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

Lots of people drink alcohol on a daily basis. Drinking alcohol has actually become almost as common as drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. But what exactly does God have to say about the consumption of alcohol?

“Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them!"   ~Isaiah 5:11

God refers to fermented drinks as strong-drink or intoxicating-drink. He in no way ever condones the drinking of these fermented beverages. In fact, He repeatedly speaks about not ingesting alcohol, as well as the ultimate result of doing so.

​“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”   ~Isaiah 5:20

Many cultures call fermented beverages, spirits, and there is a very good reason for this. The word “alcohol” comes from the Arabic word “al-kuhl,” which means “body eating spirit.” Medically speaking, our livers were never meant to process alcohol. Ingesting alcohol, in any form, causes damage to multiple organs, as well as the fact that it kills brain cells—it literally destroys healthy brain cells as if it were a Pac-Man brain-eating machine—a body eating spirit! It’s no coincidence that God has been telling us about the danger of consuming intoxicating drinks for thousands of years!

Additionally is the fact that alcohol is the most addictive beverage on earth! Satan loves nothing more than to hold us in bondage to anything that’s harmful. Liquor is just one more example of something that God says not to ingest, but Satan says the complete opposite. God didn’t make this rule to prohibit our fun-times, but rather to keep our minds clear and our bodies healthy. God created fresh fruit and the juice thereof. Satan corrupted this world and everything in it, and he is also the one that’s promoting the drinking of juice from rotten and fermented fruit.

In the English translation of the Bible, the generic word, wine, is used for both fermented and unfermented grape juice. But the Hebrew word used in many of these verses is “oinos,” which refers to freshly pressed, non-alcoholic juice. When the Bible tells us “not to drink wine,” the Hebrew word “oxos” is used. Oxos is the word that refers to fermented juice.

Satan can not create! He doesn’t have any power of creation like Almighty Creator God has, so he must re-create what God created. Satan has been selling his dirty deeds and re-created plan right from the beginning. God said, do not eat the fruit of this tree or you will die; Satan said, surely you will not die! God said, only eat the flesh of clean creatures; Satan says, eat unclean meats. God says, eat fresh fruit and drink fresh, nutritious, non-toxic juice; Satan says, let the juice spoil and then drink the fermented, intoxicating juice.

The devil corrupts God’s creations through the use of ungodly people. He gets into their heads and uses them to do his bidding. He’s been seducing humans since they were created and will continue to do so until Jesus returns.

I use to drink alcohol for many years until I realized that I was being deceived by the devil. Once I understood what God had to say about “strong drink,” as well as evaluating the damage that it causes to our bodies, it was relatively easy to give up.

Nevertheless, I still do get an occasional urge to drink when I get really stressed out. It’s the very first thing that comes to my mind. I get an overwhelming craving for a rum and coke, but rather than give in to this demonic sent temptation, I run to the Lord. I ask Him to take the craving from me, and He always does! Prayer is our only weapon against the devil’s cravings.

There’s a very interesting story in the Bible about these unhealthy cravings. These people gave in to a deadly craving, eating meat that wasn’t cooked enough—after God repeatedly warned them—and they all died. The rest of the people then named the place they buried them, Kibroth Hattavah, which translated means“Graves of Cravings”.

Wow, just think about that for a minute. I sure don’t want to die because of giving in to my unhealthy cravings and harmful temptations. I know now that I can overcome these urges through prayer and the empowerment of the indwelling Spirit of God!

​“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”   ~Philippians 4:13

The scientific fact that alcohol actually turns into a very destructive and dangerous chemical in our bloodstream should be enough to turn us away from drinking. This chemical reaction in our body plays havoc with our central nervous system/brain, and that’s why we get intoxicated, vomit, pass out and wind up with a hangover. These are all symptoms of poisoning. 

If we just thought about the terminology that’s used to describe the effects of things like alcohol and drugs, we might reconsider putting these things into our bodies. Intoxication, inebriation and being under the influence, these are all terms used to describe the ultimate condition we arrive at when partaking in these unhealthy activities.

Think about the term “being under the influence.” Guess who’s influence you’re under when you’re drunk? And what about the word intoxication, in-toxic-ation—do we really think it’s good to be in a state of toxicity from anything? “Toxic” defined: deadly, poisonous, dangerous, harmful. So, by this very definition, we are literally poisoning ourselves!

Being intoxicated is determined by degree. Some places might consider a .04% blood alcohol level to be a state of intoxication, others might be .08%. Nevertheless, these are simply measurements of the degree of toxicity or poisoning. Just let that sink in.

Despite alcohol’s known harmful health effects on the body, it remains one of the most popular intoxicants for adults in the U.S. In general, the more alcohol one drinks over their life, the more their risk increases for liver disease and diabetes, as well as the particular cancers associated with its consumption.

Satan has sold us a bill of goods that it’s a good thing, a fun thing, and everyone should do it—if you want to have fun—you must drink! Yep, I use to drink until I realized this very disturbing fact, that the only way to make alcohol is to use spoiled plant juice. Do you think God wants us to eat something that’s spoiled or decomposing? Of course not. Well, that’s what’s necessary to make liquor, something has to spoil in-order for the fermentation process to commence. Every evil thing on earth is nothing more than a corruption of something beautiful that God created.   

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”   ~1 Corinthians 10:31

I want to honor God’s rules because they’re for my own good. I want to glorify Him in everything I do. I’d rather stand with God and be judged by man, than stand with man, and be judged by God. Plus, it’s all for my spiritual benefit and physical health.

​“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”   ~Daniel 1:8

We are spiritual beings as well as physical bodies, and that’s why we need to honor all of God’s rules. Not only are we harming our physical bodies by drinking, but our spiritual health as well. If we become physically intoxicated, we are far more likely to sin and become spiritually corrupted.

God’s perfect science didn’t change because of salvation. Jesus didn’t do away with chemistry or physics just because He came to earth to save humanity. Everything is still the same, germs and toxins are still around, and so are the consequential results of ingesting them. We should still observe all of His perfect health laws because they are still all true. If we consume contaminants, we will still get sick, it’s just that simple! As well as the fact that our children are far more likely to take up drinking if they see their parents partaking.

​“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. For all tables are full of vomit and filth. No place is clean."   ~Isaiah 28:7-8

​Satan is leading us down the garden path into all of his atrocities and away from the way of the Lord. The only way back is to turn back to God through His holy word. Only by faith in the salvation of Jesus Christ are we redeemed, and only by faith are we imputed with obedience to His word. All we have to do is repent, and turn back to Him, and He will do the rest.

​“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.”   ~Leviticus 10:9

Please click to Like my Facebook page!