He
layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous (Prov 2:7)
The Proverbs Of King Lemuel: Abstain From
Fleshly Lusts: Proverbs 31:3-7
3) Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which
destroyeth kings.
4) [It is] not for kings, O
Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to
drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5) Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any
of the afflicted.
6) Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto
those that be of heavy hearts.
7) Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no
more.
King
Lemuel now turns our attention to advice, given from His mother, to help us
understand the need to turn from the fulfillment of our fleshly lusts which can
result in disaster for our lives…
EXPOSITION:
3) Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which
destroyeth kings.
The
mother of Lemuel’s first piece of advice…
1. Do not willingly hand over the sources of
your power to women
2. Do not willingly hand over your lifestyle to
that which can bring down kings.
Here,
Lemuel’s mother warns him of following his fleshly lusts causing him to reveal
his weaknesses and thereby making him vulnerable to attack and defeat
(physically or spiritually).
The
account of Samson and Delilah is a good example of this idea (Judges 16:). In this account we find Samson, seduced by
the beauty of Delilah, telling her the secret of his great strength. In doing so, he lost his strength, became a
captive slave of his arch-rivals, and became a public display of shame and
dishonor to the Lord.
When
we submit to our sinful flesh, we open ourselves up to spiritual weakness and
defeat as well as placing us upon the path of earthly ruin as well. This is the main principle of for this piece
of advice.
This
principle continues to be presented in the following Godly counsel. It now shifts our attention from sexual lust
to lust involving the craving and overindulgence of alcohol…
4) [It is] not for kings, O
Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to
drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
The
need for great care to be used in partaking of alcohol…
1. It is not for the good of kings to drink
fermented wine (to the point of impeding decision making)
2. It is not for the good of kings to drink
fermented liquors (to the point of impeding decision making)
Keep
in mind, the drinking of alcoholic beverages was very common in that day. This is because it was the main beverage of
the day. In this passage, the simple
consumption of alcohol is not being addressed… it is speaking of the drinking
of alcohol to the point of impaired judgment.
We can see this from the following context…
5) Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any
of the afflicted.
Some
results of over-indulgence of alcohol….
1. lest they over-indulge and mislay the law of
God
2. lest they over-indulge and alter the proper
decisions that were made to defend those who are the “child of misery”
When
we allow our ability to make decisions become altered by an intoxicating
substance, we will find ourselves misapplying the commands of God to the
situation at hand. In doing so, we will
harm those who are innocent and in need of defense from abuse.
6) Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto
those that be of heavy hearts.
7) Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no
more.
Here
we find the use of an intoxicating beverage for a medicinal uses…
1. hand over liquor to those that are awaiting
death
2. hand over intoxicating wine to those who are
discontented, sorrowful and grieving
3. through the moderate partaking of alcohol, he
can have his spirits lightened and his attention no longer centered upon his
misery.
Alcohol
is has Godly medicinal value as a pain-killer and sedative to those who are
dying as well as an anti-depressant to those who are facing great grief and
sorrow. Once again, we can see that the
Bible is not condemning all partaking of alcohol. In the above cases, we can see its medicinal
value being upheld and encouraged. This
same principle is brought out in the New Testament….
“Drink no longer water, but
use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.”
(1
Timothy 5:23)
Wine is described as
one of the blessings that God has given to man to use for his benefit…
“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of
man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine [that] maketh
glad the heart of man, [and] oil to make [his] face to shine, and bread [which]
strengtheneth man's heart.” (Psalms 104:14-15)
But it is the abuse
and over-indulgence of wine that can be man’s great downfall….
“But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out
of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they
are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they go
astray in vision, they stumble in judgment.” (Isaiah 28:7)
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
worldy jealousies, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
One final note concerning the partaking of
alcohol… based on the above, is it
proper for Christians to moderately partake of alcohol as a beverage? From my standpoint, this issue becomes one of
conscience for each Christian to decide…
There is no simple “thus saith the Lord”. Keep in mind are there are at least two other
issues that must be considered in our decision making process in this area of
Christian living…
1. First of
all, we need to ask ourselves the question “Will my partaking an alcohol start
me on a path that will lead to the abuse of alcohol?” “Is partaking of alcohol opening up an
opportunity for Satan to tempt me and bring me to eventual sin?”
One thing we can know for certain. If we never partake of alcohol, we will never
become an alcoholic. Period. There is no exception to this rule.
However, if we do partake of alcohol, we are
opening an opportunity to abuse it if we are placed in the wrong situation at
the wrong time. Satan is walking about
as a lion looking for opportunities to intervene in the lives of God’s people
and to bring them down. By partaking of
alcohol, we are giving him that opening…
“Enter not into the path of
the wicked, and go not in the way of evil [men]. Avoid it, pass not by it,
turn from it, and pass away.” (Proverbs 4:14-15) - In other words, don’t
even walk near to it. Walk directly away
from it.
“Prove all things; hold
fast that which is good. Abstain from all
appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22) - We are to stay so far from sin that we are not to even APPEAR to be
partaking of that sin.
2. The second question we need to answer is this..
“ Will my moderate partaking of wine as a beverage cause a younger Christian to
stumble into drunkenness?”
Paul presents this basic principle to us in the
context of eating foods offered to idols.
Although, for the strong Christian, the idol has no real power,
therefore food offered to an idol is just food; to the weaker Christian
partaking of the food offered to an idol could appear to them as condoning the
worship of that idol.
So too, this applies to the moderate partaking of
alcohol. To the older Christian (who
understands the need for control of his fleshly lusts) drunkeness may not
result. But the younger Christian who
sees his elder partaking of wine may see this same action as a condoning of
drunkenness. If this is the case, Paul
makes it very plain that the liberty God has given to us is to be forsaken, so
that the young Christian would not fall into sin. How horrible it would be for any Christian
to be used by Satan to lead a younger spiritual brother or sister into
drunkenness!
“Nevertheless there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with
conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol;
and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food commends us not to God: for
neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the
worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty
of your's become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see you
which have knowledge sit to eat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience
of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to
idols; And through your knowledge shall the weak
brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when all of you sin so against the
brethren, and wound their weak conscience, all of you sin against Christ. Wherefore, if food make my
brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world stands, lest I make my
brother to offend.” (1 Corinthians 8:7-13)
So although I see no specific Biblical command to
forsake the use of alcohol as a beverage, based upon both of the above
principles, I believe the wisest course of action for myself is the total
abstinence from alcohol as a beverage.
But I place this decision in the hands of the Lord and allow others to
decide the best path of life for themselves…
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge
one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block
or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus,
that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteems any thing to
be unclean, to him it is unclean.” (Romans 14:12-14)
SUMMARY:
This section of
Scripture presents to us the main issue of THE NEED TO CONTROL OUR FLESHLY
LUSTS. This passage uses two very
common lusts our sexual lusts and lusts concerning overindulgence (drunkenness
and gluttony) to present this basic principle to us. So above all else, we are to be
self-controlled and watchful because Satan is out to destroy us.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8)
By
God’s grace, let us all study these proverbs diligently, giving them the value
that they deserve.
May the
Lord bless us as we receive this sound wisdom and then “Think On These Things”.
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