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:

After a harsh treatment of the false teachers throughout this letter, and in 1 Timothy and Titus, here Paul seems to hold out a bit of hope for them nonetheless. Though their teaching may be contrary to the truth, Paul still holds hope that they may repent and turn away from the false teaching.

You can find this amazing hope in 2 Timothy 2:25-26:

There is a bit of a question with this passage. Just who is Paul referring to here? Is he referring to the false teachers? Or is he referring to someone else, perhaps those who have followed these false teachers and gone astray?

There are some who suggest that it isn’t the teachers that Paul is speaking about here, but the ones who have been taught. This idea is based upon Titus 3:10, where Paul instructs Titus to warn such teachers twice, and then avoid them. In fact, Timothy is given similar instructions in verse 23 of this chapter, being told to avoid such situations.

On the other hand, context is king. In looking at the rest of the chapter, you can see that the ones who have followed the false teachers are not the subject of Paul’s instructions, the false teachers are themselves. If that is the case, even though Timothy is not to continually be caught up in struggling with these people, he still can hold out hope for a change of heart.

Paul moves into his final illustration of the chapter with this week’s passage, the image of a servant. First, however, he addresses Timothy’s youthfulness and encourages him to stand strong in the face of temptation.

Take a look for yourself in 2 Timothy 2:22-24:

If you look closely, you’ll see that these few verses are laid out in a pattern. Paul instructs Timothy to avoid certain things, and then he encourages him to pursue the opposite. He then does the same pattern again, giving Timothy something to avoid and then to pursue.

Paul probably used this structure to help remind Timothy of his instructions. And, once we see the pattern, it helps us remember as well. It’s in the final part of this passage that Paul introduces the imagery of the servant.

This week’s passage is split across two images that Paul uses to convey to Timothy his role as a believer and as a minister. First, he wraps up his discussion of the image of a workman with a couple of quotes. And then he shifts to the image of a household utensil.

This passage is bit longer than usual. You can see it in 2 Timothy 2:19-21:

As Paul works his way through this chapter, he has described ministry as several different images: He has used the image of a son (verses 1-2), a soldier (verses 3-4), an athlete (verse 5), a farmer (verses 6-13), and a workman (verses 14-19) so far. Now we will look at the illustration of a utensil (verses 20-23). There is one more image in this chapter to look at; the image of a servant (verses 24-27) will conclude the chapter.

First, however, Paul wraps up his discussion of the workman with two quotes. As Timothy addresses the false teaching that has infiltrated the church in Ephesus, Paul encourages him by stating that God’s foundation is solid. There is some speculation as to just what Paul is referring to with the idea of a foundation. There are five major options:

• The church in general (see 1 Timothy 3:15)
• The faithful believers in the Ephesian church
• The faith in general
• Christ specifically (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-12)
• The apostles and prophets, with their messages

While any of these certainly fit here, the context seems to indicate that Paul is referring to something broad in the context. In essence, what Paul is saying is that God has accomplished something that is so solid that it cannot be shaken, regardless of what any false teachers may stir up.