2 Corinthians 11--"Paul and the false apostles"

 jealous--to desire one earnestly, to strive after, to busy oneself about.  

betroth--to give one in marriage

Paul references Genesis 3 concerning Eve and the Serpent.  

Paul fears he's rambling as he continues his thoughts, but he asks the Corinthians to bear with him as he thinks through their situation.  Paul desires that the Corinthians follow Christ, in a way that only God Himself could lay on his heart.  Paul has "arranged the marriage" between the Corinthian believers and Jesus Christ, so he feels an accountability in presenting the bride (The Church) to the Groom (Christ Jesus) as pure.  He is worried that false apostles will swoop in and pursue them and lead them astray.  He's sure they are strong enough to resist, but he still feels anxiety for their spiritual health.  Paul knows he is not inferior to these smooth talkers, but as we remember in the last chapter, Paul is better with a pen than with speech.  He knows way more than they do, but he doesn't feel confident in his ability to convey it.  Then he wonders if he's made less of his ministry by providing it for free?  Maybe they'd feel more of a commitment to and investment in Paul and his ministry if they'd given money to it as others had.  Paul intends to continue finding great pleasure in the truth of Christ, and extending love to the Corinthians, whether they accept it or not.  He recommits himself to the ministry and to pulling the rug out from under the false apostles.  He knows they are just masquerading as ones who have all the answers, just as Satan does.  He's brushing off any worry he has for their influence, because they will get what they deserve.  Paul asks for a little more tolerance from the Corinthians--he knows they've been plenty tolerant with the disrespectful false apostles, letting them push them around and look down on them.  Paul said--sarcastically--that he was too "weak" to allow them to treat him that way.  He makes a list of comparisons between himself and the false teachers.  He has the coveted background, he has been persecuted, and he has felt the pull of sin.  All of these things make him relatable to those he ministers to, and he gladly suffers so in his weakness, Christ Jesus can be glorified.  

False apostles are not a foreign concept in our day.  There are so many self-proclaimed "voices of God", fueled in great part by social media.  I would guess it's never been easier to take a verse and twist it, to berate others for their beliefs, and to lord our own "faithfulness" over another than  the time in which we find ourselves.  Just in the 10 seconds it took me to type that last sentence, I thought of three women "Bible teachers" that I believe are on the wrong path, although I'm not quite as bold as Paul as to call them false apostles.  (And, like Paul, I don't need to, their end will correspond to their deeds.)  But I absolutely feel the frustration that Paul must have felt in seeing his beloved Corinthians hanging on every word out of these smooth talkers' mouths.  That frustration is only relieved by the commitment in verse 2.  Instead of ONLY worrying about the false teachers, I pray to feel a divine jealousy for those I would lead to our beloved Christ Jesus.  I pray we can be presented and present ourselves as holy, pure, set apart for only Him.