"To create the liquor appetite in little children, alcohol is introduced into confectionery. Such confectionery is sold in the shops. And by the gift of these candies the liquor seller entices children into his resorts. MH 339.1"
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
This verse warns against causing children to sin, which is thematically similar to the passage's condemnation of introducing alcohol to children through confectionery.
"Day by day, month by month, year by year, the work goes on. Fathers and husbands and brothers, the stay and hope and pride of the nation, are steadily passing into the liquor dealer's haunts, to be sent back wrecked and ruined. MH 339.2"
"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 colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."
The Proverbs passage vividly describes the effects of alcohol abuse, including woe, sorrow, contentions, wounds, and altered perception. The EGW passage echoes this by describing the ruin and wreckage caused by alcohol, aligning with the consequences detailed in Proverbs.
"More terrible still, the curse is striking the very heart of the home. More and more, women are forming the liquor habit. In many a household, little children, even in the innocence and helplessness of babyhood, are in daily peril through the neglect, the abuse, the vileness of drunken mothers. Sons and daughters are growing up under the shadow of this terrible evil. What outlook for their future but that they will sink even lower than their parents? MH 339.3"
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
The EGW passage describes children growing up in a home environment poisoned by alcohol abuse, suggesting a negative trajectory for their future. This contrasts with the principle in Proverbs 22:6, which emphasizes the importance of proper training to ensure a positive future. The EGW passage highlights the consequences of *not* training a child in the way they should go.
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
While Ephesians 6:4 speaks generally about proper parenting, the EGW passage illustrates a specific violation of this principle through the neglect and abuse resulting from parental alcoholism. The EGW passage provides a specific example of failing to bring children up in the 'nurture and admonition of the Lord'.
"From so-called Christian lands the curse is carried to the regions of idolatry. The poor, ignorant savages are taught the use of liquor. Even among the heathen, men of intelligence recognize and protest against it as a deadly poison; but in vain have they sought to protect their lands from its ravages. By civilized peoples, tobacco, liquor, and opium are forced upon the heathen nations. The ungoverned passions of the savage, stimulated by drink, drag him down to degradation before unknown, and it becomes an almost hopeless undertaking to send missionaries to these lands. MH 339.4"
"For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written."
The EGW passage describes how the introduction of alcohol to 'heathen' nations by so-called Christian lands leads to degradation and hinders missionary efforts. This aligns with Romans 2:24, which states that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of the actions of those who claim to follow Him. The EGW passage provides a specific example of how this blasphemy occurs.
"Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!"
Both passages condemn the act of giving others substances that lead to their degradation. Habakkuk focuses on drunkenness and exposure, while EGW broadens it to include other harmful substances and their impact on 'heathen' populations. The core principle of exploiting and harming others through addictive substances connects them strongly.
"Through their contact with peoples who should have given them a knowledge of God, the heathen are led into vices which are proving the destruction of whole tribes and races. And in the dark places of the earth the men of civilized nations are hated because of this. MH 339.5"
"For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written."
This verse speaks of the name of God being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of the actions of those who should be representing Him, which aligns with the idea of the heathen being led into vices by those who should be giving them a knowledge of God.