Paul's reference to Jannes and Jambres in II Timothy 3 serves as the central illustration of obstinacy against God, a trait he identifies as characteristic of "perilous times" in the last days. Though these two figures are never named elsewhere in Scripture, Paul mentions them as if his readers would immediately recognize them, drawing on Jewish tradition, particularly the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and a fictionalized Jewish work known as The Book of Jannes and Jambres, portions of which were preserved and referenced by ancient writers including Origen. Although this narrative is not inspired Scripture, it likely preserves a "germ of truth" about the real character of these two brothers, magicians in Pharaoh's court who resisted Moses. The defining trait that emerges from their story is stubborn, willful obstinacy against God despite clear knowledge of the truth. Jannes had genuine knowledge of the true God, receiving repeated warnings, yet he refused to repent at every turn. He witnessed his mother's prophetic dream of Egypt's ruin, saw an angel destroy a sacred tree, and responded not with repentance but with the futile act of building a wall to protect himself from God. When struck with leprosy, he still refused to repent. He even acknowledged to Pharaoh that Moses was empowered by God, yet used this very knowledge as justification for opposing Moses, attempting to kill him immediately afterward. He understood the astronomical omens signaling Egypt's disaster and foresaw ruin at the Red Sea, warning his own brother against pursuing Israel, yet this knowledge never led him to repentance. On his deathbed, he refused to repent and instead commissioned Jambres to continue the rebellion against God. Jambres, witnessing the plagues and the violent deaths of his brother and mother, followed the same obdurate path, refusing to abandon magic and even conjuring his brother's spirit for guidance rather than heeding his warning to repent. Paul deliberately uses the plural "theirs" in II Timothy 3:9, refusing to distinguish between the brothers' ultimate fates, since Jambres appears to have died unrepentant just as Jannes did. This obstinacy becomes Paul's model for describing the "men of corrupt minds" of the last days: those who resist the truth despite knowing it. Paul draws two parallels between these ancient magicians and end-time deceivers. First, their efforts will "progress no further," just as the magicians were powerless to stop God's judgment on Egypt despite Pharaoh's full military might. Second, their folly "will be manifest to all," just as Egypt's total devastation revealed God's power to every nation that witnessed it. Likewise, the coming destruction of this present evil age will expose the total inadequacy of humanity's "get" way of life for all to see. The voice of Jannes and Jambres therefore stands as an enduring warning that those who knowingly and deliberately resist God, setting their jaw against Him despite clear evidence of His truth, progress not toward freedom but toward the Lake of Fire, for their sin will inevitably be found out.