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Why do people drink alcohol? According to people, they drink out of boredom, out of grief, out of joy. They drink to relax and unwind. They drink to avoid thinking about things that scare them - about life and death, about their own future, about problems. They drink on weekdays and on holidays.
The Bible Always Condemns Drunkenness
The Bible has many sayings about drunkenness. And they are all negative. We cannot find a place where it would be said that people got drunk, had fun, and, supposedly, there is nothing reprehensible in this. On the contrary, drunkenness is always opposed to the spirit:
“And do not get drunk with wine, which causes debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit.”
Eph. 5:18
And this is not just a Christian or Jewish idea. It was also found in Canaan, as well as in many other Eastern cultural centers. An intoxicated person was seen as incapable of receiving God's grace.
Drunkenness is opposed to life in God, a person chooses either one or the other
And material life did not promise him anything good:
“Who's howling? who's moaning? who has quarrels? Who's in grief? who has wounds for no reason? who has purple eyes? Those who sit for a long time drinking wine, who come to look for seasoned wine.”
Prov. 23:29–30
The prophet Isaiah speaks about the same thing; he promises grief to drunkards:
“Woe to those who, from early morning, seek strong drinks and warm themselves with wine until late in the evening; and the harp and harp, the tambourine and the flute, and the wine at their feasts; but they do not consider the works of the Lord, and do not think about the work of His hands.”
Is. 5:11–12
And even not only drinking, but also the preparation of strong drinks, the prophet considers a harmful activity:
“Woe to those who are bold to drink wine and strong to make strong drink.”
Is. 5:22
The prophet Habakkuk warns that grief awaits not only drunkards, but also those who make others drunk.
Soldering others to death also does not lead to good, as the prophet Habakkuk reports:
“Woe to you, who serve your neighbor drink laced with your malice and make him drunk so that you can see his shame!”
Avv. 2:15
So what is this terrible grief? Probably in the destruction of human life. Here's what the Bible says about drunkenness:
“...your eyes will look at other people's wives, and your heart will speak debauchery, and you will be like one sleeping in the middle of the sea and like one sleeping at the top of a mast. And you will say: “They beat me, it didn’t hurt me; They pushed me, I didn’t feel it. When I wake up, I’ll look for the same thing again.”
Prov. 23:33–35
“Don’t look at the wine, how it turns red, how it sparkles in the cup, how it flows smoothly: later, like a snake, it will bite, and sting like an asp.”
Prov. 23:31-32
New in blogs
The Bible on Drunkenness
According to the Bible, drinking alcohol is one of the components of a happy life:
• “And I praised the fun; because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat, drink* and be merry: this accompanies him in his labors during the days of his life, which God gave him under the sun.” © Ecclesiastes 8:15, and also 3:13, 5:17 * שתה - drink, get drunk, be drunk • “[So] go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, when God is pleased with the deeds yours. May your garments be bright at all times, and may the oil on your head not fail. Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your vain life, and whom God has given you under the sun for all your vain days; because this is your portion in life and in your labors, as you labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength...” © Ecclesiastes 9:7-10
• “I came to my garden, my sister, my bride; I gathered my myrrh with my spices, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink and be satisfied, beloved!” © Song of Songs 5:1
Promising His people deliverance from enemies and a serene life, the Lord, as a rule, also assumed the use of wine, and sometimes even called for drinking wine for His glory:
• “And I will bring back My people Israel from captivity, and they will build up the deserted cities and dwell in them, plant vineyards and drink wine from them, plant gardens and eat the fruits from them.” © Amos 9:14
• “The Lord has sworn with His right hand and with His mighty arm: I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies, and the sons of strangers will not drink of your wine, which you have labored for; but those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who pick the grapes will drink [the wine] of it in the courts of My sanctuary. ... Behold, the Lord declares to the end of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion: your Savior is coming; His reward is with Him and His reward is before Him.” © Isaiah 62:8-12
• “Wisdom built herself a house, hewed out its seven pillars, slaughtered a sacrifice, dissolved her wine and prepared a meal for herself; sent her servants to proclaim from the heights of the city: “Whoever is foolish, turn here!” And she said to the weak-minded: “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine that I have dissolved; leave foolishness, and live and walk in the path of reason." © Proverbs 9:1-6
Wine has healing properties:
