What was Paul's background before God used him, and what did God have to do to him?
Paul was highly educated, having sat under Gamaliel, the chief rabbi of that day, and he came from a wealthy Jewish family. Before God could use him, God had to take him down to a nobody, humbling him so that he would not rely on his own position or learning.
Les explains that Paul was highly educated, having been under Gamaliel, the chief rabbi of that day, and he was from a wealthy Jewish family. Yet God had to take him down to a nobody before He could use him. Les compares this to Moses, who was taken to the back side of the desert and became a sheepherder, a nothing in Egyptian eyes, for 40 years before God approached him at the burning bush. The principle is that God often chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, rather than noblemen or the highly educated.