“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6).
This verse (and those that follow) serve to reveal Paul the Apostle’s mindset in light of his impending death. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul referenced a familiar sacrificial element in assessing his departure from this earthly life: the drink offering.
This type of sacrificial offering first appeared in Genesis chapter thirty-five. In that portion of Scripture, God appeared to the Old Testament patriarch Jacob to confirm the promises He made earlier to Jacob’s ancestors. Jacob responded by erecting a pillar to commemorate the place where God had spoken to him and poured a drink offering upon it (see Genesis 35:9-15).
Later with the advent of the Old Testament sacrificial system, the Israelite priests were charged with the responsibility of presenting several different sacrificial offerings (including a drink offering) each day (see Numbers chapter twenty-eight). One source explains the function of the drink offering within this sacrificial system: “After the Jewish priest offered the lamb, ram, or bull in this ritual, he poured wine beside the altar. This was the last act in the sacrificial ceremony, all of which symbolized the dedication of the believer to God in worship.” (1)
Israel’s king David also made use of this symbolism to honor a group of valiant warriors who risked their lives to draw water for him from one of his favorite wells (see 2 Samuel 23:13-17).
Paul now turned to this imagery to illustrate his perspective on the subject of his approaching death. Just as wine was poured from a cup as a sacrificial offering in the presence of God, Paul’s earthly life was now being emptied in a similar manner. However, this was not the first time Paul made use of this word picture. Earlier in his letter to the church at Philippi, he also wrote the following…
“Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17 ESV).
So much like the sacrificial drink offerings that were regularly poured out before God, Paul was also committed to pouring out his life in fulfillment of God’s will as the end of his life drew near. For Paul, those final drops were now draining away, and that undoubtedly accounts for the sense of urgency that we’ll see over the last few verses of this letter.
(1) William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, p 313. Quoted in Dr. Thomas L. Constable, Notes on 2 Timothy 2021 Edition [Paul’s role in the last days 4:6-8] https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/nt/2timothy/2timothy.htm