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Scoffer Is His Name: Pride’s Path and Christ’s Cure (Proverbs 21:24) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to Reformed Thinking.
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  It is good to be back here at the table.
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  Good to be here. You know, I was scrolling
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  through my feed this morning, which is, let's be honest,
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  usually a recipe for spiritual disaster before I've had my
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  caffeine. That it is.
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  And I noticed something. It's sort of the native language
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  of the Internet these days. It's the dunk.
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  The dunk, Yeah, it's unavoidable.
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  You know what I'm talking about, right?
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  It's not just a disagreement anymore, it's that, you know,
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  perfectly crafted sarcastic quip.
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  And it's designed not just to win an argument, but to
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  completely dismantle the other person.
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  And it's almost always for an audience.
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  It's performance art, exactly. You aren't trying to persuade
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  the person you're actually talking to, you're trying to
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  make the people watching laugh at them.
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  Right. And that is the currency of our
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  age. It feels like we live in a
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  cultural moment where contempt is often mistaken for
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  intelligence. That's a good way to put it.
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  If you can sneer effectively, people just assume you must be
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  right. Yeah, if you can make the other
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  person look small, the assumption is that you must be
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  big. That's it.
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  We tend to view all this sarcasm or cynicism as a sign of being,
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  you know, real. Or maybe well informed.
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  But we are digging into a stack of sources today that suggests
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  this might be one of the most spiritually dangerous habits a
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  person can form. For sure, we aren't looking at
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  the simple person or even the fool today.
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  We're looking at a character Scripture calls the Scoffer.
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  That's right. And we're going to ground this
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  whole discussion in Proverbs 21.24.
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  It's a verse that really acts as a mirror.
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  And I have to warn you, and you listening, it is not a
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  flattering reflection. The Bible does not see mockery
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  as just, you know, a personality quirk or a dry sense of humor,
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  right? God gives it a specific name.
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  It's a diagnosis of a severe spiritual condition.
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  And that's what we're unpacking. We have some heavy theological
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  work in front of us, drawing from sources titled Scoffer is
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  His Name and the Scoffer Unmasked.
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  We are going to look at the anatomy of this sin, how it
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  shows up in the modern world and yes, even inside the church, and
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  how the Gospel provides the only actual cure.
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  And just to set the stakes, our goal here is to move from seeing
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  this as a problem for them. You know, the militant atheists,
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  the late night comedians, the Internet trolls.
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  Yeah, the easy targets. The easy targets, and to start
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  seeing it as a clear and present danger for us, for believers,
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  for theologians, for anyone who claims to follow Christ.
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  Because, as we'll see in these texts, the seat of the scoffer,
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  it lies dormant in every single human heart.
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  So let's get right into the text.
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  Proverbs 21.24 it reads Scoffer is the name of the arrogant,
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  haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.
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  That sounds incredibly specific. It's almost structured like a
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  dictionary definition. It is a definition, but I'd say
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  it's also a verdict. The Hebrew word here for scoffer
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  is litz, and to really understand the weight of that
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  you have to look at the hierarchy of folly in wisdom
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  literature, especially in Proverbs.
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  Right, because Proverbs has this whole cast of characters.
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  It's not just wise and unwise, there are degrees.
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  Precisely. At the bottom you have the
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  simple the Hebrew is pithe. This is the naive person.
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  Their doors open everything. They just don't know any better.
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  They're gullible. They might wander into sin just
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  because they aren't paying attention.
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  OK, so that's the simple. Then you step up to the fool,
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  the Kessel. Now they're stubborn.
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  They actually hate knowledge because it interferes with what
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  they want to do. But the Litz, the scoffer in
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  Proverbs, that is the apex of depravity.
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  So the scoffer is distinct from the fool.
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  It's a different category. Much worse, the fool might sort
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  of drift into error. The scoffer sprints toward it.
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  The scoffer is hardened. He is resistant.
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  He is actively hostile to wisdom.
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  And notice the text says Scoffer is his name.
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  Right. Now in Hebrew thought a name is
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  not just a label you stick on a shirt at a conference.
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  A name reveals the essence of a thing.
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  It is their nature, it's what defines them.
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  Spot on. When Wisdom says scoffer is the
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  name, it's telling us that mockery has become this person's
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  identity. So it's not just something he
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  does occasionally. No, it's who he has become.
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  He interprets the entire world through a lens of cynicism.
