A Spiritual MRI 

I’ve been teaching about four styles of foolishness from Proverbs since 1985 when I was a Guidance Counselor at a Christian school. Decades later, I included a section on the styles of foolishness in my book Gospel-Centered Family Counseling: An Equipping Guide for Pastors and Counselors (2020). Those four types of fools include:

1. The Simple: The Withdrawing Fool
2. The Sluggard: The Irresponsible Fool
3. The Wicked: The Controlling Fool
4. The Mocker: The Abusive Fool

Today, we examine the Hebrew word for “mocker,” sometimes translated “scoffer.” This heart examination provides a spiritual MRI of the four chambers of the mocker’s heart.

1. The Mocker in Relationship to Others
2. The Mocker in Relationship to Themselves
3. The Mocker in Relationship to Wisdom and Rebuke
4. The Mocker in Relationship to God

Heart Chamber #1: The Mocker in Relationship to Others 

The relational mocker demeans, degrades, disparages, derides, and ridicules others. Mockers find pleasure in being an antagonist; they find gratification in belittling people. Mockers recklessly unleash uncontrolled anger and bitterness. Their lack of humility leads to an urge to humiliate others. They find cruelty clever, malice manly, and sarcasm, rudeness, and mockery exhilarating. The mocker is an evangelist for interpersonal cruelty who uses sarcasm, belittling, and twisted wit to scoff at others.

In 4 Types of People in Proverbs: The Mocker, Stephen Castleberry explains that mockers don’t simply ignore wisdom like the fool; they actively oppose wisdom by demeaning those who are wise. They are openly hostile to the wise, aggressively seeking to tear down those who live wisely.

^“Surely mockers surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility” (Job 17:2).

“How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? (Proverbs 1:22).

“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning” (Proverbs 9:7-9).

“Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended” (Proverbs 22:10).

“Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer. The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker” (Proverbs 24:8-9).

“If a wise person goes to court with a fool, the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace. The bloodthirsty hate a person of integrity and seek to kill the upright. Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” (Proverbs 29:9-11).

“These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit” (Jude 1:16-19).

Heart Chamber #2: The Mocker in Relationship to Themselves 

The mocker’s lack of self-awareness blinds them to their persistent pattern of broken relationships. Their addictive arrogant, aggressive, antagonistic, abusive anger is evident to everyone but themselves. They arrogantly believe that they know everything, and that others know nothing. They try to cover their sense of inferiority by treating others as inferior. Their undersized sense of self leads to an oversized ego that in turn leads to verbal fisticuffs in an attempt to intimidate and dominate. Feeling invisible, they seek visibility through being the loudest voice in the room; fearing being muted, they brawl incessantly. Self-deceived, they insist that their motive is zeal for truth, however, the heart reality is a fleshly lust for power.

Joseph Leavell, in a Twitter/X post, related this heart issue to social media. “Some people continually look for an enemy to fight on social media because they can’t justify the war in their own hearts without one. Participation in these fights helps them build the platform they’re using to deflect from dealing with their own heart issues.”

“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning” (Proverbs 14:6).

“An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions” (Proverbs 18:1-2).

“The proud and arrogant person—‘Mocker’ is his name—behaves with insolent fury (Proverbs 21:24).

“Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them” (Proverbs 26:12).

“Mockers stir up a city, but the wise turn away anger” (Proverbs 29:8).

Heart Chamber #3: The Mocker in Relationship to the Wise and to Rebuke 

Mocking is the culmination of folly—the hardened fool rebukes wisdom and hates instruction. Mockers scorn wisdom and show contempt for correction. They arrogantly reject instruction, being unteachable and proud. Their resentment of correction leads them to avoidance of accountability. Because mockers listen only to their own voice, verbal rebuke is not enough to gain their attention; so the stronger medicine of increasingly severe consequences is required.

When confronted, you can count on the mocker doing what they do best—mocking the one who dares to expose them. “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you” (Proverbs 9:7-8). Jesus exposes the mockers MO: “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6).

“Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you” (Proverbs 9:7-8).

“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes” (Proverbs 13:1).

“Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright” (Proverbs 14:9).

“Mockers resent correction, so they avoid the wise” (Proverbs 15:12).

“When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; by paying attention to the wise they get knowledge. (Proverbs 21:11).

“Discipline a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke the discerning, and they will gain knowledge” (Proverbs 19:25).

“Penalties are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools” (Proverbs 19:29).

Note: There is one primary biblical reason to publicly rebuke a mocker—for the benefit of the non-mocker. The hard-hearted mocker’s heart of stone resists rebuke. However, the soft-hearted person observes the public rebuke of the mocker and humbly learns wisdom.

