“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever” (2 Tim. 4:14-18).
We don’t know who this Alexander was, but we know that he was a coppersmith and that he strongly opposed the message that Paul was preaching. This, and the fact that Paul calls down an imprecation, would seem to indicate that he was opposing the gospel from outside the faith, instead of being a false teacher within the confines of the Church. Perhaps he was someone who business was affected by the gospel, as happened in Ephesus with Demetrius the silversmith (Acts 19:24). Notice that Paul calls for strict justice in his case, for him to be repaid in accordance with his deeds (v. 14). Timothy needs to be wary of him as well (v. 15).
Paul’s attitude toward Christians who flaked on him was quite different. At Paul’s first defense, a number of Paul’s colleagues ditched him. Paul asks, in their case, that it not be laid to their charge (v. 16). This is a response to be expected, as long as people are people. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, as the proverb has it. But those who are not tough also get going — in another direction entirely. When this happens, it is tempting for the Christians with a backbone to dismiss those who flake, and to heap contempt on them. They treat the weak as though they we in the same position as Alexander the coppersmith. But that is not Paul’s response at all. He sees their desertion, and he notes the problem with it. He is not whitewashing anything, or explaining it away. But at the same time, he was praying to God to not lay it to their charge. This kind of desertion comes with the territory.
But though co-workers might leave, and fellow believers might keep their distance, Paul rejoiced that God did not leave him. God strengthened him, and the gospel was plainly set forth (v. 17). Paul was delivered from the lion’s mouth, and was still around to pray for those who had abandoned him. And Paul knew that God would always do in the future what he had done in the past, delivering him from every evil work, and bringing him safely into His heavenly kingdom (v. 18). And when Paul was finally beheaded, that was not an instance of God failing him, but rather the culmination of all His faithfulness. Paul was brought into the glorious heavenly kingdom, and it did not happen too soon at all.