Should I drink Alcoholic Beverages?
- CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD
- Aug 6
- 9 min read
What is alcohol? Alcohol in our present time is a chemical substance like ethanol or ethyl alcohol. It is produced when yeast ferments the sugars in grains, fruits, or vegetables.
Alcohol may be used as a means of socializing with friends, getting you excited and have fun or to hide you for a brief moment from the pressures of life. It can also act as a depressant, slowing down the central nervous system and affecting thinking, feeling, and behaviour.
Our method of producing alcoholic beverages is chiefly by distillation and this method was not used in Bible time. Therefore, our high-quality alcohol was unknown in that era.
Vodka: Commonly 40-50% ABV, but can range from 40% to 95%.
Modern wine at its lowest has between 9-11% alcohol
Brandy has between 15-20 % and 35% -60% alcohol
Liquors usually have between 40-51 % alcohol
Liqueurs usually have between 15% and 30% (This has lower alcohol content but added sugar)
Some extra hard liquors can be 90 proof and higher
Please know that proof in alcohol is double the alcohol content. A liquor that has 40% alcohol is 80% proof.
These types of alcohol were unknown in Bible times.
The Bible speaks about wine and strong drink. What are those?
Wine from the vine for example grape is the juice that is mixed with water.
Strong drink is the unmixed juice which the Israelites would call a concentrate. Both types can lead to drunkenness if one over indulges.
Both has medicinal values and you will find Scriptures which support their use. However, these texts are not to be taken out of context.
Does the Bible support drinking alcohol?
Deuteronomy 29:6 – ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink, that ye might know that I am Jehovah your God.
When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they did not drink wine and strong drink. They only drank water that God provided. It was through this experience that they learned more about God.
God specifically told Aaron and his sons not to drink wine nor strong drink.
Leviticus 10:9 - Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations.
God commanded Samson’s mother to refrain from drinking wine or strong drink.
Judges 13:4 – And now beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat nothing unclean.
Judges 13:7 – And he said to me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son; and now drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not anything unclean; for the boy shall be a Nazarite of God from the womb to the day of his death.
Eli the High Priest thought that Hannah was intoxicated. What was her response to his query?
1 Samuel 1:15 – And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before Jehovah.
It can cause you to behave insensibly. Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Rulers are not to indulge in it because it can affect their judgement.
Proverbs 31:4 – It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers to say, Where is the strong drink?
The prophet Micah warned that those who were prophesying about prosperity were liars because soon the nation would be going into captivity.
Micah 2:11 – If a man walking in wind and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall be the prophet of this people.
Damnation is pronounced against those who indulge.
· Isaiah 5:11 - Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
· Isaiah 5:22 - Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Here the diluted juice is recommended for its medicinal values.1 Timothy 5:23 - Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
Deuteronomy 14 verse 26 can be a controversial text. Bearing in mind God’s command to abstain from wine or strong drink do you believe that the Lord was encouraging the people to indulge in His presence? Wouldn’t that be a double standard? Moses did not state how they were to use the wine or strong drink however bearing in mind their value as medicine, disinfectant, and water purifier there are many ways in which those journeying for the festival could use them.
Deuteronomy 14:26 – And thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy house.
· Proverbs 23:29-35 points to how foolishly and sinfully one who is intoxicated behaves - Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
· 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Who should be given alcoholic beverages?
Proverbs 31:6 – Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter of soul.
Strong drink is not for those who need to keep a clear mind but for those who are seeking an escape from reality.
Luke 1:15 – For he shall be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
This is the only New Testament passage which mentions “strong drink” and its use is forbidden. John the Baptist the forerunner of Christ was forbidden to drink it.
After looking at these texts you might still be inclined to drink and may ask what is wrong with one drink now and again. What you may not understand is that one drink most times leads to another and before you know it you are caught in the cycle of addiction. Yes, you may become an Alcoholic!!!
Drinking of strong alcohol is a threat to you, your family, your associates and to our society. Hosea prophesied and said “Wine and new wine take away the understanding” (4:11). How true!!! your wits and brains are at stake when you consumes alcohol. Alcohol is an enemy of a clear head, a sound body, and a morally sensitive soul. Many acts of crime and immorality occur when one is drunk. Often when the drinker becomes sober, there is a lapse in memory and one cannot understand how the atrocious actions could have been done.
