2 Timothy 4:14, 15 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
Because the Bible relates things that really happened there is a great deal of what fiction writers call back story. We are often ignorant of this back story, as is the case here. He is probably the man in 1 Timothy 1:20 and possibly the one in Acts 19:33 (an Ephesian Jew) but we do not know who Alexander the metalworker was or anything about the harm that he caused the Apostle Paul. It is unlikely to have been physical harm that he caused but harm it was, nevertheless, of some sort. Did he stir up the Jews against Paul when he was on trial? He may well have been an apostate. As ignorant as we are of Alexander what we can learn here is how to react to experiences such as Paul knew. Paul has no spirit of revenge but is confident that The Lord will repay him for what he has done. We ought to have the same confidence regarding those who oppose us because of the gospel as Paul had. He goes on to say to Timothy You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. He warns him in the light of his own troubles with this man. Ministers are likely to face opposition of one sort or another. When they suffer then they should look to God for vengeance. They ought also to take opportunity to warn others against those who do harm.
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