This is the last issue Pastor Muoka dealt with in his sermon during the international crusade of his church in Lagos on Sunday, February 5, which I read on page 37 of the Sunday Vanguard of February 12, 2017. Where he said: “maybe you are involved in smoking and alcoholic drinks, whether you are drinking it, or selling it to people or serving people, you must repent and not drink it, not sell it to people, not work in breweries and not work in any hotel where such things take place.” As to be expected, a number of the readers who reached out to me on phone or through text messages, were opposed to the statement of Pastor Muoka on the ground that in the Holy Bible it is only the Nazarite (or Nazirite), God told not to drink wine or strong drink and did not say people should not work in breweries or hotels. A Nazarite is a person who is consecrated or separated for service to the Lord.
The order of the Heavenly Father that the clergy should not take intoxicating drink is in Numbers 6:1 – 4 where he said: “When either a man or woman shall separate themselves to the vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: he shall separate himself (or herself) from wine or strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he (or she) drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes or dried.”
According to Muoka’s critics, Aaron and his sons who were the first clerics in the Bible and the priests generally were not totally banned from taking wine and alcoholic drink, because what the Ancient of Days said in Leviticus 10:8 was: “Do not drink wine or strong drink, thou, nor they sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.” While in Exodus 44:21 the Lord said: “neither shall any priest drink wine before going into the inner court.” Which means that the clergy were free to drink wine and alcohol after they had finished their official duty for the day and would have no cause to go into the tabernacle or inner court again.
The first evidence that the Lord is not against non – clerics taking wine and alcohol is what He told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 14:26 to do after selling their produce. Where he said: “And thou shalt bestow that money for whatever they soul lust after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine or for strong drink.”
The second evidence is that during the wedding in Cana in the district of Galilee, Jesus Christ turned water into wine for those present when the one provided by the host had been consumed (John 2: 1 – 12). There is also the issue of Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 5:23 advising Timothy, his assistant, from Asia Minor (today’s Turkey) in these words: “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities”. What God and the others said in the Bible is that people should avoid drunkenness and getting into a state of stupor.
What many Christians do not know is that wine is a fermented drink that contains alcohol, including the one used for Holy Communion in churches in modern times. What the priests do is to dilute it with the quantity of water that reduces its alcoholic potency and intoxicating feeling.
But for me, Pastor Muoka calling on people during his sermon not to smoke or drink alcohol and not to work in breweries and hotels is a non – issue. Because unlike the vices he mentioned in the earlier parts of his speech, he did not say getting involved in any of these was a sinful act. The ones he talked about in this regard were what Almighty God, the prophets, Jesus Christ and the Apostles told people not to do.
These are wearing the clothing of the opposite sex, women dressing half – nakedly or indecently and using bangles and men jerry curling their hair and putting on earrings. Others are bribery, adultery, fornication, having unforgiving spirit, anger, hatred, covetousness and speaking evil of other people. The rest are blasphemy, a Christian patronizing a witchdoctor for charms for deliverance or good luck, belonging to secret cults, homosexuality, masturbation, lesbianism, kidnapping, terrorism and murder.
More to come next week