Day 13: 2 Timothy 3:6-9

You have just come to the end of another section in 2 Timothy. If you have the time - read chapter 2:14-3:9 all together to see how all it flows as one whole section of teaching! Verse 5 ends with a firm warning to ‘have nothing to do with such people’. Verses 6-9 proceed to paint a picture of that type of person. What is the description of these people? Aim to pull something from every verse (v6-9)

How would you imagine such a person views Jesus? How is that different to how we should view Jesus?

‘Jannes and Jambres’

The Bible does not tell us much about Jannes and Jambres, in fact this is the only passage that mentioned them by name! According to long-standing Jewish tradition, Jannes and Jambres were the chief magicians that withstood Moses and Aaron in Exodus 7-8. They could duplicate God’s miracles of turning a staff into a snake (7:10-13), turning water into blood (7:20-22) and making frogs appear (8:5-7) by their ‘secret arts’. But all the miracles from Exodus 8:16 onwards they could not replicate. The magicians even exclaimed about Moses and Aaron’s acts, “This is the finger of God” when they could no longer replicate God’s miracles with their secret arts.

How can you be on your guard against ‘such people’?

Today’s Prayer Suggestion:

Pray that you would be on guard against such people. Pray that the children and youth in our church family would hear the truth faithfully in our New City ministries so they won’t be led astray.

Pray for students from UQES. As the academic year comes to a close and they head on holidays, pray that they’d stand firm in the truth they’ve heard each week at ES.