FOR THE TIME
WILL COME WHEN: estai (3SFMI) gar kairos hote:
(2Ti 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 1Ti 4:1, 4:2 4:3)
For
explains the reason for the solemn charge and the urgent command
especially in view of Paul's soon coming departure (2Ti 4:6).
Time
(2540)
(kairos
[word study]) is not merely a
succession of minutes as in the word
chronos
G5550
(chronological
referring to clock or calendar time),
but instead refers to a
season, a decisive epoch, an era or a fixed, definitive period of time
when events are brought to a crisis. Kairos refers to
those strategic times in the calendar of God during which events come to
a culmination and ripen to usher in a new age. Therefore kairos
can refer to a period of opportunity and when the period
of time passes so does the opportunity.
Kairos is the root word for "in season...out of
season" (2Ti 4:2
) and "(difficult) times" (2Ti 3:1).
Trench defines kairos
as
a critical, epoch-making period foreordained of God when all that has
been slowly, and often without observation, ripening through long ages,
is mature and comes to the birth in grand decisive events, which
constitute at once the close of one period and the commencement of
another.
So there will come a "season" or
specific period of time which is characterized by those inside
(not outside) the professing "church" who will not tolerate wholesome,
life giving teaching.
Throughout church history there have been
seasons
when people did not want to hear God's Word. Just
turn on your television and you'll see that "the
time"
before your very eyes but be ready to be appalled and saddened!
Jeremiah saw a similar season
writing
An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My
people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? (Jer 5:30; 31)
Since there is no good English equivalent to
kairos, the
essence of it's meaning can be somewhat difficult to grasp. Study the
following verses and see if you can discern the "window of
opportunity" aspect in each verse to help give you a "feel" for the
meaning of kairos (Mt
13:30, 21:34, Mk11:13,13:33, Lk 4:13,19:44, Lk 21:24, Ac 1:7, 17:26, 2Co
6:2, Ga 6:9, Eph 2:12, 2Th 2:6, Rev 1:3). (Click
here for Vine's discussion of kairos)
These men and women are "professing" believers who are like "professing
Israel" whom Isaiah described as
"a rebellious people, false sons,
sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the LORD" and who
say "Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel." (Isa
33:9; 11)
They are like those Paul described as
"holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power"
(2Ti 3:5)
In a similar prophecy Paul wrote that "the Spirit explicitly says
that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention
to deceitful spirits and
doctrines
of demons" (1Ti 4:1)which correspond to the "unsound" doctrine and ear tickling myths
described in this section.
THEY WILL NOT
ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE: ouk
anexontai: (3PFMI) tes hugiainouses (PAPFSG) didaskalias: (1Ki
22:8;18 2Chr 16:9;10 24:20;21 22 25:15;16 Isa 28:12; 33:9;10 11 Jer
6:16;17 18:18; Am 7:10-17; Lk 20:19; Jn 8:45; Gal 4:16 contrast Heb
13:22, cf God's warning to Isaiah Isa 6:8 6:9 6:10, Septuagint of Job
6:26)
will not put up
with (NIV)
will not listen to accurate teachings (GWT)
they
will not endure our wholesome doctrine in that they will hold themselves
firmly against it (Wuest)
will no longer listen to right
teaching (NLT)
will not tolerate wholesome instruction
(Berkley).
Endure
(430)
(anechomai
from aná
= in, up + echomai, the
middle voice
of echo = to have, to hold) means literally to hold
one’s self erect, upright and firm against a person or thing. Thus
anechomai means to put up with, to bear with (equanimity or evenness of
mind especially under stress), to tolerate, to forbear, to be patient
with.
The idea is enduring discomfort or holding out in spite of persecution,
threats, injury, indifference, or complaints and not retaliate (esp 1Cor 4:12). It conveys the sense of putting up with others, exercising
self-restraint (for believers only possible empowered by the Spirit) and
tolerance.
Eadie writes that
anechomai indicates giving patience to someone till the
provocation is past. To undergo something onerous or troublesome without
giving in.
This word was used
of listening patiently while others are allowed to speak.
Anechomai
refers to holding up under adversity, and can be translated tolerate.
It means to hold up or back from falling. In secular Greek use, the related noun form (anoche) was used of
a holding back or stopping of hostilities (truce).
