Final posting

2 Timothy 4
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Timothy+4&version=NIV

4:1–2 Paul reminded Timothy that the certainty of Christ’s appearing and his coming kingdom were incentives to faithfulness. The preaching of God’s word was to be powerful (reprove, rebuke, exhort), but the preacher was to be patient. Content must be delivered through pure character. Whether the time was opportune or not, Timothy was to preach the truth of God recorded in Scripture.

4:3–8 Paul took opportunities to speak without worrying about the interest of the listeners. His eloquent and confident testimony (4:6–8) touched on his present readiness for death, his past faithfulness in service, and his future reward in glory. Paul used a metaphor taken from the custom of offering a wine libation as the concluding act in the sacrificial rite (4:6; cf. Num. 15:1–10). Paul drew upon athletic imagery to refer to his past faithful service to Christ (2 Tim. 4:7). Like a wrestler, he had agonized through the fight. Like a runner, he had finished the foot race. Paul kept the faith by defending it from attacks and by observing its obligations. At the end of the race course there awaited a laurel wreath that would be placed on the head of the victor (4:8). It was a perishable wreath (1 Cor. 9:25), but Paul’s reward was an imperishable crown. For other crowns, see 1 Thessalonians 2:19; James 1:12; and 1 Peter 5:4. Paul emphasized the appearing of Christ at both the beginning and end of this section (4:1, 8).

4:14–15 The description of Alexander as “the coppersmith” (4:14) may be intended to distinguish him from the Alexander mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20 (cf. Acts 19:33).

4:16–18 At Paul’s first defense, or preliminary hearing, before the Roman court, no one came to vouch for him. Luke may not have arrived yet. Others may have feared for their own lives. The “delivered from the lion’s mouth” (4:17; cf. Ps. 22:21) may refer to an immediate danger from which Paul was spared. But Paul knew his Lord (1:12). And he would keep Paul from every “evil attack” (4:18; “evil deed,” nasb; “evil work,” kjv), that is, the temptations to sin arising from Paul’s difficult circumstances—temptations to compromise his life and message in order to avoid persecution. Others have taken this to refer to deliverance from all the attacks of various people against Paul.
4:19–21 Prisca (or Priscilla) and Aquila (4:19) were Paul’s fellow workers (Acts 18:2; Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19). For Onesiphorus, see the note on 1:16–18. For Erastus (4:20), see Acts 19:22. He is probably not to be identified with the city treasurer of Corinth (Rom. 16:23). Trophimus was from Ephesus (Acts 20:4; 21:29), one of two Asians to carry the collection with Paul to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4–6; 21:29). Since Paul did not leave Trophimus in Miletus on their visit recorded in Acts 20:15, this incident must have happened after Paul’s release from his first Roman imprisonment. Nothing is known of the four faithful persons (4:21) named here who had not deserted the apostle Paul.
4:22 Paul’s words of benediction in 2 Timothy were his last recorded words. According to Eusebius, Paul’s martyrdom took place in the thirteenth year of Nero, which commenced in October, a.d. 67. Jerome places Paul’s death in a.d. 68. Paul probably died in the spring of a.d. 68, for he was hoping that Timothy would join him for the winter. According to tradition, Paul was beheaded with a sword, a method of execution used for Roman citizens, on the Ostian Way, a road leading south from Rome. According to tradition, he was buried in the catacombs south of the city.


Discussion & reflection question

Has this study helped you to become a more Christ Like person? How has this study changed or confirmed your opinion about Paul? How would you describe Paul to an unbeliever?