• “From now on, do not drink [only] water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” © 1 Timothy 5:23, and also Luke 10:34 • “Then the king said to Ziba, “Why do you have this?” And Ziba answered, “Donkeys are for the king’s house to ride on, and bread and fruits are for food for the youths, and wine is for drinking for those who are weak in the wilderness.” © 2 Samuel 16:2
Alcohol can be used as a pain reliever for dying people, including those on death row:
• “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him who is sad in soul; let him drink and forget his poverty and remember no more about his suffering.” © Proverbs 31:6-7
• “After this Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. There was a vessel full of vinegar. [The soldiers] filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop, and brought it to His lips. When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” © John 19:28-30, and also: Matthew 27:34, 27:48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36
Many biblical heroes drank wine for fun and health:
• “Boaz ate and drank, and made his heart merry, and went [and lay down] to sleep beside the stack.” © Ruth 3:7
• “All these soldiers, in ranks, with full hearts came to Hebron to make David king over all Israel. And all the other Israelites were unanimous in making David king. And they stayed there with David for three days, eating and drinking, because their brothers... brought everything edible on donkeys, and camels, and mules, and oxen: flour, figs, and raisins, and wine, and oil, and large and small livestock multitude, for there was joy for Israel.” © 1 Chronicles 12:38-40
Also: 1 Chronicles 29:22, Nehemiah 8:12, Esther 7:1, Job 1:13, 18, Psalm 68:13, Isaiah 22:13, 24:8-9, Jeremiah 22:15, Amos 4:6 etc.
Deprivation of the opportunity to drink wine several times even acts as a punishment:
• “Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take gifts of bread from him, you will build houses of hewn stones, but you will not live in them; You will plant beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink wine from them.” © Amos 5:11
• “...I will strike you with desolation for your sins without healing. ... You will sow, but you will not reap; You will crush olives, and you will not anoint yourself with oil; You will squeeze grape juice, but you won’t drink wine.” © Micah 6:13-15 and also Zephaniah 1:13
• “And I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: I will destroy... those who worship the hosts of heaven on the housetops, and those who worship who swear by the Lord and swear by their king, and those who have turned away from the Lord and have not sought the Lord and they asked about Him. ... their riches will turn into spoils and their houses into desolation; They will build houses, but will not live in them; they will plant vineyards, but will not drink wine from them.” © Zephaniah 1:2-13
Jesus Christ allowed the use of wine, drank it himself, turning water into wine became His first miracle:
• “Jesus says to them, Fill the vessels with water. And they filled them to the top. And he says to them: Now draw some and bring it to the master of the feast. And they carried it. When the steward has tasted the water, which has become wine, ... then the steward calls the groom and says to him: ... you have saved good wine until now.” © John 2:1-11 and also 4:46
• “The Son of Man came, eating and drinking; and they say, “Here is a man who loves to eat and drink wine, a friend of publicans and sinners.” © Matthew 11:19 and also Luke 7:34
• “...I will drink new [wine] with you in the kingdom of My Father.” © Matthew 26:29
It would seem that alcohol in small doses is harmless in any quantity. But no! By declaring the health benefits of wine and allowing its moderate consumption, the Bible warns against the dangers of alcohol abuse. Alcohol deprives a person of reason; a drunkard is unable to control himself. Regular consumption of alcoholic beverages changes a person’s psyche, his worldview, leads to personality degradation, replaces the whole world, leads to alcohol addiction, which is difficult to get rid of: • “Woe to those who, from early morning, are looking for strong drinks and until late in the evening, warm themselves up with wine... » © Isaiah 5:11
• “Woe to those who are bold to drink wine and strong to make strong drink...” © Isaiah 5:22
• “Who's howling? who's moaning? who has quarrels? Who's in grief? who has wounds for no reason? who has purple eyes? Those who sit for a long time drinking wine, who come to look for [wine] seasoned. Don’t look at the wine, how it turns red, how it sparkles in the cup, how it flows smoothly: later, like a snake, it will bite, and sting like an asp; Your eyes will look at other people's wives, and your heart will speak debauchery, and you will be like one sleeping in the middle of the sea and like one sleeping on the top of a mast. [And you will say]: “They beat me, it didn’t hurt me; They pushed me, I didn’t feel it. When I wake up, I’ll look for the same thing again.” © Proverbs 23:29-35
• “Their guards are all blind and ignorant: they are all dumb dogs, unable to bark, lying delirious, loving to sleep. ... come, [they say], I’ll get some wine, and we’ll drink strong drink; and tomorrow it will be the same as today, and even more.” © Isaiah 56:10-12
Alcohol abuse is dangerous! In a state of alcoholic intoxication, a person ceases to adequately perceive the surrounding reality, loses control over himself to the point of complete insanity and loss of memory. In this state, a person becomes dangerous to society; he can commit an unseemly act and even a crime.
