26 Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways. 27 For a harlot is a deep pit And an adulterous woman is a narrow well. 28 Surely she lurks as a robber, And increases the faithless among men. 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. 31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; 32 At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. 34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.” (Proverbs 23:26-34)
33 Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. 34 And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.” (Proverbs 23:26-34)
This section of Proverbs pairs two snares: prostitutes (23:26-28) and wine (23:29-34). Since believers obviously are not to cohabit with prostitutes under any circumstances, the context of the passage dictates that believers should not drink alcohol under any circumstances either. This is the meaning of 23:31: Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup . . . . (23:31a).
This refers to fermentation and thus forbids the drinking of alcohol because it is as venomous as a serpent (23:32).
But what about Jesus making wine? It can't be all bad.
ReplyDeleteWe have to look at a word in context. Yayin in Hebrew and oinos in Greek can mean anything from grape juice to hard liquor. Take for example the sentence, "Wow, he's on the juice!" Juice, in this context obviously is not grape juice.
ReplyDeleteIf Jesus had changed the water into alcholic wine, the word would have been sucre (from which we get the word sucrose).
Based on Proverbs 23:26-35, if one argues for moderate drinking, one must also argue for moderate activity with prostitutes. Solomon pairs the two together to demonstrate that both should be avoided.
Plus, we have to take Paul's words into account. He declared that if eating meat would offend a brother, he would not do it. Freedom means we are free to limit ourselves so as not to cause someone to stumble.
One other thing that is interesting is that I have an article in my files by a non-religious organization (hence, no axe to grind) that has demonstrated that alcohol kills more people than Aids, TB, or violence worldwide.
Hand me the diet coke! :)