Thursday
Thursday
Proverbs—the Mocker
The proud and arrogant man—“Mocker” is his name.
Proverbs 21:24
A second character who emerges from the pages of the book of Proverbs is the one called in older versions the scoffer but is better named the mocker. For his dominant characteristic is that he declines to take life seriously. One might almost identify him as a cynic, because he holds virtue in contempt and uses sarcasm to question human sincerity. He sneers at do-gooders.
According to one telling verse, “fools mock at sin” (14:9 NASB). Scholars are not agreed about this translation. But it seems to portray the mocker as denying the seriousness of sin, guilt, and judgment, and as treating too lightly the need for reconciliation and forgiveness.
One painful sphere in which the fool mocks is the home. Much of the book of Proverbs is parental instruction: “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching” (1:8). One would have thought that even a cynic would listen respectfully to his parents. But no. “A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke” (13:1). Such disdain for parental guidance is certainly not compatible with obedience to the fifth commandment to honor our father and mother.
The mocker behaves similarly in his wider relationships. He neither seeks advice nor takes it if it is offered, and “a mocker resents correction” (15:12). So “do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you” (9:8). A wise person, on the other hand, “listens to advice” (12:15). Indeed, it is characteristic of the wise that they listen both to rebuke and to counsel.
The conclusion is that the Lord “mocks proud mockers” (3:34), for how can he be expected to take seriously those who do not take him seriously?
For further reading: Proverbs 9:7–12