The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Timothy 3:1-5,
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."
In his letter to Timothy, Paul looked forward to a time he calls "the last days." It is a time that is marked by a pronounced level of depravity among mankind. It is a time, Paul says, when:
People will love themselves
People will love money
People will be boastful
People will be proud
People will be abusive
People will be disobedient to their parents
People will be ungrateful
People will be unholy
People will be without love (a time when abortion can thrive?)
People will be unforgiving
People will be slanderous
People will be without self-control
People will be brutal
People will not love the good
People will be treacherous
People will be rash
People will be conceited
People will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
People will have a form of godliness but deny the power of godliness
Why have I repeated these observations when they are all contained in the passage as quoted above? Because I want to enumerate each one to be considered closely. The reason I do so is that I am fully convinced and persuaded that this day, our day, is the day Paul prophesied about. Not down the road, but right now - not some later time. Look at each one of these again and tell me you are not persuaded that this profile does not accurately describe the people of the world we live among today! I realize all generations have had those among them that exhibited these qualities to some extent, but previous generations were not known as being the personification of these things as a profile. What Paul does is to say that the last days will be marked and highlighted by these things. that the generation of the last days will be known by them.
People do all kinds of arithmetic solutions from Scripture to come up with where on the calendar the "last days" should be pegged. Paul didn't do that. What he did is what we read here. He described the generation that would mark the last days, and these days, I think, find their fulfillment in Paul's prophecy. I have sensed a tectonic shift in the influences and "drumbeat" the people of the world (and not just here in the U.S.) have conformed to just in the last few decades, especially the past few years. The wicked " freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race." Psalm 12:8.
We all acknowledge that every generation had those who said it was the last one - that the end of times had come upon them. We observe that so we don't get sucked into misreading the times as previous generations had. Let's hope the generation of believers that actually inhabit the last days will not misread its times and that they are alert enough to recognize Paul's prophecy. It would be an error of the same order.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."
In his letter to Timothy, Paul looked forward to a time he calls "the last days." It is a time that is marked by a pronounced level of depravity among mankind. It is a time, Paul says, when:
People will love themselves
People will love money
People will be boastful
People will be proud
People will be abusive
People will be disobedient to their parents
People will be ungrateful
People will be unholy
People will be without love (a time when abortion can thrive?)
People will be unforgiving
People will be slanderous
People will be without self-control
People will be brutal
People will not love the good
People will be treacherous
People will be rash
People will be conceited
People will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
People will have a form of godliness but deny the power of godliness
Why have I repeated these observations when they are all contained in the passage as quoted above? Because I want to enumerate each one to be considered closely. The reason I do so is that I am fully convinced and persuaded that this day, our day, is the day Paul prophesied about. Not down the road, but right now - not some later time. Look at each one of these again and tell me you are not persuaded that this profile does not accurately describe the people of the world we live among today! I realize all generations have had those among them that exhibited these qualities to some extent, but previous generations were not known as being the personification of these things as a profile. What Paul does is to say that the last days will be marked and highlighted by these things. that the generation of the last days will be known by them.
People do all kinds of arithmetic solutions from Scripture to come up with where on the calendar the "last days" should be pegged. Paul didn't do that. What he did is what we read here. He described the generation that would mark the last days, and these days, I think, find their fulfillment in Paul's prophecy. I have sensed a tectonic shift in the influences and "drumbeat" the people of the world (and not just here in the U.S.) have conformed to just in the last few decades, especially the past few years. The wicked " freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race." Psalm 12:8.
We all acknowledge that every generation had those who said it was the last one - that the end of times had come upon them. We observe that so we don't get sucked into misreading the times as previous generations had. Let's hope the generation of believers that actually inhabit the last days will not misread its times and that they are alert enough to recognize Paul's prophecy. It would be an error of the same order.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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