• “Wine is mocking, strong drink is violent; and everyone who is carried away by them is foolish.” © Proverbs 20:1
One case of alcohol abuse by the patriarch Noah provoked the unseemly act of his son Ham and predetermined the fate of all his descendants:
• “Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard; and he drank wine and became drunk, and lay naked in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and went out and told his two brothers. Shem and Japheth took the robe and, putting it on their shoulders, went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned back, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, and said: Cursed is Canaan; He will be a servant of servants to his brothers." © Genesis 9:20-25
The drunkard makes a disgusting impression of himself:
• “ But these too are staggered by wine and led astray by strong drink; the priest and the prophet stumble from strong drinks; overcome by wine, maddened by strong drink, mistaken in vision, stumbled in judgment. For all the tables are filled with disgusting vomit, there is no [clean] place. » © Isaiah 28:7-8
• “The princes of Zoan have gone mad; The princes of Memphis were deceived, and Egypt turned away from the path of the head of her tribes. The Lord sent a spirit of drunkenness into him; and they led Egypt astray in all her affairs, just as a drunken man wanders in his vomit.” © Isaiah 19:13-14
Drinking is madness:
• “Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, making the whole earth drunk; the people drank wine from it and went crazy.” © Jeremiah 51:7
Drunkenness leads to poverty:
• “Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart to the straight path. Do not be among those who are drunk with wine, nor among those who are satiated with meat; for the drunkard and the one who is satiated will become poor, and sleepiness will be clothed in rags.” © Proverbs 23:19-21
Drunkenness accompanies other sins:
• “Ephraim became attached to idols; leave him alone! Their drunkenness is disgusting; they have completely given themselves over to fornication; their princes love the shameful.” © Hosea 4:17-18, also Proverbs 23:29-35, Matthew 24:48-49, Ephesians 5:18
Drunkenness deprives the strong of strength, the healthy of health, the rich of wealth, the pure of purity, the wise of reason, the saints of God's protection:
• “Woe to the wreath of pride of the drunken Ephraimites, to the withered flower of their beautiful decoration, which is at the top of the fat valley of those slain by wine! Behold, strong and strong with the Lord, like a hailstorm and a destructive whirlwind, like an overflowing flood of stormy waters, it plunges him with force to the ground. The wreath of pride of the drunken Ephraimites is trampled under foot.” © Isaiah 28:1-4
Drunkenness makes a person helpless, God does not protect drunkards:
• “In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha reigned over Israel in Tirzah, [and reigned] two years. And his servant Zamri, who was in charge of half the chariots, conspired against him. When he got drunk in Tirzah in the house of Arsa, who was in charge of the palace in Tirzah, then Zimri entered, struck him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.” © 1 Kings 16:8-10
• “Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and with him were thirty-two kings, and horses and chariots, and he went and besieged Samaria and fought against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel in the city, and said to him, Thus says Ben-hadad, Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your best sons are mine. …And the king of Israel answered and said, Say, Let not him that gird himself boast as he that girdeth himself. … [Ahab] counted the servants of the district leaders, and they were found two hundred and thirty-two; after them he numbered all the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand. And they set out at noon. Ben-hadad got drunk in the tents with the kings, with thirty-two kings helping him. The servants of the regional commanders left the city, and the army followed them. And each one smote his adversary; and the Syrians fled, and the Israelites pursued them. Benhadad, king of Syria, escaped on a horse with horsemen. And the king of Israel went out and took horses and chariots, and caused a great defeat among the Syrians.” © 1 Kings 20:1-21
• “King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine before the eyes of thousands. Having tasted the wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels be brought, which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple of Jerusalem, so that the king, his nobles, his wives and his concubines could drink from them. Then they brought golden vessels, which were taken from the sanctuary of the house of God in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, copper, iron, wood and stone. … That same night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, being sixty-two years old.” © Daniel 5:1-31
Drunkenness is punishable:
• “If that servant, being angry, says in his heart: “My master will not come soon,” and begins to beat his comrades and eat and drink with drunkards, then the master of that servant will come on a day on which he does not expect, and on an hour in which he does not think, and will cut him up, and subject him to the same fate as the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." © Matthew 24:48-51
