“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3)
It is important to note that the above verse is embedded in the last section of Paul’s second letter to Timothy his “dear son”, as he puts it (2 Timothy 1:2), in which the apostle talks about godlessness in the Last Days. Technically speaking, the Last Days period begins with the outpouring of the Spirit of God on the Church (God’s people) in fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28, 29) according to apostle Peter in the book of Acts (2:16ff.).
2 Timothy chapter 3 introduces the last section and it is important to note that Paul is talking about the same people (lovers of self, money, proud, abusive, ….), the NIV seems to suggest otherwise by including “men” in verse 3 of chapter 4 unlike the NKJV and the KJV.
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 them.”
We noted that out texts from both chapter 3 and 4 mention the same people. However, chapter 4 describes them in the church, hence our title “The Church is not spared.” Simply put, apostle Paul is saying that the people he describes in chapter 3:1-5 will invade the church but they will not put up with (tolerate, endure) sound doctrine. In fact they cannot put up with it because sound doctrine does not suit their (humankind’s) own desires but God’s instead -sound doctrine is built on God’s word unadulterated.
Consequently, “to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” It feels like a well orchestrated movement, most likely the outworking of the same spirit Paul describes in Ephesians 2:2 as “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”
Obviously, the people in view are a powerful movement judging by their ability to “gather around them a great number of teachers”. Please note the reversal of the traditional setting wherein the people gather around teachers. Here the teachers gather around the people, a picture that clearly indicates the authority or power is with the people (democracy in the church?).
We cannot help thinking that apostle Paul is writing about the things he must have seen in the realm of the spirit. He describes the situation as he saw it through the prophetic spirit, namely, the people gathering around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
However, in real life it looks like the opposite is happening, that is, teachers being surrounded by great crowds but in reality they are driven by the people’s own agendas and desires…. Here teachers don’t teach sound doctrine lest they offend the people they depend on….
A saddening picture comes to mind. See, according to Ephesians 4:11-13, “It was he [God] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Now, imagine what is really at stake when the people gather around them (seduce) a great number of teachers (given by God?) to say what their itching ears want to hear, that is, anything but sound doctrine. No wonder, there will be terrible times in the last days….
Teachers are among those called by God to prepare His people for works of service so that they can fulfill their calling to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Obviously, we cannot afford to stop teaching sound doctrine especially in church.
Any true minister of God needs to make his or her own the following charge apostle Paul gave Timothy: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2)
May God help us all.
