(2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
I know a man in union with Christ who, fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know; God knows—was caught away as such to the third heaven. 3 Yes, I know such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows— 4 that he was caught away into paradise and heard unutterable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak.
So what was the old light?
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A Vision of Paradise
4 In this connection, note what the apostle Paul wrote: “I know a man in union with Christ who . . . was caught away as such to the third heaven. Yes, I know such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows—that he was caught away into paradiseand heard unutterable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4) That passage comes right after verses in which Paul defended his apostleship. Moreover, the Bible does not speak of any other person who had such an experience, and Paul is the one who tells us of it. So it was likely Paul who had this vision. In this supernatural experience, what “paradise” did he enter?—2 Corinthians 11:5, 23-31.
5 The context does not suggest that “the third heaven” refers to the atmosphere around our globe, nor to outer space or to any parallel universes, as postulated by astrophysicists. The Bible often uses the number three to represent emphasis, intensity, or added strength. (Ecclesiastes 4:12; Isaiah 6:3; Matthew 26:34, 75; Revelation 4:8) Thus, what Paul saw in vision was elevated or exalted. It was spiritual.
6 Earlier Bible prophecies offer us insight. After his ancient people proved unfaithful to him, God determined to let the Babylonians come against Judah and Jerusalem. That culminated in devastation in 607 B.C.E., according to Bible chronology. Prophecy said that the land would lie desolate for 70 years; then God would allow repentant Jews to return and restore true worship. This occurred from 537 B.C.E. onward. (Deuteronomy 28:15, 62-68; 2 Kings 21:10-15; 24:12-16; 25:1-4; Jeremiah 29:10-14) What, though, of the land itself? During those 70 years, it became a place of wild vegetation, of parched areas, the habitation of jackals. (Jeremiah 4:26; 10:22) Still, there was this promise: “Jehovah will certainly comfort Zion. He will for certain comfort all her devastated places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert plain like the garden [or Paradise, Septuagint] of Jehovah.”—Isaiah 51:3; footnote.
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While apostates prevailed and seemed to overshadow them, true Christians could hardly be likened to a flourishing garden. Yet, the time would come for true worship to be elevated again. God’s people would be restored so that ‘the righteous ones could shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.’ (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) That actually came to pass a few years after God’s Kingdom was established in heaven. And with the passing of the decades, it becomes very evident that God’s people enjoy a spiritual paradise, which Paul foresaw in that vision.
