The Bible has a lot to say about the last days, and much of that information regards natural disasters. But it isn't only the earth itself that's going to grow worse as time goes on. The hearts of men and women who oppose God are going to grow colder as time goes on and their deeds are going to become more abominable as this world nears the day of judgment. Today Paul talks not about world cataclysms of the end times but of cataclysms of the heart.
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." (2 Timothy 3:1) From these opening words we expect Paul to mention the same type of things the Lord Jesus mentioned as signs of the end, such as wars and rumors of wars, major earthquakes, and vicious persecution against the people of God. But Paul is going to talk about signs of the end that---at first---develop in the secret places of the heart. After these terrible things have developed in the heart, they will overflow and spill out into the person's life and into the lives of everyone around them.
"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." (2 Timothy 3:2-5) Since the beginning of man's sojourn on earth, there have been people who possessed some or all of these awful character flaws. But as the end approaches we are going to see these character flaws cropping up on a grand scale such as has never before been seen.
The culture in modern times is to be blamed for some of these character flaws, in my opinion, because during the last few decades many parents have been told that they must raise their children in a manner that has caused these children to believe the world revolves around them. They have not allowed their children to experience disappointment or failure, so everybody gets a trophy, and someone else is always to be blamed when the child doesn't achieve what he or she wants. Because parents have bent over backwards to ensure that their children don't have to deal with being told "no" or having to ever feel uncomfortable, the natural result is that their children don't respect or obey them as they should. I'm sorry if this is politically incorrect, but the proof that the past several generations have been raised too soft is that they need "safe spaces" to retreat to when they hear an opinion that differs from theirs. I can just imagine what would have happened if, when I was in school in the 70s and 80s, I'd complained to a teacher that I felt upset because someone's social or political opinion differed from mine. As soon as the teacher stopped laughing at me I'd have been given something to really feel upset about, like detention or an extra book report to write. The point is, the world doesn't revolve around any of us, and being taught to think it does isn't going to do anyone any favors.
I prefer the way the KJV translates verse 3, for instead of simply saying some people will be "without love" it is more descriptive by saying some people will lack "natural affection". We are seeing a lack of natural affection when we turn on the news to find out a parent has killed a child or a child has killed a parent or grandparent. It's natural to love our family members and to want them to be safe and healthy, but people are killing family members because of lack of natural affection and for the strangest of reasons. There have been several cases in the news during the last year or so where a child or grandchild has resorted to murder merely because he or she was ordered to clean their room or do better in school. There's a growing attitude in this world that says, "No one has the right to tell me what to do. How dare anyone ask or expect anything of me?" This attitude is ungodly, for it says, "I am not here to serve, but to be served." It is in direct contrast with the godly example of Christ, who had the right to be served as Lord but who came to this earth "not to be served but to serve". (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45)
When a person decides in his heart not to serve the Lord or serve his fellow man, the result of this is the development of the other behaviors Paul mentions in today's passage. The one who won't bow the knee to God will bow the knee to money or prestige. The one who won't serve the Lord will serve himself instead, and this leads to the commission of all sorts of sins against the Lord and against other human beings.
In Paul's day men had more freedom and opportunities than women to perpetrate sin and deceit on others, so next he speaks of the way these unscrupulous men target women who are weak-willed. There have always been con men who prey on women, exploiting those who appear vulnerable in order to gain something from them. The purpose behind the deception varies; the purpose might be to gain money, sex, power, promotion, or a whole host of other things. Paul says of such men: "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." (2 Timothy 3:6-7)
Of course Paul certainly isn't saying that all women are gullible or sinful anymore than he is saying all men are con artists. He's saying that men who are con artists look for and target women who are gullible and sinful. Lack of self-esteem and an unhealthy desire to constantly be in a relationship has caused a lot of women to give their trust to men who aren't worthy of trust. Being led by carnal desires and having no wish to ever say "no" has caused many a woman to get caught up in things she never imagined she'd get caught up in. And in modern times, these roles are more easily reversed, so that we find female con artists deceiving men. Even in the not-so-modern times we can find an example of this by looking at the relationship between Samson and Delilah in the book of Judges. Samson was led by sin (sexual lust and the overwhelming attraction he felt for pagan women) and he was gullible (he wanted to believe Delilah loved him), and he ruined his life as a result.
Judgment, however, is coming for the ungodly. Judgment is coming for those who exploit the weak, for those who lead others astray with false doctrine, and for those who refuse to acknowledge and obey God as Lord. "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 truth is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone." (2 Timothy 3:8-9) Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible but are mentioned in the Talmud as the chief magicians of Pharoah of Exodus 7. These magicians were able, at first, to duplicate the miracles of Moses. Through either sleight of hand or through the dark powers of the occult, these men were able to change a staff into a snake and to turn water red like blood. But they could not duplicate any of the plagues and so were exposed as the frauds they were. At the proper time, all deceit is going to be made plain and all deceivers are going to be exposed for what they really are.
I think by saying this, Paul is telling Timothy not to let himself be troubled and discouraged because false teachers and deceivers are cropping up. He is free and welcome to declare a lie a lie, as we've studied earlier in Paul's letters to him. He has the right to put out of the church anyone who is stirring up trouble and promoting a perverted version of the gospel. But he has no control over what is happening outside the church and he is not to allow himself to be caught up in worrying about it. That's God's business, and God is more than able to take care of this business in the right time and in the right way. Timothy's job is to concern himself with carrying out the great commission of sharing the gospel and with ministering to believers. In doing so, he will be able to leave things outside the church in God's hands---where they belong.
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