It is interesting to piece together the apostle Paul’s early history.

About 34-35 AD, was Paul converted on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians. Acts 9:23 says that he stayed there “many days” until threats on his life led him to flee. In Galatians 3:17-18, he says he went to Arabia, returned to Damascus, and then went to Jerusalem “after three years.”

This would mean that Paul went to Jerusalem about 37-38 AD. The Christians there were understandably afraid of their former persecutor, but Acts 9:27 says that Barnabas “brought him to the apostles.” However, in Galatians 1:18-19, Paul says he only met Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, and stayed with Peter fifteen days.

Again, Paul’s life was threatened, so Paul was sent to Tarsus, which was evidently Paul’s hometown (Acts 9:11). Tarsus was in the eastern part of what is now Turkey, in a region then called Cilicia (Galatians 1:21), just northwest of Syria.

Paul apparently spent several years there, but little is known about what he did. He does not appear to have done much preaching or evangelizing. As Jesus pointed out, prophets are often given little honor in their hometowns (Matthew 13:57). Perhaps, Paul spent some of that time studying what the Old Testament prophecies said about Jesus, preparing for his future ministry, even though he probably did not yet fully envision what that would be. There is no indication he ever returned to Tarsus later on after these quiet years, although Acts 15:41 says that on his second missionary journey Paul “went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

When the church was founded in Antioch, in northern Syria, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help guide the new church. Barnabas went to Tarsus, which was only 100 miles or so farther north, and brought back Paul to help him with the teaching. This was probably about 45 AD because Paul taught there for “a whole year” (Acts 11:25), made another visit to Jerusalem, and shortly afterward was sent out on his first missionary journey, covering the years 46-47 AD.

Paul’s second missionary journey was longer, from 48 to 51 AD, during which he first visited Corinth (Acts 18:1-18). Paul then visited Jerusalem and spent considerable time in Antioch before going on his third missionary journey from 53 to 59 AD.  Paul only spent about three months in Greece on this journey (Acts 20:2-3), but during this journey he apparently wrote 1 Corinthians about 54 AD and 2 Corinthians about 55 AD.

In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul told the story of “a man” (almost all commentators believe this refers to Paul himself) who was “caught up to the third heaven.” Paul did not know if he went there physically or only in a vision. One explanation of this puzzling phrase is that, in Greek thought, the first “heaven” was earth’s atmosphere of air and clouds, the second “heaven” was the realm of the stars and planets, and the third “heaven” was the realm of the gods. What Paul was saying is that he had a similar experience to that of the apostle John when John was in exile on the island of Patmos and wrote Revelation—he was granted a rare vision of the throne room of God. In the presence of God, there is no room for personal pride, which was the point of Paul’s long defense of his ministry in 2 Corinthians 10-12. He was saying that even though he had had a much more illustrious ministry than the “false apostles” who were misleading the Corinthians, none of them had a right to boast before Almighty God. Knowing God and receiving revelations from God was a gracious gift, not an achievement.

When did this vision occur? Paul said it was “fourteen years ago,” or about the year 41 AD. This would have been during those quiet years when Paul was living in Tarsus and perhaps studying the Old Testament and learning more about Jesus in preparation for his later missionary work.