Posted on 06/23/2017 9:06:04 AM PDT by OneVike
In Proverb 20 I wrote about the fact that God does not condemn drinking. Well Proverb 23 has more warnings about the deceptive nature of strong drink. Wine can be abused. It can intoxicate. The wine used by the church at Corinth was real wine - not grape juice. We know this because Paul had to admonish them for being drunk at the Lord's table! (1 Corinthians 11:21). Over and over we are warned in the Scriptures about the consequences of abusing wine. It can lead us astray. Deceive us. Cause us to harm ourselves and others. It brings woe, sorrow, contentions, complaints, and wounds.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. Proverbs 20:1Understand, these are the consequences of the misuse of wine. This does not mean we cannot use it, but it means we must be careful if we do.
The drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty. Proverbs 23:21
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. Do not look on the 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. Proverbs 23:29-33
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, Ephesians 5:18To sum up the discussion we see that Paul is teaching us that living the Christian life and understanding the will of God is a matter of control. Who or what is in control? Are we controlled by our lust? By wine? By other people? Or by the Holy Spirit? We learn that either the Spirit is in control, or sin is in control. One truth we must understand is that we are never in control! Self is never in charge, for we are both living and walking as a slave of unrighteousness and sin, or we are living and walking as a slave of righteousness and a slave of Christ, bought with His blood.
He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Proverbs 21:17
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 1 Timothy 3:2-3
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:12-13In closing, I would suggest that if you have a desire to be drunk, then be drunk on the Lord. Immerse yourself in His word, and become the man or woman you were meant to be.
The purpose of Writing the book of Proverbs was to reveal the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in common, ordinary, everyday situations. It appears that no topic escaped King Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations, business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character, alcohol, politics, revenge, and Godliness are among the many topics covered in this rich collection of wise sayings.
Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing more than an accumulation of raw facts, influenced by emotional feelings. Many highly educated people are in positions of power in the United States, but very few of those educated leaders have the wisdom needed to rule properly. .
One can say that they have been educated well beyond their intelligence. A cursory look at the court system will prove my point that knowledge without wisdom will only lead to an immoral society that eventually crumbles from within. Judges are supposed to be above the fray, and immovable to emotions. Instead, the vast majority of judges today are Godless individuals who are vacant of wisdom. So their rulings are totally based upon emotional feelings. .
We the people are to blame, because we ignored God's guidance in appointing our leaders. Instead of putting leaders full wisdom in power, we instead chose those who would scratch our itchy ears to lead us. .
Of the 31 Proverbs, only the first 24 were written by Solomon. King Hezekiah wrote 5, Proverbs 25 to 29, Agur wrote Proverb 30, and Lemuel wrote Proverb 31. Now many believe Lemuel was in fact King Solomon and Lemuel was just a nick name his Mother, Bathsheba gave him. We are told that Solomon write over 3000 Proverbs and composed 1000 songs, but the only Proverbs God decided to preserve for us are Proverbs 1-24. Like the New Testament epistle by James, it is impossible to get a chronological outline for a study since they all bounce from subject to subject..
Along with my daily routine of reading the Bible, I try to read through the book of Proverbs once a Month. It's an easy task when you consider there are 31 Proverbs. So all you need to know is what day of the Month it is. In the Months that have 30 days, or in the case of February, I just double up by reading more than one two proverb so I can begin the next month with Proverb 1 on the first again.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
00 For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Sure true in social media!
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