UNLOVING: astorgoi:
(Mt10:21;
Ro1:31)
without (destitute) natural affection (feeling)
lack normal affection for their families (GWT)
heartless
Unloving
(794) (astorgos from a = without + storge
= family love) (Click
for in depth study of
astorgos) literally
is without family affection or without love
for kindred and is frequently used of parent-child relationships.
Storge love is instinctive, involves natural affection and is a
conditional love.
Although the Greek word storge
is not used in the NT, it does form part of 3 derivative words - see
notes
Romans 1:31,
Romans 12:10;
2 Timothy 3:3.
If
there is no human affection, the family cannot long exist. In the
terrible times men will be so set on self that even the closest natural
ties will be nothing to them, even willing to "bite the hand that fed
them" so to speak!. This is the sort of degradation in the human
heart that allows mothers to have abortions or to leave their babies in
trash cans. To be astorgos is to be heartless.
It is not natural for people to love God or the
things and people of God, but it is natural for them to love their own
families.
Astorgos was used in secular Greek to describe women who had many love affairs and
as a result did not have that nobler love for their husbands which they
should have had.
Astorgos described animals who do
not love their young. In these perilous
times men will be so focused on self love that even the closest ties
will mean nothing to them. The natural affection of
storge is found even in people without Jesus
but in the last days the love of self will override even this natural
love of family members.
It is a terrible time when men and
women are so focused on self gratification that even the closest ties
mean nothing to them. Perhaps Dickens had this thought in mind in his
classic epic "A Tale of Two Cities" when he wrote "It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times". The "best of times" of course
is only possible when depraved men & women living in the "worst of
times" accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, and are forever transferred
from the city of man to the city of God (cf note
Revelation 21:2).
Barclay
notes that the age of the Roman Empire was
"an age in which family love
was dying. Never was the life of the child so precarious as at this
time. Children were considered a misfortune. When a child was born, it
was taken and laid at the father’s feet. If the father lifted it up that
meant that he acknowledged it. If he turned away and left it, the child
was literally thrown out. There was never a night when there were not
thirty or forty abandoned children left in the Roman forum. Even Seneca,
great soul as he was, could write: “We kill a mad dog; we slaughter a
fierce ox; we plunge the knife into sickly cattle lest they taint the
herb; children who are born weakly and deformed we drown.” The natural
bonds of human affection had been destroyed." (Barclay, W: The Daily
Study Bible series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press)
MacArthur
explains that
astorgos, a negative
adjective form of the verb storge, which commonly was used of family,
social, and patriotic love. The noted theologian Benjamin Warfield
described it as "that quiet and abiding feeling within us, which,
resting on an object as near to us, recognizes that we are closely bound
up with it and takes satisfaction in its recognition." It is not
natural for people to love God or the things and people of God, but it
is natural for them to love their own families. To be astorgos is
therefore to be "without natural affection" (KJV). Just as the
self-loving person is without common decency, he also is without common
affection. He cares nothing for the welfare of those who should be
dearest to him. His only interest in them is for what he believes they
can do for him. To be unloving is to be heartless. Unloving behavior is
reported daily in newspapers and broadcasts. Husbands and wives abusing
one another, parents and children abusing one another - often to the
point of murder - are so common that they make headlines only if they
are particularly brutal or sensational. Tragically, the evangelical
church has its share of the unloving and heartless (Ed note: "heartless"
is how the NIV translates astorgos) (Bolding added).
Wuest adds this note on astorgos
Benjamin B. Warfield, in his excellent article in The Princeton
Theological Review of April 1918, The Terminology of Love in the New
Testament , defines it as follows: It designates “that quiet and abiding
feeling within us, which, resting on an object as near to us, recognizes
that we are closely bound up with it and takes satisfaction in its
recognition.” It is a love that is “a natural movement of the soul,
something almost like gravitation or some other force of blind nature.”
It is the love of parents for children, and children for parents, of
husband for wife, and wife for husband. It is a love of obligatoriness,
the term being used here, not in its moral sense, but in a natural
sense. It is a necessity under the circumstances. This is the binding
factor by which any natural or social unit is held together."
IRRECONCILABLE: aspondoi:
(2Sa 21:1;21:2-3
Ps 15:4;
Eze 17:15;17:16-19
Ro 1:31)
trucebreakers
unwilling to be at peace with others
bitter haters (BBE)
unyielding
covenant breakers
implacable (not capable of being appeased)
unforgiving.
