Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
The redness, the colour given in the cup, and the moving aright describe wine in its attractive, enticing and lively appearance as it ferments and moves smoothly in the cup. The command not to look upon it means that danger begins with yielding attention and desire and with lingering over the drink in a way that invites its use, even before any drinking takes place. The verse belongs to a larger warning that vividly pictures sorrow, impaired judgment, addiction, degradation and enslavement, and that warns that the drink at last bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.
The warning applies even to moderate drinking of wine and cider, for there is no safe moderate use. Their appeal leads toward intoxication, and they can gradually cultivate a taste for stimulants and begin a path of increasing drunkenness to addiction. Drinking takes away reason, impairs judgment, clouds the powers given by God, disorders the nervous system, unsettles the mind, and weakens resolutions and health. It brings sorrow, madness, woe and painful consequences, weakens health and shortens life toward death, and leads people to sacrifice principles and eternal interests.
Its deadly power is illustrated by liquor given to a recovering young man that ended his life. The verse therefore calls for complete abstinence, not even one drop of wine or liquor. It also calls for making known the harm of wine and strong drink.
The redness, the colour given in the cup, and the moving aright describe wine in its attractive, enticing and lively appearance as it ferments and moves smoothly in the cup. The command not to look upon it means that danger begins with yielding attention and desire and with lingering over the drink in a way that invites its use, even before any drinking takes place. The verse belongs to a larger warning that vividly pictures sorrow, impaired judgment, addiction, degradation and enslavement, and that warns that the drink at last bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.
The warning applies even to moderate drinking of wine and cider, for there is no safe moderate use. Their appeal leads toward intoxication, and they can gradually cultivate a taste for stimulants and begin a path of increasing drunkenness to addiction. Drinking takes away reason, impairs judgment, clouds the powers given by God, disorders the nervous system, unsettles the mind, and weakens resolutions and health. It brings sorrow, madness, woe and painful consequences, weakens health and shortens life toward death, and leads people to sacrifice principles and eternal interests.
Its deadly power is illustrated by liquor given to a recovering young man that ended his life. The verse therefore calls for complete abstinence, not even one drop of wine or liquor. It also calls for making known the harm of wine and strong drink.