2 Corinthians 11:24 Commentary and Bible Study

Thirty-nine lashes – a fearful Jewish punishment. It took place in or outside a synagogue. It was terrible with the body thrown frontwards over a huge slab of stone, and arms, limbs tied down, and then whipped from behind by a lictor, so severely that the blood ran and often they tell us in the ancient records that bones were exposed. Five times he suffered this, but it is unlikely to be the full total because this letter is early. This is a significant point to make. You won’t find it in the book of Acts; it is not recorded anywhere but here. That generation was condemned for what they did to Paul; they show their hostility to Christ. But Paul is sanctified by these things. He believes more, and praises God more, and it was a source of assurance. The greater part of our assurance comes from all the experiences we have in answered prayer. There is a direct blessing from the Lord, but most comes through prayers.What were the purposes of Paul’s sufferings? First of all, to authenticate his calling. Yes, he was going to be authenticated by prophecy. He would make prophecies, short term prophecies, medium term, long term, and the short term ones would come to pass, that would authenticate him. He was going to be authenticated also by the power to do signs and wonders, unique to the apostles in those days. That would authenticate him. But he was also authenticated by his suffering. He was willing to preach Christ no matter what the cost. He is going to go up to Jerusalem. Is he going to fare any better in Jerusalem than in Damascus? Of course not. In Jerusalem, there will be many converts, there already were many. But as a whole the population was so fiercely nationalistic in their Jewishness, that they hate the apostle Paul. Yet he was ready to go to Jerusalem and to preach there. Remember, the apostle Paul especially need authentication because he would be a penman of inspired Scripture. Much of the New Testament is written by the apostle Paul. Was he a genuine man? Well, look at him. Look at his commitment. Look at what he went through. The second reason for Paul’s sufferings is to show the heart of the apostle. Paul says to Timothy, ‘Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ Why does he go through with it? No doubt as he approached a certain major city, the devil will whisper in his ear, Paul do not proceed. There is a significant Jewish community and they will hurl everything at you and they will stir up mobs and violence. But the Holy Spirit would say to him, go on: God is with you. But a third reason for his sufferings is, of course, to show his human limitations. He was no superman. In his own right he was a great Jewish intellectual, but God humbled him and changed him. Now he was not really equipped for the task he was given; no human being could be. He had, it would appear, a relatively frail body, made worse by his sufferings and afflictions. His eyesight was severely affected by one thing or another. He struggled and yet had tremendous journeys to make and feats to accomplish. But he was not a strong man, he was not a superman in any sense.Another reason for his sufferings is to reveal the hardness of the human heart. Many people were saved, yet it was by the mighty and irresistible grace of God overruling overpowering hearts and bringing people to the Lord. Do not believe in gimmicks. Do not believe if you turn on a lot of power and boost the preacher, and you give them publicists and specialists, the people will listen. They will only listen by a movement of the Spirit of God. All we do is preach and pray; conversion is the Lord’s work.