In the Last Days

In the third chapter of Paul's second letter to Timothy, Paul warns "that in the last days difficult times will come" (2 Tim 3:1). He goes on to describe what people will be like the closer we get to the end. Number One on the list is "lovers of self" -- selfish people (2 Tim 3:2). It seems as if the rest of the list -- and it is long (2 Tim 3:2-5) -- is simply the logical outcome of that first one. If you are selfish, you will love money. If you are selfish, you will be boastful -- self-aggrandizing to others -- and arrogant -- believing you are better than others. You will be ungrateful, irreconcilable, loving pleasure, and so on. Makes sense. And it makes sense that the closer we get to the end, the more these things will manifest themselves.

One of the descriptive terms offered in that list is a little oblique in its English translation. Paul says they will be "unloving." Okay, yes, fairly accurate, but it misses the nuances. In Greek, there are multiple words for "love" that express different versions of love. There is agape which essentially expresses an unconditional type of love -- something we choose rather than just feel. There is philos which is a "friendly" kind of love. You know, "You make me feel good." There is eros which doesn't appear in Scripture that, obviously, refers primarily to sexual love. Another that doesn't appear in the pages of the Bible is storge which talks about natural familial affection. You know, that natural-bond-that-family-has kind of love. I say that this term doesn't appear in the Bible, but what does appear there is astorge, where "a" is the "not" function for storge. That's the word Paul uses in 2 Timothy 3:3. He says in the last days people will be "unloving" -- without natural affection.

Let's look at that yardstick for a moment. Is it not true that our society, certainly more so than in the last century, has been losing their natural family affection? Look at the number of mothers who have harmed, abused, tortured, or even killed their children in the past 10 years, for instance. The number of wives who divorce their husbands and then leave the children with them -- a notion that screams against the norm of moms loving their children -- has risen in the 21st century. Well, look, between 1973 and 2020 65 million babies were killed by their mothers so their mothers would have a "better life." And they're fighting tooth and nail to retain that option. It seems irrefutable that modern society is surging toward Paul's "unloving" -- "without natural family affection" -- in ways that we've not seen before.

The list from 2 Timothy 3 reads like a description of modern folk. I've seen much of it in casual complaints about "millenials" and the current "me generation." It's not getting better. Paul doesn't offer the warning about "last days" to create fear. He offers it to inform Timothy -- and us -- that it is coming, will only get worse, and has a suitable response.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:14-17)

God's prescription for believers (us) in the last days -- Scripture.