Jannes and Jambres
2 Timothy 3:5-9
But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.
Paul calls the ways of the false teachers folly. Someone I once knew had a great big dog named Folly. You know, it was nearly impossible to hide that dog. The sheer size and the noise of its' bark gave the dog away every time. Paul is writing to Timothy to warn him to watch out for these men because their foolishness would be apparent. Just like my associate's dog that was impossible to hide, so these men's works would be known to everyone. Folly also means foolishness, absurdity, or insanity. At best, folly demonstrates a lack of good sense. At more severe stages, folly could be considered a close cousin to insanity. Folly is a disturbance in rational behavior, thought, and actions prompted by a person's departure from God the Father and his appointed leaders.
Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
See their pattern of behavior: they creep into women's houses. Before you know it, the whole family has followed them just like Adam followed Eve in the garden of Eden all because of an apple and a talking snake. My friends, as a gentleman, Jesus always knocks. Note the only fault of the women mentioned here is gullibility. The punctuation suggests that the teachers themselves are led of their own sinful lust and desires. Gullibility is easily believing a lie that quickly leads to being carried away with sin and evil desires for both. "Without faith it is impossible to please God," cautions Hebrews 11:6. These men have been rejected by God, do not possess the faith, nor does he know them. The list of sins that characterize such men are not much different from the ones that sent Christ to the cross. These men deny the power of God and have only the outer covering of Godliness. They are self-appointed, self-anointed, and self-serving. They possess only the outer covering of Godliness, like a wolf in sheep's clothes. Within they are like the "whitewashed tombs" of the Pharisees from Matthew 23:27 but "full of dead men's bones" inside. As such, anything not of God is not his. Do you not know that a man clothed in and possessing Christ's righteousness will be transformed by the power of God according to 1 Corinthians 6:20. Furthermore, 2 Peter 1:10 says to "make your calling and election sure;" thus, make sure the one who called you is God not man nor even yourself. A good example of these men, if such are needed, are the men Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses. Their rejection of God's appointed leader led to a rejection of God himself. Imagine all of that standing against Moses, only to get a footnote of recognition in the Scripture thousands of years later. How many of you know that when God is for you, no one can be against you?