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2 Timothy 4:4  (International Standard Version)
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<< 2 Timothy 4:3   2 Timothy 4:5 >>


2 Timothy 4:3-4

Paul's description of people having "itching ears" is picturesque. The Greek word, knethomai, literally means "to itch, rub, scratch, or tickle." This figure of speech implies that they have an itch that must be scratched, or as William Barclay puts it, "they have ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties" (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, p. 202). Such people open their ears to any teacher who will relieve their particular "itch" regardless of how it measures against the truth.

The solution to this resides in proper discernment based on God's infallible Word. This judgment must be based on His whole counsel. John writes, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). Christ commends the Ephesian church for this:

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. (Revelation 2:2)

Paul says it most simply, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21).

It is our Christian duty to evaluate the "causes" we endorse. Are they truly of God, or are they itches we want scratched? Have we allowed the world to influence our thinking, or are we on solid biblical footing? Have we held our ground against Satan, or have we given in to his relentless onslaught?

Our effort now should be presenting ourselves "blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 23), for God is not concerned with scratching our itches but transforming us into the image of His Son. That is our only cause!

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Scratching Our Itches



2 Timothy 4:4

Once people reject the truth or decide for themselves what the truth is, what is there? What remains? What does it produce? Fables, myths, manmade wisdom, unsound teaching. It is certainly not the pure truth from God, and so Paul writes, "They turn their ears away from the truth and are turned aside to fables."

"Fables" is a general catchword for anything that is not the truth. When we are not focused on God and the truth He has sent others to preach, we are dabbling in error. What happens when one pours poison into a drink? Is it a good drink any longer? It is poison! Any amount of poison in that drink means it is no longer pure. And any truth that has error mixed within it is an error. That may seem to some like a hard saying, but God wants His truth preached purely. So, we have to be careful, do our best, to feed ourselves the unadulterated truth. Otherwise, we will find ourselves turned away to fables, to myths, to manmade wisdom, to false gospels.

In Romans 1:18-25, the apostle gives a quick summary of what happens when truth and error are mixed. He asserts that the truth is out there. People are without excuse because God's message is readily available. The truth is knowable, but men have suppressed it—in certain places, in part, and in other places, almost fully. What they have mainly done is to add their own "wisdom" to the mix.

They have thus made their own religions. Why? They satisfy them in some way. God just replies, "Okay. If that's the way you want it, go ahead" (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). It is like Jesus' attitude to those who rejected the truth that His disciples preached: "Shake the dust off your skirt and go somewhere else" (Matthew 10:14). He essentially instructs them, "Don't worry about the naysayers. Leave them be. I'll deal with them later. Move on."

The greater point we need to understand is how they did it. These unrighteous people suppressed the truth, adding their own bit of "wisdom" or supposed knowledge or truth—and they immediately became fools because they believed a lie. They thought they could come up with a religion better than the true religion from God. They will answer for it in time.

But we have to be careful the same thing does not happen among ourselves:

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (II Thessalonians 2:9-12)

This prophecy returns to what Paul said is the foundational reason for false gospels and false teachings. It is what he writes in the last phrase: They took "pleasure in unrighteousness." It lined up with their own lusts. They wanted their itches scratched, and so they believed the lie—Satan's lie.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Itching Ears



2 Timothy 4:3-5

We see here indications of the influence of the world, the influence of the Babylonian mystery religion, surrounding Christians wherever they might live. It gradually wears them down simply by its presence as well as by occasional, open persecution against Christians. These Christians were gradually weakening rather than growing, and beginning to feel that the best thing to do was to give in—inch by inch—to what was happening. They were beginning to request of the ministry teachings that were deviating from the truth that the apostles had given them.

John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 4)



2 Timothy 4:2-5

Paul gives Timothy a great deal to think about and to do. Notice, though, that he ends with a warning that false teachers and false gospels are inevitable. As time goes on, as he said earlier, things will get worse and worse.

We must be especially careful of this these days because Jesus tells us that, as the end approaches, it will get really bad! Those things will wax, not wane, as the end comes. And in our information society, not only have there been more bad things, but they are coming at us faster and faster. It is hard to keep up with all the false teachings, heresies, and strange ideas. And those are just what are in the church, and not what comes from Protestantism, Catholicism, New Age, or whatever!

The Internet has been a blessing and curse, just for that reason. It is wonderful for transmitting information—especially if it is the truth, but it is damnable for transmitting error. All "media" are. Any kind of media can be used wrongly. The two biggest users on the Internet are, on the one hand, pornographers, and on the other, churches. Is that not crazy? It shows how bad the times are, and how we have to be prepared to face these things, show the error of falsehood, and explain the truth. It is not easy in these times to be a true minister of God, because things are coming at us from right and left at 190 mph.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Itching Ears




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Timothy 4:4:

Genesis 1:27-28
Isaiah 34:13-14
Luke 15:4

 

<< 2 Timothy 4:3   2 Timothy 4:5 >>



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