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  That's a terrifying thought that you can practice a sin so often
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  it becomes your actual name. It becomes the thing people
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  associate with you. But the verse, it breaks down
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  what's happening inside this person to get them to that
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  point. It calls him the arrogant,
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  haughty man. Now in English, those sound like
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  synonyms. Is there a distinction in the
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  original language? A very important one.
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  The source material breaks this down into what it calls the
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  triad of pride. You have the name, which is
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  scoffer. Then you have the heart,
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  described by two very distinct Hebrew words.
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  Oh OK. The first one translated as
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  arrogant is Zed. Zed OK, let's unpack.
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  That it's a fascinating word. The root meaning is actually to
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  see or to boil over. Like a pot on a stove.
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  That is the exact image. Imagine a pot of soup boiling so
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  hard the lid starts rattling and the liquid spills over the
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  sides. That's zed.
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  It implies a kind of internal pressure, so it means
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  presumptuous or insolent. It's the idea of overstepping
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  boundaries, So. It's a boundary violation.
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  Yes, think of it as high handed sin.
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  God draws a line, a moral boundary, a theological limit,
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  and the zed. The arrogant man says.
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  I see the line and I'm going to step right over it.
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  So it's a pride that refuses to stay within the limits God has
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  set. Yes, it's an expansion of the
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  self into territory that belongs to God or to others.
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  OK, so Zed is the boiling over the overstepping of the will.
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  What about haughty? That's the Hebrew word yahir,
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  and while zed is about action and boundaries, yahir is about
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  altitude. Altitude.
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  Means puffed up or swollen. It refers to intellectual
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  conceit, the internal posture of looking down on everything and
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  everyone else. I see.
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  This is the person who thinks their reason is superior to
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  Revelation. If Zed is the foot stepping over
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  the line, Yahir is the nose stuck in the air while doing it.
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  It's the belief that I know better.
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  That's exactly that is a vivid image.
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  So you have the zed, the presumption to cross lines, and
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  the Yahir, the inflated view of self that makes up the internal
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  engine of the scoffer. Right?
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  But the verse finishes by saying he acts with arrogant pride.
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  And this is where the exegesis gets really insightful.
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  The Hebrew phrase there is Osei bivrat zadan.
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  The keyword to lock onto is EBRA.
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  Ebra, OK, I'm seeing them the notes here.
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  It's translated as pride in some versions, but literally it means
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  something else. Yes, literally.
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  It's often translated as Fury or Wrath.
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  Wait, really? So the text literally says he
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  acts with the fury of pride. Correct.
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  And this connects all the dots between arrogance and anger.
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  The insight here is that pride is combustible.
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  When the Zed, the presumptuous man, is challenged, how does he
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  react? He reacts with Ebra.
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  He reacts with fury. That explains so much of what we
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  see online and even in our own arguments.
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  We usually think of the mocker or the cool sarcastic guy is
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  being detached, you know? Right, I'm too smart to care.
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  Exactly. But what this is saying is that
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  mockery is actually a form of rage.
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  Precisely. It is pride with a microphone.
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  It's pride exerting itself. When a scoffer mocks, he's not
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  just making a joke, he is striking out.
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  He's protecting his throne. Yes, he acts with fury because
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  correction threatens his supremacy.
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  He cannot handle being wrong, so he burns down the person who
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  corrects them. So to summarize this anatomy,
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  the name is Scoffer Litz. The heart is this boiling
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  presumption Z and puffed up conceit.
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  Yeah, here. And the life is this output of
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  fury, Ebra. It's a complete picture of a
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  person who has enthroned themselves.
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  And who has by consequence dethroned God in their own
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  heart? Let's look at the history of
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  this, because while the Dunk feels so modern, the scoffer
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  didn't just show up on Twitter in 2010.
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  This has a long lineage. It goes all the way back to the
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  garden. We have to identify the proto
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  scoffer. OK, if the essence of the
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  scoffer is questioning God's Word and setting oneself up as
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  the judge, then the serpent in Genesis 3 is the first litz.
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  Did God actually say? That is the slogan of the
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  scoffer is the question that judges the Creator.
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  It takes the clear boundary God set and it boils right over it.
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  And the tragedy, as our sources point out, is that when Adam
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  fell, he took on that nature. We talk about total depravity in
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  the Reformed tradition. I mean, referencing the
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  Westminster Confession Chapter 6.
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  We're not born neutral. We like to think we are, that
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  we're blank slates, but we aren't.
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  No, the theologians are near. We are born with the Imago
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  Satane, the image of Satan in this one specific regard.