Anechomai
is the equivalent of our modern phrase "putting up with" so the
NIV nicely paraphrases it that "they will not put up with".
It is not the herald (of the gospel) that is at fault, but
the hearing of the fickle men who make up the audience!
Anechomai is used 15 times in the NT
in the NASB (Matt 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41; Acts 18:14; 1 Cor 4:12; 2
Cor 11:1, 4, 19f; Eph 4:2; Col 3:13; 2 Thess 1:4; 2 Tim 4:3; Heb 13:22)
and is translated: bear, 3; bearing, 2; endure, 3; put, 4; showing
tolerance, 1; tolerate, 2.
Matthew 17:17 And Jesus
answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long
shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to
Me."
Mark 9:19 And He answered them
and said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!"
Luke 9:41 And Jesus answered
and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be
with you, and put up with you? Bring your son here."
Acts 18:14 But when Paul was
about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter
of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to
put up with you;
1 Corinthians 4:12 and we
toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we
are persecuted, we endure;
2 Corinthians 11:1 I wish that
you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you
are bearing with me. 11:4 For if one comes and preaches another
Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which
you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not
accepted, you bear this beautifully. (Comment: Here
Paul uses anechomai ironically. In other words Paul is saying that "you gladly
endure these false teachers, why do you not endure me?" Paul
is not endorsing their acceptance of heresy, but chiding them for their
gullibility and lack of discernment.)
2 Corinthians 11:19 For you,
being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly. 20 For you
bear with
anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of
you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.
Ephesians 4:2 (note)
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to
one another in love,
Colossians 3:13 (note)
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should
you.
2 Thessalonians 1:4 therefore,
we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your
perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and
afflictions which you endure.
2 Timothy 4:3 (note)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires;
Hebrews 13:22 (note)
But I urge you, brethren, bear (listen patiently) with this word of exhortation, for I have
written to you briefly. (Note: The writer Hebrews knew he had
written some difficult to accept "sound doctrine" closed his letter with
this exhortation. The KJV actually translates it as "Suffer the word of
exhortation"!)
Anechomai is used 11 times in
the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Gen. 45:1; 1Ki. 12:24; Job 6:11, 26; Isa. 1:13; 42:14; 46:4; 63:15;
64:12; Amos 4:7; Hag. 1:10). God says to faithless Israel
"Bring your worthless
offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and
Sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure (Lxx =
anechomai) iniquity and the solemn assembly." (Isa 1:13-note)
Interestingly Jesus used this same
word to rebuke His disciples and their weak faith audience asking
"O
unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How
long shall I put up with (anechomai) you? Bring him
here to Me." (Mat 7:17-note)
How we all need to
hear and heed this warning for mere external religion is ever a cloak to
cover iniquity, even in true believers! The conscience may become so
seared that a person can practice "religion" while yet living in sin.
Paul uses anechomai
in his exhortation to the Colossian saint that in view of the fact that
they "have been chosen of God, holy and beloved" they should "put on a
heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience,
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a
complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should
you." (Col 3:12, 13-note)
MacDonald adds that in this verse anechomai is describing
"the
patience we should have with the failings and odd ways of our brethren.
In living with others, it is inevitable that we will find out their
failures. It often takes the grace of God for us to put up with the
idiosyncrasies of others, as it must for them to put up with ours. But
we must bear with one another." (MacDonald, W. Believer's Bible
Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Paul exhorts the saints at Ephesus
writing
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk
in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing
forbearance (anechomai) to one another in love
(Amplified has "making allowances because you love one another")
(Eph 4:1, 2-note).
Paul encourages the saints to make allowance (tolerate, bear, endure)
for the faults and failures of others, or differing personalities,
abilities, and temperaments. Forbearance is not a question
of maintaining a façade of courtesy while inwardly seething with
resentment but is a Spirit empowered positive love to those who
irritate, disturb, or embarrass. How are you bearing up with the
idiosyncrasies of your brethren at church, your spouse, your children,
your co-workers, your fellow students, etc? You can't, He can and He
lives in you to transform your temperament and attitude to those who
irritate you.
