Mockery
The people of God have been mocked for most of history. And mockery almost always has a negative, sinful association in the Bible. Mockery often goes hand in hand with blasphemy, rebellion, scorn, malice, arrogance, and foolishness.
In 2 Kings 18, when Jerusalem is besieged, the messenger of the king of Assyria mocks Israel’s reliance on God. “Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?” In the next chapter, God responds through Isaiah and says, “Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!”
In Job 17, Job laments the mockery of those around him: “My spirit is broken. My days are extinguished. A graveyard awaits me. Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.” In Chapter 30 he says, “Now I am mocked by their songs; I have become an object of scorn to them.”
Asaph describes the detestable behavior of the wicked in Psalm 73: “They mock, and they speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten oppression.” And Psalm 74: “Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord, and a foolish people has insulted your name.”
The most obscene act of mockery in history was the murder of the Son of God. Jesus predicts this in Luke 18: “Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, and spit on.” This is exactly what happened. King Herod, the religious leaders, and the Roman soldiers all mocked him.
It is interesting, then, that there are a few exceptional cases in which God or his people rightfully mock.
In Proverbs 1, Wisdom calls out and offers knowledge and instruction. When this offer is refused, Wisdom says, “I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you.” And Proverbs 3 tells us that God “mocks those who mock but gives grace to the humble.”
A recurring pattern in the Prophets is condemnation of idolatry. God says in Jeremiah 10: “Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.”
The prophet Elijah, in 1 Kings 18, asks Israel to commit themselves to Baal or the Lord. Elijah has two bulls prepared, one for him, and one for the prophets of Baal. Elijah says, “Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers it with fire, he is God.”
For several hours, the prophets of Baal shout and cut themselves to try to please Baal. And Elijah mocks them: “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!”
We can learn a couple things here: (1) God has every right to mock what is worthy of ridicule in this fallen world. Those who continually reject wisdom, love mockery, and worship idols are certainly worthy of ridicule.
(2) Christians may rightfully mock idolatry. Elijah mocked Baal and his prophets because Baal doesn’t exist and his prophets devoted themselves to nothing, to mere human imagination. Similarly, any spiritual power that blatantly and destructively opposes God is worthy of our mockery.
(3) Christians should not be known as mockers. And Christians should not be better at mocking than pagans.
Pastor Mike Winger, in a video called “Pop-Atheism and Its Problems,” applies this idea well. Pop-Atheism may be defined as a cynical, irreverent, and rhetorically powerful form of atheism that lives and breathes mockery and has a pronounced impact on young people.
Winger says this: “The truth is, as Christians, we cannot win against the atheists. You can’t win against them when the contest is who can scoff better or who can mock better. Mocking and scoffing is not a good way of finding truth.”
This aligns with Proverbs 14:6-7: “A mocker seeks wisdom and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to the perceptive. Stay away from a foolish person; you will gain no knowledge from his speech.”
Winger continues: “Ridicule is the Alpha and Omega of modern pop atheism, because ridicule is a rhetorical technique of manipulating people to agree with you or disagree with someone else.”
Proverbs tells us that mockers are difficult or impossible to effectively rebuke: “The one who corrects a mocker will bring abuse on himself; the one who rebukes the wicked will get hurt.” “A wise son responds to his father’s discipline, but a mocker doesn’t listen to rebuke.” “A mocker doesn’t love one who corrects him; he will not consult the wise.”