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  We're born prone to judge God's word rather than submit to it.
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  We are naturally wired to scoff at authority.
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  It's why a toddler yells no before they even understand why.
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  It's our default setting, and you can see how this progresses
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  in Scripture. I'm thinking of Psalm One.
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  It's a famous passage, we all know it.
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  But look at the trajectory. Blessed is the man who walks not
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  in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of
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  sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
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  Walking, standing, sitting. Do you see the deceleration?
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  Yeah, it's slowing down. Settling in the seat of scoffers
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  is a terrifying image. It implies A settled position of
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  authority and contempt when you're walking.
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  You might just be passing through bad ideas when you're
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  standing standing. Maybe you're considering them,
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  but when you sit. You're there to stay.
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  You are no longer just influenced by sin.
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  You were installed in it. You have taken your seat as a
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  judge. You're comfortable there.
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  And the scary part about sitting is that it's hard to get up.
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  It is incredibly hard to rise from that seat, and historically
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  we see what happens when a whole nation sits in that seat.
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  The chronicler in Two Chronicles 36.16 summarizes the fall of
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  Israel. It says they kept mocking the
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  messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his
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  prophets. So it wasn't just one incident.
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  They kept doing it. And what was the result?
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  Until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there
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  was no remedy. That word?
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  Wrath again? It is the same word we discussed
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  earlier, Ebra. Wow.
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  The scoffer acts with human Ebra, that arrogant fury, and
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  eventually he provokes divine Ebra, God's holy wrath.
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  So God is patient, He has slow to anger.
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  But there comes a point where the mockery of His word reaches
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  a point of no remedy. That is a sobering historical
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  pattern, a terrifying calculus. But I want to pivot to today
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  because I think it's easy for us to listen to this and think
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  about, say, a militant atheist or a shock jock.
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  Well, that's definitely a scoffer.
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  But our source material makes a really strong point about the
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  scoffer in the church. And this is where we have to be
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  willing to look in the mirror. The spirit of this scoffer is
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  alive and well in religious and intellectual circles.
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  We see it in what we might call intellectual pride.
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  How does that manifest in a way that might fly under the radar?
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  We'll think about the movement of critical scholarship or the
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  modern wave of deconstruction. Now we need to be nuanced here.
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  Asking questions is not a sin. Doubting is not the same as
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  scoffing. Right, the Psalms are full of
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  honest questions. That's correct.
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  But when the approach to Scripture is one of sitting in
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  judgement over the text, you know, saying I accept what fits
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  my modern sensibilities and I reject what offends me, that is
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  the zed. That's the presumption.
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  It's the pot boiling over its boundaries again.
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  It's saying I am the standard and the Bible has to measure up
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  to me. Correct.
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  It's placing your own intellect on the throne.
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  And the sources point out another area where this
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  presumption appears, which might surprise some listeners.
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  It brings up the charismatic controversy.
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  Oh that's interesting. Usually people put
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  deconstruction and charismatic theology on completely opposite
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  ends of the spectrum. How does that fit into scoffing?
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  The argument here is based on the sufficiency of scripture.
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  If we believe in sola scriptura that the Bible is the closed
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  sufficient revelation of God, then claiming God told me new
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  information apart from scripture is a form of zed.
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  It's presumptuous. It is because it implies the
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  Bible is lacking. It implies the Bible is not
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  enough. I need fresh revelation.
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  True wisdom, according to Isaiah 66.2 trembles at God's word.
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  It does not presume to add to it or subtract from it.
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  So whether you are a liberal deconstructionist, subtracting
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  from the Bible because you don't like the ethics, or a hyper
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  charismatic outing to the Bible because you want more
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  excitement. The root sin can be the same
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  the. Pride of the Zed, yes.
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  That is a heavy critique. It really levels the playing
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  field. It suggests that scoffing isn't
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  about style, it's about authority.
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  It's anyone who thinks they can outsmart or outmaneuver the
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  word. And we also have to mention the
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  eschatological scoffers. Right second Peter 3.
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  This one feels very relevant to our rationalistic age.
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  Peter explicitly warns that in the last days, scoffers will
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  come. And what is the content of their
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  scoffing? Where is the promise of his
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  coming? They deny the second coming.
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  They deny catastrophic divine intervention.
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  It's the idea that the world is a closed system.
