2 Timothy 4:4
4 And [kai] they shall turn away [men] [apostrepho] their ears [akoe] from [apo] the truth, [aletheia] and [de] shall be turned [ektrepo] unto [epi] fables. [muthos] KJV-Interlinear
4 and will
turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. NASB
Turn away, ‘apostrepho,’
means to cause to turn away. And this is
an active process.
Shall be turned or to
turn aside, ‘ektrepo,’ carries the same meaning but is passive in nature. This is also a medical term that refers to a
joint being knocked out of place, or turned away or turned out.
So, this is a process
that can and does occur for any given person who is spiritually negative, and
at any given time in history. They are
in effect knocked out of spiritual joint.
But Paul is specifically suggesting the future or end of our current
times.
People will actively
pursue, and aggressively pursue false doctrines. They will also allow society in general to
fashion their thoughts through passive acceptance.
A very good example of
this can be seen in our current political arena. There is a great deal of false doctrine
surrounding socialism, the human role in global warming, in liberalism and such
things. There are many other topics in
philosophy, religion, and various views, but these are pretty much in the
forefront of most everyone's minds. People
are aware of them, anyway.
So celebrities,
leaders, professors, are usually the ones who actively promote false ideas. While the masses of peoples generally accept
them in a more passive fashion.
When a concept is
stated over and over, again and again, then it sooner or later becomes accepted
as truth.
The media actively
promotes, and the listening audience passively accepts. In nearly every history program, the liberal
views of evolution are stated as though they are hard facts, and those who
watch those programs hear no other view.
They certainly do not hear truth.
As society drifts away
from Bible doctrine, then their opinions and beliefs will be tailored to more
and more false concepts. Deceivers will be driven by lusts for power and
control and approbation and the riches of high office. Those who are being
deceived will be driven by the promises of getting something for nothing.
So, all are fooled into
a false sense of purpose and destiny, of getting and receiving. And society goes downhill from there.
Imagine what society
will be like when truth is virtually absent and no one has anything (no truth)
with which to compare public views. And
so the generations spiral downward.
In the past, history
has given people many tools with which to combat the false lies of the world.
They have had reservoirs of resources, frontiers to where they can move, opportunities
with which to separate themselves from that which was false, and so forth.
But in the future, when
the population of the world grows and grows, when internationalism overtakes
nationalism, when there is nowhere else to run, when individualism is replaced
by the decisions of the elite, then that will indeed become the new dark ages
of the world.
That will be a time
when the lies, the false, the myths will overtake the thinking of the world.
Myths, ‘muthos,’ means
fables, fiction. It comes from ‘mueo’ which means to instruct, to teach. And so the lies of life will be the standard
for instruction and common beliefs.
And whether that day is
far off or very near, again, should be irrelevant with respect to your own
personal spiritual life.
You can reject this
instruction and become an active or passive part in the decline of civilization,
or, you can accept this instruction, pursue your daily study, compare and test
and examine and see for yourself, just what is true and what is not.
You can pursue your spiritual
life and advance to spiritual maturity regardless of what the rest of the world
is doing.
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