deepest depths of despondency ( “bitter in soul” )* The words are addressed to the king, and the king who was able to buy wine should, instead of using it for himself, give it to those who are in such physical condition that they need it. The one in this condition would be stimulated by the wine, lifted out of his depression, by the generosity of the king who gave the wine, so that he is enabled to “ forget his poverty” which would naturally preclude him from buying the wine for himself. The whole passage goes on to urge the king’s at tention to the cause of “ the poor and needy.” So there remains no difficulty in this passage except for those who hold that all use of intoxi cating liquors is wrong under any circumstances, but there are many who hold that in extreme cases of physical weakness the use o f wine is wise and permissible. We do not need to go into the question to whether the wine and strong drink in this case were alcoholic. Those who urge that “ strong drink” in the Old Testament often refers to a heavy, sweet, unfermented wine have a good deal to say in favor of their position. If this interpretation were true, it would remove all difficulty from the passage. But in any case there is really no difficulty here at all for anyone who believes that there are circum stances in which the use of alcoholic stimulants is advisable. As there was a time in the early life of the writer of this book when the doctors had given him up to die, and when his life was sustained by a prescription of an old nurse, one o f the main ingredients of the prescription being brandy, he is naturally disposed to think there are cases like that mentioned in the text when the use of strong drink is warrantable. But he thoroughly agrees with the context of the passage that teaches that all use of wine should be renounced by people in health and strength and prosperity. IV. A stock objection against the Bible, and not only the Bible but against Jesus Christ Him self, is found in the story of Jesus turning the water into wine at the marriage festival at Cana of Galilee, as recorded in John 2:1-11. There need be no difficulty in this action of Jesus even for the extreme teetotaler, if we consider carefully exactly what is said and precisely what Jesus did. The wine provided for the marriage festivities at Cana failed. A cloud was about to fall over the joy of what is properly a festive occasion. Jesus came to the rescue. He provided wine, but there is not a hint that the wine He made was intoxicating. It was a fresh-made wine. Newly made wine is never intoxicating. It is not intoxicating until some time after the process of fermentation, a process o f decay, has set in. There is not a hint that our Lord produced alcohol, which is a product of decay or death. He produced a living wine, uncontami nated by fermentation. It is true it was better wine
than they had been drinking, but that does not show for a moment that it was more fermented than that which they had been drinking. The writer of this book is a thoroughgoing tee totaler. He does not believe in the use o f alcoholic stimulants, even in cases of sickness, except in the most extreme cases, and even then only with the greatest caution. But he has not the slightest ob jection, and does not think that any reasonable person can have the slightest objection, to anyone’s drinking newly made wine—that is, the fresh juice o f the grape. It is a wholesome drink. Even if some o f the guests were already drunk or had drunk freely (see 5:10, RV) of wine that may have been intoxicating, there would be no harm in substitut ing an unintoxicating wine for the intoxicating drink which they had been taking. Our Lord, as far as the story goes, did not make intoxicating liquor for anybody, but simply saved a festive occasion from disaster by providing a pure, whole some, unintoxicating drink. By turning the water into a wholesome wine, He showed His creative power and manifested His glory. The ABASING THORN by Richard .4 . Bennett R eports from the mission field, and many effec tive centres of Christian witness, reveal that God’s blessing is often accompanied by alarm ing counter-attacks of the enemy. This, however, is not an experience peculiar to our generation. A scriptural and historic study of Christian prog ress reveals that the greater the spiritual privilege, the greater the satanic pressure. This was true of the apostle Paul, who was blessed in excess of most men of Christian history. He spoke o f the abundance of the revelations committed to him; but with the revelations there came also a “mes senger of Satan,” lest he should be “ exalted above measure.” Let us, then consider the twelfth chapter of II Corinthians, and notice particularly that God never removed Paul’s thorn, but with it gave en abling grace. Reprinted by permission from YOU AND YOUR BIBLE, Baker Book House.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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