In the Bible, drunkenness is often used figuratively to describe a state of spiritual or moral confusion, disorientation, or judgment. This metaphorical use of drunkenness serves as a powerful illustration of the consequences of turning away from God and His commandments.

1. Spiritual Blindness and Confusion: The prophets frequently employ the imagery of drunkenness to depict the spiritual blindness and confusion that befalls those who reject God's truth. In Isaiah 29:9-10 , the prophet declares, "Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep; He has shut your eyes, the prophets; He has covered your heads, the seers." Here, drunkenness symbolizes a divinely imposed stupor, a result of the people's persistent disobedience and refusal to heed God's word.

2. Judgment and Wrath: Figurative drunkenness is also used to describe the outpouring of God's judgment and wrath upon nations and individuals. In Jeremiah 25:15-16 , the LORD instructs the prophet, "Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds because of the sword that I will send among them." The imagery of drinking the cup of wrath conveys the inevitability and severity of divine judgment, leading to a state of chaos and destruction akin to drunkenness.

3. Moral and Ethical Depravity: The metaphor of drunkenness is further employed to illustrate moral and ethical depravity. In Revelation 17:2 , the apostle John describes the great prostitute with whom "the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." This passage uses the imagery of intoxication to depict the pervasive and corrupting influence of sin, leading people away from righteousness and into spiritual adultery.

4. False Security and Complacency: Drunkenness is also a metaphor for false security and complacency, particularly in the context of impending judgment. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6-7 , Paul exhorts believers, "So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night." Here, sobriety is contrasted with drunkenness to emphasize the need for vigilance and readiness in anticipation of the Lord's return, warning against the dangers of spiritual lethargy and complacency.

5. Deception and Delusion: Finally, figurative drunkenness can represent deception and delusion, as seen in Isaiah 19:14 : "The LORD has poured into them a spirit of confusion; they have made Egypt stagger in all she does, as a drunkard staggers in his vomit." This passage highlights how God allows those who persist in rebellion to be ensnared by their own delusions, leading to a state of disarray and instability.

Throughout Scripture, the figurative use of drunkenness serves as a vivid reminder of the spiritual perils associated with turning away from God. It underscores the importance of remaining spiritually alert, morally upright, and steadfast in faith, avoiding the pitfalls of confusion, complacency, and corruption.Psalm 73:10
Therefore his people return here: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
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Psalm 75:8
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
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Isaiah 28:8
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
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Isaiah 51:17,21-23
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; you have drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.
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Isaiah 63:6
And I will tread down the people in my anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
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Jeremiah 25:15,16,27,28
For thus said the LORD God of Israel to me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.
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Jeremiah 51:7-9
Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
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Lamentations 3:15
He has filled me with bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood.
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Ezekiel 23:31-34
You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore will I give her cup into your hand.
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Habakkuk 2:15,16
Woe to him that gives his neighbor drink, that put your bottle to him, and make him drunken also, that you may look on their nakedness!
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Another Foolish Erasure of Marcion's Exposed Certain Figurative ...
... XVIII."Another Foolish Erasure of Marcion's Exposed Certain Figurative Expressions
of ... the seducers of the consecrated (Nazarites) to drunkenness are rebuked ...
/.../the five books against marcion/chapter xviii another foolish erasure of.htm

The Second Coming of Christ.
... expression under this theory refers exclusively to the figurative and not to ... lest
haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/cxiv the second coming of.htm

Oration on the Holy Lights.
... 1. The figurative Baptism of Israel by Moses in the cloud and in the ... mystery; not
deceitful nor disorderly, nor belonging to Greek error or drunkenness (for so ...
/.../cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/oration xxxix oration on the.htm

Paul's Reasons for Temperance
... sobriety and inspiration as the true exhilaration in contrast with riotous drunkenness. ...
which he had likened it, and is backing up his figurative statement as ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture ephesians peter/pauls reasons for temperance.htm

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Coming of Christ. Ch. 21:5-38
... are described, however, in terms which may be largely figurative: "signs in ... lest
haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares ...
/.../erdman/the gospel of luke an exposition/i the destruction of jerusalem.htm

Against Embellishing the Body.
... creeps out to candle-light as out of a hole; for drunkenness and the ... us not to approach
to another's river, meaning by the figurative expression "another's ...
/.../clement/the instructor paedagogus/chapter ii against embellishing the body.htm

Ephesians v. 15, 16, 17
... I give thee spiritual drink; for drunkenness even cuts off the articulate ... definition
to the preceding hossophoi, "as wise." "In this figurative conception the ...
/.../homily xix ephesians v 15.htm

Acts II
... man could speak, and this is the best way to refute a charge of drunkenness. ... Savior,
is called a coming of the Spirit, may, in the highly figurative style of ...
/.../mcgarvey/a commentary on acts of the apostles/acts ii.htm

Sin is Spiritual Slavery
... The term "spiritual" is too often taken to mean unreal, fanciful, figurative. ... lashings
of conscience, he wishes, nay, even longs, to be freed from drunkenness. ...
/.../shedd/sermons to the natural man/sin is spiritual slavery.htm

An Unalterable Law
... EVERYWHERE under the old figurative dispensation, blood was sure to greet your eyes. ...
What if drunkenness be given up, and temperance become the rule? ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 60 1914/an unalterable law.htm

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