Establishing our place in Prophetic History from a Cultural /
Societal View
A preoccupation with the things of
this life:
In keeping
with the context of Christ's comparison of
the days preceding his second coming to those of Noah and Lot.: Notice
the following
Matt 24:37-39
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the
days of Noah.
38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and
took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Luke 17:28-30
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will
be just like the days of Noah.
38 “For as in
those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and
took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Their preoccupation indicated a self centered
sinful Godless life rather than a God centered life
that sought God's Kingdom and righteousness (cf.
Matt 6:33) as first priority.
They failed to see that life was about more than the
here and now and physical needs and material wants
(Matt 16:26). For eternity must be dealt with, for
this life and the things in it are temporal and
should be kept in a temporal perspective.
Their exclusive pursuit for the things in this life
reflected their attitude towards spiritual things.
They viewed the spiritual things of God as
foolishness(1Cor. 2:14), things that had no priority
in their lives. They had no time or desire for God.
As a result of their spiritual darkness they had no
perception of the impending judgment that was poised
to sweep them away, therefore they where caught
unaware when the judgment overtook them.
The same will be true preceding the days of the
Great Tribulation period. People pursuits, passions
and cravings will be in the context of the world's,
system; the lust of the flesh and the lust of
the eyes and the boastful pride of life (1 John
2:16). Their attitude toward the spiritual things of
God as found in the scriptures will be to view those
things as foolishness(1Cor. 2:14) and will have no
value to their way of life.
With their spiritual perception darkened due to
their sinful nature they will not understand or
perceive the judgment of God on the horizon until it
strikes. (cf. Rev 6:8, Rev 9:15, Rev 9:18, Rev
20:13-15). They had an indifference toward the
warnings of God. They lived life without taking into
account their eternal destiny. |
Paul's description of the disintegration of society:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult
times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents,
ungrateful, unholy, 3 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God,
4 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control
brutal, haters of good,
5 holding to a form of godliness,
although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
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V1
Paul warned Timothy about
the societal degradation predicted for the last days, a term
which includes the entire period between the first century
and Christ’s return.
v2- 4
Paul describes a vivid picture of the
degenerate condition of the human nature which will
continue to degenerate into greater depths of depravity
until Christ comes back :
boastful
-
(GK- alazones).
empty pretender.
Boasting of things they do not have.
lovers of self - (GK- philautos) selfish love -
pertaining to the
excessive love of oneself, self-centered; [3] which is
contrary to the greatest which is to love God above all else
and second thy neighbor as thy self Matt 22:33-40.
lovers of money -
(GK- philarguros )
pertaining to being fond of or loving money i.e., greedy;
covetous.[22]
This is especially true in the Word
Faith movement, were to be poor is a sin.
aggrogant - (Gk huperephanos )
translates as “proud” five times. 1 showing one’s self above
others, overtopping, conspicuous above others, pre-eminent.
2 with an overweening estimate of one’s means or merits,
despising others or even treating them with contempt,
haughty.[5]
revilers -
(GK-blasphemos)
speaking evil, slanderous, reproachful, railing, abusive [6] against
the things of God.
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Several of the words which follow begin in the Greek
with the prefix a =, meaning “without” (as in
moral-amoral, theist-atheist), signifying "absence"
of the designated virtue.
[23] |
disobedient to parents - ( GK apeithes)
impersudasible, not compliant, disobedient, flagrantly
insubordinate or rebellious [8]. “Disobedient to parents”
suggests that this apostasy reaches into the family.
ungrateful- (GK - acharistos ) Children are
“unthankful” and do not appreciate what their parents have
done for them. They are “unholy” in their attitude toward
their parents. “Honor thy father and thy mother” is not
widely taught or respected.[21] unloving - (GK- f love or
affection for close associates or family—‘without normal
human affection, without love for others[10]
irreconcilable - (GK - aspondos ) pertaining to being
unwilling to be reconciled to others—‘irreconcilable,
unwilling to be at peace with others [11]
malicious gossips - (GK - diabolos)
prone
to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely. 2 metaphorically
applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be
said to act the part of the devil or to side with him.[12].
This would be especially true when one falsely accuses a
child of God.
without self-control -(Gk- [akrates )
- lacking
self-control, implying then an indulgent life [13]
brutal - (Gk anēmeroi )
- pertaining to fierceness,
in the sense of being wild and untamed—‘fierce, vicious,
untamed. [14]
haters of good - (GK - aphilagathos ) pertaining to
not loving what is good—‘not loving what is good, being an
enemy to what is good, being against what is good. [15] Not
loving what is good according to God's standards as found in
his word therefore resulting in hating God.
treacherous - (GK, prodotēs )one who delivers without justification
a person into the control of someone else—‘betrayer, one who
betrays. [16]
reckless - (GK, propetes ) pertaining to impetuous and reckless
behavior. To act ‘without thinking’ or ‘without counting the
cost.[17]
conceited - (Gk- tuphoo ) to make proud, puff up with
pride, render insolent, to be puffed up with haughtiness or
pride. to blind with pride or conceit, to render foolish or
stupid.[18]
lovers of pleasure - (gk, philēdonos)
pertaining to being fond of
pleasure and enjoyment—‘given over to pleasure, lover of
pleasure, loving pleasure [19] in contrast to "lovers of
God" (Gk, philotheos ) - having and affection for God.
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"Scripture taken from the NEW
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright ©
1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The
Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."
[2]Walvoord,
John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The
Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the
Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:756
[3]Swanson, James: Dictionary of
Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New
Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : Logos Research
Systems, Inc., 1997, S. GGK5796
[4]Robertson, A.T.: Word Pictures in
the New Testament. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems,
1997, S. 2 Ti 3:2
[5]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G5244
[6]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G989
[7]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G545
[8]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G989
[9]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:538
[10]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:292
[11]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:502
[12]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G1228
[13]Swanson, James: Dictionary of
Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New
Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : Logos Research
[14]Systems, Inc., 1997, S. GGK203
Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene Albert: Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains.
electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York : United Bible
societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:228
[15]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:300
[16]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:485
[17]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based
on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c19
[18]Strong, James: The Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of
the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every
Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed.
Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G5187
[19]Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene
Albert:Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on
Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New
York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:300
[21]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible
Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996,
c1989, S. 2 Ti 3
[22]Swanson, James: Dictionary of
Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Greek (New
Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : Logos Research
Systems, Inc., 1997, S. GGK5795
[23]Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B.
; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge
Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL :
Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:756
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