Scoffing

Scoffing (mockery, scorning) is the deliberate disparagement of divine things, godly people, or the message of repentance — treated in Scripture as the most hardened form of spiritual resistance. The Psalms begin with the warning not to sit "in the seat of scoffers" (Ps. 1:1). Proverbs returns repeatedly to the scoffer (luts): he hates reproof (Prov. 9:7–8), will not respond to wisdom (Prov. 13:1), and stirs up contention (Prov. 22:10). Scoffers mocked Israel's returning exiles (Neh. 2:19) and jeered Hezekiah's messengers (2 Chr. 30:10).

Peter warns that in the last days scoffers will come following their own lusts and asking "Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Pet. 3:3–4). Jude echoes this, citing the apostles' prediction of such mockers (Jude 18). The mockers at the cross — "He saved others; he cannot save himself" (Matt. 27:42) — ironically articulate the theology of substitutionary sacrifice while intending to deny it. Scoffing at divine things represents a particular spiritual danger because it armors the heart against conviction and repentance.