2 Timothy 3:1-2 1But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
Thinking about the opponents in Ephesus led Paul to give a strong warning about what the last days will be like. The heresies being taught in the church were only the beginning of big problems that the church would face in the future. Paul gives his warning in the form of a vice list of nineteen descriptions that begins in verse 2 and continues through verse 5. What Paul writes here is similar to his earlier warning in 1 Timothy 4. This was knowledge that Timothy needed to know and watch out for. The last days began when Jesus ascended into heaven. The coming days will be difficult. As the people of God bring the gospel to the world, they will face more and more opposition. The brighter the light shines, the stronger the darkness tries to overcome it. The Bible gives many warnings about the distress and tribulation of the end times as the forces of evil become more desperate and the human race becomes more deceived.
The list of vices warns about how people will live in the end times. Lovers of themselves is a literal translations that shows the self-centeredness that comes from allowing sin to be master. Everything else in the list is a manifestation of this core problem of pride.
Lovers of money is another way to describe greed and the desire for more. Loving money is a form of idolatry and leads to many problems (1 Timothy 6:5). Money is morally neutral and can be used for many positive things, but loving and desiring it can replace loving God and loving people.
Being boastful is another description of pride. Setting oneself higher than others can lead to hard feelings, jealousy, and unhealthy competition. Being arrogant or proud is almost the same as being boastful. Arrogance is the attitude that leads to outward boasting. Proverbs 3:34 warns that God opposes the prideful.
Blaspheming is basically slandering or speaking bad about another person. It is the opposite of loving others with the love of God. To speak bad about something denigrates them as being made in the image of God.
Being disobedient to parents goes directly against the fifth command to honor one’s parents. The breakdown of the family leads to the breakdown of society. This is a huge problem in our day. Being ungrateful is the opposite of grace (an alpha privative negating the root word charis, “grace”). It refuses to acknowledge what others, including God, have done for a person. Unholy is making something that should be holy into something profane. It treats the sacred as mundane, making it unfit for God’s use. The terms used thus far in this list show a disregard for God’s will for his people to be holy and loving.
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