Medical research shows that alcohol affects human’s thinking.
Drinking alcohol gives one a temporary good feeling. This ‘good feeling’ is often accompanied by a loose tongue, evil temper and a bragging spirit. Under its influence, one is capable of doing this which not be normally done.
Many of God’s Commandments are violated because alcohol has the ability to lower the level of moral alertness and causes people to do what they would not have done if they were not intoxicated. It alters judgement and rational decision making. Alcohol puts many consciences to sleep and many crimes are committed based on a lapse in judgement caused by its use.
Isaiah 5:33 states” Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink”. The word woe means ‘shame upon.’ The prophet was pronouncing judgement or condemnation in the name of God upon those who indulge in heavy drinking. Anyone who indulges in drinking cannot be a part of God’s kingdom. 1st Corinthians 6:10 clearly state that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Isaiah also pronounces another woe in chapter 5:11 where he said “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night until wine inflame them!
Solomon declared in Proverbs 20:1 - wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Yes, there is power in a drink of alcohol because one sip, leads to another and the body becomes pliant as each drink makes one more receptive to another. Joel told the drinkers of his time “Awake, ye drunkards and weep and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth”.
Those who love to drink will spend their money foolishly and often do not possess much materially. Proverbs 23:21,29 tells us that the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty and that the persons who have woe, sorrow, contentions, babbling and redness of eyes are those who drink wine for a long time and they that love to drink mixed alcohol. Solomon also encourages us not to look into the vat when the wine is been fermented. Fermented alcohol will bite like a serpent and sting like an adder. It is at this point that evil thoughts begin to stir within the mind. The things one would not normally do are conceived at this point. The Bible clearly shows that “Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things (Proverbs 23:33).
Who is as mighty with words as a man who is inflamed by liquor. Liquor loosens the tongue therefore a drunkard is normally a chatterbox. By drinking one goes right on selling himself short and depriving himself of higher spiritual experiences. Jesus in Luke 21:34 said: “Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. It is the soul that suffers. Proverbs 31:6-7 says “Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink to forget his poverty and remember his misery no more”.
Those who are in seat of judgement should not be drunkards because this person will not be able to make proper decisions and will alter the course of justice. We read in Proverbs 31:4-5 that kings or princes are not to be alcoholics because they will forget the law and pervert the judgement.
There is the practice of some to try to get a person intoxicated to perform immoral acts. In Habakkuk 2:15 the prophet says “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also that thou mayest look on their nakedness.
The book of Romans tells us that it is good for us not to drink wine because it has the ability to make a believer stumble, offend others and make others weak. Believers in Christ who have surrendered to Christ should not be drunkards nor find pleasure in drinking alcohol. Apostle Paul stated in 1st Corinthians 5:11 that no one should not keep company with any believer who is a drunkard; as a matter of fact, you should not even sit and eat with this individual because this person may influence you to become a drunkard.
Through distillation alcohol is referred to as a spirit. There are different types of spirits. There is the Spirit of God, which is the power of Almighty God and there are spirits created by the devil. The Spirit of God is true and good but the spirits of the devil are evil and destructive. Alcohol generates the spirit of evil. God is unhappy with us when we indulge in alcohol and forget His precepts. The Spirit of God cannot unite with the spirit of alcohol.
Your responsibility is to understand what is the will of the Lord for your life. The Scriptures tell us that we ought not to be drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit of God.
Alcohol is very addictive, if you are bounded by the craving for alcohol, I am sure that Jesus can take this craving away. Do not allow peer pressure to keep you in the snare of alcoholism; you can break free by the power of God. Remember that Jesus died to free you from all evil yokes and bondages. Trust God and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and
help you to overcome this evil habit. You can break free. Do not destroy yourself; come to Jesus.
Jesus told His disciples that they would drink the fruit of the vine with Him in His Father’s kingdom. However, the wine which Jesus drank and has promised to give us to drink is the pure unfermented grape juice. Let us follow His example.
SAY NO TO ALCOHOLIC SUBSTANCES
Writer - A. E. Fisher
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