Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Spiritual Drunkeness
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Leviticus 10:9-10
This suggests that alcohol may have been the reason they did what they did. They may not have been drunk, but they may have been drinking. Remember, it was a time of great celebration. The Tabernacle had been erected, Aaron had been sanctified as High Priest, his sons were installed as priests, and the Levites had been set apart for their duties. Undoubtedly, a lot of celebrating was going on. The placement of these verses seems to indicate that Nadab and Abihu had been drinking. They were not thinking properly when they used common fire. Alcohol has a way of deluding a person into thinking that he is in control when he is not. Perhaps all the other biblical references to drunkenness are nothing more than veiled references to this occasion. Someone under the influence of alcohol cannot serve God properly. God describes the world as being drunk with the wine of Babylon's fornication. They are people who are in no condition to serve God because they cannot think straight spiritually. They think they are in control when they are not, so they cannot be holy. They attempt to serve Him in immorality and unethically.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Examples of Divine Justice
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Hosea 4:1-2
Faithlessness, when it has infected every area of a culture, blurs the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, morality and immorality. Without truth, there is no reliable ethical basis for government, commerce, or social relationships. There are no solid standards. Without virtues upon which a majority agree, one can never be quite sure how another will conduct himself, and so everyone becomes untrustworthy. In the context of Hosea's comments, mercy connotes steadfast love rather than a singular act of kindness toward somebody in need. Hosea is saying, then, that people waver in their loyalties. They pursue whatever fad comes along. We might say today that they "blow hot and cold." When they are "hot" they are "hot," but they can never seem to sustain it because, when their eyes are lured by some new, exciting interest, they are off in that direction until yet something else catches their imagination. The "knowledge of God" includes two elements: First is the knowledge about God, of His existence, Word, and way. The second is acknowledging Him. This denotes commitment, a steady loyalty to Him personally and to His way of life as a pattern of living. The context demands the second element, since God would have no reason to accuse people who were not aware of Him and His way of life. Because He is addressing those who have that basic knowledge, His complaints are directed at faithless, uncommitted people. In America, it is becoming almost impossible to find responsible and trustworthy people.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Seventh Commandment (1997)
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Hosea 4:11-12
Undoubtedly, the Israelites of Hosea's day were literally getting drunk and involved in harlotry, but for us today the application is spiritual. At the end time, God predicts, His people will be deceived by a force near demoniacal in its deceptive power. Because of their closeness to the world, they will share the great harlot's attitude, "drunk with the wine of her fornication" (Revelation 17:2). Hosea's word-picture illustrates the effect a drug like alcohol has on a person's mind. Under the influence of alcohol, one's reactions slow, even though the person thinks he has better control. Most fatal accidents in the United States involve automobiles and roughly half of them occur with at least one driver under the influence. In driving while intoxicated, one's ability to make right decisions is severely hampered. Alcohol obscures judgment. When one cannot think clearly, a sound judgment is nearly impossible. Linked to this inability to make sound judgments is the destruction of inhibitions, modesty and restraint. In addition, alcohol produces a false sense of security and confidence, so people do silly and senseless things while drunk and regret them along with their hangovers. The same process occurs to a person drunk with the wine of the wrath of this spiritual prostitute. The attitude of this world deprives people of their spiritual judgment and removes their spiritual inhibitions. Their resistance to evil weakens, and they will begin to do things that they vowed they would never do. Like a drunken man's fidelity to his wife is destroyed by wine, so is a Christian's loyalty to God when he imbibes of this world's attitudes. His judgment is shattered.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The World, the Church, and Laodiceanism
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Hosea 4:11-12
A crucial key to understanding the application to us, in both Hosea and Amos, is that they prophesied in Israel (the ten northern tribes) during a time similar to today—that is, in the last generation before a major national calamity fell on them, a "time of the end." Hosea and Amos were among the last prophets God sent to Israel so that the nation could never say (including after their resurrection) that God did not care enough to give them a chance. No, He gave them an overwhelming number of chances to repent. In their case, the time was just before Israel fell to the invading Assyrian armies, who removed from their homeland and scattered them to the four winds, never to return to the land of Israel. Historical records and archeological findings show that Israel was quite prosperous during the time of Amos and Hosea. It was a major power in the world. But at the same time, the nation was rotten to the core morally, and social injustice was the order of the day throughout the land. These people had a problem with getting literally drunk, since Amos reports of them drinking wine by the bowls—not cups, but bowls. Hosea directly calls Ephraim, "the drunkards of Ephraim." Besides this, they practiced their ritual harlotry within the pagan religion they had adopted. But the lesson for us is spiritual. God is saying that at the end-time, it is as though a demoniacal power seizes the nation and destroys loyalty to God. Drugs destroy a person's capacity to think clearly and break down resistance to evil. They cloud the mind so that one becomes morally stupid and incapable of thinking straight. In like manner, so does the spiritual drunkenness that results from over-imbibing in Babylon. Please understand the parallel. In Revelation 17:2, the world's people are reported as being "drunk on the wine of her fornication"—a spiritual drunkenness, not a physical one. Hosea is talking about both. This drunkenness is an escape into the fantasies of this world's attitudes and conduct. It deprives people of their understanding. It undermines the heart and removes inhibitions. Why? Because people want to join the excitement that everybody else is having. This drunkenness fills a person with false confidence. Such people say, "Oh, things are going to be all right." "Everything is going to work out." "You don't have to worry about AIDS or any of those other sexual diseases." This is false confidence, even bravado—"I am the man!" It plays havoc with modesty and restraint. Women's hems rise and necklines fall. They are imbibing in Babylon. Worse, it destroys loyalty within relationships, both with humans and with God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Laodiceanism and Being There Next Year
