority, a reminder that revelation originates and is authenticated by Him alone (Deuteronomy 29:29). summary Paul recounts an actual, life-changing ascent into the very presence of God. By speaking anonymously, dating the event, describing a literal rapture to the highest heaven, and admitting what he could not grasp, he magnifies the Lord rather than himself. The verse teaches that God can transport His people beyond earthly limits, that heaven is a real location where He reigns, and that every revelation is ultimately under His sovereign control. |
    |