MacArthur notes that
"Professing Christians, nominal believers in the church follow their
own desires and flock to preachers who offer them God’s blessings
apart from His forgiveness, and His salvation apart from their
repentance. They have an itch to be entertained by teachings that
will produce pleasant sensations and leave them with good feelings about
themselves. Their goal is that men preach “according to their own
desires.” Under those conditions, people will dictate what men
preach, rather than God dictating it by His Word." He goes on to add
(ref)
that "Within the large framework of professing Christendom a small
remnant of true believers eagerly hear sound teaching. But some
of the lost in the professing church support such things as homosexual
and feminist causes. There is even a so-called Bible that has removed
masculine references to God to avoid offending feminist beliefs. The
lost, whether outside or inside the professing church, refuse to hear
God's teaching about controversial issues such as the woman's role,
homosexuality, or abortion. They won't
tolerate strong biblical teaching because it confronts and
refutes their errors and calls for their obedience. By adopting the ways
of the world, much of the professing church has become corrupt and
perverse. Apart from a dramatic change, the pressure will continue to
intensify against those who speak the truth." (Bolding added)
This problem is not new
as we see in Proverbs "They would not accept My counsel. They
spurned all My reproof." (Pr 1:30)
The weeping prophet
Jeremiah knew the painful reality of those claimed to be God's people
and yet who would not tolerate God's sound doctrine --
"Thus
says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it; and you shall find rest for your
souls. (cf Mt 11:28, 11:29, 11:30) But they said, 'We will not walk in
it.' And I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the
trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen." (Jer 6:16,
6:17)
Sound
(5198)
(1Ti1:10, 6:3, 2Ti1:13, Titus 1:9,2:1) (hugiaino
[word study]
from hugies = healthy) is used literally of physical and
mental health (both being sound) and then figuratively as used by Paul
to refer to doctrinal teaching which is "healthy" and good "soul food"
because it is free from error and adulterants. There is a modern
movement toward "organic foods" as they are surmised to be healthier
than non-organic. How we pray that the Spirit would spur the modern
church to exhibit a similar movement back toward sound, healthy,
"organic" doctrine of the "pure milk of His Word" knowing that it is
only by this diet that the body of Christ will grow in maturity in
respect to salvation (cp 1Pe 2:2-note)
Our derivative words in
English include hygiene or hygienic which define the
conditions or practices conducive to good health...ponder that fact in the
context of Paul's use in this verse.
Sound doctrine is teaching which continually
(because the verb is present tense indicating continuous action)
protects and preserves the spiritual life of the one who partakes and
which makes the whole man healthy, "equipped for every good work" (2Ti
3:16, 3:17-note).
The definite article, "the",
in Greek modifies "sound doctrine" which identifies this as not
just any teaching but as the specific body of teaching, in context
referring to the Holy Scriptures.
You will experience real "holistic health" if you eat the right
''soul food"!
Sound
doctrine is a stinging
rebuke (censure) to ungodly living and thus is unacceptable and
intolerable to those who persist in sin. Those who live contrary to sound doctrine
resent and resist sound doctrine.
Doctrine
(1319)
(didaskalia
[word study]) is the content of that
which is taught not so much the method of teaching. Inherent in the
definition of didaskalia is the effect in shaping the will
of the one who receives the instruction.
Hiebert adds that they will not put up
with doctrine that is
healthful, useful, practical teaching" which gives "health and soundness
to the spiritual man. They will find the truth so intolerable because
its demands are contrary to their own desires. The Word is the
touchstone that reveals the their true character.
Is this principle not true in your life? When we are
making provision for sin (Ro13:14)
or willfully sinning the last thing we want is for our unholy thinking
and behavior to be exposed by the light of God's Holy Word.
So why don't they endure
sound doctrine?
They do not want to hear the truth that if we are all honest, none of us
really "enjoys" hearing. We
do not enjoy hearing that we are sinful, depraved, dirty, unclean,
selfish, immoral, unjust, unworthy, ever failing and always coming up
short. How do you feel right now having just read that sentence?! No one
enjoys hearing that we can do nothing whatsoever to become acceptable to
God. And as anyone who has ever shared the gospel knows all too well,
most people do not like hearing that Jesus Christ is the only Savior,
the only Mediator, the only way a person can be saved and made
acceptable to God. (cf Jn12:48, 2Jn1:9)
These things are painful to their ears and so they refuse to tolerate
the Gospel, ironically claiming that the message is narrow minded and
intolerant of the beliefs of others!
