The Scoffer

Greetings in the Lord!

For the past couple of days I've been getting Scriptures regarding "scoffers."  In spiritual terms, these would be people who are arrogant unbelievers, mockers to the point that they disdain putting any faith in God.  It is a seriously toxic spiritual condition, both for the scoffer and for the people around them.  The arrogant, mocking and doubt of the scoffer can be an effective bully tactic to try and quiet the voice of the faithful, overwhelm those weaker or newer in their faith, and recruit unsuspecting or like-hearted individuals to join along.  Scoffing is also aggressive in that it reveals their intolerance by immediately trying to discredit; only disagreements or conflicts will result when addressing a scoffer. 

In 2 Peter 3:3 we read that "scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires."  So, we can understand then, that in addition to being arrogant, aggressive, mocking, and contentious, they are un-teachable, stubborn, and will follow evil desires easily.  Now that's a tough lot!  Kind of reminds me of one the Bible's top antagonists, Pharaoh of Egypt.  He was definitely a 'class A' scoffer.  It took ten plagues of judgment before he relented to let the Israelites go! 

I've been around a lot of scoffers in my life already, and guess what?  The Lord still does "mighty acts of judgment," too.  Yep, I remember one basketball season in particular where the Holy Spirit said He was going to bring judgment to my team's prideful scoffers who were persecuting me: "Some will leave the team, some will be plagued with injuries, and others will grow to hate basketball."  I told that to the team casually in conversation, then, watched as the Lord did all that He said He was going to do.  By the end of the season the scoffers were as jumpy and cautious with their words as a cat in a dog pound!  It was weird to see, actually, and when they came to me humbled at the end of the season to ask about God privately, I could see that their hearts had truly changed.  Wow--guess judgment works.  I certainly don't wish it on anyone, but to see a repentant heart is such a blessing...and saves them in the long run. 

Why do people become so hard-hearted and scoff at God?  Well, probably mainly because they've put their trust in something else.  For Pharaoh, it was black magic, as he watched his own magicians do similar tricks as the early plagues.  However, later on the magicians admitted they could not do what plagues Moses was decreeing against the Egyptians.  Yet, Pharaoh remained stubborn.  As soon as he begged for the plague to stop saying he'd let them go if they would only stop the plague, he'd lie and change his mind again!  Pharaoh had no integrity at all.  He simply did as he pleased.  That is the true nature of a scoffer.  They will do as they please, anytime, every time. 

So what does the book of 2 Peter recommend to us, faithful believers?  To be purposeful in your thinking----"wholesome" thinking.  To "make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace" with God.  The Lord is indeed patient with all of us, desiring that we repent and escape the judgments of the wicked.  Take an inventory of the things that you disagree with or don't believe when it comes to spiritual matters.  Are you doubting the Word of God and putting more faith in the conventional wisdom of man?  Do you follow false doctrines or false gods?  What makes your heart scoff at the truth found in the Bible?  It's good for all of us to re-examine these spiritual issues of the heart and get in alignment with the One, true God.

~Be blessed and be a blessing.

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