The Taxonomy of a Fool: His Name and His Nature Text: Proverbs 21:24
Introduction: The Unmasking of Pride
The book of Proverbs is a divine anatomy lesson of the human soul. It dissects virtue and vice with a scalpel so sharp that no pretense can stand before it. We are given detailed field guides to wisdom and folly, and this verse, this single, compact sentence, is a master class in identifying a particular kind of fool. This is not just any fool; this is the fool in his full, arrogant bloom. This is the fool who has graduated from simple ignorance to a militant and boastful rebellion against God's created order.
We live in an age that has made a virtue of this very sin. Our culture celebrates the scoffer. It lionizes the arrogant. The man who stands up and declares his own truth, who sneers at the ancient boundaries, who mocks the faith of his fathers, is held up as a hero, a brave truth-teller. But God is not mocked, and His dictionary is the only one that corresponds to reality. He has given this man a name, or rather, a series of names, and they are not flattering. They are diagnostic. They tell us what this man is, right down to the bedrock of his character.
Pride is the original sin, the root from which all other sins branch out. It is the fundamental refusal to be a creature, the desire to be the Creator, to be the center of one's own universe. As C.S. Lewis noted, pride is the essential vice, the utmost evil. It is the complete anti-God state of mind. Every other vice is at times directed against our neighbor, but pride is aimed directly at God Himself. And this proverb gives us a detailed snapshot of what that anti-God state of mind looks like when it puts on a suit and goes to work in the world.
This is not an abstract lesson. This man is your neighbor. He is your coworker. He is the talking head on the television. And if we are not careful, if we do not mortify the flesh, he is the man in the mirror. We must therefore pay close attention to God's diagnosis, so that we can identify this spiritual disease, first in ourselves, and then contend with it in the world.
The Text
“Arrogant,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names,
Who acts with arrogant fury.
(Proverbs 21:24 LSB)
What's in a Name? (v. 24a)
The first part of the verse gives us a series of labels, a set of divine name tags for this particular brand of sinner.
"“Arrogant,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names..." (Proverbs 21:24a)
In Scripture, a name is not just a label; it reveals the essential nature of a thing. When God names something, He is defining its reality. And here, He gives us a three-part definition of the proud man. These are not three different kinds of men, but three facets of the same ugly gemstone.
First, he is "Arrogant." The Hebrew word here is zed. It speaks of insolence, of presumption. The arrogant man is one who has forgotten his place. He has forgotten the Creator/creature distinction. He operates as though he were his own god, the captain of his own soul. This is the man who says, "It seems to me..." as though his personal impressions were the final court of appeal. He is not pointing away from himself to an objective standard, to what God has said. He is pointing to himself. In our modern therapeutic culture, this is redefined as humility, but it is the very essence of arrogance. The truly humble man says, "The Bible teaches..." because he is submitting to an authority outside himself. The arrogant man makes himself the authority.
Second, he is "Haughty." This is from the Hebrew root yahir, which means to be lofty or exalted in one's own eyes. If arrogance is the action of putting oneself forward, haughtiness is the internal state of mind that fuels it. It is a high opinion of oneself. It is a spirit that looks down on others. This is the man who cannot receive correction, because in his own mind, he is above it. He knows better than his pastor, better than his elders, better than two thousand years of church history, and ultimately, better than God. A haughty spirit is the precursor to every great fall (Proverbs 16:18). It is a spiritual blindness that convinces a man he is walking on a high plateau when he is actually marching confidently toward the edge of a cliff.
Third, he is a "Scoffer." The Hebrew is lis. This is the man who mocks what is good, true, and holy. The scoffer sits in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). He does not merely disagree with God's law; he finds it contemptible. He sneers at piety. He rolls his eyes at righteousness. The scoffer is the final stage of intellectual pride. He has moved from ignoring God, to disagreeing with God, to openly ridiculing God and His people. This is the default mode of our late-night comedians, our university professors, and our online trolls. Scoffing is the language of a decaying civilization, a society that has lost its fear of God and now finds His commandments to be a cosmic joke. But the last laugh belongs to God, who will hold them in derision (Psalm 2:4).
The Fury of Pride (v. 24b)
The second half of the verse shows us how this internal disposition of pride manifests itself in outward action.
"...Who acts with arrogant fury." (Proverbs 21:24b)
The phrase here is potent: ebrah zadon. It means an overflowing or an outburst of insolence. It is pride in action. It is not a quiet, dignified self-esteem. It is a rage. It is a fury.
But why fury? Why is the proud man so angry? Because the world refuses to conform to his delusion. He believes himself to be the center of the universe, but reality constantly contradicts him. The sun does not ask his permission to rise. His children disobey him. His boss corrects him. Other drivers cut him off in traffic. And God, most offensively of all, exists. Every one of these things is an intolerable affront to his imagined sovereignty. His universe is constantly being invaded by facts, and this makes him furious.
This arrogant fury is the engine of all the "cancel culture" and social justice warring we see today. The woke activist is a perfect illustration of this proverb. He is arrogant, believing his view of justice is the only one. He is haughty, looking down with utter contempt on all who disagree. And he is a scoffer, mocking the traditions and institutions of the past. And when the world does not immediately bend to his demands, what is his response? An outburst. A screaming fit. Arrogant fury. He acts out of a sense of enraged entitlement. He is not arguing; he is raging. This is because pride, when it is challenged, has no other recourse. It cannot reason, because it has rejected the Logos. It cannot persuade, because it despises the un-woke. All it can do is lash out in fury.
This is the fury of King Herod when the wise men tricked him (Matthew 2:16). It is the fury of Haman when Mordecai refused to bow (Esther 3:5-6). It is the fury of the mob, at all times and in all places, when their pride is pricked. It is a spiritual tantrum, the rage of a would-be god who discovers he is, in fact, a mere man.
The Gospel for the Proud
This proverb is a diagnosis, but the Bible never gives us a diagnosis without also providing the cure. And the cure for the arrogant, haughty scoffer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only cure.
The gospel strikes at the very root of pride. It tells us that we are not sovereign, but sinners. It tells us that we are not righteous, but condemned. It tells us that we are not the heroes of our own story, but the villains. The law of God first comes and breaks our haughty spirit. It shows us that we are spiritually bankrupt, unable to save ourselves. It crushes our self-righteousness under the weight of God's perfect holiness.
And then, into that brokenness, the gospel speaks a word of grace. It points us to a substitute. It points us to One who had every right to be proud, yet humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, took the fury of God's wrath against our pride upon Himself. The ultimate outburst of fury was not from man against reality, but from God against sin, and Christ absorbed it all.
Therefore, the only way to deal with the arrogant man in your own heart is to crucify him. You must bring your pride, your haughtiness, and your scoffing to the foot of the cross and leave it there. You must confess that God is God and you are not. You must trade your filthy rags of self-righteousness for the pure robes of Christ's righteousness. You must stop acting with arrogant fury and instead receive with humble gratitude the unmerited favor of God.
When you do this, God gives you a new name. Instead of "Arrogant," He calls you "Humble." Instead of "Haughty," He calls you "Child." Instead of "Scoffer," He calls you "Worshipper." He takes the man who is defined by his insolent rage and transforms him into a man defined by his grateful love. This is the great exchange, and it is the only hope for every proud heart.