Proverbs 20: King James Bible
Wine and Strong Drink – Daily Devotion of Proverbs chapter twenty, Verse 1
1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Wine and Strong Drink – Daily Inspiration from This Verse
When I read this intro into the twentieth chapter of Proverbs, one thing that stick out to me immediately is the word deceived. How can wine or strong drink deceive someone?
In my opinion there are four different directions this can take. Two directions are physical, and two are spiritual.
The Drinker
The first (and most obvious) direction we can take this verse, is being the one who is the consumer of the wine and strong drink. For many of us, we have experienced the pitfalls of having too much to drink. For most of us, we’ve heard all our lives what it is capable of doing to one’s self and family.
There are people who get downright ornery after having a couple of drinks. Others get ugly after having certain kinds of drinks. People get into fights, break things, drive around and crack up their vehicles (at the least), etc.. In these instances, we can apply what this verse says about the mocking and brawling side of things.
However, I’d venture to say that in this sense, that’s not where the meat of the verse would apply. How about people who are trying to stop drinking wine and strong drink? If you’ve had a problem with drinking, and have stopped, then you will know from first hand experience, just how badly these can mock and rage against you.
So the verse above would serve us as a warning, of the deceptive nature of alcohol, and what it’s like to cut off from it. And the rest of the verse “and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise,” is something we can understand as well.
How many addicts to, well, just about anything harmful, look back and reflect on how foolish they were to have thought that addiction wouldn’t happen to them? Or how they wished they could do it all over again, and make decisions that would spare them from becoming an alcoholic or addict? I’d recon to say, that none would reflect, and say they handled themselves wisely.
Dealing with a Drunk
Another direction to take this verse, while still leaning on the physical side of things, is to be as a warning to those of us who have (or make) dealings with a person given to wine and strong drink. In any way really, be it financial, emotional, or whatever way you’d think of.
I’m painting with a broad brush here, as I know that some people can function fairly well no matter how often they’ve been hitting the bottle. But the norm is otherwise.
If you try to have any form of a relationship with a person given to alcohol, you’ve pretty much committed yourself to two different people in many ways. The sober person and the drunk person.
Sometimes, you can tell someone something when they’re drunk, and they’ll have no memory of it in the morning. They can say all kinds of things to you, and the same is true. No memory at all. Or, depending what came spewing out of their mouth the night before, they may come apologizing to you over something that they vaguely remember saying, but under sober circumstances would never have said.
Some can’t be trusted with money, cause they’ll spend it all on bars and booze. Eventually, supporting a a drinking habit becomes more important than supporting themselves. And there are so many different pitfalls that come with trying to do business, or having a normal relationship with someone harboring this issue, that the verse above should make sense in this tense.
And there are many other things that go without saying such as violent behavior when drinking, or other abusive activities.
Spiritually for the Drinker
There is indeed, an alcoholic spirit, that plays jump rope with another called the spirit of addiction. By giving yourself over to a drunken state, you leave yourself open to all kinds of spiritual attack.
This goes for anything really, be it drugs or alcohol, that as soon as you begin to tamper with your regular state of being, you open the door for whatever is waiting to come in. Some people wind up being taken over after someone’s spiritual guard is down, and that’s about the point where anything can happen.
So, while you’re guzzling down spirits, there are other spirits that are just waiting for it to kick in, and give them license to whatever it is that they intend to do. And no matter what it may be, it’s never good.
Some people have a demonic entity attached to them by way of generational ties, and is simply waiting for that person to pick up a drink, before it can take the full leap into that person for the rest of their lives. It’s all about licencing. You pick up the drink, and before you know it, you are taking part in something that was kicked off generations ago.
Without the intervention of the Holy Ghost, and without having the blood of the Lamb dash the generational garbage into smithereens, it is an enormous burden for someone to pry themselves apart from drinking, or substance abuse in general.
Spiritually Speaking – Friends or Family
Nobody is instantly immune to demonic intervention. Whether you are saved or not, you can invite something into your presence with or without you knowing. Ignorance is no excuse, as we are to be knowledgeable of such things.
When you are around someone that is craftily possessed, oppressed, or otherwise demonized, by an alcoholic spirit, or a spirit of addiction, and you don’t do your due diligence to spend some time with the Father in prayer, and in the meantime binding and casting out whatever you have license to bind or cast, there is a probability that you will be tested soon.
And when I say tested, I really mean tempted. Just because that wicked spirit is attached to someone else, doesn’t mean that it can’t at least try to influence you, even if it’s over a period of time. It’s not like you’ll see it in action, or hear it trying to sway you. It’s a spiritual being, and without spiritual discernment given by the Father through the Holy Ghost, then you might just one day find yourself wondering what it was, that made you get into the same mess that your friend was into.
This isn’t a sure thing, but it is a probability. That being the case, read the verse above with this tense in mind.
All four of these tenses are no less important than the other, and all are warnings to us. We should all do our best to heed them.
Related New Testament Scripture
Luke 21: King James Bible
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Romans 13: King James Bible
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
1 Corinthians 5: King James Bible
11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
1 Corinthians 6: King James Bible
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Ephesians 5: King James Bible
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Prayer
Father,
Thank you, that is every situation, we can count on you and your wisdom that you’ve placed in your Word. Help all of us Father, to avoid all of the different pitfalls that come our way, and give us the discernment, not to create our own pitfalls. Help us all so that we may be better able to help others, and teach us to pray for those who are suffering from whatever form of substance abuse, to the maximum efficiency. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen
Question
Have you ever had issues with wine and strong drink?