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CHAPTER TWENTY
1
The Hebrew says "the wine", and adds that those who go on
being deceived by it, go on and on being deceived by it. The effect of wine (yayin)
is to cause mockery, raging temper, deception and foolishness. It brings people
down – but God would rather lift us up.
Wine = Heb.yayin = an alcoholic drink, because Noah was
"drunken" after taking a drink of yayin – Gen.9:21, and Lot went into
a stupor after drinking it – Gen.19:32-34. See also Is.5:11, 28:7, 29:9, 51:21
and Zech.10:7.
Mocker = Heb.iuts = to scorn.
Strong drink = Heb.shekar = sweet drink, that which satiates or
intoxicates.
"Give shekar to him that is ready to perish, and wine (yayin) to
those that be of heavy hearts." The Bible therefore shows us that an
alcoholic drink can be a beneficial thing, but without wisdom it can ruin the
‘image of God’.
Raging = Heb.hamah = to roar, sund, make a noise. Bullinger: "a
brawler’.
Deceived = Heb.shagah = to err, to go astray.
"is not wise" – examples: Noah – Gen.7;1 with 9:20,21. Nabal –
1Sam.25:36. Elah – 1Kings 16;8-10. Ephraim – Is.28:7. Belshazzar – Dan.5,
Jer.51:39,57 and the Babylonians. Nineveh – Nahum 1;10. Perhaps Nadab and Abihu
were drunk too, because the warning against Aaron or his sons drinking comes
just after the incident – Lev.10:8-10.
There are grave dangers in overdrinking – Prov.23:29-35, Hos.4:11-13.
There is no doubt that wine can ruin a person, but, in Is.28:7 and Hos.4;11 the
idea of spititual drunkenness is described. This thought is carried through to
the NT – Mat.24:49, 1Thess.5:7 (Greek ‘shakar’ = to be satisfied, or merry).
2.
Amp.OT: "The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion; whoever
provokes him to anger (or angers himself against him) sins against his own
life."
Fear = Heb.emah = terror. The terror of God the king was felt by the
"inhabitants of Palestina" – Ex.15:14-16, 23:27. Job had a terror of
God too – Job 9:34 The roar of a lion is referred to because it represents
power, strength, command, authority, majesty and rulership. The lion is a
majestic creature, commander of the jungle. It would be courting disaster to
court the anger of this beast! Yet, oddly enough, a greater than the lion, the
mighty God, who holds the universe together, is often provoked by ignorant and
sinful people. They do this against their own soul.
Lion = Heb.kephir = a young lion, a whelp. A whelp, according to the Dictionary,
is a cub, or pup. It is a young, strong lion, at the prime of its strength –
Judges 14;5,6, and Jer.25:38. See also Ps.35:17.
Provokes = heb.abar = to show self worth, to cause wrath. It does not
pay to get angry with the king, lest he in turn becomes angry. As they say in
some movies: "I’d just like to point out who is holding the gun."
Sins = Heb.chata = to sin, to err or to miss the mark.
I apologise for the missing chapters, but perhaps with this start
readers might like to complete the work. The labour will not be wasted time.