Not scratching is not an option

I used to have an old lab named Bear whose ears were always itching. I guess it was because he loved the water and his ears were constantly wet and easily got infected. If he wasn’t actually working for a living and retrieving some ducks for me, he loved the water so much he would just go for a swim in the pond in our back yard on his own volition. I had to constantly doctor his ears with medicine but it didn’t seem to offer much relief. In spite of my best efforts most every day he would stand and shake his head and scratch at his ears. I could tell from his expression that he was aggravated to no end over this condition and somehow I got the impression that he blamed me for it.

I don’t know if that old dog is haunting me in my old age or what, but my ears itch all of the time too and it drives me crazy. I went to the eye, ear, nose doc and he gave me a prescription for some cream to put in them, but it only lasts about a week and then the incessant itching returns with a vengeance. And like old Bear I scratch like crazy trying to find some relief.

The other night I was vigorously rubbing my ear as fast as my hand would allow and I happened to think of the Bible verse where Paul talked about people having itching ears in the Last Days:

2 Tim. 4:3
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

The New Living translation even clarifies it more for me:

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

Paul’s description of people having “itching ears” is picturesque. The Greek word, knethomai, literally means “to itch, rub, scratch, or tickle.” This figure of speech implies that they have an itch that literally MUST be scratched. (I can relate!)

I received the below e-mail national prayer attributed to 90 year old evangelist Billy Graham that seemed to sum up our current Last Days – itching ears – situation in the United States and his prayer for God to cleanse us and set us free:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!”

Selah! Stop and rest here for a moment and meditate.

Do you have itching ears? Is a pastor/teacher at your church accommodating the itch, or espousing sound and wholesome doctrine? Your answer can be found in determining how close the preacher/teacher comes to preaching what it states in the Bible, for the Bible is the holy word of God. I have always maintained that we must first read the Bible for ourselves in order to really know what God has to say about things. Only when we have read it for ourselves can we reliably discern between those who preach the truth directly out of the Bible and those who only desire to sooth itching ears utilizing fallen human logic.

Respect God’s word as is. There can be no amendments to the word of God. His word and laws will never change, though society will. We continue down our dark course and race towards the end of time as we know it just as Paul predicted. The theme will continue to be, “Right is wrong and wrong is right”, you can make book on it and you can see it happening today just as God allowed Paul to foresee 2000 years ago.

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”