The Book of Proverbs presents a serious difficulty for me. On the one hand, it offers an inspired analysis of the human condition. On the other hand, from an organizational point of view, it’s a mess. Rather than grouping similarly themed proverbs together, it scatters them like seed throughout its thirty-one chapters.
So, in order to highlight the inspired analysis, I have to organize my devotions by topic rather than verse by verse. In his commentary on Proverbs, Tremper Longman outlines twenty-eight topics the book addresses.[*] Over the next few weeks, I’ll use Longman’s outline to organize my remarks.
The first topic on the list, in alphabetical order, is, of all things, alcohol.
In the days preceding New Year’s, the road signs along California’s freeways flashed an insistent message: Report Drunk Drivers. Writing in the Reading Eagle, Jason Brudereck explains why messages such as that one were important: “Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, travelers share the roads with more than 2.8 million drunken drivers with three or more drunken-driving convictions and, of those, more than half a million have five or more convictions, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.” For perspective, 2.8 million drunk drivers is almost one percent of the entire American population. That’s a lot of drunk drivers to worry about!
The Book of Proverbs does not offer a general prohibition of drinking alcoholic beverages. Indeed, according to Proverbs 3:9-10 “vats” overflowing with “new wine” is the result of honoring God with “your wealth.” And in Proverbs 9:2, 5, Woman Wisdom is portrayed as serving “mixed wine” at her feast.
But Proverbs does counsel prudence when it comes to drinking alcohol. Consider three specific proverbs that draw a connection between wine, wisdom, and wealth:
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
whoever is led astray by them is not wise (Prov. 20:1).
He who loves pleasure will become poor;
whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich (Prov. 21:17).
Listen, my son, and be wise,
and keep your heart on the right path.
Do not join those who drink too much wine
or gorge themselves on meat,
for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags (Prov. 23:19-21).
What is at issue in each of these proverbs is the abuse of alcohol, not its use. While drinking is not prohibited per se, it can be imprudent if one is “led astray” by alcohol, or “loves” it, or “drink[s] too much” of it. Of course, immoderation applies to more than just alcohol. Notice that Proverbs 23:20 warns us about joining people who “gorge themselves on meat.” Drinking is no more prohibited than eating, but drunkenness and gluttony are prohibited and imprudent alike.
I grew up in a spiritual tradition that prohibits the consumption of alcohol. In my opinion, this prohibition goes beyond what the Bible demands. But just because the Bible doesn’t prohibit it doesn’t make it a good idea.
[*] Tremper Longman III, Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 549-578.
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