We remember that Proverbs is not a book about the Law. If we don’t take Solomon’s advice, we are not “in sin.” Solomon wants to share his wisdom with his children to show them that there is a good path and a path that leads to destruction in life. In the previous section, we learned that the dating scene, as it is popularly known, is on the path that leads to destruction. There is a better, wiser, way to find a spouse; and Solomon will get to that later in this chapter. Now, he provides wisdom about alcohol consumption. Regardless of what we think about drinking, whether or not it is a sin, Solomon tells us plainly:
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, For they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted (Proverbs 31:4-5).
As we recall, Solomon wrote to his children. This wisdom comes from Bathsheba to Solomon, who would become the literal king of Israel. When Solomon shares this wisdom to direct his sons, it becomes advice not only for literal rulers of nations but also those who fulfill their biblical mandate to rule the earth in a Genesis 1:28 sense. After all, not all of Solomon’s sons will become literal kings, but they are all rulers of the earth under the Genesis 1:28 mandate.
It is not for the kings of the earth (people under God) to drink wine or desire strong drink—which includes whiskey, beer, vodka, mead, or any other strong drink.
To be clear, there are places in Scripture that allow people to lawfully drink without sinning (cf. Deuteronomy 14:26; Ecclesiastes 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Timothy 5:23). So, no one can ever say that having a drink of alcohol is a sin. Solomon is not making such a claim. God created alcohol. He created the human body to react the way it does to alcohol. According to Scripture, alcohol has medicinal advantages over medication and, such as with the eucharist or communion, can be enjoyed in the presence of God—even to one’s heart’s content. Notice what Solomon is saying; if we want to avoid the path that leads to destruction and live life like kings, we will not desire to consume alcohol. Why?
Because we will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
The consumption of alcohol is not sinful. It is, though, a path of destruction that leads to some very sinful things—such as perverting justice. Interestingly, Solomon’s end goal is not to stringently according to some shallow set of religious principles simply forbid alcohol. I think the prohibitionists got it wrong. Instead, he warns his children about the path alcoholic consumption will lead them down. Living that kind of lifestyle will cause them to not have their wits about them and, instead, pervert justice. If God is a just God, they will not live like His people should. We often take a misstep by talking about alcohol as if it is inherently good or evil on its own. It is not; alcohol is an inanimate and amoral thing. Remembering justice is good. Treating people justly is good. Forgetting justice is bad. Treating people unjustly is bad. So, in order to avoid treating people unjustly, it is good and right for kings to avoid that which alters the mind—a principle that can be applied to all sorts of things, not only alcohol. Be mindful of this destructive path. It will cause you to not live up to your status as kings and queens on the earth.
Scripture warns us of the pitfalls of alcohol consumption in other places (cf. Luke 21:34; Romans 13:13; 14:21; 1 Corinthians 11:29-30; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:18), even insisting that those who live the drinking sort of lifestyle will not enter the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21). Solomon is here in agreement with the entire Bible. God created something good. It is not a sin to partake. It is destruction and death to live according to the ways of alcohol instead of the ways of justice.
In the church today, I have seen two extremes when it comes to the view of alcoholic consumption. In some local churches, the people are fully open and encouraging of alcoholic consumption because the Bible tells us that God gave it as a good gift, a reward for our labor and a way to commune with Him. While the theological claim is technically true, I am sure that their open practice and likely overindulgence while drinking socially as a church body lends itself more to human pride and desire than it does the desire to live just lives.
On the other hand, some local churches outright demonize alcohol consumption because the Bible warns about the dangers of drinking. While the Bible never comes out and calls drinking a sin, they reject alcohol consumption outright to guard their holiness, the holiness of their pastors and deacons, and the holiness of their membership. While it is not unprecedented (look at what Solomon is doing here in Proverbs 31) and while seeking holiness is good, I am sure that their prohibition often seems more like the Pharisees’ rendering of the super-law than Jesus’s plain reading of the Torah. While their desire to remain holy in practice is good, it often skews their just treatment of people just as much as the lifestyle of the alcoholic, drunkard, or someone who simply has an overdeveloped desire for the bottle.
I understand both extremes. Every pastor does because we run the line of wanting to be biblically correct but also wanting to protect those who listen to us from the follies of the human heart. We can’t fault any pastor for moving to the right or left because the consequences of bad theology are dire and the consequences of unholiness are dire. Honestly, I have been in both extremes. They are easy extremes to fall into. Notice, what we receive from Solomon in Proverbs 31 is not a position on alcohol consumption, lest we risk forcing him to contradict his own words elsewhere in the wisdom literature. It is a position on the focus of the human heart. If the desire of our hearts is to consume alcohol, our desires are not oriented in a godly direction. As kings and queens under God, our desires, instead, are to pursue justice and have a clear mind to reason well—so that we may treat people well, especially the afflicted. Notice, Solomon’s wisdom does not even deal with consumption to the point of becoming drunk; it’s simply at the point of desire. If we feel a need to get overly defensive about alcohol or overly critical about alcohol, either way, the desires of our hearts are off. Instead, we are to be a people concerned about justice, particularly in our relationships with other people. Why? In some way, this is how we fulfill our Genesis 1:28 mandate to rule over the earth as the people of God. So, we take the path of godly success and not the path of destruction.
Solomon continues:
Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to him whose life is bitter. Let him drink and forget his poverty And remember his trouble no more (Proverbs 31:6-7).
According to Solomon, wine and strong drink are for those who will never amount to anything in life and never be kingly or queenly. So, we leave it here in the open. If you want to make something of yourself to the glory of God and participate in the increase of the kingdom of God on this earth in our day, don’t give yourself over to the desire of alcohol. If you want to perish and have a bitter life, give yourself over to the desire of alcohol. As the people of God, we live prudent lives. As a prudent people, we do not follow our hearts. We check the desires of our hearts to be sure we won’t be ruined by them.
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