Irreconcilable (786)
(Aspondos from a = without + sponde = libation or
drink offering, truce or an agreement) so literally not pouring out a
libation (an act or instance of drinking often ceremoniously). This
picture later came to mean “without a truce” because in the ancient
world the making of treaties and agreements was accompanied by a pouring
out a ceremonial libation. These men are unwilling to negotiate a
solution to a problem involving a second party. Like the "Hatfield's and
McCoy's", their feuds never end! The thought is not that these men break
a truce but that they resist all efforts to reconciliation. They cannot
be persuaded to enter into a covenant or agreement. This is the picture
of the absolutely irreconcilable person who, being at war, refuses to
lay aside their enmity or even to listen to terms of reconciliation. It
means "hostility which refuses truce." It is hatred and unforgiveness
"set in cement".
Irreconcilable describes a
person who is implacably hostile or uncompromisingly opposed. It is one
who is unwilling to negotiate a solution to a problem involving a second
party.
Hendriksen writes that...
"Their feuds never end. In their camp no libation is ever poured out to
signify that those who had been at variance with each other have
consented to a truce"
The breaking of the marriage
covenant (see related topic
Covenant: As It Relates to Marriage)
between husband and wife and the consequent skyrocketing divorce rate is
one good example of this sin, because in it's "purest" form, divorce is
a resolute refusal to forgive the other party, producing an
unforgiveness "set in cement". Both parties refuse to change, no matter
how desperate their own situation becomes, and are determined to have
their own way regardless of the consequences, even to the point of
knowingly destroying their own lives and the lives of their families.
They do not forgive and do not want to be forgiven. They are beyond
reasoning and inevitably self-destructive. As far as they are concerned,
there is no compromise, no reconciliation, no court of appeal.
The only other NT use of
aspondos is
Ro1:31
where it occurs as one of a list of unrighteous
traits characteristic of those who "did not see fit to acknowledge God
any longer" and who God therefore "gave... over to a depraved mind, to
do those things which are not proper" (see note on
Romans 1:28),
one of those things being to be "irreconcilable"
Trench adds that
aspondos are not those who are only difficult to be reconciled with
but are those who are
absolutely irreconcilable; those who
will not be atoned, or set at one, who being at war refuse to lay aside
their enmity, or to listen to terms of accommodation... (in war aspondos
is those who want) "no herald, no flag of truce, as we should now say,
being allowed to pass between the parties, no terms of reconcilement
listened to; such a war, for example, as that which the Carthaginians in
the interval between the first and second Punic Wars waged with their
revolted mercenaries. (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New
Testament. Page 193)
Barclay
(critique) adds that
"Aspondos can mean two things. It can mean that a man is so
bitter in his hatred that he will never come to terms with the man with
whom he has quarreled. Or it can mean that a man is so dishonorable that
he breaks the terms of the agreement he has made. In either case the
word describes a certain harshness of mind which separates a man from
his fellow-men in unrelenting bitterness. It may be that, since we are
only human, we cannot live entirely without differences with our
fellow-men, but to perpetuate these differences is one of the worst—and
also one of the commonest—of all sins. When we are tempted to do so, we
should hear again the voice of our blessed Lord saying on the Cross:
“Father, forgive them.”
MALICIOUS GOSSIPS: diaboloi: (Mt 4:1;
Jn 6:70;
1Ti 3:11;
Titus 2:3)
devils (literal)
false accusers
slanderous
men of unscrupulous speech.
Malicious
gossips
(1228)
(diabolos from dia = through or between and ballo
= throw) literally means to "throw between". Thus the intent and the
effect of "diabolos" is to falsely accuse and divide
people without any reason. One might even say their speech is "diabolical". Whereas the
irreconcilable person tends to disregard
and neglect others,
malicious
gossips make a point of
speaking slander so as to harm others.
Whether to promote their own interests, to express jealousy or hatred,
or simply to vent their anger, they take perverse pleasure in damaging
reputations and destroying lives. Engulfed and
blinded by self-love,
malicious gossips
do the very work of the Devil, the chief of all slanderers. Like father,
like son.
Someday (and it could be soon)
"the
salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority
of His Christ (will) come, (and) the (Devil, the) accuser of our brethren (will be) thrown down, (the one)
who accuses them before our God day and night."
(Rev12:9
,12:10).
Diabolos or "devils" points out the fact that they imitate the Devil
himself in constantly inventing and throwing across evil reports and
accusations at others.
The devil's object is to break up relationships and keep people
apart. The reasons churches split are because of "old diabolos" who uses
the ungodliness of the members to the point that they cannot not
reconcile to one another. Gossip is never relating facts but is coloring
the facts. Gossip robs another of their name because it insinuates something is present when it
may or may not be.
Application: What do you say to your brother about your other
brother in the Lord?
