The Apostle Paul warned Timothy to beware of false teachers in 2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 6 to 9. At that time, false teachers lead foolish women with their false doctrines. Some also misunderstood the Word and adopted extreme ascetic practices, while others disregarded morality and end up falling into sexual immorality.
Paul said that these people were unable to come to a know the truth because they were led astray by various desires mentioning Jannes and Jambres, the Egyptian magicians in the book of Exodus chapter 7.
In the days of Moses, God tried to save the Israelite and said to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to free the people. However, Pharaoh repeatedly refused. Each time, God performed signs and wonders through Moses. At that time, however, the Egyptian magicians also performed miraculous signs through their secret arts. “Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” (Exodus 7:11–12)
Like the Aaron's staff became a snake when he threw it down, the magicians also threw down their staffs, and they became serpents. These magicians were Jannes and Jambres. The magicians are Jannes and Jambres. After that, the magicians imitated two plagues that Moses had brought upon Egypt. Through their secret arts, they reproduced the signs of turning the water of the Nile into blood and bringing forth countless frogs from the river.
From this, we can see that the work of the devil also do powerful deception and extraordinary tricks. The devil's work can also produce signs and wonders that appear similar to those performed through the Lord's power. This makes it difficult to discern whether something is truly the work of the Lord or the work of the devil.
The magicians opposed Moses, whom God had sent. That means they opposed the work of God. When the magicians opposed God's work by performing their own signs and wonders, Pharaoh's heart became even more hardened. And we already know the miserable end of Pharaoh, who stood against the truth.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #963
