“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 ESV).
As we consider the opening verse of 1 Timothy chapter four, we should recognize that Paul the Apostle was someone who once interacted with Jesus in His direct presence. In addition, Paul was a man who was personally appointed by the Lord to His position of apostolic authority. Because of this, it seems likely that Paul received a specific revelation regarding the apostasy mentioned in this verse through the direct agency of the Holy Spirit.
This may have been a fresh insight from the Holy Spirit or it may have been related to warning that Paul issued to the church at Ephesus some years earlier…
“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:29-31).
This brings us to the timeline associated with this departure from the faith. While it may be tempting to link the term “later times” with “the end times,” many commentators note that the concept of “later times” incorporates the period ranging from the date of Jesus’ birth until His return. For instance, one source observes that “Apostasy will exist throughout that period, reaching a climax shortly before Christ returns (cf. Mt 24:12).” (1)
Another commentator offers an intriguing word-picture that serves to illustrate this concept…
“It has been more than 1900 years since Paul wrote to Timothy about the latter times, but he did not misunderstand his time or our own. History is not, and has not, been rushing towards a distant brink that would end this current order; even in apostolic times, history had reached that brink – and has run parallel to it since. As it turns out, the latter times describe a broad era, not a couple of years.” (2)
So much like a motor vehicle that is traveling perilously close to a dangerous cliff, those who abandon genuine Bible doctrine are always close to falling into a spiritual abyss.
While examples of such apostasy are likely to grow more prevalent as we approach the close of this chapter of human history, the need to guard against such things is applicable to any era.
(1) MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (1 Ti 4:1). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
(2) Guzik, Dave, 1 Timothy 4 – God’s Man Of Truth And Integrity, (4:1) https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-timothy-4/
Image Credit: David Lally / A57 – A dangerous road https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A57_-_A_dangerous_road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_616076.jpg Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
