[FONT="]WINEBIBBING
The following is from the new Advanced Bible
Studies Series on the book of Proverbs, which is
available from Way of Life Literature.
Proverbs 20:1; 23:20-21, 29-35; 31:2-7
1. THE WARNINGS ABOUT WINE IN PROVERBS ARE
WARNINGS ABOUT WINE THAT IS INTOXICATING
(Proverbs 23:30-31). It is wine that is fermented
and its intoxicating power is improved. It is
mixed wine, referring to wine that was mixed with
spices and other things to make it more
stimulating. It is wine that gives its color in
the cup and that moves itself aright. Matthew
Henry observes: "Some wine, they say, looks
charmingly, looks so well that it even says,
'Come and drink me;' it moves itself aright, goes
down very smoothly. It is said of generous
strong-bodied wine that it even causes the lips
of those that are asleep to speak." The average
wine of Bible times was non-intoxicating or only
very mildly intoxicating. Modern wines and beers,
on the other hand, unquestionably come under the
Bible's description of "mixed wine," not to speak
of today's powerful liquors. Norman Geisler
observed: "Many wine-drinking Christians today
mistakenly assume that what the New Testament
meant by wine is identical to wine used today.
This, however, is false. In fact, today's wine is
by biblical definition strong drink, and hence is
forbidden in the Bible. ... Even ancient pagans
did not drink what some Christians drink today"
(Focus in Missions, September 1986). Robert Stein
adds: “to consume the amount of alcohol that is
in two martinis today, by drinking wine
containing three parts water to one part wine (a
biblical ratio) a person would have to drink over
twenty-two glasses [of common wine from Bible
times]" (Ibid.).
2. ALCOHOLIC DRINK SHOULD BE AVOIDED BECAUSE IT
IS A MOCKER AND A DECEIVER (Prov. 20:1).
The fact that alcoholic drink is a mocker and
deceiver is an excellent reason for complete
abstinence from alcoholic beverages. If a person
determines to drink in "moderation," he doesn't
know if the alcohol will deceive him and enslave
him. Very few drunkards started out to be
drunkards. The drunkard is a person who was
deceived and captured. Alcoholic drink thus mocks
men by enslaving them. It also mocks men by
promising them what it cannot deliver (pleasure,
happiness) and taking from them what they did not
intend to give.
3. ALCOHOLIC DRINK SHOULD BE AVOIDED BECAUSE IT
IS ASSOCIATED WITH MANY EVILS AND DANGERS (Prov.
23:19-35).
This passage begins with the father urging his
son to hearken to his parents and to buy the
truth and sell it not (Prov. 23:22-23). The
father exhorts his son to "buy the truth" by
bending his whole heart and strength and life to
it and to "sell it not" for any of the Devil's
shallow, deceptive enticements. This is what will
protect the person from the enticement of worldly
activities and places that promote "social
drinking," such as modern dance parties, bars,
nightclubs, and taverns.
a. The winebibber has poverty (Prov. 23:19-21).
Proverbs counsels the young man to avoid the
company of winebibbers and gluttons, because they
produce poverty. It is certain that they produce
spiritual poverty, and it is often that they
produce financial poverty as well.
b. The winebibber has woe (Prov. 23:29). Many of
the woes in society are caused by drinking:
divorce, lost friendships, car and air crashes,
disease, fightings, crime, child delinquency,
teenage pregnancy, bankruptcy, suicide, and many
other things.
c. The winebibber has sorrow (Prov. 23:29). This
is such a sad but true statement. What sorrow he
has! Sorrow because of a guilty conscience;
because of lost opportunity; because of broken
marriages and friendships; because of fall from
social standing; because of loss of finances;
because of the consequences of drunken driving;
because of the loss of respect; because of
rebellious children. Winebibbing thus leads to
many suicides. One of my great uncles was a
wealthy man who owned two bars and was a heavy
drinker, and one day he drove up to a funeral
home in his Cadillac, put a gun to his head, and
killed himself.
d. The winebibber has contentions (Prov. 23:29).
How many fights, how many broken marriages, how
many broken friendships, how many stabbings and
shooting and beatings have followed in the wake
of drink?
e. The winebibber has babbling (Prov. 23:29). The
drunk speaks nonsense and foolishness.
f. The winebibber has wounds without cause (Prov.
