Silly Women

[heartstrings]

2 Timothy 3 1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 

I was reading this passage this morning and came across the "silly women" part again.  Is this speaking of some "cat burglar" type dude, jimmying the back door, physically sneaking in and kidnapping women or is it, as I suspect, speaking of some pseudo-godly charlatan, with a silver tongue, saying everything women want to hear, subverting the order in the home, and "leading" women astray?

[No Nicolaitans]

More akin to your second description I believe.

Verses 2-5 of 2 Timothy describe the character traits (for lack of a better description at the moment) of mankind during the last days. Verse 6 then draws a parallel of those previously mentioned "character traits" by saying that type of person is equal to that of a man who takes advantage of foolish women who have given their lives over to the pursuit of sins and lusts.

A man could easily take advantage of such women by giving them whatever their sinful desires are (and then promising to give them more), but in the end, he uses that to trap them and use them for his own use (whatever that may be). 

It all revolves around someone getting what they want at the expense of others...see a weakness in others and take advantage of it to fulfil your own desires. 

Those last days are described as "perilous". Indeed it is perilous when men turn from all that is godly and right, and their main concern is only wanting to please themselves at all costs. Perilous spiritually and perilous physically.

[Anon]

I agree also with the second choice.

[Pastor Scott Markle]

2 Timothy 3 1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 

I was reading this passage this morning and came across the "silly women" part again.  Is this speaking of some "cat burglar" type dude, jimmying the back door, physically sneaking in and kidnapping women or is it, as I suspect, speaking of some pseudo-godly charlatan, with a silver tongue, saying everything women want to hear, subverting the order in the home, and "leading" women astray?

Brother "Heartstrings,"

​I would contend for the second option that you have presented, and I would do so on the ground of the grammatical and contextual flow of thought in the sentence that encompasses 2 Timothy 3:6-7.

"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

According to the grammatical construction of this verse, the "silly women" are described with a three-fold description, as follows:

1.  "laden with sins"
2.  "led away with divers lusts"
3.  "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth"

Especially the last of these three descriptives seems to reveal that the captivity of which this sentence speaks is not a matter of physical captivity, but is a matter of spiritual captivity.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Pastor Scott Markle

[heartstrings]

Genesis 7:1

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

[heartstrings]

Acts 16:31

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

[heartstrings]

Yes, I believe "houses", in 2 Timothy 3, speaks of families.  it's speaking of the "sort" that  use "a form" of godliness (godly on the outside; not in their hearts) to draw followers, for whatever motives they may have.

[beameup]

"silly women" is one Greek word...gynaikarion  G1133

 

[Ukulelemike]

I think just seeing the many false churches virtually run by women today, or with a very strong feminine presence, as an example that this is already well underway. I can't tell you how hard it is to get acoss to 'Christian' women who base their theology upon their emotions and feelings. Particularly in areas of dress, modesty and hair. Sound afmiliar?

Lady: "I am thinking about cutting my hair into this really cute, pixie cut!" 

Pastor: "Well, the Bible says that a woman's long hair is a glory to her because it is given her for a covering."

Lady/Husband/Friends/Family: "Oh, that's not for today! That was just cultural for the time. God doesn't care about hairstyles! I am fine with my wife/daughter having short hair; its none of your business. Get out of being under the law!"

We have a young lady in the church,immature yet, but she likes to wear failry revealing clothes, and whwn we talk to her, she always has some excuse. Again,it all comes down to self and emotions. BUt we're working on her,praying for her. 

[heartstrings]

 Methinks the "house creepers" with a "form of godliness" are ones who would never preach against anything women do wrong.

[DaveW]

Over here the cults will often time their doorknocking during work hours when it is most likely that the woman will be home but not the men.........

[John81]

Over here the cults will often time their doorknocking during work hours when it is most likely that the woman will be home but not the men.........

​A lot of shady salesmen do the same here. I heard a preacher give a mini-sermon on this once, using the verse being discussed.

[HappyChristian]

I think the "house creepers" are people who present an alternative to a woman's otherwise seemingly boring life. 

Feminism is a biggie. It started way back with the message that women don't need men. Well, in many ways they don't - but in many ways they do, also. And this began appealing to girls who were being taught in school, on tv, in song ("I am Woman, Hear Me Roar"), by example, and, yes, even in some pulpits that women could do anything men could do. And so they began doing it.  Caution here: I do believe that some men over react when a woman has an opinion and dares to voice it...just because a woman does not always agree with her husband does not mean she is being unsubmissive...methinks sometimes men can be too trogloditish and it makes women frustrated and easy prey to the "kinder, gentler" house creeper.

TV has done a lot to indoctrinate both men and women with the faulty ideas that exist. The mocking of men while lifting up women as all-wise has contributed to the house creeper's victory. After all, if a woman is stuck with a less intelligent man but "intelligence" comes down the pike, why not go for it? (Rhetorical question there...please don't think I'm advocating leaving a husband)

The Internet has also contributed. I love this forum, and I love interacting with folks. But consider this. All of the forums, blogs, social media, etc. CAN BE a form of "...wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not," which 1 Tim talks about...this attitude leads to vulnerability on the part of a woman and leaves her open to house creepers on the Internet. We all have to be so careful.

Music has contributed greatly to this as well. First it was secular music that taught us that women did not need to answer to their husbands or fathers. Then it was the soft, pretty "Christian" music that taught us to trust in our emotions. Making women even more vulnerable.

House creepers don't need to come to the door...way too often they are already inside.

Edited May 8, 2015 by HappyChristian

[heartstrings]

trog·lo·dyte

 (trŏg′lə-dīt′)

n.

1.

a. A member of a fabulous or prehistoric race of people that lived in caves, dens, or holes.

b. A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish.

2.

a. A nonhuman ape. Not in scientific use.

b. An animal that lives underground, as an ant or a worm. Not in scientific use.

 

 

Ugg........

[Pastor Scott Markle]

Hey, where did you find that picture of me? 

I thought that I told my wife to take that picture down from her facebook page.