Just as the keynote of the balancing member 2 Timothy 2:14 -26 is the

word 'approved', dokimos (2 Tim. 2:15), so the keynote of the present section

is 'disapproved' or 'reprobate', adokimos (2 Tim. 3:8).  The apostle opens

this section with a forecast of the character of the last days.  We must

exercise care when meeting this expression lest we confuse things that

differ.  Peter quoting from Joel refers to the 'last days', but a reading of

the context shows that these days immediately precede 'the great and dreadful

day of the Lord' and are associated with Israel's restoration.  The Lord

speaks of 'the last day' six times in the Gospel according to John, and the

day He refers to is the day of resurrection and judgment.  From the

standpoint of the epistle to the Hebrews, 'these last days' refer to the days

of Christ's first Advent (Heb. 1:2), even as John in his first epistle said:

'it is the last time' (2:18).

It is manifest that each writer views the subject from his own point of

view, Peter's 'last days' would be the last days of the dispensation

associated with the Kingdom and Israel, whereas Paul's 'last days' would be

the closing days of the dispensation of the Mystery.  We are concerned when

we read in 2 Peter 3:3, that in the last days shall come scoffers who shall

walk after their own lusts and deny the Second Coming of the Lord; but we

should be still more concerned to learn that the closing days of this most

favoured dispensation will end in apostasy parallel to the conditions of

ancient paganism (for proof of this statement see later exposition), and

characterized by the same dreadful motive 'after their own lusts' (2 Tim.

4:3).  With such passages of Scripture written for our learning, and with the

consciousness that the end of the present dispensation cannot be far off, the

reader will not be easily moved to believe that a great spiritual revival is

on its way, even though such should be 'a consummation devoutly to be

In the first epistle to Timothy, the apostle had been led to speak of

the outstanding character of the 'latter times', husterois kairois, 'latter

seasons'.  Not only is there the change of word 'days' in 2 Timothy 3 and

'seasons' in 1 Timothy 4, but also the second epistle speaks of the 'last',

eschatos, 'the extreme end', whereas 1 Timothy speaks of the period that is

'left over', husteros, of the season.  Consequently, the state of affairs

described in the first epistle must be understood as leading up to the crisis

of the second epistle.  The apostasy starts in 1 Timothy 4, for the word

'depart' is the Greek word aphistemi from which our word 'apostasy' is

derived, it marks the beginning of the movement that ends with the awful

reprobation of 2 Timothy 3.

This departure from the faith is the outcome of 'giving heed to

seducing spirits and doctrines of demons' which, while including antagonism

against the essentials of the Gospel, points markedly to 'spiritism', a cult

that is developing with alarming rapidity and captivating millions.  While

'seducing spirits' are not named in 2 Timothy 3, their fell* work is to be

seen in the word translated 'perilous' times or seasons.  This word

'perilous' is the Greek word chalepos, the word employed in Matthew 8:28 to

describe two demon -possessed men who lived among tombs, exceeding 'fierce'.

*fell = cruel, fierce, barbarous, savage, or inhuman.

Such is the prophetic picture of the last days of this dispensation.

The truth forsaken, those who hold it despised or persecuted, the whole

dominated by the doctrine of demons; no wonder the apostle spoke of a day