First Timothy 4:1-16
Having just written about the mystery of the belief (believing correctly) and the mystery of the reverence (behaving correctly), Paul continues by telling Timothy what his holy spirit-life has communicated to him:
I Timothy 4:1-5:
4:1But the spirit speaking says that in times afterwards some-people will depart-from the belief having-attention to wandering spirits and teachings of devils, .2in hypocrisy of word-liars having been seared2 (in their) own conscience, .3hindering to marry, to refrain-oneself-from foods which God created with-a-view-to a reception with thankfulness by the believers also having fully-known2 the truth .4that every creature of God (is) beautiful and nothing throwing-away being received with thankfulness .5for it is made-holy by means of (the) word of God and intercession.
The spirit is specifically laying out information that in times afterwards (during opportune occasions, precise seasons, periods of limited-time that will come later-on after all that has happened so far), some holy-people will depart-from the belief (some Christians will cause themselves to stand away from the belief in Christ Jesus)…
- having-attention to (holding or turning their minds, thoughts and attention towards/for the purpose of)
- wandering spirits (spirits who err, do not stay in their rightful-place, who mislead, lead astray giving information and evidences causing people to wander away from God’s truth) and
- teachings of devils (doctrines, instructions issuing-from demons; this word ‘teaching’ includes the teaching itself and the action of teaching it)….
The word translated "devils" in verse 1 is the Greek word daimonion, which was used in Greek mythology/falsehoods to describe supernatural intermediary beings between false-gods and men. In reality, these are the lower-ranking demons, evil spirits, like 'privates,' which take their direction from the higher-ranking evil spirits (daimon) in the devil's "army" which take their orders and direction from the chief or top-ranking devil-spirit himself who is the devil/satan.
In times afterwards some-people will depart-from the belief having-attention to wandering spirits and teachings of devils,…
- in hypocrisy of word-liars (within the sphere of action of the pretense issuing from those who speak false words, lies, feigning to be who/what they are not, dissimulation, playing a part as though they were on a stage and taking on the character of their mask deliberately misrepresenting themselves and the truth of God's Word)
- having been seared and continuing seared in their own conscience (the word “conscience” means: a person’s knowing-awareness, the perception of what is right which he put together for himself in his mind as a result of all that he has already been taught and learned in relation to the one whom he recognizes as his ruler, the one who has authority, ultimately this authority should be the only true God – these word-liars were and remained seared, as with a caustic or a cautery (burned in and marked with a branding iron), in their own conscience, singular because all of them have their conscience in the same state - seared),
- hindering to marry (blocking, preventing men and women from marrying each other and behaving as married couples having physical contact with one another),
- to refrain oneself from foods (to hold oneself back, abstain away from foods for eating)
- which God created with a view to a reception with thankfulness by the believers (God brought foods into being, established them for a taking, participation with one another of these foods with gratitude to God by the people who believe what God says)
- additionally and emphatically the believers having fully-known and who still have full, clear and exact personal knowledge of the truth that every creature of God is beautiful (all/every thing that God creates has a manifested decorous, harmonious, and acceptable goodness) and nothing throwing-away being received with thankfulness (not a cast-off, not something to be cast away when it is being taken in company and association with gratitude to God) – why not? – in truth it is made-holy by means of the word of God and intercession (it is sanctified, set-apart from the state of being common, defiled or unclean against God through God’s word, what He says, and our meeting and talking with God regarding it).
[Reference: Acts 10:9-16; I Corinthians 10:25-31; I John 4:6; II John 1:7. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
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