BUT
WANTING TO HAVE THEIR EARS TICKLED : alla kata tas idias epithumias
heautois knethomenoi (PPPMPN)
ten akoen: (Acts 17:19, 17:20, 17:21, 17:22, 23, 1Cor 2:1, 2:4
Gal 4:16 Ezek 33:31, 32, 33)
itching
in the hearing (YLT)
to say what their itching ears want to hear
(NIV)
who will tell them whatever they want to hear (NLT)
teachers
who say the things they want to hear. (ICB)
they have ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties
(Barclay)
For there will come
a time when men will refuse to listen to sound teaching, but, because
they have ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties,
they will bury themselves under a mound of teachers, whose teaching
suits their own lusts after forbidden things. They will avert their ears
from the truth, and they will turn to extravagant tales. As for you, be
steady in all things; accept the suffering which will come upon you; do
the work of an evangelist; leave no act of your service unfulfilled.
Tickled
(2833)
(knetho
from knao = to scrape) in the
active voice means to tickle but in the
passive voice (as in this verse) means to be tickled
which describes an itching as if someone where tickling you.
In this verse knetho is an idiom that means "to itch with respect
to hearing" (English expression "itching ears")
Lucian has a
secular use writing "he does not even have enough time to scratch
his ear".
Knetho is in the
present tense which indicates that was happening continually. They
continually sought to be "titillated" (to be
excited pleasurably or aroused by stimulation). The were continually
looking for new information an itch that the false teachers were only to
glad to scratch with their empty, deceptive, unsound words!
And so we see they have a desire
to hear not what they need to hear but what they
want to hear. They are more interested in something
different, something sensational, rather than something sobering
(truth)! Does this ring any "modern bells"?
These false "believers" are looking for
curiosities and interesting and juicy bits of information which temporarily relieves their itching
ears. They hear for mere gratification
and because the flesh is never satisfied
they run from one teacher to another, unsettled and restless, like the
weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses (epithumia
- lusts, sinful cravings & desires), always learning and never able to
come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Ti 3:6, 7-note)
Wuest explains that knetho...
describes that person who desires to hear for mere
gratification, like the Greeks at Athens who spent their time in
nothing else but either to tell or to hear, not some new thing,
but some newer thing (Acts17:21).
The comparative form of the adjective is used here, not the
positive. Ernest Gordon, commenting on this verse says: “Hardly
has the latest novelty been toyed with, than it is cast aside as
stale and frayed, and a newer is sought. One has here the volatile
spirit of the Greek city, so in contrast with the gravity and
poise of the Christian spirit, engaged with eternal things.” Such
is the spirit of Modernism with its teachings of the divinity of
mankind, and the relativity of truth, its rejection of the
doctrine of total depravity, the sacrificial atonement, the
resurrection, and the need of the new birth, catering to the
desires of a fallen race. It gratifies man’s pride. It soothes his
troubled conscience. The desire for the gratification of one’s
cravings is insatiable, and is increased or aggravated by having
that desire satisfied. Hence the heaping ("accumulate for") to
themselves of teachers.
(Wuest,
K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans
or
Logos)
Clement of Alexandria describes
certain teachers as
scratching and tickling, in no human way, the ears of those who eagerly
desire to be scratched.
As the pagan Roman
Stoic philosopher and tutor to Nero Seneca (3BC-65AD) wrote:
Some come to hear, not to learn, just as we go to the theatre, for
pleasure, to delight our ears with the speaking or the voice or the
plays.
Variety delights
itching ears.
Bengel
was correct when he said
He who despises sound teaching leaves sound teachers; they seek
instructors like themselves.
Someone has said
the modern pulpit is a sounding board that is merely
saying back to the
people what they want to hear.
They prefer religious entertainment and sermons that will tickle their
ears instead of truths from Scripture that will pierce their hearts like Peter's sermon
did at
Pentecost! (Acts 2:37)
><>><>><>
Itching Ears
- The apostle Paul warned Timothy that he would encounter people with an
ailment he called "itching ears" (2Ti 4:3). Those who have this
condition reject "sound doctrine" and look for teaching that suits
"their own desires."