23:29). The drunkard can't remember where he was
or what he did and he doesn't know how he got his
wounds. He doesn't remember the fight or the
crash or the fall. My wife's father crashed his
car one night in Alaska when he missed a sharp
turn after he had gone over a bridge. He was
found staggering along the road and didn't even
know what had happened.
g. The winebibber has redness of eyes (Prov.
23:29). He is affected in his body. His eyes are
affected; his kidneys are affected; his liver is
affected; his heart is affected; his brain is
affected.
h. The winebibber's eyes behold strange women
(Prov. 23:33). This is a powerful description of
the immorality that is intimately associated with
drinking. The winebibber's inhibitions are
weakened and he is attracted to loose women. It
has been said that "wine is the oil of the fire
of lust."
i. The winebibber's heart utters perverse things
(Prov. 23:33), such as cursing and bitterness and
blasphemy and filthy jokes.
j. The winebibber is careless and foolishly
fearless (Prov. 23:34). He would lie down and
sleep while floating in the midst of the sea or
while lying on the top of the mast of a sailing
ship a hundred feet above the deck. The drunkard
drives cars and flies airplanes when he is
intoxicated; he staggers along on a busy highway;
he enters rough bars he would not otherwise
enter; he challenges fierce men to a fight. I
read about a drunkard who climbed into a wild
animal cage and was mauled. The winebibber is
careless in spending money. He is careless in
morals. He is careless in running with the wrong
crowd. He is careless in throwing away priceless
relationships and precious friendships.
k. The winebibber doesn't feel pain (Prov.
23:35). The drunkard is oblivious to the pain
caused by his drunken folly until he wakes up
from his stupor.
l. The winebibber is strangely enslaved ("when
shall I awake? I will seek it yet again," Prov.
23:35). Before one drunken episode is barely
finished he wants to seek it yet again. Even when
drink has ruined his health and destroyed his
marriage and thrown away his career, he usually
does not quit. "It is like a deep ditch and a
narrow pit, which it is almost impossible to get
out of; and therefore it is wisdom to keep far
enough from the brink of it. Take heed of making
any approaches towards this sin, because it is so
hard to make a retreat from it, conscience, which
should head the retreat, being debauched by it,
and divine grace forfeited" (Matthew Henry).
4. SOLOMON'S MOTHER WARNED FERVENTLY AND LOVINGLY ABOUT WINE (Prov. 31:2-9).
a. She counseled that drinking is not for kings
(Prov. 31:2-5, 8-9). It is a sad fact that most
political leaders today are heavy drinkers. "We
are told that every day in Washington there are
many cocktail parties for our government
officials. Republicans and Democrats both have
this in common--the party membership doesn't make
any difference. It is tragic to have drinking men
in high positions of government" (J. Vernon
McGee). "The more important any man's work is, he
is the more obliged to be temperate in all
things; and drunkenness, which is a damning sin
in any person, is attended with prodigious
aggravations in those men that dispense the
mysteries of the gospel, or administer the public
affairs of the nation" (George Lawson).
Drinking can cause one to give away his strength;
it makes him weak and foolish (Prov. 31:3). It
detracts from the authority of his position. It
makes the individual foolish and careless. Drink
has caused men to give away the secrets of their
office. It has caused men in positions of
authority to fail to act in a decisive and right
and timely fashion during crises. Drink has
weakened presidents and prime ministers and
governors and military officers and judges and
police captains. U.S. President George W. Bush
recently recalled his drinking days and explained
that it was faith in God that gave him the
discipline to stop. He then made this statement,
"I wouldn't be president if I kept drinking. You
get sloppy, can't make decisions, it clouds your
reason, absolutely" ("Bush tells biographer: 'I
do tears,'" Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2007).
Drinking can lead to immorality (Prov. 31:3). We have already seen this.
Drinking can lead to perversion of justice (Prov.
31:5). The one who drinks weakens his moral
character and resolve and often associates with
wicked men, and the Bible warns that evil
communications corrupt good manners (1 Cor.
15:33).
b. She counseled that drinking is only for those
who are perishing (Prov. 31:6-7).
She taught that alcohol can be used carefully for
medicinal purposes, but it should not be used for
recreation.
Proverbs 31:7 is spoken for effect and not as
actual advice. The last thing the poor man needs
is to be drunk. The wise mother is saying that
wine cannot help anyone do right; it can only
drown out reality and create an unreal and unwise
state of mind.[/FONT]