Leviticus 10:9-11 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die… Combine with this verse Jeremiah 35:6; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:7. Intemperance, one of the giant evils of the land, is self-imposed. This is its saddest feature. All the evils connected with it might be swept away if men so willed. I. THE NATURAL. Use no intoxicants; and thus never acquire a passion for them. II. THE MEDICAL. Some treat drunkenness as a disease; and by medicine seek to destroy the appetite for alcohol. III. THE SANITARY. Asylums for inebriates have been opened, which combine physical and moral means to effect a cure; and with success. IV. THE LEGAL. Its object is to control or arrest the evil; and by prohibition of its manufacture and sale, to remove it from the land. V. THE VOLUNTARY. This involves the pledge and membership in societies banded together for mutual help and safety. Earnest work for others is a good preventative, so long as it is actively continued. VI. THE SPIRITUAL. Grace, wherever received, casts out the demon of drink. VII. THE PHILANTHROPIC. Here is a reform in which to engage. The beneficent change in public sentiment demands devout thankfulness, and is prophetic of what shall be achieved. (Lewis O. Thompson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: |
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