King Solomon on Wine and Marijuana

 

Would King Solomon have concurred the legal use of marijuana to be wise? Three thousand years ago, he wrote a proverb which gives a clue to how he may have answered this question.

Keep in mind when you read it that he also wrote about the different occurrences everyone may experience in their lifetimes. For example, “a time for joy and a time for sorrow.” Also keep in mind that although there were probably opiate drugs  referred to in the proverb as alcoholic types of medicines in use, wine was more available to drink for nourishment at meals, celebration at joyful gatherings and weddings, and to drown out pain and sorrow.

This past week I read in the news that Colorado politicians are giving themselves accolades about the new two million dollars of taxes they have collected after recently passing the most liberal laws for the use of marijuana. Also this week a Congressman who admits a personal history of drug addiction in his life voiced his opposition to legalizing drugs in our nation. The question of what is in the best interests of our nation in regards to the legal use of drugs is now a hotly contested subject of debate in our nation.

I surmised what King Solomon, based on his proverb, may have answered a similar question asked by the Queen of Sheba.  The novel is a contemporary application of a story form to promote understanding of proverbs and ancient wise sayings in relation to our modern times.

After reading, ask yourself this question. Is our nation dying?

Excerpt

“For example Solomon, here we sit, two wealthy rulers, and discuss wisdom from the perspective of the rich. Could it be possible that a poor man that has nothing in his life but hard work, sickness, and sorrow, drinks wine to excess to find some pleasure to escape the daily mundane burden of his life. Answer me this question. What does your Goddess of Wisdom teach about drinking wine from the perspective in a poor man’s life?” Bilqis asked again in a tone of exasperation.

“A poor man may drink wine to find respite from intolerable poverty and unbearable toil. Wine is an effective medicine at times for one to bear pain, toil, and sorrow. However, while wine will help to comfort someone for a short time, the next day, he will face the same misery. Wine drunk to excess will effect judgment, vitality, and stamina and shorten life span. Yet, there are appropriate times to wisely make use of wine and alcohol (opiate) as a medicine during extreme times of sickness or misery in their life.” Give alcohol to a man who is going to die, and wine to those who are sad, that they may drink ad forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. (Proverbs 31:6, 7)

Source: Chapter Nine

As A Lily Among Thorns – A Story of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, and the Goddess of Wisdom by Rudy U Martinka.

Available as an eBook at all sellers.  Read an excerpt @

http://amazon.com/gp/search?field-author=rudy+martinka&index=books