There is a sense in which slander is the most cruel of all sins. If a
man's goods are stolen, he can set to and build up his fortunes again;
but if his good name is taken away, irreparable damage has been done. It
is one thing to start an evil and untrue report on its malicious way; it
is entirely another thing to stop it.
Shakespeare aptly
described this diabolical trait:
|
“Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing;
“Twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.” |
WITHOUT SELF CONTROL: akrateis: (1Co 7:5;7:9
2Pe 2:14;2:19
3:3;
Jude 16,
18)
KJV has "incontinent" (Webster
defines it as lacking in control, one who fails to control sexual
appetites)
Ungovernable in their passions
Without
self control (193)
(akrates from a =
without + krátos = strength) is literally without strength
to resist the solicitations of one's passions and so describes a man who is
powerless and/or unable to govern his fleshly appetites. They are void
of that inner power of self-government which is the characteristic of
the disciplined man. This man has
jettisoned inhibitions and shame, does not care about what people think
or what happens to them because of what he does. Like a driverless car,
he careens haphazardly and crashes into whatever gets in his way. These
men reach a stage when, so far from controlling his passions and
desires, they are totally in bondage to that life sapping habit or
desire which is their "master". The body which God
gave them to use for His pleasure, has tragically become a vehicle for
their selfish pleasure. Few things are more tragic than a man or woman
who can no longer say "no" to self and who have become hopelessly
enslaved to their own cravings.
These men are "without power over
self" so that they are slaves to their own passions and lusts. The body
which God gave them to use for His pleasure, has become a vehicle for
their own pleasure. Few things are more tragic than a man or woman who
can no longer say "no" to themselves and thus are hopelessly enslaved to
their own cravings.
Paul is saying that in "the last
days" anything goes. No rules, no moral absolutes, no restraints of any
kind. Every man does that which is right in his own eyes, and woe to the
person who dares to question his “lifestyle choices.”
Jesus excoriated the
religious leaders who had a "form of godliness" but lacked the
power:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean
the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of
robbery and self-indulgence” (Greek
here is the related noun akrasia derived from akrates) (Mt 23:25)
BRUTAL: anemeroi:
(Ge 49:7;
Rev 13:15;13:17
16:6;
17:6)
savage
fierce
untamed
cruel
Brutal
(434) (anemeros from a = without + hemeros
= mild, lame) (found only in this verse in the NT) means literally not mild, not tame, savage, merciless, the
very opposite of the gentle. These men have a character and conduct
befitting a brute beast and are grossly ruthless or unfeeling. They are
like
animals in their nature, action and instincts. They are savage
(lacking the restraints normal to civilized human
beings), cruel,
violent like that of wild beasts, who attack enemies and tear them in
pieces. These
men are not just given to violence now and then; they are in fact,
ferocious "savages" who pounce on whoever gets in their way, and have no
regard for the rights or feelings of anyone other than themselves. Even
a dog may be sorry when he has hurt his
master, but these men in their malevolent treatment of others have lost
natural human sympathy and feeling. This trait is the opposite of
gentleness called for in the manners of the bondservant of the Lord
in (2:24).
Genuine godliness has
power which produces gentleness and the want of this power
makes men rough, harsh and cruel.
HATERS OF GOOD: aphilagaqoi:
(Ps 22:6;
Isa 53:3;
60:14;
Lu 10:16;
16:14;
1 Th 4:8;
Js 2:6)
Haters of good
(865) (aphilagathos from a = without and a
combination of phílos = friend +
agathos =
good which is spiritually
beneficial to another = literally
loving and practicing what is good) (found only in this verse in the NT) describes men who are hostile to or
despisers of all that is good and of good men. These men lack of generous
interest in the public good. They have no love of virtue. In their love of self they have become haters of good, hating
what should be loved and loving what should be hated! Listen to God's
warning through Isaiah to given to faithless Israel but applicable to
men such as these
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute
bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa 5:20).
Jesus said that despite the fact that
"the light is come into the
world....men loved the darkness rather than the light... and
everyone who does evil hates the light (Jn 3:19,3:20)
The direct contrast is found in the criteria of "overseers" who
are to be "loving what is good" (philagathos)
(see note
Titus 1:8)
These
haters of good
don't even want to be in the presence of good things and good people
because they have no love for anything spiritually beneficial and the
most damaging place for these workers of iniquity is in the walls of the
church.
Barclay
comments
"There
can come a time in a man’s life when the company of good people and the
presence of good things is simply an embarrassment. He who feeds his
mind on cheap literature can in the end find nothing in the great
masterpieces. His mental palate loses its taste. A man has sunk far when
he finds even the presence of good people something which he would only
wished to avoid."