For example, if they're offended by Christ's declaration, "No one comes
to the Father except through Me" (Jn. 14:6), they flock to a pastor who
says there are many ways to God.
Or some people reject the biblical teaching that those who engage in
sexual relationships outside of marriage are "fornicators and
adulterers" whom "God will judge" (He 13:4-note).
So they look for a teacher who says that the sexual standards in the
Bible are not binding in today's world.
I deplore what these people do, but I'm afraid that I too have "itching
ears." I love to hear strong affirmations of biblical standards and
sound doctrine. But I don't like to be confronted with Scripture about
prideful, self-righteous attitudes or lack of love for others.
Undoubtedly, all of us have this malady. We need to ask the Lord to
search our hearts and forgive us. He can change us so that we will
listen to what His Word says and obey it. That's the only antidote for
"itching ears." — Herbert Vander Lugt
(Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Master, speak, and
make me ready,
When Thy voice is truly heard,
With obedience glad and steady,
Still to follow every word. --Havergal
Obeying the truth is the remedy for itching ears.
><>><>><>
THEY WILL
ACCUMULATE FOR THEMSELVES TEACHERS: episoreusousin (3PFAI) didaskalous:
(2Ti 3:6 1Ki 18:22; 2Chr 18:4;18:5 Jer 5:31; 23:16;17, 27:9; 29:8; Mic
2:11; Lk 6:26; Jn 3:19, 3:20, 3:21; 2Pet 2:1,2:2 2:3 )
"they
shall heap up teachers" (YLT)
"they
will bury themselves under a mound of teachers" (Barclay)
"gather around them a great number
of teachers" (NIV)
"they will collect teachers who will pander to
their own desires" (Phillips)
"they
will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable
number" (Amp).
These are preachers of sermonettes for
"Christianettes"! They like to tell jokes, talk about self
using "religious" terms, who emphasize the emotional and
sensationalistic, etc.
(cf
3:5,
3:13)
As Hosea wrote "like people, like priest" or as the
International Children's Bible accurately paraphrases it
"The
priests are as wrong as the people." (Hos4:9)
God had a similar accusation in
Jeremiah writing
"An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the
land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own
authority and My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of
it?" (Jer5:30-31)
Accumulate
(2002)
(episoreuo
from epi = upon + soreuo
= heap, pile = heap one thing on another like coals on one's head - Ro
12:20-note) means to accumulate in piles
and figuratively means to increase greatly or significantly increase the
number of something.
This verb pictures these
apostates as piling up teachers one upon another as if the sheer number of teachers will
make them right.
Paul describes the crowd electing
teachers en masse, an indiscriminate multitude of
teachers. These teachers give the people what they want, not what they
need.
Marvin Vincent remarks that
this is a...
vigorous and
graphic statement. Episoreuo = to heap up... The word is ironical;
shall invite teachers en masse In periods of unsettled faith,
skepticism, and mere curious speculation in matters of religion,
teachers of all kinds swarm like the flies in Egypt. The demand
creates the supply. The hearers invite and shape their own
preachers. If the people desire a calf to worship, a
ministerial calf-maker is readily found.(cf
Ex32:4)“The
master of superstition is the people, and in all superstition wise
men follow fools” (Bacon, Ess. xvii)." (Bolding Added)
(Vincent, M. R. Word Studies in the New Testament Vol. 4, Page
320-321)
Teachers (1320)
(didaskalos from didasko = teach to shape
will of one being taught by content of what is taught <> cf
didaskalía) is one who provides instruction. It is interesting to
note that 41 of
58 uses of didaskalos refer to Jesus,
the Master Teacher!
This is a picture of multiplication so that there is a
plethora of people pleasing preachers! They will go through
one teacher after another in their search to satisfy their lusts and
curiosity with only one primary goal, to gratify and pander to "self"
These teachers are piled up not
because of faithful adherence to the Word but because of their ability
to tickle their itching ears.
Note that the fact that a preacher
has a large congregation is not always a sign that he is preaching the
truth.
And as Guzik
astutely quips
When
you have hearers with itching ears, you will have preachers with
itching palms - wanting to be scratched by money, and
satisfy the “market” of itching ears.
Vine observes that
It is a sad feature of the trend of things in the past centuries of the
history of Christendom, that certain congregations have adopted the plan
of choosing their own ministers. How paradoxical, that sheep should
choose their own shepherds!
