Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Some say the Book of Job was written long before its place in the Bible, in fact they say the Book of Job has no date of origin- others have speculated that the book was actually the first book written. I'm not even going to play scholar, I will not try to date the book. However, I have to agree with this statement--
'Job's sacrifices were according to the patriarchal pattern, with Job acting as the priest for his household.'
Job's seven sons and three daughters were feasting-
Job 1:4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
The feasted at least for seven days- seven days, every one his day. Job knew of this feasting they were undertaking and he was worried their feasting had them sinning. So as the patriarch of the family he rose up early AFTER their feasting days were over and sent for them, needing to sanctify them. To do this Job needed to offer a burnt offering sacrifice for each of them to rid them of any feasting sins they may have committed during that time. Job says - 'It MAY be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Job didn't know for certain that His sons were sinning and cursing God but He wasn't about to let that stop Him from making sacrifices for them. Job wanted his family right with God. Regardless of whether or not they were going to stop sinning, Job wanted to keep His family on the right track. It says- 'Thus did Job continually.' Job's children would party and Job would pray and offer sacrifices for them to keep them sanctified before God.
During our days of feasting- our celebrating - how easy is it to get caught up in things ungodly especially when you add alcohol and drugs to the mix. As soon as you add those elements you strip away the natural inhibitions we possess and we are no longer in our right minds- right?
Eli to Hannah-
1Sa 1:14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.
Hannah wasn't drunk, but the point being drunk people act much differently than those who aren't influenced by alcohol. Depending upon the severity of the drunkenness the actions match that severity. We all know, we've all seen it, watched it in movies, or even experienced it in friends and family members, or perhaps even in ourselves. The advisement of Eli to Hannah to put away her wine, was an advisement against her supposed drunkenness.
2Sa 11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
2Sa 11:13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
David wanted to get Uriah drunk enough to let go of his inhibition to abstain from being with his wife as a matter of honor, so that Uriah would be with Bathsheba and the child she carried could be called his- not David's conceived through adultery. It didn't work. Uriah was able to keep to his conviction even though David and made him drunk. The hope however had been to lessen Uriah's conviction through alcohol- the knowledge that getting drunk has bad connotations is a given.
1Ki 16:8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.
1Ki 16:9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
1Ki 16:10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
Drinking himself drunk- because Elah drank himself drunk it made it very easy to kill him.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Eph 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord
Be NOT drunk with wine- wherein is excess. That excess being profligacy which means- 'A profligate or very vicious course of life; a state of being abandoned in moral principle and in vice.' A state of being abandoned in moral principle and in vice, these are far from good things. But getting drunk does that- moral principles are abandoned, actions are made that would NEVER be made without the drunkenness.
Gen 19:31 And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
Gen 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
Gen 19:33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Two daughters made their father drunk, so drunk that he wasn't even aware of what was going on when they seduced him! Without the drunkenness there would have been no seducing going on whatsoever.
Lev 10:9 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:
Lev 10:10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
Lev 10:11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.
Do NOT drink wine nor strong drink- this is a admonition to the Levite priests. When you are drunk you are undiscerning and you don't care about what is holy and unholy, clean and unclean. You lose your sense of purpose, you lose your ability to recognize right from wrong and you surely can't teach others if you are drunk.
We know this don't we? The Bible speaks of it and we know it as well. There was a time in our country we tried to prohibit alcohol consumption because of the evils associated with it, yet that didn't last. People will drink and they will drink to get drunk for many, many reasons. Some do it just because they call it a 'good time', 'loosening up', 'relaxing'. Some do it to give themselves an excuse to forget about life's hardships, allowing the drug that alcohol is to numb them temporarily.
There are many reasons why people drink and what happens when they drink is something they don't concern themselves with.
So, going back to Job- it was logical for Job to want to have his children sinless before God, to have them forgiven of their sins, to sanctify them. Job didn't know for sure that the feasting had them sinning but it was a good bet that it did. The dangers of alcohol go far beyond the worldly dangers and into the spiritual dangers. Alcohol endangers spiritual lives- alcohol can turn an otherwise innocently festive experience into one that is not quite so innocent. Sin-- cursing God in the heart-- and truly sin IS a cursing of God in the heart, it's breaking God's commands of love.
Job knew as we too should know- that feasting - celebrating- getting drunk or even not getting drunk but allowing the festivities themselves lead us to ungodly behavior- is something we need to ask forgiveness for if we get caught up in it. Prayerfully we won't get entrapped by any behavior that would lead us away from God. Prayerfully we will fall to our knees and plead for forgiveness claiming the offering of God's only Son as our Sacrifice, if we do find ourselves trapped.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior, may we NOT be caught up in the feasting, festivities, and celebrations and lose sight of our God, our Savior, our Lord, our King! Please God hear this prayer!
Amen.
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