Trends of the End-Time

"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they denied its power; and avoid such men as these" (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NASB).

Paul, in writing Timothy, is, in my opinion, referring to trends to guard against that we're observing within the visible church these last days. Such trends have always been in the world. The context of 2 Timothy makes this clear (cf. 2 Tim. 1:14; 2:20, 21; 3:7, 13; 4:3). Following is a word study of each of these nineteen trends:

1.) lovers of themselves (philautoi, #5367, "self-centered, narcissistic, selfish").

2.) lovers of money (philargyroi, #5366, "avarice"; cf. 1 Tim. 6:9-10).

3.) boastful (alazon, #213, "braggard:-boaster").

4.) arrogant (huperephanos, #5244, "haughty:-proud").

5.) revilers (blasphemos, #989, "speaking evil, slanderous, reproachful, railing, abusive").

6.) disobedient to parents (apeithes, #545, "impersuasible, not compliant, disobedient, contumacious").

7.) ungrateful (acharistos, #884, "ungracious, unpleasing, unthankful").

8.) unholy (anosios, #462, "impious, wicked").

9.) unloving (astorgos, #794, "without natural affection, unsociable, cf. Rom 1:31 marg., inhuman, cf. 2Ti. 3:3 RSV, unloving, cf. 2Ti. 3:3 NKJV").

10.) irreconcilable (aspondos, #786, "implacable, trucebreakers").

11.) malicious gossips (diabolos, #1228, "devil, false accuser, slanderer").

12.) without self-control (akrates, #193, "incontinent, intemperate").

13.) brutal (anemeros, #434, "not tame, savage, fierce, not civilized").

14.) haters of good (aphilagathos, #865, "despiser of those that are good; opposed to goodness and good men").

15.) treacherous (prodotai, #4272, "disposed toward betrayal, traitor").

16.) reckless (propetes, #4312, "precipitate, rash, heady").

17.) conceited (tuphoo, #5187, "puffed up, beclouded, besotted").

18.) lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (philedonos, #5369, "loving pleasure").

19.) holding to a form of godliness (or, religion), although they denied its power (morphosis, #3446, "the mere form, semblance"; eusebeia, #2150, "reverence, respect, piety towards God, godliness"; dunamis, #1411, "power, mighty work, strength, miracle, might, virtue, mighty").