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  God can't break in. Yes, it's the spirit of modern
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  rationalism that says everything continues as it has from the
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  beginning. It's a mockery of future
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  judgment. It's the ultimate presumption,
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  assuming that because judgment has not happened yet, it never
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  will. So we have these big theological
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  categories, deconstruction, presumption of new revelation,
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  denial of judgment. But let's bring it down to the
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  kitchen table. How do I know if I am a scoffer?
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  Is there a test? There's a litmus test, and
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  frankly, it is infallible. Yeah, the primary test of the
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  scoffer is how do you handle correction?
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  OK, I have a feeling I'm not going to like this answer.
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  Well, Proverbs 9.8 gives us the contrast.
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  Reprove a wise man and he will love you.
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  Reprove A scoffer and he will hate you.
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  Notice that the difference is not in the reproof itself, it is
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  entirely in the reaction. So practically speaking, when my
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  spouse tells me I was impatient with the kids, or when an elder
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  points out a blind spot in my thinking.
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  What happens inside of you? Do you feel that spike of heat,
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  that zed boiling over? Do you immediately launch a
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  defense attorney strategy? Do you attack their tone?
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  Oh, the tone police maneuver. Well, I wouldn't have gotten
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  angry if you hadn't said it like that.
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  We've all done that. I am not wrong, you're just
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  rude. That reflex to counter attack,
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  to protect the ego at all costs, is the heartbeat of the scoffer.
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  Whereas a wise person can separate the 2.
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  A wise man can separate the truth of the rebuke from the
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  delivery of the rebuke. A scoffer cannot because the
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  rebuke itself feels like a death sentence to his pride.
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  It's like the ego is so inflated, you'll hear that any
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  pinprick feels like a mortal wound.
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  That is a perfect way to put it. And this plays out socially,
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  too. We talked about the dunk
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  earlier. The scoffer use humor as a
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  weapon for social domination, right?
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  And in the church, we see this in what has been termed
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  discernment blogging or, you know, certain corners of
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  Christian social media. Oh, I have seen this accounts
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  that seem to exist solely to tear down other Christians.
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  It presents itself as defending the truth.
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  I'm just contending for the faith.
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  But if you look closely, it is actually just scorn.
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  It's the pleasure of making someone else look small so you
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  can look big. It is defending truth with the
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  fury of the scoffer rather than the fruit of the spirit.
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  Yes, if your discernment is characterized by mockery,
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  sarcasm, and bitterness, you are defending Christ.
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  You are just venting your own Ebra.
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  You are boiling over. And there's a warning for
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  pastors here, too, in the notes Pastoral Haughtiness.
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  It is a real danger when a leader uses their authority to
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  silence questions. Do not touch God's anointed or
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  stop asking questions. Just trust the leadership.
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  That is the spirit of the scoffer.
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  It's refusing to be questioned. It's the zed asserting itself
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  over the flock. A true shepherd welcomes
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  scrutiny because he points to the chief shepherd.
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  A scoffer demands blind loyalty. This is, well, it's a lot.
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  It's a diagnosis that leaves pretty much none of us standing.
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  I mean, we've all sat in that seat at some point.
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  We've all felt that heat when someone corrects us.
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  So where do we go? If Scoffer is the name of our
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  natural heart, how do we get a name change?
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  We have to turn to the anti scoffer.
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  The solution is not just try to be nicer, the solution is
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  Christ. Tell us about the anti scoffer.
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  Think about Jesus. He is the Son of God.
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  If anyone in the history of the universe had the right to be
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  haughty, to be Yahir High and lifted up, it was Him.
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  He had every right to look down on us.
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  He is superior and yet what does he say in Matthew 11.29?
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  I am gentle and lowly in heart. He's the exact opposite of the
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  Zed. Completely.
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  He never overstepped. He submitted to the father and
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  everything. He emptied himself.
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  As Philippians 2 says, he did not cling to his rights, he laid
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  them down. And the cross.
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  The source material makes this point that the cross is
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  essentially the meeting place of mockers.
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  It is the ultimate irony. Jesus, the only humble man, was
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  surrounded by scoffers. The soldiers mocked him, the
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  thief mocked him. The religious leaders sneered.
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  He bore the name of the scoffer, the shame, the ridicule, the
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  spit, so that we could receive the name of sons.
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  And that connection to Wrath Ebra comes back here too,
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  doesn't it? It is the theological pivot
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  point. We said earlier that the scoffer
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  acts with Ebra fury and provokes God's Ebra wrath right on the
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  cross. Jesus drank the Ebra of God.
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  He took the cup. He took the wrath that our pride
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  deserved. He absorbed the penalty for our
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  arrogance. Yeah, and this changes
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  everything about why we scoff. How so?
