- Series:Humans, Transcript English
2 Timothy 4:3-4
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
In a previous Creation Moment, we saw how people often do not want hygienic teaching. The Greek word translated “sound”, in the phrase “sound teaching”, is actually hugiano, from which we derive our word hygienic.
If people do not want the clean teaching that comes from God’s word, then the apostle Paul says that they have “itching ears”. We hear things with our ears, so the apostle is telling us that there are certain teachings which will satisfy our ears that do not come from God’s word. The itching of the ears suggests that we want our own felt needs satisfied; we want to suit our own passions.
Where would people find such teachers who will give them the teaching that they want? In fact, they are not hard to find. The Scripture says that they can be “accumulated”. Listening to such comfortable preachers causes one to turn away from truth. Listening to the truth can sometimes be hard. It can sometimes be uncomfortable. Modern people do not like to be uncomfortable. We prefer to have our itching ears scratched. The apostle refers to this as “wandering off into myths”. Very few Christians deliberately set out to seek after false teaching. But instead, they wander into it because it is more comfortable. When something feels too comfortable, the alarm bells should start ringing for us to direct us back to the clean teaching from God’s word. Author: Paul F. Taylor
Direct our paths, Lord, by the light of Your word. May Your word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, for the honor of Your Name. Amen.
Ref: Taylor, Paul (2010), Itching Ears, (Castle Rock, WA: J6D Publications). Image: Adobe Stock Images, licensed to author.
