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Foretaste
In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, the apostle
Paul revealed to the Corinthian church an experience he had 14 years
earlier wherein he was “caught up” into paradise, the third heaven.
Paul could not recollect whether it was an out-of-body experience, or
whether Jesus had transported his body. Many believe this happened when
he was stoned, left for dead outside the city of Lystra (Acts
14:19-20).
Paul said he “HEARD unspeakable
words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (12:4). Was Paul
saying (1) he would be in violation of a heavenly trust if he shared
what he HEARD, or (2) human language was incapable of capturing its
essence?
Contrast this with the vision of
Isaiah when he saw the LORD “high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1-9). In
that passage, Isaiah shares what he SAW, what he HEARD, things he SAID
and what the Lord SAID to him. But in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul
says nothing about what he might have seen, and nothing about what he
actually HEARD, except that it would be unlawful for him to attempt to
share it.
Think about it! If Isaiah was able to
reveal the glories of his vision—things both SEEN and HEARD, how
marvelous, how transcendent must have been the things Paul HEARD but
was unable to reveal? Note Paul did NOT say he couldn’t remember what
he HEARD, but that he was simply not at liberty to share it with
another human.
God gave Paul a FORETASTE of glory to
come beyond this life that I’m sure served as a motivator to keep him
faithful despite the “infirmities” he endured during his ministry. When
the Romans were about to sever his head from his body, perhaps he
recalled what he had HEARD years earlier and what he was about to HEAR
again. One day we believers in Jesus will get to HEAR the things Paul
HEARD.
Another truth we learn by contrasting
Isaiah’s vision with Paul’s is that what a man does in response to what
he HEARS is far more significant than what he does based on what he
SEES! Faith comes by HEARING, and HEARING by the Word of God (Romans
10:17). And without faith, it is impossible to please him (Hebrews
11:6).
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