1Kings 16: 8-15 Too Much Wine

INTRODUCTION:

·       This week we continue with the parade of kings in Israel following the failure of King Jeroboam their first king.

King Jeroboam:You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you. — 1 Kings 14:9 (CSB)

King Nadab:Nadab did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his father and the sin he had caused Israel to commit. — 1 Kings 15:26 (CSB)

King Baasha: He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of Jeroboam and the sin he had caused Israel to commit. — 1 Kings 15:34 (CSB)

·       This week we will read about 1 more Kings of Israel.

·       We slow down here once again because the topic of alcohol is presented.

·       What does the Bible say about the use of alcohol?  As a Christian should I drink alcohol?

SCENE 1: Too much .

·       Fulfillment of the prophetic judgement of the LORD through the prophet Jehu in 1Kings 16:3-4.

·       Zimri was a mid-level commander with no claim to the Kingship of Israel.  (No family claims no word from the LORD)

·       “conspired” – Others were involved.

·       Alcohol intoxication contributed to his murder.

·       Eliminated family and anyone who supported him.  (Destroy any dissenting views)

·       “worthless idols” – Fleeting, transitory, empty

About eating food sacrificed to idols, then, we know that “an idol is nothing in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”  For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth ​— ​as there are many “gods” and many “lords” ​— ​yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from him, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through him, and we exist through him — 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (CSB)

EMERALD CITY:

VIEW 1: Christians should completely abstain from all use of alcohol.

“You and your sons are not to drink wine or beer when you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute throughout your generations.  — Leviticus 10:9 (CSB)

For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter. Their wine is serpents’ venom, the deadly poison of cobras. — Deuteronomy 32:32-33 (CSB)

“Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap. — Luke 21:34-35 (CSB)

Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise — Proverbs 20:1 (CSB)

VIEW 2: not Abstinence

In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking— Titus 2:3 (CSB)

He causes grass to grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, producing food from the earth, wine that makes human hearts glad — making his face shine with oil — and bread that sustains human hearts. — Psalm 104:14-15 (CSB)

Scripture Warnings Against Drunkenness:

1.     Drunkenness ruins lives: Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags — Proverbs 23:20-21 (CSB)

2.     God’s judgement is on the drunkard: Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, who are champions at pouring beer, — Isaiah 5:22 (CSB)

3.     Drunkards cannot serve in church leadership: An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not an excessive drinker, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy. — 1 Timothy 3:2-3 (CSB)

4.     Drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God: Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.  — 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (CSB)

Biblical Uses of Wine (Alcohol)

1.     Jesus turned water into wine. 

On the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother told him, “They don’t have any wine.”  “What has this concern of yours to do with me, woman? ” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” “Do whatever he tells you,” his mother told the servants. Now six stone water jars had been set there for Jewish purification. Each contained twenty or thirty gallons. “Fill the jars with water,” Jesus told them. So they filled them to the brim. Then he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the headwaiter.” And they did. When the headwaiter tasted the water (after it had become wine), he did not know where it came from ​— ​though the servants who had drawn the water knew. — John 2:1-9 (CSB)

2.     Future blessing from God includes wine.

Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will never overrun it again. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. — Joel 3:17-18 (CSB)

3.     Wine is promised as part of Jesus’ second coming.

On this mountain, the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat, a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat, fine vintage wine. — Isaiah 25:6 (CSB)

Things to Consider Before Using Alcohol:

1.     Just because you have the freedom to drink alcohol does not mean you should.

“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.  — 1 Corinthians 10:23 (CSB)

·       Look at your past tendencies.

·       What are your past experiences surrounding alcohol.

·       Family history

2.     How would your use of alcohol affect your testimony?

·       As of 2022 more than 29 million people in US ages 12 and up have had an alcohol use disorder. (AUD = a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences.)

·       We lose close to 180,000 people per year to alcohol misuse.

·       Less than 10% of people seek treatment for AUD problems in their life.

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Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.  — 1 Peter 2:12 (CSB)

So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.  Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats.  It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.  — Romans 14:19-21 (CSB)

3.     What is your motivation for using alcohol?

·       Does drinking alcohol help you “unwind” or get to sleep?

·       Do you drink alone?

·       After a challenging day, do you look forward to a drink?

·       Do you have a history of misusing alcohol or drugs?

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. — Matthew 5:29-30 (CSB)

SUMMARY VERSES:

Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. — 1 Timothy 6:17 (CSB)

So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. — Ephesians 5:17-21 (CSB)