After encouraging Timothy to be the kind of leader and minister that he needs to be to face the false teachers in Ephesus, Paul shifts to describing just how that opposition would come. Serious dangers face the church, and Paul stresses to Timothy just how those dangers will occur in an effort to keep Timothy strong, faithful and encouraged.
We will look at the first two verses in this description, finishing the list next week. You can find the beginning of this list in 2 Timothy 3:1-2:
Paul begins this chapter with a phrase that has confused many people. He tells Timothy that “in the last days” there will be difficulties. Many have assumed this to mean that the Second Coming is imminent. While I suspect that Christ’s return may be very soon, that’s not what this phrase means when it is used in the Bible. The phrase, “the last days,” every time it is used in the New Testament, refers to the church age, from the time of Christ’s first coming to the second. The “last days” are happening now, and have been since Paul penned these words. And they will continue until the end.
As an example of this, take a look at 1 John 2:18, where the phrase is used to describe John’s own day. No, Paul is describing to Timothy here a reality that he faced in Ephesus, and a reality that has continued until the present time and beyond.
From here, Paul begins to describe what characterizes evil people living in the last days. Of this list of eighteen descriptors, five of them are found only here, two more are used only in Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus, and and another three are found only here and Paul’s similar listing in Romans 1:29-31. That makes this description especially poignant.
Paul describes these people as being:
Lovers of themselves
This is the first item in the description Paul gives. Some view this as the overarching principle from which the rest of the list will come. However, it stands in stark contrast to godliness all on its own, and seems to be very true of our own days as well. This may have been the first item in the list simply because it is the opposite of how an overseer or elder should be (Titus 1:7). This is a heart issue. If we love ourselves, then we are not able to love others, or love God, to the level that we should.
Lovers of money
Luke uses this same word to describe the Pharisees in 16:14. This characteristic is also used by Paul to describe the false teachers in 1 Timothy 6:5-10, 1 Timothy 3:3, 8; and Titus 1:7, 11. Those who are focused on loving themselves and loving money soon find that they are a long way from God.
Boastful
This word is based on the root word for “wandering.” Paul’s idea here is that they are wandering through life, only of the sake of getting something or for some gain. This word displays a false confidence, and unfounded arrogance, that one knows what he is talking about, when in fact, he does not.
Proud
This is a contemptuous looking down on others as beneath themselves. This can refer to social standing, affluence, or even gifts or talents. This is different from the word “boastful” in that this term applies to the attitude or heart, whereas “boastful” carries more of a reference to actions and words.
Abusive
I’m not certain that the NIV translated this word correctly. The Greek word here is the word “blasphemy.” This means to speak in an insulting fashion, whether towards God or towards others. This is contempt, and perhaps “revilers” would be a better translation. Paul used this word to describe his own behavior before he met Christ on the road to Damascus, in 1 Timothy 1:13.
Disobedient to their parents
This characteristic is surprising in a list of the evil attributes in the last days. However, if you look closer at the Old Testament Law, respect for parents is expected, no matter what one’s age may be. Both the Greeks and the Romans had serious laws for those who struck or neglected their parents, and the Jewish Law placed obedience and respect for parents as high as one of the Ten Commandments.
Ungrateful
Nothing seems to be more painful than ingratitude. We strive to teach our kids to have attitudes that reflect thankfulness, and when they do not, it hurts. This can be even more painful when displayed by adults.
Unholy
The idea here is one of irreverence or disrespect. Both of these last two words help to throw a bit more light on Paul’s reason for listing the characteristic of being disobedient towards parents. Both of these words help describe even further what that looks like.
This is a depressing list, and it will only get worse in next week’s passage. But Paul’s purpose in describing these characteristics is so that Timothy, and you and I, can be ready, knowing what to expect as we face the last days in which we live.
And, if any of these qualities are present in our own lives, this list shows us where we need to work, repenting and making changes to reflect Christ more fully in our own lives, so that we can present him more easily to others.
Question: Do you struggle with any of the things listed here? What are you doing to improve? You can leave a comment by clicking here.