Jer 20:7 O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.
Heb 11:36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
One of the most common and wicked tactics in our enemy’s arsenal is something that perhaps we do not recognize easily. Mocking. Holding someone in contempt and scorn, almost always accompanied by a smile of derision. Laughing at the oppressed. Ridicule. It is a cruel and ugly thing.
All of us have been mocked at one time or another. There have probably even been times when, to our shame, we mocked someone else unrighteously (we will talk about “righteous mocking” after we deal with the evil form). Mocking comes, unfortunately, quite easily to the sinful human heart. We who are in Christ grow to hate and repent of it.
Here is the dictionary entry: “to tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner.”
If you look up the various forms of the word in Scripture, you will probably be surprised just how common of a theme it is there. For instance:
2Ki 19:16 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
2Ch 36:16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Psa 22:7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
Isa 37:23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel!
Mat 20:18-19 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death (19) and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Quite often in scripture you will find the enemies of the Lord mocking the Lord. And of course you see it today. When the wicked mock God’s people, they are mocking God. Holding God in contempt. Viewing God with derision. As a Christian, you must be prepared to have this weapon used against you. After all, the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. We must become “fools” in order to follow Christ.
1Co 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
Anyone who craves fame, popularity with the world – anyone who loves the world in other words – will not be mocked by the world. But let a person choose Christ and life and truth and, well, the mockers will rage against them. So be it.
If you have had the sad experience of marrying the kind of person we call the domestic abuser (see my blog at Unholy Charade for the definition), then you are all too familiar with this tactic of mocking. It is designed to tear down a person. To subject them to control. To punish them for not going along with the program. It is cruel, wicked, and malevolent. A true Christian repents of this sin. Anyone who habitually mocks the righteous to oppress them is no child of God.
Now, this may surprise you after hearing all of this: God mocks His enemies. There is a righteous mocking. And sometimes His people mock His enemies. For instance, listen to Elijah at Mt. Carmel:
1Ki 18:27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
This we might say is “righteous mocking.” It is the enemy’s own weapon turned against him. We must not be too quick to use it. It takes great wisdom and the leading of Christ’s Spirit, but there are times when God’s people can indeed mock the wicked.
Listen to this example of the Lord mocking idolaters through the mouth of His prophet:
Isa 44:14-17 He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. (15) Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. (16) Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” (17) And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
Finally, we can be greatly encouraged by this: God Himself has the last laugh.
Gal 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. (8) For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.