Proverbs 20:1, Strong Drink – The Flattering Devil!
December 22, Proverbs 20:1
Luke 21:34-36; Eph. 5:1-21 “Take heed to yourselves!”
Strong Drink – The Flattering Devil!
An old 17th century Divine said, “Drunkenness gives the throat of a fish, and the belly of a swine and the heart of an ass.” Why is there not the same parliamentary outcry against the abuse of alcohol as there is against smoking?
1. It is Deceptive. Wine a mocker, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The mocker is the scorner we have met several times before. The word deceived is the word translated to err in 19:27, meaning to be led astray, to wander from the path of instruction. Here it is a picture of the reeling of the drunkard. How deceptive is strong drink! It promises pleasures it never gives, and mocks its victims, while reducing them below the level of beasts (Gn. 9:21-23). Yet, so cheated are they that they keep going back for more. Their reason is enslaved to lust, an insatiable appetite, and every evil passion follows (Gn. 19:31-36). Will anyone deny that drunkenness is at the root of so much sin in our world? Ephraim’s drunkenness is perverted into a crown of pride (Isa. 28:1-8). Drink is a deceptive master indeed!
2. It is Destructive. Raging is a very descriptive, as well as a destructive word. It means to be boisterous, turbulent, to growl or roar, as the roaring of the sea (Jer. 5:22, Zech. 9:15). Is not this an apt figure to describe most drunkards? Strong drink enrages its victims, excites the worst passions, quarrels, brawls, murders (Hos. 4:11, 7:5; Gal. 5:21). It makes shipwreck of chastity, conscience, reputations, homes and friendships (1 Sam. 25:36-38). It fills the courts and prisons, and kindles the fires of hell. In short, it “unmans man,” and obliterates the “Image of God” within. Who can estimate the extent of suffering, and the toll on human lives, caused by drunkenness? “Strong drink is not only the devil’s way into a man, but man’s way to the devil” (Adam Clark). “Drink,” said Spurgeon, “injures a man externally, internally, and eternally. I think,” he added, “I have read of a temperance lecture by Barnum, after which he was asked, ‘Does drink injure a man externally or internally?’ His prompt answer was, ‘Eternally and infernally.’”
3. It is Delusive. Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Our society has deluded the drunkard into thinking he is really sick. It is surely a delusive trick to mask the fact that this is a voluntary madness (Isa. 28:7). Shakespeare asked, “What is a drunken man like?” He answered, “Like a drown’d man, a fool, a madman. One draught above heat makes him a fool; the second mads him, and the third drowns him.” “Drink first dims, then darkens, then deadens, then damns!” The drunkard may recollect the pleasures of getting intoxicated, but quickly forgets the pains of getting sober (Eccl. 2:3). The Bible regards drunkenness as sin (Hab. 2:15-16), condemns it (Isa. 5:22-23), warns of it (Lu. 21:34-36), and admonishes watchfulness against it (1 Cor. 9:27; 10:12; Eph. 5:18).
Thought: “Alcohol never drowns sorrows; it only irrigates them” (Anon.).
Prayer: To drink of the rivers of Thy pleasure, the wells of salvation.