Drunkenness is so dangerous, its consequences are so terrible that they are often used in the texts of the Bible when describing God's punishments. Wine is often a symbol of the wrath of God. From some Bible verses we can conclude that drunkenness itself is the means by which God punishes the guilty:
• “...for the cup is in the hand of the Lord, the wine is boiling in it, full of mixture, and He pours from it. Even its yeast will be squeezed out and drunk by all the wicked lands.” © Psalm 75:9
• “whoever worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will drink the wine of the wrath of God, the whole wine prepared in the cup of His wrath, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb... » © Revelation 14:9-10
• “I will fill all the inhabitants of the land with wine until they become drunk, and the kings who sit on the throne of David, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will crush them one against another, both fathers and sons together, says the Lord; I will not spare or have mercy, and I will not regret destroying them. ... Give glory to the Lord your God, before He brings darkness, and before your feet stumble on the mountains of darkness: then you will wait for the light, and He will turn it into the shadow of death and make it darkness.” © Jeremiah 13:13-16
• “Give him drunkenness, for he has exalted himself against the Lord; and let Moab wallow in his vomit, and he himself will be a mockery.” © Jeremiah 48:26 • “And say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink and become drunk, and vomit and fall, and do not rise up at the sight of the sword that I will send against you.” © Jeremiah 25:27
• “And I will make his princes and his wise men, his governors, and his city governors, and his soldiers drunk, and they will sleep eternal sleep, and will not awaken, says the King, the Lord of Hosts is His name.” © Jeremiah 51:57
• “Thus says the Lord God: you... will be subjected to ridicule and shame... You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow: the cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria!” © Ezekiel 23:32-33
Thus, drunkenness is a sure sign of guilt before God, a reason to think, repent, and find the strength to resist this and other sins. If proper measures are not taken urgently, the consequences will be catastrophic.
Drunkenness is a mortal sin, a drunkard is subject to stoning:
• “If anyone has a son who is violent and disobedient, who disobeys the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they punish him, but he does not listen to them, then let his father and his mother take him and bring him to the elders of his city and to the gates of their residence and will say to the elders of their city: “This son of ours is violent and rebellious, does not listen to our words, is a spendthrift and a drunkard”; then let all the inhabitants of his city stone him to death; and [so] destroy evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and fear.” © Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Drunkenness is characteristic of pagan religions:
• “For it is enough that in the past time of your life you walked according to the will of the pagans, indulging in uncleanness, lusts (sodomy, bestiality, thoughts), drunkenness, excess in food and drink, and foolish idolatry...” © 1 Peter 4:3
• “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations), heresies, hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” © Galatians 5:19-21
Drinking alcoholic beverages is incompatible with serving God:
• “...if a man or woman decides to take the Nazirite vow in order to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to the Lord, then he must abstain from wine and [strong] drink, and must not drink vinegar from wine, vinegar from drink, or anything made from grapes should not drink, and should not eat either raw or dried grapes; all the days of his Naziriteship he shall not eat anything that is made from grapes, from grains to skins.” © Numbers 6:2-4
• “...do not drink wine or strong drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die.” © Leviticus 10:9 • “And no priest shall drink wine when he goeth into the inner court.” © Ezekiel 44:21
• “... the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her: behold, you... will conceive and give birth to a son; So beware, do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean; for behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and no razor will touch his head, because from the very womb this child will be a Nazirite of God... The angel of the Lord said to Manoah: let him beware of everything that I told the wife; let him not eat anything that the vine produces; let her not drink wine or strong drink or eat anything unclean and observe everything that I commanded her. And the wife gave birth to a son, and called his name Samson.” © Judges 13:3-24
• “The angel said to him: ...Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John; and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord; He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb...” © Luke 1:5-13
• “... a bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward, not insolent, not angry, not a drunkard, not a murderer, not a covetous person...” © Titus 1:7-9
