Daniel 5: 1-6

Certainly, many people will be surprised to see that the Lord had to condemn the abusive use of alcohol in the Bible. How our predecessors ended up losing God’s grace, being definitively rejected by God, and even facing death due to drunkenness.

A striking example is King Belshazzar. When he had taken wine, he dared to go and fetch the golden cups that had been taken from the house of God in Jerusalem. These cups were consecrated for the worship of the Almighty God, objects considered to be of great holiness. Nevertheless, he went to retrieve them and took the place of the priests to use them (golden and silver cups).

Why did he do that? Because he was already under the influence of alcohol; he was already drunk. Not only him, but also in the presence of his concubines and wives. This shows how, when we consume alcohol, it is capable of making us lose lucidity, give us audacity, a semblance of courage, and even defy what is sacred.

Having done this, the wrath of God quickly erupted upon King Belshazzar. He saw a hand or the appearance of a hand seemingly coming out of nowhere, writing on the walls. You know the rest; he couldn’t even read the writing. So, he had to summon Daniel, and when the writing was translated for him, panic ensued.

We must know that since ancient times, alcohol has caused havoc on earth among men. Remember the example of Noah. After obeying God, building the ark, and being saved from the flood with his family, Noah planted a vine, drank its wine until he became drunk and uncovered himself. He remained naked in his house, and you know the rest; one of his sons, named Ham, entered the house and saw his father’s nakedness. Regaining his senses after the intoxication, Noah ended up cursing his youngest son. And the offspring of Ham, Canaan, was cursed. Why? Simply because the grandfather who had drunk the wine ended up undressing, losing the sense of lucidity, control, as he was under the influence of alcohol (Genesis 9:20-25).

In modern times, people may think it’s a thing of the past. But we must realize that many people who have abused alcohol or drank to the point of losing control have ended up committing irreparable damage, much like Herod.

“While celebrating his birthday, Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.’ And he promised her with an oath, ‘Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.'” (Mark 6:21-29)

Try to understand that when one is under the influence of alcohol, cheered by alcohol, one is capable of making promises that one cannot fulfill. What did the girl eventually ask Herod for? The head of John the Baptist. Do you see what alcohol is capable of doing? Herod ended up promising what he was incapable of delivering. And to prove that he had to keep his word, he ended up beheading John the Baptist.

Alcohol was even prohibited for pregnant women whose children were sent or whose mission was already defined by the Lord.

“Before the birth of Samson, GOD sent an angel to appear to Manoah and his wife, saying to them: ‘Your wife will become pregnant and will abstain from alcoholic drinks. She will not drink wine or strong drink.‘” (Judges 13:11-15)

This was also prohibited for the mother of John the Baptist, who was also to conceive. She was also to abstain from alcoholic drinks (Luke 1:13-15).

Yes, why was this prohibited? Because in alcohol, there is a substance that makes man lose lucidity, the sense of decency. Because God, who created us, knows what we are made of and how our bodies were constituted. That’s why when you read the Bible, it says:

“The wine is mocking, intoxicating drinks are tumultuous; whoever is excessive is not wise”. Proverbs 20:1

Anyone who indulges in alcohol must know that he will not have the wisdom and will not be able to make the right decisions at the right time. And even science has proven that those who indulge in alcohol lose the reflex. Drivers have had many accidents having lost their reflexes on the way back from a party. They ended up in a wall, colliding with other vehicles. For what ? Because they were under the influence of alcohol.

Alcohol was prohibited for women who were going to conceive, who were pregnant, but nowadays pregnant women even take alcohol. And this is why many children are born without intelligence and are not able to remember a little sentence, because their brains have been irradiated with alcohol from their mother’s womb. You will see the child when you tell him to remember even a text for example; The crow and the fox, when you ask the child the same question later: What did we see today at school? and the child responds, the cat and the rooster. Why this confusion? because of his mother’s drunkenness and he (the child) is the victim.

Alcohol has been the cause of much damage on earth. If we really want to prevent it, we need to be very careful, get rid of it and know how to put it to good use. All those who abuse it end up being rejected by the Lord, committing irreparable things. And coming to their senses, they realized that they had done what was wrong.

Remember the children of Lot. His two daughters were saved with their father from the calamity, from the catastrophe that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. While they lived in a cave and his daughters had no husbands, they had plotted to get their father drunk in order to sleep with him and have offspring. Genesis 19; 30-38

You know the rest, the children that these two girls gave birth to were the ancestors of the Ammonites and these are the people who were cursed by GOD. For what ? Because they were descendants of an incestuous bond.

Go ahead and understand that when you abuse alcohol, you are capable of committing incest. And remember what we just read in Daniel (5:1-6), it says that when Belshazzar had taken the wine, he worshiped the gods of gold, the gods of silver.

This is why men being under the influence of alcohol and being drunk have committed abominable crimes (rape, rebellion, lies, etc.). The men did this because they were drunk. From their drunkenness, they committed rape, they killed people, they looted other people’s property. All because they no longer had control over their meaning. In the book of Habakkuk 2; 15, it says:

“Woe to him who makes his neighbor drink, to you who pours out your wineskin and makes him drunk, that he may see his nakedness!”

Drunkenness or drunkenness distorts human nature as God wanted man to be on earth in symbiosis with his fellow human beings. And that’s why most people who indulge in it are either reckless, rude, rebellious to their parents, are tricksters or dishonest. But in no case will everyone who gets drunk worship GOD through his drunkenness or to praise

GOD you have to get drunk. No, beloved of the Lord! All those who get drunk do so to give glory either to their body through dances or to give glory to their clothing gods, their silver gods, to satisfy sensual desires.
Several women have been victims of false promises from their husbands who made promises to them under the influence of alcohol. Some men have promised their wives planes, cars, etc. but once the drunkenness ends, the man denies everything he had said to his wife. We must abstain from all this because alcohol destroys. This is why in Isaiah it is said:

“Woe to all those who run after intoxicating drinks early in the morning, and who are inflamed by wine well into the night! The harp and the lute, the tambourine, the flute and the wine, animate their feasts, but they take no heed of the work of the Lord, and they do not see the work of His hands“. Isaiah 5; 11-12

Why do we say woe? Because late at night not only do they also get drunk, but they are heated by wine.

Beloved of the Lord, we must be very careful about drunkenness or alcohol because from this many countries have been regressed in their development, because their citizens have not had time to be able to focus on what was essential or what was paramount. They indulged in popular pleasures and lost the thread of ideas to be able to invent many things which were to propel them in their memory.

This text is an excerpt from the book “The Dance of Herodias’ Daughter” written by Victoire Lufuluabu Kalala.