by his nineteen-year-old half-brother Ishmael, who, in jealousy, was “poking fun” at (“mocking,” AV, Yg) Isaac. (Gen. 21:9) Paul gives the prophetic application, saying: “Now we, brothers, are children belonging to the promise the same as Isaac was. But just as then the one born in the manner of flesh began persecuting the one born in the manner of spirit [God having intervened to bring about Isaac’s birth], so also now.” (Gal. 4:28, 29) Later Paul writes: “In fact, all those desiring to live with godly devotion in association with Christ Jesus will also be persecuted.”—2 Tim. 3:12.

Enduring ridicule with the proper viewpoint

Jesus Christ knew all along that he would face ridicule, and that it would culminate in his being put to death. But he recognized that the reproaches were actually against Jehovah, whom he represented, and this was all the more painful to him who ‘always did the things pleasing to his Father’ (John 8:29), and who was more concerned with the sanctification of his Father’s name than anything else. (Matt. 6:9) Accordingly, “when he was being reviled, he did not go reviling in return. When he was suffering, he did not go threatening, but kept on committing himself to the one who judges righteously.” The apostle Peter expresses this point when writing to Christians, particularly to slaves, exhorting them not to let such treatment incite them to retaliate, for Christ is their example, “a model,” Peter says, “for you to follow his steps closely.”—1 Pet. 2:18-23; Rom. 12:17-21.

Jeremiah the prophet of God said, at one point in his career, “I became an object of laughter all day long; everyone is holding me in derision.” Momentarily he weakened and considered stopping his prophetic work because of the unceasing reproach and jeering. But he too recognized that it was “for the word of Jehovah” that the derision came, and God’s word in his heart proved to be like a burning fire that he could not endure to hold in. For his faithfulness Jehovah was with him “like a terrible mighty one,” and Jeremiah was strengthened to keep on loyally.—Jer. 20:7-11.

Job was a man righteously maintaining his integrity through great ridicule. But he developed the wrong viewpoint and made a mistake, for which he was corrected. Elihu said of him: “What able-bodied man is like Job, who drinks up derision like water?” (Job 34:7) Job became too concerned with his own justification rather than God’s, and tended to magnify his own righteousness more than God’s. (Job 35:2; 36:24) In receiving the severe ridicule of his three “companions,” Job tended to count it directed toward himself rather than toward God. In this he was like a person drinking water with enjoyment, like one who gives himself up to derision and ridicule and delights in it. God later explained to Job that these ridiculers were actually (in the final analysis) speaking untruth against God. (Job 42:7) Similarly, Jehovah told the prophet Samuel when Israel demanded a king: “It is not you whom they have rejected, but it is I whom they have rejected from being king over them.” (1 Sam. 8:7) And Jesus said to his disciples: “You will be objects of hatred by all the nations [not on your own account, but] on account of my name.” (Matt. 24:9) These things, kept in mind, will enable the Christian to endure ridicule in the right spirit and will qualify him to receive a reward for his endurance.—Luke 6:22, 23.

JUSTIFIABLE RIDICULE

Ridicule may be deserved and well justified. One not exercising foresight or who neglects good counsel may take a foolish course that makes him the object of ridicule. Jesus gave such an example, of a man who started to build a tower without first counting the cost. (Luke 14:28-30) Jehovah set Israel “as a reproach to [her] neighbors, a derision and jeering to those all around” her, justly so, because of her own waywardness and disobedience to God, even to the point of bringing reproach upon God’s name among the nations. (Ps. 44:13; 79:4; 80:6; Ezek. 22:4, 5; 23:32; 36:4, 21, 22) The prophet Elijah appropriately mocked the priests of Baal for their defiance of Jehovah. (1 Ki. 18:26, 27) After Sennacherib had taunted and spoken of Jehovah abusively before King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, the tables were turned, and ridicule, derision, reproach and ignominious defeat fell upon this haughty Assyrian king and his army. (2 Ki. 19:20, 21; Isa. 37:21, 22) In a similar manner Moab became an object of ridicule. (Jer. 48:25-27, 39) The nations of earth have gone to the extreme in ridiculing God, but Jehovah laughs at them and holds them in derision for their impudent resistance of his universal sovereignty, as they reap the bad fruitage of their course.—Ps. 2:2-4; 59:8; Prov. 1:26; 3:34.