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  Because it brings us to justification by faith.
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  If I am justified by Christ, if my standing is secure in Him, I
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  lose the need to be superior. Right, I don't have to win the
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  argument to prove I'm somebody. Spot on.
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  I don't have to protect a reputation that is dead and
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  hidden in Christ. If I am already accepted by the
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  King of Kings, what does it matter if someone on the
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  Internet thinks I'm a fool? Or if I lose an argument.
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  What does it matter? The gospel kills the fuel source
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  of scoffing because the fuel source is insecurity and pride.
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  So we are united with Christ. We have this new identity, but
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  let's be real, the old man is still kicking.
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  I might believe this theologically, but I still want
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  to snap back at my spouse when I'm tired.
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  How do we practically kill the inner scoffer?
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  We cannot kill the inner scoffer by willpower alone.
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  We do it by abiding in the vine. But our sources point to
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  practical, even liturgical, steps.
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  First is the practice of specific repentance.
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  Specific meaning? What meaning?
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  We stop using soft words for our sin.
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  We like to euphemize. Don't say I was just grumpy or I
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  was just tired. Say I was acting with arrogant
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  pride. Call it by its name.
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  Confess the unguarded mouth and the unguarded heart.
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  Call it what God calls it. When you use the biblical
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  terminology, you bring the biblical solution to bear on it.
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  That is humbling in itself. It is.
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  And then we look at corporate worship.
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  Our sources highlight the Reformed view of the means of
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  grace. Worship is not just a warm up
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  for the sermon, it's an antidote to pride.
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  How does that work mechanically? Take confession of sin.
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  When we publicly confess our presumptuous sins, as Psalm 19
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  says, we are publicly admitting we are not the standard.
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  We are standing in a room full of people and saying I am
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  flawed. That is lethal to the Yahir, the
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  haughty Spirit. And the hymns we sing matter
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  too. Hymn that he is powerful.
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  Think of Isaac Watts when I survey the wondrous cross.
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  There's that line. Poor contempt on all my pride.
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  I love that line, it's so countercultural.
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  We need to sing songs that abase us and exalt Christ.
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  If our worship music is all about how great we are or how we
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  are champions and giant slayers, we are actually feeding the
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  scoffer. We're pumping up the ego.
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  Exactly. We need music that reminds us we
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  are beggars who found bread. And Speaking of bread, the
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  Lord's Supper. The table is the great leveller.
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  It is my favorite image of the church.
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  Everyone eats the same bread. The CEO and the unemployed guy,
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  the PhD theologian and the high school dropout.
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  They all come with empty hands. You cannot stride up to the
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  table, you have to come receiving.
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  It starves the old man and feeds the new man.
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  You cannot truly come to the table with a haughty heart.
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  The very action is an admission of dependence.
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  I love that the table forces us to sit, but not in the seat of
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  Stauffers. We sit as guests.
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  We sit as family. One last practical application
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  mentioned was teachability. This goes right back to the
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  litmus test. We have to learn to ask a new
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  question when we are criticized. Instead of how can I destroy
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  this argument, we ask what part of this critique is true?
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  Even if it's only 10% true. Even if it is delivered poorly.
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  Even if the person is annoying. Even if they are your enemy?
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  Is there a kernel of truth that God wants me to see and is
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  moving from defensive fury to peaceable wisdom, as James 3
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  describes? It is the hard work of humility.
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  This has been, well, like I said, a deep dive.
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  It is convicting. It really strips away the idea
• 21:03
  that we can just be smart, Alex, and it's no big deal.
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  It feels like we're standing at a fork in the road.
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  It is a big deal. It's a question of two names in
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  two ways. Summarize that force.
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  The world, says Mock to stay above.
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  It says that power comes from looking down on others, from
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  being the one who gets the last word.
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  The gospel says bow to Christ and be raised.
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  That is the choice. It is, and my parting thought to
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  you listening is this. Do not leave this discussion
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  trying to just be a better person or a nicer commenter.
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  That is just moralism. You will fail.
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  Leave here worshipping the savior who was mocked for you.
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  That is the only thing that melts the pride.
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  We encourage you to flee the seat of scoffers.
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  Don't get comfortable there. Get up, walk away and go sit at
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  the feet of Jesus. He is gentle, He is lowly, and
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  He is the only cure. Amen.
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  Thanks for joining us on this deep dive into reformed
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  thinking. We will see you next time.