• “... a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, chaste, decent, honest, hospitable, teacher, not a drunkard, not a murderer, not quarrelsome, not covetous, but quiet, peace-loving, not a lover of money...” © 1 Timothy 3:2-3
• “Deacons also [must be] honest, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not greedy, keeping the sacrament of faith in a clear conscience. And such people must first be tested, then, if they are blameless, [admitted] to serve.” © 1 Timothy 3:8-10
A drunkard cannot be a Christian:
• “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” © 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
• “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be overloaded with gluttony and drunkenness...” © Luke 21:34
• “You say what is in accordance with sound teaching: that the elders should be vigilant, dignified, chaste, sound in faith, in love, in patience; so that the old women also dress decently for the saints, are not slanderers, are not enslaved to drunkenness, and teach good things...” © Titus 2:1-5
• “So [do] ... let us put away the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light ... let us conduct ourselves decently, not [indulging in] feasting and drunkenness, nor lust and debauchery, nor quarreling and envying...” © Romans 13:11-13
• “And do not get drunk with wine, from which comes debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit...” © Ephesians 5:18
• “But I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who, while calling himself a brother, remains a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a predator; You can’t even eat with someone like that.” © 1 Corinthians 5:11
The remembrance of the Lord (communion) cannot be accompanied by drunkenness:
• “Next, you gather [so that it] does not mean to eat the Lord’s supper; for everyone hastens before [others] to eat his food, [so] [that] some are hungry, and others get drunk. Have you no houses to eat and drink? Or do you neglect the church of God and humiliate the poor? What should I tell you? Should I praise you for this? I won't praise you. For I received from the Lord what I also conveyed to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night on which he was betrayed took bread and, having given thanks, broke it and said: Take, eat, this is My Body, broken for you; Do this in My remembrance. He also took the cup after supper, and said: This cup is the new covenant in My Blood; Do this whenever you drink, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. Because of this, many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying.” © 1 Corinthians 11:20-29
Passion for alcohol is strictly unacceptable for managers at all levels:
• “... it is not for kings to drink wine, and not for princes to drink strong drink, lest, having drunk, they forget the law and turn the judgments of all the oppressed.” © Proverbs 31:4-5
Those who call for drunkenness are also disgusting to God:
• “ Woe to you, who serve your neighbor drink laced with your malice and make him drunk so that you can see his shame!” © Habakkuk 2:15 and also Romans 14:21
• “[Jesus] also said to the disciples: It is impossible for temptations not to come, but woe to him through whom they come; It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and thrown into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” © Luke 17:1-2, also Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42
• “It is better not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to [do] anything [that] causes your brother to stumble, or to be offended, or to faint.” © Romans 14:21
Any product can be useful or can cause harm to the human body. The difference between poison and medicine is the dosage. Unfortunately, the Bible does not provide clear instructions on what drunkenness is, or at what volume the healing properties of wine end and abuse begins. Obviously, this is all very individual. But there are still some hints in the Bible. I will repeat:
• “Woe to those who, early in the morning, seek strong drink, and until late in the evening burn themselves with wine...” © Isaiah 5:11
• “Woe to those who are bold to drink wine and strong to make strong drink...” © Isaiah 5:22
• “Wine is mocking, strong drink is violent; and everyone who is carried away by them is foolish.” © Proverbs 20:1
• “It is better not to eat meat, nor to drink wine...” © Romans 14:21
• “...everything is permissible for me, but nothing should possess me.” © 1 Corinthians 5:12
© Igor Shipovsky, August 2008 - March 2009
Drunkenness is a sin, the Holy Scripture puts it on a par with serving idols and self-interest
We found out that drunkenness destroys a person’s material life. What about the spiritual? Everything is also unsatisfactory. Drunkenness is a sin, and it is listed among other sins:
“...not a drunkard, not a killer, not quarrelsome, not selfish, but quiet, peace-loving, not money-loving.”
1 Tim. 3:3
And this is not a joke, for drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God:
“...neither thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God.”
1 Cor. 6:10
“...hatred, murder, drunkenness, disorderly conduct and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do this will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Gal. 5:21
The Old Testament also speaks condemningly about drunkards:
“And they will say to the elders of their city: “This son of ours is violent and rebellious, he does not listen to our words, he is a spendthrift and a drunkard.”
