The Signs of the Times
November 20, 1907
Drunkenness and Crime
Their Significance
In these days when vice and crime of every form are rapidly increasing, there is a tendency to become so familiar with existing conditions that we lose sight of their cause and of their significance. More intoxicating liquors are used today than have ever been used heretofore. In the horrible details of revolting drunkenness and terrible crime, the newspapers give but a partial report of the story of the resultant lawlessness. Violence is in the land. And yet, notwithstanding the many evidences of the increase of crime and lawlessness, men seldom stop to think seriously of the meaning of these things. Almost without exception, men boast of the enlightenment and progress of the present age. ST November 20, 1907, par. 1
Upon those to whom God has given light, rests the solemn responsibility of calling the attention of others to the significance of the increase of drunkenness and crime. They should also bring before the minds of others the Scriptures that plainly portray the conditions which shall exist just prior to the second coming of Christ. Faithfully should they uplift the divine standard, and raise their voices in protest against the sanctioning of the liquor traffic by legal enactment. ST November 20, 1907, par. 2
The evils that are so apparent at the present time are the same that brought destruction to the antediluvian world. “In the days that were before the Flood,” one of the prevailing sins was drunkenness. From the record in Genesis we learn that “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Crime reigned supreme. Men whose reason was dethroned by intoxicating drink, thought little of taking the life of a human being. ST November 20, 1907, par. 3
“As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” The drunkenness and the crime that now prevail have been foretold by the Saviour. We are living in the closing days of this earth's history. It is a most solemn time. Everything betokens the soon return of Christ. The very conditions we see in the great cities of our land, the mad acts of men whose minds have been inflamed by drugged liquor sold under sanction of the rulers of the people, the dead and the dying whose destruction can be traced to the use of poisonous liquor—all these evils are but a fulfillment of our Saviour's prophecy, whereby we may know that Jesus will soon appear in the clouds of heaven. ST November 20, 1907, par. 4
Divine Warnings
The Lord can not bear much longer with an intemperate and perverse generation. There are many solemn warnings in the Scriptures against the use of intoxicating liquors. In the days of old, when Moses was rehearsing the desire of Jehovah concerning His people, there were uttered against the drunkard the following words: ST November 20, 1907, par. 5
“And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, tho I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 6
Solomon says: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 7
The use of wine among the Israelites was one of the causes that finally resulted in their captivity. Thru the prophet Amos the Lord said to them: ST November 20, 1907, par. 8
“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion! ... Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall: that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 9
“Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness.” “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 10
These words of warning and command are pointed and decided. Let those in positions of public trust take heed, lest thru wine and strong drink they forget the law, and pervert judgment. Rulers and judges should ever be in a condition to fulfil the instruction of the Lord: “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in anywise, and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 11
The Lord God of heaven ruleth. He alone is above all authority, over all kings and rulers. The Lord has given special directions in His word in reference to the use of wine and strong drink. He has forbidden their use, and enforced His prohibitions with strong warnings and threatenings. But His forbidding the use of intoxicating beverages is not an exercise of arbitrary authority. He seeks to restrain men, in order that they may escape from the evil results of indulgence in wine and strong drink. Degradation, cruelty, wretchedness, and strife follow as the natural results of intemperance. God has pointed out the consequence of following this course of evil. This He has done that there may not be a perversion of His laws, and that men may be spared the widespread misery resulting from the course of evil men who, for the sake of gain, sell maddening intoxicants. ST November 20, 1907, par. 12
The relation of crime to intemperance is well understood by men who have to deal with those who transgress the laws of the land. In the words of a Philadelphia judge: “We can trace four-fifths of the crimes that are committed to the influence of rum. There is not one case in twenty where a man is tried for his life, in which rum is not the direct or indirect cause of the murder. Rum and blood, I mean the shedding of blood, go hand in hand.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 13
A district attorney in the city of Boston is reported as declaring that “ninety-nine out of one hundred of the crimes in our commonwealth are produced by intoxicating liquors.” ST November 20, 1907, par. 14
(Concluded next week.)