Do Not Be Like These People 8

"Some of these men go into homes and mislead weak-minded women who are burdened with sins and led by all kinds of desires. These women are always studying but are never able to recognize the truth.

As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. Their minds are corrupt, and the faith they teach is counterfeit. Certainly, they won’t get very far. Like the stupidity of Jannes and Jambres, their stupidity will be plain to everyone." 2 Timothy 3:6-9

Continuing on this series of us putting faces or names to people we shouldn't be like, we will have a momentary side-trip to the Old Testament to the time of Moses, when magicians opposed the power of God with their magic tricks. [This is the 6th lesson in this series]

I must confess though that writing this has not been easy for me. Normally when I start to write, the words flow out naturally and at a pace that my fingers couldn't catch up. But for this, the words just seem to be lagging behind.

Anyway, the personalities we are spotlighting today are the thick faced Jannes and Jambres who traditionally were the names given to the magicians in Pharaohs court. They were the ones who opposed Moses and his God by duplicating the very miracles Moses was performing through God's power.

The thing that gets me is that I really don't know how or where to begin trying to describe how warped the minds are of these wannabe miracle workers who Paul was warning his young student, Timothy about.

Here, he warns him about the stupidity and futility of Jannes and Jambres, with their bold faced ways of opposing the truth and God Himself. Now, in case you need reminding, they were the sorcerers who transformed their staffs into snakes and turned the Nile red among other things, for the purpose of showing that whatever the God of Moses can do through him, they can too (with the help of their gods), which was a big reason why Pharaoh would not give in to the demands of Moses. Such is the folly of these two and their kind whose actions led to so much pain and suffering and death to Pharaoh's household and to their homeland.

And thus, the reminder from Paul that their utter stupidity will be plain to see, if not now, then it will soon be because of the destructive consequences they will help bring about.

Don't Be Like Them Series