Paul assumes that you know the stories about Jannes and Jambres. While 2 Timothy 3 is the only place in the Bible where you find these names, you can learn a lot about them from other ancient Jewish sources.
According to one rabbinical tradition, they were the names of the chief magicians in Pharaoh's court (Exodus 7-8).
But Jannes and Jambres appear all over the Exodus narrative! Some rabbis said that Jannes and Jambres had foretold Moses' birth – thereby prompting Pharaoh's slaughter of the Hebrew boys.
Other sources referred to Jannes and his brother as being raised up by Belial (as the devil is often called) from within Israel to thwart the Exodus of God's people from Egypt.
Now, what is especially interesting about these ancient sources is that they are not simply “old stories about Israel.” Rather, they retell the stories of the Exodus in the context of speaking about the coming dangers of the last days.
In other words, The stories of Jannes and Jambres emerged as preachers sought to apply the lessons of the Exodus to the church of their day.
Remember Jannes and Jambres, and how they opposed Moses? Well, that is what the devil will do (or is doing) in “the last days.”
Jannes and Jambres were used by Jewish preachers to warn people in their own day to beware of apostasy – beware of false teachers within the church.
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