Folly exposed

But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all… 2 Timothy 3:9

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.  2 Timothy 3:13

The above two verses couldn’t seem any more contradictory, yet they both appear in the apostle Paul’s description of the last days. Both verses are about the same type of people—evil men and impostors—men who oppose the truth, who have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith (see 2 Timothy 3:8).

Verse 9 tells us that these truth-haters will make no further progress. Verse 13 says that they will proceed from bad to worse.

Could both verses be true and about the same godless people?

Let’s muddy the waters a bit more before we clear them up. Did you know that the word for “progress” in verse 9 and the word for “proceed” in verse 13 are one and the same word?

Both words are prokoptō in Greek. It means to promote, to further, to advance, to go forward, and to make progress (see http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G4298&t=KJV ).

According to the Word, evil men and impostors will prokoptō (proceed and advance) from bad to worse. And, also according to the Bible, these evil men will not make further prokoptō (progress or advancement).

If the evil operatives of the last days:

• will make no further progress, while at the same time they
• are proceeding from bad to worse

then the Holy Spirit is revealing something very significant here.

He is letting the last generation in on an important, overcoming fact.

1.)  We can put our faith in what God has said about those who oppose the truth, who have depraved minds, and who are rejected in regard to the faith. And that is this: They will make no further progress. Why not? For their folly will be obvious to all.

This is how their progress will be halted—by having their folly openly displayed before all; by having their deception exposed to the rest of the population.

How will it be exposed and made obvious before the eyes of everyone else? That’s where we believers come in: We are to pray for truth to prevail and for evil to be exposed in God’s way and God’s time.

But then, you may ask, if evil men are supposed to make no further progress, why are things clearly getting worse? My response is this: This thing’s not over! God’s not done. Don’t tell me you’re done!

2.)  We also can bet our bottom dollar that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse. God said they would.

Here’s the difference. These evil men and women will make no further progress in their God-defying agendas, in great part, because of their folly. Folly has neither the ability nor the power to cause the one who embraces it to flourish forever. Many godly souls see right through impostors and their lies, and many more will start to wake up to the folly of what is being foisted upon them. Our part, as believers in all of this, is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be openly and explicitly exposed for what it is, for the upright to know what to do and to receive the boldness necessary to accomplish it—AND for God to intervene in a big way on behalf of our nation.

However, the poor souls clinging to their agendas of folly will themselves proceed from bad to worse as they deceive and become even more deceived themselves. Unfortunately, they will be successful in deceiving quite a few; but again, our job as believers is to pray for truth to prevail, for folly to be seen openly for the evil that it is, and for the advancement of the agenda of those who hate the God of the Bible to be checked and restrained on our watch.

May God strengthen, direct, and gird you for your part in this prayer battle as you cling to Him and His Word.

God bless and empower you,

Dorothy