"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
2 Timothy 3:13
Part 1
In this, Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, he doesn’t hide anything about the last days that Timothy needed, or that we need to know today. In the end days, eutopia has not come for mankind to dwell in. We have not built the perfect Tower of Babel, that reaches up to God! None of the sci-fi writer’s models of their perfect peaceful visionary societies have come true. Life on earth is just the opposite,
“This know also, that in the last days perilous [dangerous/difficult] times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1).
What Paul had predicted 2,000 years ago is clearly evidenced today in our end-time culture. Why? What is the reason for mankind’s failure to reach “his/her perfect potential?” The answer is a simple one and is explained throughout the Bible. Mankind’s problem is sin! In fact, Paul lists more than twenty types of sin that are problems found in end-time humans (2 Timothy 3:2-9). A utopian society? Far from it!
Humans are proud, and most believe that they can take care of their own needs without God or His help. They do not understand their sin because it is both inherited and imputed from our first ancestor, Adam. Because our sin runs so deeply in all of us, we are helpless to deal with it by ourselves. We must have outside help. We need a Savior; we must have Jesus. He is God’s antidote for the poison of our sin (John 3:14-15).
Since mankind generally has turned their backs on Him, this is the outcome from a human standpoint,
“But evil men and seducers.”
“Evil men” are those who do not cloak their evil but are obvious in their hatred of the Lord Jesus and everything He stands for. The world system is getting worse in the end times because of those “evil men” inspired by their father (John 8:44). Their goal is to keep the evil coming. These are men like “Jannes and Jambres”[1] who resisted the truth because of their “corrupt minds.” They were “reprobate concerning the faith” (2 Timothy 3:8). Everything these men do is designed to destroy “the faith” in believers.
Not only are there “evil men” working through the last days, but there are also “seducers.” This word comes from the ancient word that means “impostors or deceivers…. Originally, one who chants spells; a wizard, sorcerer. Hence, a cheat”[2] (Vincent). These men are sly, and on the surface, they may even look like “sheep.” They might act like sheep and smell like sheep, but they are not! Those who are taken in by them end up as lunch for the wolves that they are. The danger is that the “Modern impostors know all the tricks of the trade”[3] (Robertson). Believers must know their Bible’s and beware!
What can believers do to be fighting the good fight in these last days? Tomorrow we will think more about this. See you then.
Quote: “The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men” (Proverbs 24:9).
[1] These are the kinds of men (and women) who work well in the devil’s end-times program, the “Mystery of Iniquity”(2 Thessalonians 2:6-10).
[2] M.R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, the electronic version in eSword.