“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words” (2 Timothy 4:14-15 NKJV).
Just as we can identify a tree by the fruit it produces, we can often identify the character of others by the “fruit” that grows from their choices and decisions. Jesus introduced this concept in the following passage from the Gospel of Matthew…
“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16-20).
Paul the Apostle was well-acquainted with this idea, for he often encountered both types of fruit mentioned in the passage quoted above. For instance, Paul identified the positive fruit that was growing among the members of the Christian community in the city of Ephesus: “,..after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, (I) do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16).
He also encouraged the Philippian church in a similar manner: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5). However, Paul also asked the church in Thessalonica to pray for him for a very different reason…
“Finally, brothers, pray for us… that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 ESV).
Throughout his ministry, Paul faced regular opposition from religious authorities (Acts 18:12-13), local tradesmen (Acts 19:23-41), spiritual mystics and fortune-tellers (Acts 13:6-12, Acts 16:16-19), and secular philosophers (Acts 17:16-34). Here now in 2 Timothy 4:14, we also learn that Paul faced individual opposition as well: “Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm…” (NIV).
1 Timothy 1:20 tells us that Paul was forced to deliver a man named Alexander over to Satan so he might “…learn not to blaspheme.” If the individuals mentioned in these passages are the same, then it would seem that Alexander rejected that lesson and further serve to explain his opposition to Paul.