2 Timothy 4:17, commentary and pictures

When Paul was brought before Nero for his first defense with his life at stake, no one stood with him but all forsook him, yet the Lord stood with him and strengthened him to endure. That strengthening was so that through him the preaching might be fully known and all the Gentiles might hear, and the gospel was fully proclaimed before the court and its hearers. To be delivered out of the mouth of the lion is to be rescued from immediate mortal danger, for God stood by Paul and protected him from his enemies and from Caesar's power, the charges were not sustained, Nero declared him guiltless, and he was loosed and set free. The verse is given to encourage believers who pass over the same ground in similar trials, when once-trusted teachers turn away and workers are forsaken and opposed, not to lose faith and confidence but to trust the Lord to deliver and preserve them as they lift Christ higher and still higher. That same rescue from the lion's mouth is God's providential care in saving His servant from death, as in Luther's concealment at Wartburg, and from spiritual darkness, as in bringing a straying worker to the light by only a narrow escape.

Paul Alone Before Nero

At his first defense when brought before Nero with his life at stake, no man stood with Paul but all forsook him, yet the Lord stood with him and strengthened him to endure. He stood alone at his first hearing and at his first trial before Nero, abandoned and opposed in his preaching, and the Lord stood by him and gave him strength and sustained him through hardship. After he was brought the second time before Nero to witness with his life to the faith he held, he wrote of that first answer when none stood with him.

The Lord's strengthening had the purpose that by Paul the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear. God used Paul's testimony and enabled him to make the preaching fully known so the gospel could be fully proclaimed and fully heard by the Gentiles and by the court and its hearers. The message was thus fully proclaimed before those hearers through him.

Deliverance out of the mouth of the lion means rescue from immediate mortal danger at that trial. God stood by Paul and protected him from his enemies and from Caesar's power. At his examination the charges were not sustained, Nero declared him guiltless, his bonds were removed and he was released from them.

The words were written to Timothy, the first bishop of the church at Ephesus, as part of the solemn charge in the fourth chapter of Second Timothy. They are a record of Paul's trials through men who turned from the faith. That turning included Demas who loved this present world and Alexander who withstood Paul's words.

In that peril Paul could rely on a powerful and compassionate God, unlike Nero. God's sustaining grace enabled him to endure when others deserted him before Nero, and the Lord remained faithful to care for His people even when their human shepherds were struck down. He stood alone to plead for his life and was not ashamed of the cause he was advocating. He remained calm and spoke with power from one great purpose through his whole Christian life to serve Christ, whose name had once filled him with contempt, and no opposition or persecution could turn him aside from that purpose. His faith, made strong by effort and pure by sacrifice, upheld and strengthened him in that trial. His words made the gospel known to the crowd, reached even hardened listeners, and continued to influence people after his death.

Courage for Later Believers

The verse is given to encourage believers who pass over the same ground in similar trials, when some who were once teachers with them deny the faith and work against the truth they once advocated, teaching them not to lose faith and confidence in God but to trust the Lord to deliver and preserve them. It belongs to the time when Paul was brought the second time before Nero to witness with his life to the faith he held, when at his first answer no man stood with him but all men forsook him, yet the Lord stood with him and strengthened him so that by him the preaching might be fully known and all the Gentiles might hear, and he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and it was written to Timothy, the first bishop of the church at Ephesus, as a record of his trials through men who turned from the faith. That experience of being forsaken and opposed, as by Demas who loved this present world and by Alexander who withstood Paul's words, will be met again, and workers must not be overwhelmed with discouragement because good and bad are gathered into the church, but must work on, lifting Christ higher and still higher as the sin-pardoner. As part of Paul's solemn charge to Timothy, the fourth chapter is to be read for encouragement by those who are faithful in their service for God in contrast to the evil morals around them.

The rescue from the lion's mouth describes God's providential care in saving His servant from mortal danger, illustrated by Luther's escape from the death intended for him when God gave Frederick of Saxony wisdom to arrange concealment at Wartburg and preserve Luther from his enemies. The same rescue from the lion's mouth also applies to deliverance from spiritual danger and darkness, as when Brother Chapin was reached by God and brought to the light by only a narrow escape. His work at Hamilton had to be set right before he could make progress, and he needed to act faithfully with eternity in view.