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Hosea 4:11-12
A major key to understanding the application of both Hosea and Amos to us is that both prophets prophesied in Israel, the ten northern tribes, in an era similar to that in which we live, that is, in a last generation before a major national calamity. In their case, it was just before the people of Israel fell to the invading Assyrian armies, were removed from their homeland, and scattered to the four winds, never to return. Historical records and archeological findings show that Israel was quite prosperous at the time, a major power in the world. Simultaneously, the nation was morally rotten to the core, and social injustice was the order of the day throughout the land. The Israelites of that time were literally getting drunk, as Amos reports them drinking wine by the bowlful (Amos 6:6). Yet a far more spiritual drunkenness guided their conduct. In addition, they practiced the ritual harlotry of the pagan religions they had adopted. However, the lesson for us is spiritual. God is saying that at the end time, it will be as if a demonic power has seized the nation, destroying loyalty to God in a spiritual drunken frenzy, during which the people will think themselves totally in control. Even as drugs destroy a person's capacity to think clearly, break down resistance to evil, and so becloud the mind that he becomes morally stupid, so does the spiritual drunkenness that results from a person allowing himself to drink in this world's ways. Escape into the fantasies of this world's attitudes and conduct deprives a person of his understanding, removes inhibitions, inspires false confidence - even bravado, plays havoc with modesty and restraint, and destroys loyalty within relationships.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Be There Next Year
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Amos 8:11-12
Unfortunately, during these terrible times when God's Word is most needed to help the people come to repentance, it will be almost impossible to find. When the people finally realize that God wants them to repent, it will be too late. The seeds of their destruction have been sown, and the crop is already ripe. The only truth available to them in the tumult of God's judgment is what they can remember. It is for this reason that God warns us in these times to "[redeem] the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). If our hope in the Kingdom of God, the resurrection of the dead, and sharing life with God eternally are not sufficient to motivate us to repent, perhaps fear of a terrible calamity, the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord, or being spewed from God's mouth as a Laodicean will move us to use the present to secure the future. God prophesies to motivate us to cling to Him and His Word right now, and He is willing to scare us nearly to death in order to save us. During this famine, "They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it" (Amos 8:12). Amos probably refers to the Dead and Mediterranean Seas, east to west, and adds "north to east," describing a triangle with the south direction left out. Why would he do this? On a map of Palestine, the Dead Sea lies to the east, the Mediterranean to the west and the nation of Israel to the north. What lies to the south? Jerusalem, where the truth was! In Amos' day, the truth was taught in God's Temple in Jerusalem. Israelites wanted to be known as seekers of the truth, but in reality they did not want it. Their pride would not allow them to pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the truth, for that meant they would need to humble themselves before the Word of God. Wander can be rendered "stagger" like a drunk or "tremble" like lips quivering in agitation because one is so angry or fearful he is unable to speak. It shows the people in a state of panic and intense agitation. They are desperately searching for what they had regarded so lightly: God, the Bible, His truth. But they cannot find them anywhere! Thus they will seek any kind of religion, and many will fall prey to false ones. This scenario is already happening in modern Israel. New Age, mystical, and Eastern religions are growing steadily, and many "Christians" feel free to borrow "truth" from other religions. Additionally, recent years have seen the rise of ecumenical movements within a broad spectrum of religious bodies.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part Two)
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Revelation 17:2
Those caught up with Babylon become drunk—spiritually drunk—as the result of imbibing its way of life. Figuratively, wine has significant spiritual meaning. Proverbs 20:1 says, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." That is quite a warning, yet God stops short of forbidding wine. In fact, it says in Judges 9:13 that wine cheers the heart of both God and man. What we are being warned of in Proverbs 20:1 is that wine initially has a pleasant, lifting, energizing effect. However, it is deceptive in that it has a depressing, secondary effect that ensnares those who allow themselves too much. In other words, wine can make a person drunk. Remember Revelation 18:2: "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." A drunk's mind becomes dizzy, fuzzy, and unfocused. His perception of reality changes, becoming distorted and uncertain. His body staggers under the effect of the drug, not reacting normally as the drinker commands it to act. At the same time, he is deluded into thinking he actually has greater powers than he had before becoming drunk. The reality is that he has made himself a helpless victim and is dangerous to himself and others. The wine in this word-picture of Revelation 17:2 is Babylon's way of life. In Revelation 18:2, the wrath is the penalty that comes down upon its hapless victims as they practice the sins of their unfaithfulness to God in their conduct. Fornication figuratively portrays faithlessness, such as one would experience within a covenant relationship such as marriage.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Laodiceanism and Being There Next Year
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