The devil is a roaring lion seeking to strike fear into his prey, but is also a sneaky snake that crawls in and waits in the darkness before injecting its fangs of false doctrine into the victim. This is how the serpent attacked Eve—first to doubt the accuracy of the Word of God with a question, “Did God really say?” and then to deny the authority of the Word of God with a contradiction, “No! You will not die...” (Gen.3:1,4).
In the prior letter, Paul set the order for the church—that men were responsible to be elders and teach doctrine in the church (1 Tim.2:11-15). The culture is increasingly feminized—masculinity is under attack—and this spirit is growing in the church in the name of equality.
Of course, there is equality of dignity among men and women. Neither sex is to be valued above the other. Yet, while there is no difference in dignity and worth, there is a difference in duty and work. We have different roles. The elders of the church are to be men who are the gatekeepers of sound doctrine while the women are to be the homemakers of young disciples. Women have a different role in the church and men have a different role in the home—neither less essential, but not identical.
The warning here is to beware counterfeits like Jannes and Jambres who opposed Moses with their fake miracles (Ex.7:10-13). Such frauds exist in Christendom today—offering the promise of miracles—bait that is wrapped around the poison of heresy. We ignore this uncomfortable teaching to our own peril.
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