Wuest
comments that
Such is the spirit of Modernism with its teachings of the divinity of
mankind, and the relativity of truth, its rejection of the doctrine of
total depravity, the sacrificial atonement, the resurrection, and the
need of the new birth, catering to the desires of a fallen race. It
gratifies man’s pride. It soothes his troubled conscience. The desire
for the gratification of one’s cravings is insatiable, and is increased
or aggravated by having that desire satisfied. Hence the heaping to
themselves of teachers.
Wiersbe describes these church members
as those who
want religious entertainment from Christian performers
who will tickle their ears. We have a love for novelty in the churches
today: emotional movies, pageants, foot-tapping music, colored lights,
etc. The man who simply opens the Bible is rejected while the shallow
religious entertainer becomes a celebrity. And verse 4 indicates that
itching ears soon will become deaf ears as people turn away from the
truth and believe man-made fables.
God exposed the nature
and worthlessness of the words of ear ticklers in Jeremiah's time which
is little different from the time prophesied by Paul --
What
does straw
have in common with grain?" declares the LORD. Is not My word like
fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?
Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams," declares
the LORD, "and related them, and
led My people astray by
their falsehoods and reckless boasting;
yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this
people the slightest benefit,"
declares the LORD.
(Jer 23:28, 29, 32)
And in Lamentations God says
Your prophets have seen for you false
and foolish visions and they have not exposed
your iniquity so
as to restore you
from captivity,
but they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.
(La 2:14)
IN ACCORDANCE
WITH THEIR OWN DESIRES : alla kata tas idias epithumias heautois:
dominated by their own personal cravings (Wuest)
to suit their own desires (NIV)
moved
by their desires
(BBE)
according to their own tastes (NJB)
whose
teaching suits their own lusts after forbidden things (Barclay)
to
satisfy their own desires,
(Berkley)
Isaiah records a similar "unwilling to accept God's truth" mindset in OT Israel
describing them as
a rebellious (Lxx = apeithes = not persuadable, disobedient), people, false (Lxx = pseudes = false, lying) sons, sons who refuse
to listen (Greek has "absolutely not willing to
hear and to obey") to the instruction of the Lord 10 Who say to
the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us (Lxx = command
"must not report") what is right. Speak to (Lxx = command to
continually report to) us pleasant words (Lxx actually reads = another kind of
deception or error!). Prophesy illusions. 11 Get out of the way, turn
aside from the path. Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel. (Isa
30:9,10)
Here is the reading of this passage in
Brenton's translation of the
Septuagint (Lxx)
For the people is disobedient, false children, who would not
hear the law of God: who say to the prophets, Report not to us; and to
them that see visions, Speak them not to us, but speak and report to
us another error; and turn us aside from this way; remove from us this
path, and remove from us the oracle of Israel.
Do you see what
the Israelites were asking for?! Here in Timothy we see an amazing
parallel.
In other words tell what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. Note the tragic
reversal of God's intended plan so that instead of choosing teachers who
will exhort them to control their sinful desires, they choose teachers
who allow and even encourage them to fulfill their ungodly lusts!
As someone has said "Some people go to church to close their eyes
and others to eye the clothes!"
Desires (1939) (epithumia
[word study] from epi =
upon + thumos = passion, desire) literally pictures these
"professors" as having fixed their sinful desire upon self
("their own"), which corresponds to Paul's earlier warning that
men would be "lovers
of self...haters
of good...lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God"
(2Ti 3:2, 3:3, 3:4)
People will want
teachers who will allow them to live like they desire (lust) This
truth emphasizes that one’s doctrine cannot be separated
from one's behavior. Man, with his depraved natural instinct, does not
want God’s revelation but would rather hear what he wants to hear. The
attitude of the lost is, "Make me feel good about myself. Tell me
something sensational, entertaining, or that builds up my ego."
The
preachers they heap up are
like the philosophers in ancient Athens who spent their time
"in
nothing other than telling or hearing something new" (Acts17:21).
Guzik
writes that
"This also shows that if we do want to hear God’s word, God is doing
something wonderful in us. Left to ourselves, we would rather do it our
way, but God changes our heart in wonderful ways, giving us a desire for
His word."
