EVENTUALLY
Read 2 Timothy 3:8-9.
Who in the world are Jannes and Jambres? These names are so uncommon, even spell checker doesn’t know them. If anything, you would expect to find some other reference in the Bible, but there isn’t any! So who are these men who opposed Moses? One has to turn to ancient Jewish and early Christian writings to find them. Without getting technical, it would appear from early Christian writings that a work now lost contained stories about the exploits of Jannes and Jambres.[1] They are Pharaoh’s magicians in Exod. 7:11 who opposed Moses by deceiving people into believing they had the same power as Moses & Aaron. The miracles themselves recorded in the Exodus account revealed similar outcomes for both Moses and the magicians, but the source of their powers were entirely different. The magicians had a “form of godliness but denying its power” (3:4). That is the danger of men like these. It is Satan’s way of “masquerading as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) and thus deceiving people to live in darkness. What is perhaps most disturbing is that there are people living in darkness who think they are living in the light because someone, like the magicians, has created a believable illusion. We live in a world of spiritual and material magicians.
Paul says those who propagate such lies are “rejected as far as the faith is concerned.” The term “rejected” literally means “not standing the test.” It was often used of metals and coins to denote impure or counterfeit substitutions for the real thing. These men failed to stand the test of faith because though they looked genuine, in reality they were fakes, opposing truth. Thankfully, these particular men, according to Paul, wouldn’t get very far since their folly (or Grk. madness) would be obvious to everyone. Their absurdity would eventually catch up to them and contribute to their downfall.
By way of application, it is true of any folly that in time it will catch up to us. People may for a time display an illusion of godliness, but one cannot keep up the illusion forever. We must be careful not to hide behind a façade. That is hypocrisy.
To consider: You may not be like Jannes or Jambres (I certainly hope not!), but is there folly in your life that you’d be afraid to show it for what it really was? How might you deal with it now rather than eventually?
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Questions for Home Groups
1) Do people really hide behind a façade purposely or are they merely self-deceived? Examples?
2) What would it look like to come out from behind a façade? Does it mean merely being honest with who you are (thereby removing the hypocrisy)?
[1] Origen, Against Celsus 4.51