RIDICULERS IN THE “LAST DAYS”

One of the signs marking the “last days” would be “ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires [“own desires for ungodly things” (Jude 17, 18)] and saying: ‘Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning.’” (2 Pet. 3:3, 4) Obviously, such ones do not heed the advice of Isaiah 28:21, 22, warning of the grave danger of scoffing at Jehovah.

“GOD IS NOT ONE TO BE MOCKED”

The apostle Paul warns of the serious danger that attends an attempt to mock God, that is, to one who thinks that the principles of God’s administration can be treated with contempt or successfully evaded. He writes to the Galatian Christians: “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deceiving his own mind. . . . Do not be misled: God is not one to be mocked. For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap; because he who is sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit.”—Gal. 6:3-8.

Here the apostle shows that a person should not deceive himself with a false estimate of his own worth, thereby ignoring God and his Word. He should clean up his life to walk by the spirit as the Word directs. If one does not do this, but instead goes on sowing with a view to fleshly desires, he will be ‘accepting the undeserved kindness of God and missing its purpose,’ and treating God’s instruction as contemptible. (2 Cor. 6:1) He may deceive himself into thinking that he is safe. Nevertheless, God knows his heart and will judge him accordingly.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

[Heb., tseʹdheq, ts^edha·qahʹ, righteousness, justice; Gr., di·kai·o·syʹne, righteousness, justice].

Both the Hebrew and the Greek words have the thought of “rectitude,” “uprightness,” indicating a standard or norm determining what is upright. “Righteousness” is frequently used in connection with a judge, or with judgment, giving the term a somewhat legal flavor (hence, the original-language terms are often translated “justice”). (Ps. 35:24; 72:2; 96:13; Isa. 11:4; Rev. 19:11) In the Mosaic law, at Leviticus 19:36 tseʹdheq is used four times in connection with business transactions: “You should prove to have accurate [tseʹdheq, “just,” AT, AV, Le] scales, accurate weights, an accurate ephah and an accurate hin.”

GOD SETS THE STANDARD

Greek scholar Kenneth S. Wuest (quoting also from Cremer) says, in Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament (1966 printing), page 37: “God is the objective standard which determines the content of meaning of dikaios [righteous], and at the same time keeps that content of meaning constant and unchanging, since He is the unchanging One. ‘Righteousness in the biblical sense is a condition of rightness the standard of which is God, which is estimated according to the divine standard, which shows itself in behavior conformable to God, and has to do above all things with its relation to God, and with the walk before Him. It is, and it is called dikaiosune theou (righteousness of God) (Rom. 3:21; 1:17), righteousness as it belongs to God, and is of value before Him, Godlike righteousness, see Eph. 4:24; with this righteousness thus defined, the gospel (Rom. 1:17) comes into the world of nations which had been wont to measure by a different standard.’”

Luke shows the sense of one’s being righteous in saying of priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth (the parents of John the Baptist): “They both were righteous before God because of walking blamelessly in accord with all the commandments and legal requirements of Jehovah.” (Luke 1:6) Righteousness is measured by conformity to God’s will and his commands. His specific commands may vary from one time to another and from one person to another—his command to Noah to build an ark has never been repeated nor does his command regarding circumcision apply to Christians in the new covenant. Nevertheless, God’s personal standards, his personality, what he is, as expressed in his words and ways, remains ever constant and hence provides a perfect standard, ‘rocklike’ in firmness and stability, with which to measure the conduct of all his creatures.—Deut. 32:4; Job 34:10; Ps. 92:15; Ezek. 18:25-31; 33:17-20.

GOODNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

The apostle Paul seems to make a distinction between goodness and righteousness when, speaking of Christ’s sacrificial death, he says: “For hardly will anyone die for a righteous man; indeed, for the good man, perhaps, someone even dares to die. But God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:7, 8) A man can be termed “righteous” if he fulfills his proper obligations, is just, impartial, honest, not guilty of wrongdoing or immorality, hence one known for integrity of conduct and uprightness. Paul’s statement, however, implies a certain superiority in the “good” man. To be “good” the individual could not, of course, be unrighteous or unjust; yet other qualities distinguish him from the man primarily known for his righteousness. The use of the Greek term shows that the person noteworthy for, or distinguished by, goodness is one who is benevolent (disposed to do good or bring benefit to others) and beneficent (actively expressing such goodness). He is not merely concerned with doing what justice requires but goes beyond this, being motivated by wholesome consideration for others and the desire to benefit and help them.—Compare Matthew 12:35; 20:10-15; Luke 6:9, 33, 35, 36; John 7:12; Acts 14:17; Romans 12:20, 21; 1 Thessalonians 5:15.

