“Hear this, you priests. Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.

Listen, you members of the royal family.

Judgment has been handed down against you.

For you have led the people into a snare by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor. You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove. But I will settle with you for what you have done.

I know what you are like, O Ephraim. You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel. You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband; you are utterly defiled. Your deeds won’t let you return to your God. You are a prostitute through and through, and you do not know the Lord .

The arrogance of Israel testifies against her; Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt. Judah, too, will fall with them. When they come with their flocks and herds to offer sacrifices to the Lord, they will not find him, because he has withdrawn from them.

They have betrayed the honor of the Lord , bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.

Sound the alarm in Gibeah! Blow the trumpet in Ramah! Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven ! Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!

One thing is certain, Israel : On your day of punishment, you will become a heap of rubble. “The leaders of Judah have become like thieves. So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall. The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment because they are determined to worship idols. I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool. I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were, Israel turned to Assyria— to the great king there— but he could neither help nor cure them.

I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them.

Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

Hosea 5:1‭-‬15 NLT

………….

He who has ears let him hear.

Welcome back.

In the first part of this blogpost, we looked at what alcohol is, its health benefits and risks and we started the discussion on whether a Christian should drink alcohol or not.

My husband always says; ‘Grace if you want to be popular, handle highly controversial and provocative discourse‘. Well, I know ‘Alcohol & Christianity’ to be a highly controversial and sensitive topic, and No, …you’re wrong, I didn’t set out seeking cheap popularity, God forbid 🙂

So, yes, I knew I was delving into a precarious topic, but oh my! I would never have imagined how exciting this topic is. I mean, I have received many reactions to this blogpost in the past one week. And it may interest you to know that these reactions didn’t come from pagans or infidels neither did they come from my ‘orthodox Christian group’!  Nope!  All the responses received have been from my very revered ‘born-again group’!!

Imagine this one from North America;

“Hi Grace, where did you get the opinion that born-again Christians can’t stand the idea of a sip of alcohol?”

And this one from Britain:

“Sister Grace, I think you have to consider all the scriptures that talks about drinking wine before you arrive at a doctrinal position. ‘do not be drunk with wine’ is very different from ‘do not drink wine'”.  

Seeing therefore that there are divergent views on this topic, we will systematically look into the scriptures for direction. 🙂

I outline below, most of the Bible verses I could find on drinking wine/intoxicating drink with a few related ones. I admonish you beloved brethren; to patiently read each scripture, do not skip any of them. And please do not read them with your religious lenses on (learnt that from my Pastor).

“It is not for kings, O lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink; lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted”   Proverbs 31:4-5

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: when either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazarite, to separate himself to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice or raisins.”      Numbers 6:2-4

“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, that they may distinguish between unclean and clean and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” Leviticus 10: 9-11

“What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said…” 2 Corinthians 6:16

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful, all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.”  1 Corinthians 10: 23

“But they also have erred through wine, and through intoxicating drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through intoxicating drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”   Isaiah 28: 7

“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”   Proverbs 20:1

” Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   Ephesians 5: 17-20

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, not revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”    1 Corinthians 6: 9-10

“Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe and take away justice from the righteous man.”  Isaiah 5:22

“Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? ………. Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel  of Christ.”                                                        1 Corinthians  9: 4-12

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”  1 Corinthians 6: 12

“They gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He tasted it, He would not drink.” Matthew 27: 34

“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying; they have struck me, but I was not hurt, they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake that I may seek another drink?” Proverbs 23: 29-35

 

As I read those scriptures, I understood clearly what God’s stand on alcohol or intoxicating drink is. Can you hear what The Spirit of the Lord is saying Child of God?

I once had a director who said to me: “Dr. Obomanu, you are not allowed to say anything after I have spoken on a matter.” I believe the Holy Spirit has spoken to us through these scriptures. I heard Him right, and because we have same spirit, I want to believe you heard Him too.

So I have nothing else to say except that if you find you are struggling to justify any habit, chances are that your flesh is wrestling with your spirit. And you are a SPIRIT, so WIN. Put your body under control.

“If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away (that is; remove yourself from the source of temptation), for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go to hell.”  Matthew 5:30

Like I stated in the first part of this write-up, alcohol is useful as a solvent or preservative (in addition to other uses). So, we find alcohol in many foods and disinfectants etc. Personally, I won’t really become too cynical about those. Most are outside of my control. I do however have control over a glass of intoxicating wine; to drink it or not 🙂

Lastly, when Paul said to Timothy;

“No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.”  1 Timothy 5:23

you do not need a rocket scientist to tell you Timothy must have had a health condition to necessitate that. If you have a health challenge and wish to get medical help, I strongly suggest you see a medical doctor to get medical help. Do not prescribe alcohol for yourself 🙂 Besides, as a Doctor, I do not know of any medical condition that is treated with a glass or bottle of alcohol 🙂

Stay Blessed and continue to WIN.

My Prayer for everyone that reads this blogpost series (and indeed for myself too):

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation (that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight) into the true knowledge of Him (for we know the Father through the son). And that the eyes of your heart (the centre and core of your being) may be enlightened (flooded with light by the Holy Spirit), so that you will know and cherish the hope (divine guarantee, the confident expectation) to which He has called you, …..”   Ephesians 1: 17-18a

My love always…..