Heart Chamber #4: The Mocker in Relationship to God 

The mocker’s heart is given over to haughty self-sufficiency. Pretending to be submissive, their heart is defiant toward God.

Their addictive anger toward others flows from their habituated rage against God. Their disregard for others flows from their disregard for God. Not only do they think they’re the smartest person in the room; they think they’re the smartest being in the universe.

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

“Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you” (Proverbs 1:23-26).

“The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed. The wise inherit honor, but fools get only shame. (Proverbs 3:33-35).

“A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3).

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:1-2).

“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires” (2 Peter 3:3).

A Spiritual Heart Transplant 

James 3 paints contrasting portraits of the old, foolish, arrogant, mocking heart, and the new, wise, humble, peace-loving heart.

The Old Mocking Heart: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (James 3:14-16). 

The New Peace-Loving Heart: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3:13, 17-18).

The mocker’s spiritual MRI reveals a heart diseased with pride, hardened by defiance, and addicted to aggression. Yet even this heart is not beyond the reach of the Great Physician. The same Lord who “mocks proud mockers,” also offers mercy to the humble. “He mocks proud mockers, but shows favor to the humble and oppressed. (Proverbs 3:34). “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

When the mocker bows low in repentance, the Lord replaces their stone heart with a heart of flesh—one that beats with reverence, humility, wisdom, and love (Ezekiel 36:26). Only Christ can perform this divine heart transplant, transforming a mocking mouth into a worshiping heart. The Great Physician can replace the hardened heart with one that trembles at His Word (Hebrews 4:12-13).

Addendum: Scoffers, Scorners, and Snark 

In Scoffers, Scorners, and Snark, Tim Keller shared similar relational wisdom from his study of Proverbs.

“Recently I have been reading through Proverbs and was struck by a particular character that shows up about 17 times. In the NIV translation he’s called the ‘mocker,’ in the King James Version the ‘scorner’ and in many others ‘the scoffer.’ The scoffers’ behavior has two characteristics.

First, he or she is marked by dogmatism, a closed mind. The scoffer never says, ‘Well, I might be wrong here’ or ‘I was wrong here.’ The scoffer is always right (13:1). There is never a humble openness to change. In a striking phrase 20:1 tells us that the scoffer is no more open to reason than a hopelessly drunk person.

Second, scoffers show no respect for opponents or opposing points of view. They do not simply refute them; they belittle, insult, and mock them (9:7-8.) There is always a tone of contempt and disdain.

Together dogmatism and contemptuous derision comprise the spiritual condition of ‘scoffer.’”

Likewise, Keller diagnoses how the mocker’s relationship to others is driven by their attitude to themselves and to God.

“Their condition is not due to their mental capacity, but to their mental attitude, especially their attitude toward themselves and therefore toward God.

First, this attitude is marked by pride (21:24.) The Hebrew word for pride used of the scoffer is a word that means ‘people who must have things their own way, who have a need to control and correct everyone.’

Second, scoffers are, under their veneer of confidence, filled with anger (9:8, 15:25.) They never act like they take their opponents seriously, but underneath there is great insecurity. In some cases there may be a root of bitterness. But in many other cases, the scoffers are simply lacking the combination of humility and inner peace that a firm grasp of the gospel brings.”

Keller concludes with a somber, sober scriptural assessment of the scoffer’s life if they refuse repentance.

“According to Proverbs, what happens to the scoffer, the man or woman who always has to be right, who derides rather than engages opposing views?

Proverbs says that the first result is loneliness (9:12). Scoffers impress the impressionable if they are allowed to hold forth (19:25; 21:11) but as time goes on, the scoffer not only destroys relationships but is listened to less and less by the public (24:9.) Because of his or her dogmatic and proud attitude, no peace is possible inside a community. This is because scoffers don’t know how to affirm and live in harmony with people who don’t agree with them on everything. The problem is, as Kidner says, ‘the mischief he does is not the random mischief of the ordinary fool, but the deeper damage of the ‘debunker’…’ (Kidner, p.42) Therefore, mockers may be actually driven out of some communities (22:10).

But by far the most terrible and just result of scoffing is a divine taste of their own medicine. “He [the Lord] scorneth the scornful; but he gives grace to the lowly” (Prov 3:34, KJV).”

The Rest of the Story: How to Respond to a Mocker

Many readers expressed how they resonated with this post because of their experience with a mocker. Several asked the pertinent question, “How do you deal with a mocker biblically?”

In order to be responsive to that relevant question, I created a follow-up post: How to Respond to a Mocker: 9 Biblical Principles.