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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. 2 Timothy 4:3 http://www.dailybiblestudy.org
3 For [gar] the time [kairos] will come [esomai] when [hote] they will [anechomai] not [ou] endure [anechomai] sound [hugiaino] doctrine; [didaskalia] but [alla] after [kata] their own [idios] lusts [epithumia] shall they heap [episoreuo] to themselves [heautou] teachers, [didaskalos] having itching [knetho] ears; [akoe] KJV-Interlinear
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; NASB 'There will come a time.' When is that? Well, Paul is referring to not a time in Timothy's day, and not in our day, but a time which is near the end of our current dispensation. The word for time, 'kairos,' is a reference not to a chronological time or date but to an era, or a broadly defined period of time. This could be the span of a generation or more. It will not refer to the Tribulation, because the subject is a change of minds, or a change of attitude, but not in unbelievers, because we have been studying believers within this book and also the previous book, both 1 and 2 Timothy. In both books Paul has made reference to the ends times and attitudes that will be prevalent during that period. We already know from our study in Thessalonians, that near the end of our dispensation, there will be a 'great apostasy.' It is specifically designated as 'great.' And here Paul further defines the nature of society in those days, and more specifically the nature of the believing world. 'When they will not endure,' indicates a change of heart. The word 'they,' refers to the people in question, the people we have been studying, which are believers. And what they will not endure is 'sound doctrine.' Unbelievers, when they have a change in heart, become believers, but this is a change in faith, not a change to faith. So they will have doctrine, but it will not be sound doctrine. And this simply means that the beliefs will not be correct. Not sound but of an unsound or weak nature. But their own lusts, further defines this unsound doctrine, which will consist of sin related beliefs - lusts. And that will include everything from lasciviousness to asceticism, from crime to self righteousness, and so forth. Heaping to themselves, means to pursue, to desire, to make the central or core aspect of the thinking of society. Teachers, and itching ears, are expressions that further define the desires and drives for the lies of the world, for the untruths, for things that God and the Bible reject. Unbelievers will already be drive in that direction, but believers will likewise be driven toward the lies that will be prevalent in society. They will hear only what they want to hear. Now, we already know that the last major gap in history will come at the end of our dispensation, immediately prior to the Rapture. God is not arbitrary, and God is not unreasonable nor unfair. With people constantly believing in Christ from day to day, from month to month, then there is no reason to separate the rapture generation from the Tribulation group by means of an arbitrary date. That would not be fair to those who will believe just a few days after the Rapture. But since we already know that there will be a great apostasy, and now we know that there will be a falling off of spiritual legitimacy among believers, then the gap makes sense. With virtually no one promoting the gospel or doctrine, there will come a time when a generation of believers will exist, but will not be promoting the gospel or anything doctrinal for that matter, and so the numbers of new believers will fall off to zero. Noah had a 120 year gap, with no converts. The four centuries before the First Advent saw a great falling off of legitimate spiritual pursuit. That resulted in an interruption of the last dispensation, the Age of Israel. And so in the next great gap, immediately prior to the Rapture, there will be a length of time (which is undefined) when believers exist, not no new spiritual emphasis will exist within society. The spread of the gospel and the growth of Christianity will stall. We also know that in the Tribulation, there will be huge numbers of believers, new believers, but they will be driven to Christ by means of the last days prophecies and the turmoil that will unload during those last seven years. So in order to save them, God must do something to rekindle and restart the spread of faith in Christ, and the Rapture will, among other things, be that catalyst. When will that occur? No one knows. But common sense dictates that this generation and the next generation and the next generation and so forth, will see a decline in Christianity. The world recently passed the seven billion population mark. The last billion, six, was passed in 1999, or 12 years ago. And 12 years prior to that the 5 billion mark was passed in 1987, and 13 years prior to that the 4 billion mark was passed, and each preceding billion was passed 13 years prior to that, then 34 years prior to that, then 125 years prior to that back in 1802 when the first billion mark was passed, and so forth. Projecting forward with a conservative estimate the following could be a legitimate scenario. But then things could easily heat up at a much faster pace too. Population at the time of Christ - 300,000,000 Population at 1000 AD - 400,000,000 1802-1B; (125) 1927-2B; (34) 1961-3B; (13) 1974-4B; (13) 1987-5B; (12) 1999-6B; (12) 2011-7B Conservative projection: (11) 2022-8B; (11) 2033-9B; (10) 2043-10B; (10) 2053-11B; (9) 2062-12B; (9) 2071-13B; (8) 2079-14B; (8) 2087-15B; (7) 2094-16B; (7) 2101-17B; (6) 2107-18B; (6) 2113-19B; (5) 2118-20B; (5) 2123-21B; (4) 2127-22B; (4) 2131-23B; (3) 2134-24B; (3) 2137-25B; (2) 2139-26B; (2) 2141-27B; (1) 2142-28B; (1) 2143-29B; If you extend that forward into the future, with a gradual acceleration for each billion, perhaps in 11 years or ten years or nine years, and so forth, then the population could easily grow at a gradually accelerated pace for yet another century or more. That means that the 2100's or the 2200's could easily be the era in which Christianly will decline while the population reaches epic proportions, and the world finds itself primed for the next increment of history. But who knows. Things could happen tomorrow. For certainly there is more than sufficient turmoil and apostasy in the world right now. Whatever timetable is on Gods calendar, we know that continued spiritual negativity will lead to a positive attitude and pursuit for lies and that which is false, which by the way is the same as pursuing sin and evil. The time of the historical changes are irrelevant with regard to your personal spiritual life. God will deal with the major issues, you need to be concerned with your personal spiritual life such that you do not become a willing partner and contributor in the decline of society and history.
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
