2 Tim. 3:1-9
We already have a post on The Last Days, and how it doesn’t necessarily mean what we thought it meant.
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses, 7 who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith; 9 but they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. 2 Tim. 3:1-9
When haven’t there been people like these? When have times not been stressful?
Neither Timothy nor we should be surprised at this, for Messiah had warned us that the Kingdom was to be partly corrupt. It would be made up of good fish and bad, of wheat and weeds, of a mustard tree full of foul birds, etc. The leaven of wickedness runs deep through all of the Kingdom. A few traitors inside the camp can do far more harm than a giant army outside.
Paul now furnishes 18 adjectives that describe these kinds of leaders. Unfortunately, these were not limited to just the last days of Judean polity. They have continued throughout the Kingdom age.
- lovers of self – philautos, self-centered love or concern for one’s self
- lovers of money – philarguros, loving wealth and riches
- proud – alazon, one who is pretentiously proud and given to bragging, an arrogant person
- arrogant – huperephanos, being ostentatiously proud, haughty, and contemptuous
- abusive/blasphemer, blasphemos – being insulting or slanderous
- disobedient to their parents – apeithes, being continuously disobedient
- ungrateful – acharistos, complete lack of thankfulness, ungrateful
- unholy – anosios, not consecrated or devoted to God
- inhuman – astorgos, lack of love or affection for close associates or family
- implacable – aspondos, being unwilling to be reconciled to others
- slanderers – diablolos, this is the adjective form of devil, one who engages in slander
- profligates – akrates, lacking self-control, uncontrolled
- fierce – anemeros, in the sense of being a wild, untamed, vicious
- haters of good – aphilagathos, not loving what is good, being an enemy of good
- treacherous – prodotes, traitor, betrayer
- reckless – propetes, reckless behavior, without thinking without counting the cost
- swollen with conceit – tuphoomai, to be crazy, to be demented, insanely arrogant, extremely proud
- lovers of pleasure – philedonos, fond of pleasure and enjoyment
Then one adjective for what leaders are to be.
- lovers of God – philotheos, love for God, pious
Form of Religion
5 holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.
These are those who take on Christian or Biblical names, who are Baptized in the Faith, and show all forms of being godly believers, but deny the power. They always have something more to do. There is some penance, self-punishment, or penalty that must be paid or performed. Their grace is never a free gift of God. In Theological terms, “They have an insufficient cross for salvation.” If these leaders teach that Messiah didn’t pay it all, walk away.
Weak Women
It is interesting to note that these kinds of spiritual leaders prey on weak women. As much as modern women’s liberation has taken us, our human natures have not changed. Women respond to spiritual leaders very differently than men do. These leaders never seem to even talk with the men. They know they are going to get much farther with the women. Women are intrigued by people who claim to have hidden and or secret knowledge especially as to how one might obtain heaven. They are far more likely to be deceived than men are (remember Eve taking advice from a serpent.) Women are drawn to men who give them attention, and false teachers are always out looking for lonely, neglected, unappreciated women.
They make their way into the household and not into the congregation. These slippery fellows seek to separate lonely women from those who would sound an alarm. They pay attention to the children, they notice every little thing the woman does and praise her extravagantly with soft flattery, assuring them that God will notice their good works. This is all a ruse to enslave them to their personality, their charm, and false teachings.
Jannes and Jambres
Paul names two from the “first days” who opposed Moses in Egypt just as God’s plans revealed that He was to establish a nation of the Children of Israel. Jannes and Jambres were pagan priests. [Ex. 7:10-12] Yes, they could turn their staffs to snakes, but Moses’ staff snake ate theirs. I do wonder how long that took. Did they all just stand around and watch the snakes? Yes, they could turn water into blood, like Egypt needed even more blood and less water. That was no help in keeping the fish from dying.
By the time we get to the gnats, even these magicians know they are dealing with the one true God.
And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them; as the LORD had said. Ex. 8:19
We must consider that even though these two were not successful in stopping Moses, the culture and religion of Egypt were implanted into the Children of Israel’s hearts. Because when Moses went up on the mountain alone they reverted to that old bovine worship they had known in Egypt.
God will only allow these false teachers for a time. They may deceive nations and congregations but for no longer than God will permit. They will be exposed as imposters and every man will abandon them.
P.S. At the end of this, I try not to be a false teacher, but I must admit I am personally quite arrogant.