Deut. 21:20
Drunkenness is the same idol that a sinful person can serve.
Drunkenness is another step away from God. This is the direction of one’s energy into an unfavorable sphere, and energy, as we know from ancient beliefs, is also a kind of religious sacrifice. That is why the Bible puts drunkenness on a par with idolatry:
“But I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who, while calling himself a brother, remains a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a predator; You can’t even eat with someone like that.”
1 Cor. 5:11
This does not mean that somewhere out there there is a god or demon of wine that drunkards worship. But the behavior of a person is no different from someone who would swear allegiance to such a demon.
In the end, drunkenness becomes a new nature of a person, with it he replaces the usual and important things in life:
“For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.”
1st Thessal. 5:7
Priests must not be partial to wine
While it is clear that the prohibitions against drunkenness apply to all people, the Bible emphasizes this prohibition for priests:
“Deacons must also be honest, not double-tongued, not addicted to wine, not greedy.”
1 Tim. 3:8
Are priests allowed to drink alcohol at all? Some Christian movements answer with an unequivocal “no,” because drunkenness is a mortal sin, so it is better not to take this path at all. In Russian Orthodoxy, other views prevail. They usually say something like: “drink, but don’t get drunk.”
In principle, the Bible allows both views to exist. There is no categorical prohibition, although it is useful for every Christian to think about whether he needs something in life that does not bring benefit. And this question is especially relevant for priests, who must act as a moral guide for others.
We can come to God for help
Alcohol provides only temporary, false comfort. But God can quench our thirst, fill the void that nothing else can fill.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (Holy Gospel of John 14:27)
God gives us what the world simply cannot give. Therefore, there is no point in looking in the world for consolation that only God can give.
But He said: what is impossible with men is possible with God. (Holy Gospel of Luke 18:27)
A person cannot get out of the slavery of sin on his own, but God can help him.
I pray that every person chained to the bondage of this sin will find freedom in Christ. God never gives up, but takes care of all our needs and always gives us the best. By turning to Him we will never be deceived.
All alcohol is harmful, beer too
What does the Bible say about other drinks? Can Christians drink other types of alcohol? Let’s say it’s clear that vodka and cognac are harmful to the soul and body. Is it a sin to drink beer?
Here the Bible tells us:
“Wine is mocking, strong drink is violent; and everyone who is carried away by them is foolish.”
Prov. 20:1
They make it clear to us that drinking alcohol, whatever you call it, is, to put it mildly, useless. The Bible expresses itself more harshly - only a foolish person would undertake this.
It would be strange to expect that a separate chapter from the Bible will appear for each alcoholic drink: here there is a ban on wine, here on beer, and then on vermouth, liqueur, etc. The Bible was written almost 30 centuries ago. It is clear that its authors were trying to convey a message. Formalism is not appropriate here.
We see that drinking alcohol has never been welcomed in religious life. True, wine came from the grapevine - an important food product and religious symbol, therefore the belief in its miraculous power was maintained, but in small doses and in a diluted form:
“From now on, drink more than just water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.”
1 Tim. 5:23
The Bible emphasizes the importance of sobriety. About John the Baptist, first of all, it is said that he did not drink alcoholic beverages (Bartolome Esteban Murillo, “Saint John the Baptist in the Desert”)
But this only applied to wine. The attitude towards other alcoholic drinks is negative. This passage describes the righteous qualities of John the Baptist:
“For he will be great before the Lord; He will not drink wine or strong drink, and will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb.”
OK. 1:15
Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria explains:
““Strikey” is the name given to everything that, not being made from grapes, can produce intoxication.”
That is, sobriety was such an important quality that it is used to emphasize the greatness of the prophet.
And in general, the righteous should remember how people lived before the times of degradation: they did not drink alcohol, did not eat meat, etc. This is an ideal of the Christian life that is rarely spoken of, but is spoken of in the Bible. The Apostle Paul calls us to this ideal:
“For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God. Everything is pure, but it is bad for the person who eats because he is tempted. It is better not to eat meat, not to drink wine, and not to do anything that causes your brother to stumble, or to be offended, or to become weak.”
Rome. 14:20–21
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