Plot Violence

Proverbs 23:20-21,28-24:2 – Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags…Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company; for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.

Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Hosea 4:1 – Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.

Proverbs 1:11-16 – If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”—my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood.

Job 15:35 – They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit.”

Psalm 5:9 – Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies.

Application:

• ·         Proverbs associates drunkenness with poverty, strife and injustice.
• ·         Drunkenness is condemned.
• ·         “Faithfulness” is loyalty to the covenant Lord and right dealing with others
• ·         The goal of sinful men is personal enrichment by theft or oppression, even if they have to commit murder.
• ·         Once initiated, sinful thoughts develop quickly into evil acts.
• ·         Perhaps appeals to God against those who maliciously wield the tongue are frequent in the Psalms because only in God’s courtroom can a person experience redress for such attacks.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV