Two Kinds of Friends (or Followers)

This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. -2 Timothy 1:15

The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: -2 Timothy 1:16

But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. -2 Timothy 1:17

The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. -2 Timothy 1:18

This epistle was written while he was in the prison in Rome but we are not certain whether it was the same imprisonment talked about in Acts 28 is the same as this imprisonment or maybe he has been freed and rearrested again.

The book was perhaps apostle Paul's last epistle as it was written around AD 66-67.

The first verse of this chapter and epistle reveals the author of the book to be Apostle Paul.

In this epistle the apostle addresses Timothy as his “child in the faith” and instructs him as a bishop in Ephesus to be careful of those teachers and preachers who promote speculations rather than the work of Christ that's full of salvation and he should oppose those speculations. He is encouraged to hold fast the faith in good conscience.

Towards the latter part he revealed how lonely he was and that he has been abandoned by some brethren.

In the four verses of this chapter one that we want to examine, we shall discover that four names were mentioned. Two names were given as examples of those who deserted him while two names were listed as examples of those who do not desert him.

Out of the four names in these verses, three names: Phygellus, Hermogenes and Onesiphorus were conjectured by some bible scholars to be among the 70 disciples that were stated in Luke 10.

Two of them were said to be followers of Simon Magnus while Onesiphorus eventually became the bishop of Corone.

However, these statements could not be well backed up.

The fourth name though not directly mentioned but could be inferred at the last verse (18) to mean Timothy.

Timothy a protégé of apostle Paul and bishop of the church in Ephesus.

A friend is a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations.

In the Hebrew language friend is rea'reya (pronounced as ray-ay, rayah) meaning associate, brother, companion, fellow, friend, hubby, lover and or neighbor.

While in the Greek language it is expressed either as philos (pronounced as feelos) meaning dear, fond, associate, neighbor (Mt. 11:19) or hetairos (pronounced as hetaheeros) meaning comrade, fellow. (Mt. 20:13)

The bible and some ancient books show us some of the characteristics of a friend and they are:

1) Friend loves at all times (Pro. 17:17),

2) Sticks closer than a brother (Pro. 18:24),

3) Faithful to his partner

A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure. -Sirach 6:14

4) They are like medicine

A faithful friend is the medicine of life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him. -Sirach 6:16

5) Rejoices at his partner's success (Jn. 3:29)

6) Believes in his partner (Jam. 2:23),

7) Defends his friend (1 Sam. 19:4)

8) Wants it well with his partner (1 Sam. 20:4)

9) Uncomfortable with his partner's sorrow/failure,

10) Fulfills his friend's desire (Jn. 15:14-16)

Having seen some of the characteristics of who a friend is as shown in some of the ancient books, let us see the two kinds of friends apostle Paul pointed out to Timothy and by extension all of us in this epistle to Timothy. The first type of friend he mentioned are the deserting friends and the second type are the sticky friends.

“This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes”. -2 Timothy 1:15

Desert is defined as abandoning (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous.

We shall see from the above verse that:

i) Timothy knew those people,

ii) He knew they have deserted him,

iii) The use of “all” by apostle Paul does not mean all of them in Asia but used in a general sense, meaning many people,

iv) To show that the “all” does not mean total, he mentioned the names of some prominent people amongst them who have deserted him: Phygellus and Hermogenes,

v) Asia mentioned here some said it means Asia minor where Ephesus was the capital (Acts 2:9; 16:6) but some other scholars differ saying he was referring to Lydia, Mysia, Caria and Phrygia,

vi) This verse shows his surprise, it shows he didn't expect that from them of all people,

vii) What they did was definite, and deliberate

viii) Plummet in his works asserted that apostle Paul wrote them for help but these people spearheaded the turning down of his requests,

Historical accounts say that some of the brethren traveled to Rome to bear witness in favor of the apostle, but on getting there they discovered that the apostle was in uttermost danger, the falsified allegations of the government against him terrified them, they started thinking about themselves, wanting to protect themselves from being condemned like him, therefore, they thought the best thing for them to do was fleeing,

i) Fear,

ii) Selfishness, wanting to protect themselves,

iii) Ashamed of him because of his chains (2 Tim. 1:16) which he was in,

iv) They despised him in the position he was, in his afflictions,

v) He was abhorred by them,

vi) Feelings of contempt for him filled their hearts,

vii) Because of the lingering problem which they thought he would have been freed from or better still, the charges would have lessened or reduced,

i) The teachings of apostle Paul weren't held in high honor again,

ii) His name that they had held in high esteem they don't attach much importance to again,

iii) According to history that they started following Simon Magnus, it's logical to assume that they started teaching heresies since the person they started following was believed to be one of the founders of gnosticism,

In the last 3 verses of 2 Timothy 1, the apostle revealed the second type of friend or followers and they are the sticky ones, those who don't leave, he states some of their attitudes.

“The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain”: -2 Timothy 1:16

From verse 16 through 18 we saw some of the things that he noticed in the lives of those who stick to him.

1) He used a man and his family as a prototype of what he was saying,

2) The person was Onesiphorus,

3) Onesiphorus means profit bearer,

4) Some scholars believed he was a merchant,

5) Some scholars believed this man is dead that's why he prayed for his family because he cannot pray for the dead,

6) Timothy was well aware of his deeds,

1) They refresh regularly,

2) This man and his family have been doing this before his arrest, and now that he has been arrested he didn't stop,

3) They are not ashamed of him especially in his bounds,

4) Not ashamed for the cause of which he was suffering,

5) They are not afraid,

6) They proved their love for him,

7) They give it all it takes to seek out the apostle, the man they held in high esteem,

1) Stimulates apostle Paul to pray for them,

2) Bend says what he said here doesn't connote praying but wishing, he therefore wished them well,

It would be seen from the above verses that apostle Paul was silent on those people who deserted him while he prayed or wished those who stick to him well.

Some friends' record have of them for living long was the record of evils (or wrongs) they have done, while the actions of some friends stimulate their friends to pray for them and continue to pray for them. Let us be a friend whose actions would stimulate our friends to keep praying for us.

(The End)