Watch Out for Mockers

Today’s passage is Job 30:1-15.  Let’s go!

Job 30:1-15 (NIV) 
¹  “But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
²  Of what use was the strength of their hands to me, since their vigor had gone from them?
³  Haggard from want and hunger, they roamed the parched land in desolate wastelands at night.
⁴  In the brush they gathered salt herbs, and their food was the root of the broom tree.
⁵  They were banished from their fellow men, shouted at as if they were thieves.
⁶  They were forced to live in the dry stream beds, among the rocks and in holes in the ground.
⁷  They brayed among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth.
⁸  A base and nameless brood, they were driven out of the land.
⁹  “And now their sons mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
¹⁰  They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
¹¹  Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence.
¹²  On my right the tribe attacks; they lay snares for my feet, they build their siege ramps against me.
¹³  They break up my road; they succeed in destroying me– without anyone’s helping them.
¹⁴  They advance as through a gaping breach; amid the ruins they come rolling in.
¹⁵  Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.

On verses 1-15:  Job has gone from being someone whom others held in high esteem (see Job 29) to one whom others mock.  When Job looks at the people mocking him, he notices that they are men much younger than him, whose fathers were deadbeats whom he would never have associated with (v1-8), “a base and nameless brood” (v8).  The ones mocking Job mock him in song (v9) and spit in his face (v10) without any kind of restraint (v11).  Job describes his mockers in military terms, how they are like an army that besieges him (v12), leaving him without any road to exit or escape (“break up my road” – v13).  They advance against Job like an army attacking a city, the walls of which are already torn down with gaping holes (v14).  As a result, Job lives in terror, feeling unsafe and humiliated (v15).

What can we learn from this?  When I think about how Job suffered such mockery and abuse, though he did nothing to deserve it, I can’t help but think of Someone else who, centuries later, would face tremendous mockery and abuse though he was the last person to deserve it.  It’s interesting that Job describes his mockers in military terms (v12-41), for centuries later Jesus would be mocked, spat on and abused by soldiers in Caesar’s army.  As Mark recounts in his gospel:

¹⁶  The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
¹⁷  They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
¹⁸  And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
¹⁹  Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
²⁰  And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him. (Mark 15:16-20 (NIV))

If you have ever felt the pain, the humiliation and the terror of being mocked and bullied by others, Jesus understands exactly how you feel.  And just as Jesus rose up from such mockery and abuse (Mark 10:34), Jesus is here to help you rise up too.  You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Over and over the Bible, and the book of Proverbs especially, speaks about the mocker, that person who scornfully makes fun of others and looks down on them.  The Bible says that the biggest issue with the mocker is his pride (Proverbs 21:24).  That is why a mocker resents being corrected (Proverbs 15:12) and does not listen to rebuke (Proverbs 13:1).  Sometimes the best way to respond to a mocker is to stand up to them (Proverbs 22:10).  At other times it’s to ignore them (Proverbs 9:7-8).  May God give you wisdom to know how to respond to a mocker whenever you face them.  Either way, you can rest assured that a mocker lacks wisdom (Proverbs 14:6).  As young men mocked the prophet Elisha only to be mauled by bears (2 Kings 2:23-24), when a person insists on mocking others, they alone will suffer in the end (Proverbs9:12).

Lord Jesus, thank You for enduring so much mockery and abuse for me.  Your Word says, “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” (Proverbs 22:10)   Holy Spirit, drive out the mocker in me, that I would be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to be angry.  Please give me wisdom to know how to respond to mockers.  May I have courage to stand up to them when I need to, and self-control to ignore them when I need to.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!