Strong Drink

By

Shelby G. Floyd

June 12, 2006

 

 

Whiskey Has Many Defenders, But No Defense

 

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Whiskey has many de­fenders, but no defense.” Mr. Lincoln was a great opponent of strong drink. It is still true that whiskey and. strong drink has many defenders, but there are no plausible arguments that can be made in its behalf. Strong drink is one of the greatest curses that have ever beset our country. There are millions of alcoholics. There are an equal number of persons who are classed as problem drinkers. The drinking of strong drink and drunkenness causes thousands of deaths annually on our nations highways. Many times this number of persons are injured for life, resulting from accidents caused by drinking drivers.

 

Wine is a Mocker

 

The Bible has much to say about strong drink, and the evils that are associated with it. Solomon is noted for his wisdom, and the books that are written by him are inspired. In the book of Proverbs we have some of the greatest principles on ethics and morality that can be found. Solomon said, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” (Proverbs 20: 1.) Wine is a mocker in that the man who drinks wine mocks things that are decent and wholesome. Those who drink wine and strong drink are deceived, and they are not wise. In the New Testament Paul said, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians. 6: 7.)

 

Those who drink wine and strong drink usually come to poverty, because the labor of their hands is used to buy the fiery liquid. Their families are de­prived of food, clothing and. other necessities of life in order to gratify their desires for strong drink. Solomon said, “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor mans he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” (Proverbs 21:17.) He also said, “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and. drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.” (Proverbs 23:20-21.)

 

The liquor industry advertises its products in glowing terms. Strong drink is usually associated with the young and those who are successful; but such is far from being a true picture of those who are taken in by such deceitfulness. Solomon describ­ed the humiliation brought upon those who go to wine when he said,

 

Look Not On the Wine That Is Fermented

 

“Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” (Proverbs 23: 29-32.)

 

There are some persons who have tried to use the Bible as approving the use of wine, But Solomon says, “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red., when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.” (Prey. 23: 31.) Therefore, when wine is mentioned in the Bible in the sense of intoxicating drink; it is always condemned.

 

Shall We Become a Nation of Alcoholics and Drunkards?

 

It is a dangerous precedent for any nation of people to become a race of alcoholics. There are many examples of nations who have fallen because of the people being addicted to strong drink. Babylon, the kingdom of the Chaldeans, was one of the greatest nations. It was the glory of kingdoms, and. the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, but God said that it would be overthrown as Sodom and. Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:19.) The immediate cause for the overthrow of Baby­lon was the drunkenness of the king, the princes and most of the people in the city. The prophet Jeremiah predicted that Babylon would be overthrown in drunk­enness, He said, “In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and. sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1: 39.)

 

National Leaders Should Be Teetotalers

 

In the fifth chapter of Daniel we read about the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, who made a great feast for his princes; and. they drank wine out of the vessels of gold, silver and. brass that were taken out of the temple of God. During that drunken orgy in the night, Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain, and. the Medes and. Persians took the king­dom. Solomon said, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink lest they drink, and forget the law, and. pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.” (Proverbs 31:4-5.)

 

Do Not Fellowship the Works of Darkness

 

It is high time that the drinking of strong drink be branded for the evil that it really is. The Christian cannot have any fellowship with such works of darkness. Paul wrote to the Romans and admonish­ed them to “walk honestly, as in the day; not in riot­ing and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness,” (Romans 13: 13.)

 

The Fable of Three Sins

 

Someone has said,

 

“There is an old fable which tells of a man who had the choice of three sins that he could commit-- drunkenness, adultery or murder. He chose drunkenness as apparently the least; but when he was drunk he committed both the others. Who shall reckon up the number of crimes committed under the influence of strong drink? Crimes from the very thought of which the individuals who perpetuated them would in their sober senses have shrunk back appalled.”

 

Isaiah said, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good. evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink.” (Isaiah 5: 20-23.)  Copyright © 2006 All Rights Reserved