Apostasy And Betrayal

“At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.” (Matthew 24:10, NIV 1984)

My Musings – In the classical Greek, the term turn away is apostasia, from which we get the English word Apostasy. Technically, the term means political revolt or defection. In the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) however, it is always used to refer to rebellion against God (Joshua 22:22; 2 Chronicles 29:19). There are two New Testament instances of the word. The first is Acts 21:21 where Paul was accused of teaching the Jews to forsake Moses by abandoning circumcision and other traditional observances of the Jewish faith. The second instance is 2 Thessalonians 2:3, which describes the great “rebellion” or turning “away from the faith” that occurs alongside or prior to the revelation of the man of lawlessness (the Anti-Christ). Apostasy has always been danger to the Church. But in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Paul warns Christians not to be carried away and deceived by the widespread apostasy that is to come in the end times before the Lord returns.

This period will be characterized by widespread apostasy, heresy and scoffing. During such things, Christians must fight the good fight, keep the faith, and finish the race.

While believers will have times of wandering and sin, none of these categories are descriptive of true believers. True believers will repent and return. They will not abandon, depart or treat the truth of the Word with contempt. Those who do, may have at one time professed belief, but were never really did. “This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” (1 John 2:18–19, NIV 1984).

My Advice – Remain in the fold. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:4–6, NIV 1984).

Sources:

Wood, A. S. (1996). Apostasy. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., pp. 57–58). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (p. 131). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.