The Ripley advertiser. [volume] (Ripley, Miss.) 1843-1897, 1845-08-09

he passages before us,s bold and striking ono.
The crazy inebriate sptly typiHes tho helpless
and awful condition u the nations Of the earth,
whom tho arm Of the Almighty is stretched out
against them, and whom his wrath IL poured out
!. upon them. They shall stagger snd fsll be-
meath his power, like the drunkard under the in.
hucnce Of The Intoxicating drsugbt. BY csus.
{ ing them ITO drink"of the cup, we are doubt.
= less to understand a proclamation on the par, Of
B the prophet, that they should all in succession
paftake OF The punishment, which God had IN
. store for them. To the Jews, the invasion Of
their country, and their after captivity, are evi.
IDENTITY pointed out. jerusalem is to drink Of The
cup OF her sister Ssmaris. Samafia, the capita Al
OF the ten tribes after the division OF the country,
at the close Of Soomons reign into two seperaie
monarchies, was taken and desolased BY the
Assyrisns. The last verse is addressed to the
surrounding nations, d number of whom are
previously enumerated, and has reference per.
haps TO their subsection 10 the Chadesn power,
which was itself in turn to be overthown. The
same figure, rendered more expressive BY the
addition Of stronger terms, is employed by Da.
vid, Psalms, LXXV. 8:
"For the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and
and the wine is red; it is full Of mirture;and he
poureth out OF the same: but the dregs thereof,
all me toicksd ofthe earth shall wring them out and
drink them"
The cup "full OF mixture" is unquestonably
an alluson to practice common among the
Hebrews, already alluded to--that of making
pure wine more potent by mingling drugs with
It. Thus strengthened, it was more fOrcibe
symbol OF Jehovah's vengeance. The ingredi-
ents would naturally have tendency to sink TO
the bottom of the cup, making the last portion
or. "dregs" the strongest. These the wicked
are 10 drink-that is are TO suffer the fercest of
Gods fury. The selection Of wine TO represent
that, which of all things is most to be dreaded
by man--the wrath of the Almghty-brngs up
before the mind lively image Of the destruc-
tive influence it is capable Of exertng upon those
who use it. Thus far, we have seen nothing
commenting It's habitual use;but on the contrary
we tind it condemned and held up as dangerous.
Can we doubt what course the Scriptures point
out in reference 20 il!
~. Holy men Of old,when peculiarly devoted
to the service OF God, were commanded to al
stain from wine and strong drink God says to
Aaron, the prisei, Levitt y. o.;
ADO not drink wine nor strong drink, thou,
nor thy sons with thee, when ye 60 into the
tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it
shall DO a statute forever throughout your gen.
eraions."
So, too, when an individual became Naza.
rite, tina, is set himself peculiarly apart to the
service of God: this Injunction was laid upon
him, Numbers vi. 3:
"He shall separate himself from wine and strong
drink, and shall drink no vinegar of ,Oine or win.
egar Of strong drink, neither shall he drink a.
ny liquor ofgrdpes, nor eat moist grapes, or
dried"
Again, the birth of St. John, the Baptist,
who came to prepare the way for the gospel of
the Son of God, was announced with the de.
claration, Luke l. Is, "For he shall be great in
the sight Of the Lord,and shall drink neither 10 ne
nor strong drink" Paul also says, Tim. iii. 8,
that Bishop, among other qualifications must
be one "Not gipsn to wine,"
God never requires any thing at the hands
of his people, but that which is designed to pro-
mote their welfare and happiness; nor are the
instructions which be gives them for the regu.
lation of their conduct, mere unmeaning forms
Of words. They are full of meaning down to
the minutest particular. In the foregoing pas.
sages, significant lesson is taught which all
who 90 10 HE word for license to use wine, par.
ticularly the professed followers of Christ,
would do we'll to study. The separation oft,
in the sense of habitual drink, from his imme.
date service, as when the priests went into the
tabernacle, clearly implies an incompatlbility
between the two things; and the dsallowance
Of it to persons whom the Almighty selected
| for particular work, or whose special conse.
Grafton to his service required of them a cir
cumspect and holy life, seems plainly to init
mate that the best and safest course, is to have
nothing 10 do with it. The Nazarite, whom
some regard as type Of man before the fall,
was infinitely cut of from the use Of every pos.
sible product Of the vine doubtless with the de-
sign Of impressing more forcbIy upon his mind
the broad and total separation, which should
exist between himself and all manner OF intox- {
icatng beverages. And here word respect.
ing another matter. Hebrew scholars tell US
that the word rendered "vinegar of wine," Gig
nifies fern,ented wine. The use Of that expires.
sion in addition to the term wine, together with
the phrase sliquor of grapes" in the latter part
Of the verse is further evidence that the Jews
used both the fermented and unfermented juice
Of the grape, and that The appellation 'cine, as
previously suggested, might often refer simply
10 the latter species.
Nor can it be oblectedto the force OF the ar
pument drawn from the last mentioned exam
ME, that the Nazarite was also forbidden TO
touch dead body, TO assist in the burial OF the
dead. or to cut his hair during his vow, things
NOT evil in themselves, nor intended to be so
ranked by the prohibition. Special reasons
existed for the inclusion Of these in the list Of
acts not to be done. The touching Of dead
body, or being about it rendered persons cere.
monialIy unclean, which had to be removed ny
the performance Of certain rite, particularly
before presenting themselves in the house OF
the Lord. Hence the priests, as an outward
emblem of the purity Of their office and char.
scter. were prohibited by the Levitical law from
4 LII Aaosae inn IN