Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.
This warning comes inside a father's appeal to his son. It asks not just how much a person eats and drinks, but who he sits down with — and what that table does to a life.
The command follows an invitation to listen. One writer shows how far that listening has to go:
"You, my son, hear and be wise, and guide your heart in the way." Not talking but hearing is the path to wisdom, and the heart is at least as much concerned as the ears.
The wording forbids being among a certain crowd. Kelly ties it to company kept away from home, and to who is most at risk:
Love of company outside the home, free from the standards home expects, is no small snare. So it is said, "Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat." That is a temptation to the fast-growing young. They are often impatient of restraint and full of impulsive energy.
Why does the company matter? Because the lowest company sets the tone. And it does its work in relaxed hours, not working ones:
The lowest society you keep is the one that colours you. Many a person, I have no doubt, gets into low society. It corrupts and damages him before he knows where he is… I mean social company, where you can unbutton your coat; do you understand? In business you keep your eyes open.
The next verse spells out where this way of living ends:
Both eating and drinking expose a person to lack of moderation, especially if either becomes a habit. "For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags." Shame and suffering must be the end of such an unworthy way; and where is the fear of the LORD in it?
One writer names the folly behind this way of living, then follows it past death:
Social drinking may have its attraction, but this is not for the believer (v. 20). We must eat and drink to live. But to live to eat and drink is folly. The rich man of Luke 12:16-21 shows it. He said with confidence, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." That very night God told him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you." Verse 21 says the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty. That may not happen in this life. But how much worse is eternal poverty!
The verse targets a way of living, not food and drink as such. His enemies threw this very charge at Jesus Himself:
Notice that the blessed Lord entered fully into the social life of the people. He did not ban their meat and drink. As a result, His enemies reproached Him: "Behold, a… drunkard" (Matt. 11:19).
Another writer sets the standard, and what it costs to miss it:
The Christian is told to eat as he does everything else with his body. It must suit someone whose body belongs to the Lord, a member of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:13, 15, 19). The glory of God should be our final aim in keeping the body alive: "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). On the other hand, the absence of self-control and the abuse of the appetites are real sins. God sternly condemns the glutton and the drunkard alike (Deut. 21:20; Prov. 23:21).
- Heart — The warning follows a call to hear and guide the heart. Wisdom starts with listening, not talking.
- Company — The command is against being among the self-indulgent. Relaxed company colours a person, and the young feel that pull hardest.
- Habit — Food and drink both invite excess, and excess hardens into habit. Slumber and rags are where it ends.
- Poverty — Living to eat and drink is the rich man's folly of Luke 12; the poverty it earns may outlast this life.
- Glory — The answer is not banning food and drink; the Lord shared them. It is eating and drinking as one who belongs to Him, to the glory of God.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.
A father is speaking to his son here. The subject is company — who he eats and drinks with, and what that company costs. The answer is blunt: unchecked appetite empties the purse and leaves a man in rags. Commentators press further, and ask which poverty is meant in the end.
The trap is not the food itself but the crowd around it. One writer shows why that crowd pulls hardest at the young.
Love of company outside, and free from home rules, is no small snare. That is why it says, "Do not be among wine-drinkers, among gluttonous eaters of meat." This tempts those in the fast growth of youth. They are likely to be impatient of restraint, and full of headlong energy.
The verse names drinking and eating together. The same writer points to what turns either one into ruin.
Both eating and drinking expose a person to a lack of moderation, especially if either becomes a habit… Shame and suffering must be the end of such an unworthy way. Where is the fear of Jehovah in it?
Overeating and heavy drinking look like small faults. One writer ties them to the body's owner, and so to the glory of God.
When it comes to food, the Christian is told to handle this, and every other bodily function, in a way that suits someone whose body belongs to the Lord. That body is a member of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:13, 15, 19). The glory of God should be our final aim in keeping the body alive. "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). On the other hand, the absence of self-control and the abuse of the appetites are real sins. God sternly condemns the glutton and the drunkard alike (Deut. 21:20; Prov. 23:21; Phil. 3:16).
The same two words — glutton and drunkard — appear in Israel's law (Deuteronomy 21:20). One writer explains what drink has to do with a case about defiance of parents.
The sin of disobedience and rebellion is dealt with here in connection with drunkenness. This is not because drunkenness was the capital sin. It is because such stubbornness and disobedience to parents is so unnatural and cowardly a crime that it can only be put down to the maddening influence of drink. At the same time, this shows that drunkenness is no excuse for such a crime before God — just as it ought not to be, and generally is not, an excuse before human judges.
Another writer marks the difference between how God dealt with that son then and how He deals now.
In this case the son had become unmanageable, and sentence followed at once: stoning him to death. This was the law — judgment without mercy. While rebellion is no less evil today in God's eyes, yet in the present day of grace God is patiently delaying judgment, wanting men to repent and be saved. But under law, judgment was carried out to make others fear the consequences of rebellion.
The poverty promised here does not always arrive in this life. One writer takes the verse past the bank balance, to the man in Luke 12 who planned years of ease and lost his soul that night.
It is necessary to eat and drink to live, but to live to eat and drink is folly. We see this in the rich man of Luke 12:16-21. He said with confidence, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." That very night God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you." Verse 21 says that the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty. It may not be in this life, but how much worse is eternal poverty!
- Company — the danger starts with the table you choose. Life away from home rules, among heavy drinkers and eaters, is a snare, and youth feels its pull most.
- Habit — one indulgence is not the ruin; repetition is. Both eating and drinking expose a person to a loss of moderation once either becomes a habit.
- Sin — these are not lapses of taste. The body belongs to the Lord, so eat and drink for God's glory. God sternly condemns the glutton and the drunkard alike.
- Rebellion — the same two words brand the son who would not hear his parents in Deuteronomy 21. Drink drives such defiance, yet never excuses it. Under law the sentence was death; today God waits for men to repent.
- Poverty — the bill comes due, if not here then hereafter. Living to eat and drink is the folly of the man who stored up goods for years and lost his soul that night. Eternal poverty is the worse ruin.