2 Corinthians 11:25-33 Escape Through a Window (and other adventures)
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 17, 2020 2 Corinthians 11:25-33
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
(Understanding the Text) In the previous verses, Paul has listed how he received punishment from humans. Now Paul tells of how his life of service has been dangerous in other ways. He was shipwrecked three times, and on one of those times he was drifting around on the sea for a night and a day before he was either rescued or came to shore. This does not include the shipwreck in Acts when Paul was being taken to Rome. Thus, Paul was shipwrecked at least four times. It would be understandable why Paul preferred walking when possible. It makes me wonder if Paul was targeted by the devil, and if he knew it, which also might explain the walking when the donations for Jerusalem were on the ship, but I think it was that Paul did not like to be shut in, so he took the opportunity to travel in other ways when possible. The SDA commentary says that the shipwreck in Acts took place long after this letter was written. “Five sea voyages are recorded in Acts, but nothing is said of shipwreck prior to that of Acts 27. The shipwreck enroute to Rome came long after the writing of this epistle (Acts 27:41-44).”
Paul traveled a lot. The longest he got to stay in one place once he began as a missionary was about three years. However, I’m sure that even during those three years, he frequently traveled to locations around his home base to preach. Traveling in his day was not safe with frequent gas stations and police patrolling the roads. While traveling, Paul faced many dangers. Even rivers were a problem. The SDA commentary says “There would be few bridges along most of the highways and byways Paul traveled. He would have to ford the rivers. Most of what we know as Asia Minor, Greece, and Macedonia is mountainous, and many an unbridged mountain torrent would constitute a dangerous obstacle.“
danger from robbers When I first read this, I just thought maybe he was saying that the roads that he traveled had a lot of bandits, and he had to constantly be on the lookout for them, but after reading the SDA commentary, I wonder if Paul himself might have been robbed at times. When speaking of cold and nakedness (cold and exposure), the commentary says “Perhaps Paul had, at times, lacked sufficient clothing in the mountainous regions of central Asia Minor, or perhaps he had suffered robbery.”
Paul says that there were no safe places and no safe people. He was in danger everywhere he went whether in the city or wilderness or on the sea. He was in danger from both Jews and Gentiles, and also robbers, but I think that in Paul’s opinion, the worst danger was from false brothers–Christians who worked against Paul and betrayed Christ, usually by trying to make Gentiles keep Jewish ceremonial laws and nullifying Jesus’ death.
Paul lists specifically the dangers and problems he faced: very hard work (toil), hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, and exposure to the elements. The SDA commentary says of the toil and hardship “The first two words refer specifically to the taxing physical work in which Paul found it necessary to engage (1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). To work at evangelism as Paul did was, in itself, a full-time task, and the time and energy taken to support himself were beyond what would be considered normal for any man. Consequently, he must have often sacrificed sleep in order to have time for preaching (Acts 20:31) and for private devotions (1 Thess. 3:10). Paul was now but slightly past the mid-point of his 20 years of recorded public ministry, and the 10 most difficult years of suffering and persecution still lay ahead of him. What he records here is only a small part of what he endured for Christ’s sake.” The SDA commentary says the two different references to hunger might refer to two different ideas: inadequate food versus no food.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) However, it seems that one of the most difficult problems was his worry over the churches that he had started. Paul worried over his baby Christians. He had much to worry about. They faced many of the same dangers as he himself did from the people around them. In addition, they faced the danger of false belief and having their walk with Jesus corrupted. Paul says that he feels what they feel. When they are weak, he is weak. When they fall, he is angry that someone hurt them and caused them to fall. Paul says that here is his real reason to boast. All of the other issues that he has bragged about are foolishness to him. He says that the only reason he has to brag is how much he loves and identifies with his people. He says that they make him weak because of his worry over them, but that he will brag that they make him weak. He calls on the Father to witness to the truth of his words. I don’t think that he is calling on God to witness to the truth of the dangers. Instead, I think he is calling on God to witness to the Corinthians about how much Paul cares about them and worries about them. This helps us to understand how God feels. If a fallen human like Paul could have so much emotion about his Gentile spiritual children, God must have strong emotions towards us also.
(Understanding the Text) The SDA commentary made me think about the activities that Paul participated in besides going to synagogues and teaching about Jesus and working as a tentmaker and writing letters. “Paul here refers to the problems that constantly arose and that seemed to occupy so much of his time, as, for instance, the writing of his epistles, the personal counseling of sin-burdened souls, the answering of doctrinal questions that needed clarification, his frequent meetings with the leaders of the churches, and his constant efforts to strengthen the churches and their members.” I never thought of Paul as counseling individuals who were facing addictions to sins and who were broken by the societies that they lived in, but it would have been necessary. Also, I never thought of the time that Paul spent in group meetings where leaders discussed issues with regard to organization and meeting specific problems.
They did not have computers with cut and paste back then, or even pencils with erasers, so when Paul thought of another danger that should have been put in his list before, he lists it here. I wonder if this is why I sometimes have a hard time following Paul’s logic. I have always put it down to a different cultural way of thinking and my lack of knowledge of the scriptures and the situation that Paul was writing about, but maybe there is a third component. Sometimes things were after thoughts like postscripts that needed to be said and should have been said earlier, but could not be inserted because there was no way to erase. Anyway, Paul lists one final danger, which was being let down in a basket over the wall of Damascus when the governor for King Aretas had all the gates under guard ready to capture Paul if he should try to leave. The SDA commentary says “Historical records reveal that Syria, including Damascus, had been a Roman province since about 64 B.C., prior to which it had been subject to the Nabataeans. How Aretas IV, an independent king of Nabatea who reigned from 9 B.C. to A.D. 39 . . . could have been in control of Damascus at the time to which Paul refers is not known. It is possible that the emperor may have assigned the city to Aretas for a time to secure his friendship or for other political reasons now unknown. Aretas could hardly have taken it from the Romans by force. See on Acts 9:24.” On page 97 in the timeline of Paul’s life, the SDA commentary says that this must have happened sometime between A.D. 37-40. Putting this together with Acts 9, it seems that although it specifically says the Jews were watching the gates, they were doing so with the support of the governor.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that I shouldn’t feel that I lack faith when I worry about other people. Paul himself worried about the people in the churches that he started, and he had cause to worry. Worry is part of love. If we love deeply, we will worry. I pray that You will give me healing so that I will not be broken by my worries. I pray to come to You for comfort in my anxieties. Help me to let You comfort me.