Terrible Times and Breathed-Out Words

The last days have arrived.

Not "will arrive someday." Not "watch for signs in the distant future." ἔσχαται ἡμέραι—the final days—began with Christ's resurrection. Timothy lives in them. We live in them. The end times stretch from the empty tomb to the second coming.

And in these last days: trouble.

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days."

χαλεποί—fierce, dangerous, hard to bear. The word describes wild animals or stormy seas. The times ahead won't be gentle.

"People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God."

The catalog cascades. Nineteen vices. φίλαυτοι—self-lovers. φιλάργυροι—money-lovers. ἀλαζόνες—boasters. ὑπερήφανοι—arrogant ones. βλάσφημοι—blasphemers. γονεῦσιν ἀπειθεῖς—disobedient to parents. ἀχάριστοι—ungrateful. ἀνόσιοι—unholy.

The list continues. ἄστοργοι—without natural affection. ἄσπονδοι—implacable, refusing reconciliation. διάβολοι—slanderers. ἀκρατεῖς—without self-control. ἀνήμεροι—savage. ἀφιλάγαθοι—not loving good.

More still. προδόται—traitors. προπετεῖς—reckless. τετυφωμένοι—swollen with pride. φιλήδονοι μᾶλλον ἢ φιλόθεοι—pleasure-lovers rather than God-lovers.

The catalog ends not with atheism but with something worse:

"...having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

μόρφωσιν εὐσεβείας—the outward form of piety. They look religious. They use religious language. They attend religious gatherings. But τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῆς ἠρνημένοι—they have denied its power. The transforming energy is absent. The shell remains; the life has fled.

τούτους ἀποτρέπου—turn away from these. The command is sharp. Don't engage. Don't debate. Don't imagine you'll reform them through clever argument. Turn away.

"They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."

ἐνδύνοντες—creeping in, burrowing in. The image is reptilian. They target vulnerable households. γυναικάρια—a diminutive, perhaps derogatory: silly women. σεσωρευμένα ἁμαρτίαις—heaped with sins. ἀγόμενα ἐπιθυμίαις ποικίλαις—led by various desires.

πάντοτε μανθάνοντα—always learning. The phrase seems positive until the completion: καὶ μηδέποτε εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν δυνάμενα—and never able to arrive at knowledge of truth. Endless study, no arrival. Perpetual curiosity, no conclusions.

"Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected."

Jannes and Jambres—names preserved in Jewish tradition for Pharaoh's magicians who replicated Moses's signs. They had power of a sort. But their power reached a limit. Their magic couldn't match God's plagues.

κατεφθαρμένοι τὸν νοῦν—corrupted in mind. ἀδόκιμοι περὶ τὴν πίστιν—disqualified regarding the faith. They fail the test.

"But they will not get very far, because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone."

ἄνοια—folly, madness. ἔκδηλος—visible, evident. Time exposes fraud. The magicians' tricks eventually ran out. These teachers' tricks will too.

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Paul pivots to contrast:

"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured."

Σὺ δέ—but you. Emphatic contrast. The false teachers follow one path; Timothy follows another.

παρηκολούθησάς—you followed alongside. Timothy didn't just hear Paul's teaching; he witnessed Paul's life. The teaching took shape in purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance. And in suffering—Antioch, Iconium, Lystra. Real cities. Real persecutions. Timothy was there, or near there.

"Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them."

ἐκ πάντων με ἐρρύσατο ὁ κύριος. Not that he was spared suffering—he wasn't. But he was brought through. Delivered. Rescued. The Lord who permitted the persecution also provided the preservation.

"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."

οἱ θέλοντες ζῆν εὐσεβῶς—those wanting to live piously. διωχθήσονται—will be persecuted. No exemptions. Godliness attracts opposition. The darkness hates light.

Meanwhile, evildoers and impostors—γόητες, wonder-workers, charlatans—προκόψουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον. They will advance toward worse. Not improvement but deterioration. πλανῶντες καὶ πλανώμενοι—deceiving and being deceived. The deceiver is also victim. The lie catches the liar.

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And now the anchor:

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it..."

μένε—remain, abide, persist. Don't drift with the deceivers. Stay with what you've learned.

ἔμαθες καὶ ἐπιστώθης—learned and became convinced. Both verbs matter. Timothy wasn't just informed; he was persuaded. The truth took root.

εἰδὼς παρὰ τίνων ἔμαθες—knowing from whom you learned. The teachers matter. Paul. Lois. Eunice. The chain of faithful transmission.

"...and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

ἀπὸ βρέφους—from babyhood. The Scriptures were Timothy's nursery food. ἱερὰ γράμματα—sacred writings. The Old Testament, read to him before he could read himself.

And their power: δυνάμενα σε σοφίσαι εἰς σωτηρίαν—able to make you wise for salvation. The Scriptures don't just inform; they transform. They produce the wisdom that leads to rescue.

διὰ πίστεως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ—through faith in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament points forward. The sacred writings find their meaning in Christ. Faith in him unlocks what the Scriptures offer.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος—all Scripture God-breathed. Not the human authors breathing toward God but God breathing through them. The breath of God animates the text. What Moses and David and Isaiah wrote carries divine exhalation.

And this breathed-out Scripture is ὠφέλιμος—useful, profitable, beneficial. For what?

διδασκαλίαν—teaching. What is true?

ἐλεγμόν—rebuking. What is wrong?

ἐπανόρθωσιν—correcting. How to get right?

παιδείαν τὴν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ—training in righteousness. How to stay right?

ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος—so that the man of God may be complete. πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν ἐξηρτισμένος—thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The breathed-out Scripture produces finished workers. Not half-built, not under-resourced, not lacking tools. Thoroughly equipped. Ready for whatever good work awaits.

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Terrible times and breathed-out words.

The last days bring self-lovers and money-lovers and lovers of pleasure. They wear religion's form while denying its power. They deceive and are deceived.

But the Scriptures stand. Ancient. Divine. Sufficient.

Timothy has known them from infancy.

They will be enough for what comes next.