Thus, Paul evidently is showing that, while the man noted for being “righteous” may win the respect, even the admiration, of others, he may not appeal to their heart so strongly as to impel anyone to die for him. However, the man outstanding for his goodness, who is warm, helpful, considerate, merciful, actively beneficial, wins affection and his goodness may appeal to the heart sufficiently that, for such a one, a person might be willing to die.

It may be noted that, in the Scriptures, that which is “good” is contrasted with that which is “vile” (John 5:29; Rom. 9:11; 2 Cor. 5:10), “wicked” (Matt. 5:45; Rom. 12:9), “evil” (Rom. 16:19) and, of course, “bad.” (1 Pet. 3:11; 3 John 11) The “righteous” one, on the other hand, is contrasted with the “sinner” (the unrighteous person). (Mark 2:17; Luke 15:7) Just as one may be a sinner (because he fails to meet righteous standards) and yet not necessarily be termed or classed as “vile,” “wicked,” or “evil,” so, too, one may be a “righteous” person and yet not necessarily be termed or classed as a “good” person, in the sense described earlier.

Joseph of Arimathea was known as being both “good and righteous,” these terms, of course, always being used in a relative sense when applying to imperfect humans. (Luke 23:50; compare Matthew 19:16, 17; Mark 10:17, 18; see GOODNESS [Jehovah’s Goodness].) The commandments of God’s Law to Israel were “holy [being from God] and righteous [being perfect in justice] and good [being beneficial in every respect for those observing them].”—Rom. 7:12; compare Ephesians 5:9.

JEHOVAH THE RIGHTEOUS ONE

The Hebrew words tseʹdheq and ts^edha·qahʹ and the Greek di·kai·o·syʹne appear frequently with reference to the rightness of God’s ways: as Sovereign (Job 37:23; Ps. 71:19; 89:14); in government (Ps. 99:4; Jer. 9:24); in administering and executing judgment and justice (Ps. 9:8; 85:11; Isa. 26:9; 2 Cor. 3:9); in punishing of his professed people (Isa. 10:22); in vindication of himself in judgment (Ps. 51:4; Rom. 3:4, 5) and in vindication of his people (Mic. 7:9).

Jehovah himself is called “the abiding place of righteousness.” (Jer. 50:7) He is therefore the Righteous One, and all righteousness comes from the creature’s relationship with him. Jehovah abides by his own standard of righteousness without deviation. Therefore, his creatures can have the utmost confidence in him. Of him, it is written: “Righteousness and judgment are the established place of your throne.”—Ps. 89:14.

Maintains righteousness while exercising mercy

Jehovah’s righteousness, justice, holiness and purity are such that no sin can be condoned by him. (Ps. 5:4; Isa. 6:3, 5; Hab. 1:13; 1 Pet. 1:15) Consequently he could not forgive the sins of mankind without satisfying justice—in effect, without a legal basis. But through his undeserved kindness he made this just arrangement by providing his Son as a sacrificial offering, a propitiation or covering for sins. In this way he can righteously exercise mercy toward sinners who accept this arrangement. Paul expresses the matter in the following manner: “But now apart from law God’s righteousness has been made manifest, . . . yes, God’s righteousness through the faith in Jesus Christ. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus. . . . that he [God] might be righteous even when declaring righteous the man [the inherently sinful man] that has faith in Jesus.”—Rom. 3:21-26; see DECLARE RIGHTEOUS.

SEEK GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

Jesus admonished his hearers: “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and [God’s] righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33) One needs to keep seeking the Kingdom; he must desire that government and be loyal to it. But he cannot forget that it is the kingdom of God; he must conform to God’s will, to his standard of right and wrong in conduct, and must continually ‘make his mind over’ so that every facet of his life is in accord with God’s righteousness. (Rom. 12:2) He must “put on the new personality which was created according to God’s will in true righteousness and loyalty.”—Eph. 4:23, 24.

The Jews thought that they were safe and would receive God’s kingdom by seeking to establish their own righteousness, but they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. (Rom. 10:1-3) That is why Jesus said to his disciples: “For I say to you that if your righteousness does not abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” These men had a form of righteousness in their obedience to certain of the requirements of the Law and to their added traditions. But they had actually made the word of God invalid because of their tradition, and they rejected Christ, the way provided by God through whom they could have obtained real righteousness.—Matt. 5:17-20; 15:3-9; Rom. 10:4.