DISCOURSE VIII
GONE IS THE FASTING [927] of the Jews, 1 or rather, the drunkenness of the Jews. 2 Yes, it is possible to be drunk without wine; it is possible for a sober man to act as if he is drunk and to revel like a prodigal. If a man could not get drunk without wine, the prophet would never have said: "Woe to those who are drunk not from wine;" 3 if a man could not get drunk without wine, Paul would never have said: "Do not be drunk with wine." 4 For he said this as if there were a possibi‐
____________________1
If Discourses IV-VIII constitute a series, this sermon would have been
given after the Ten Days of Penitence and the Monday following Sukkot,
probably in the year 387. Cf. Introd. III 25.'Given the content of the sermons already delivered, what now remains is to reclaim and rehabilitate
those who have fallen into the Judaizing trap.
2
In Disc. 1.2.5 the Jews' hardness of heart came from a gluttony and
drunkenness which made them reject Christ's yoke when they should have
been fasting; now their fasting is untimely and an abomination (cf. Disc.
1.2.6). Those who fasted in Isaiah's day (cf. Is 58.4-5) should have been
properly contrite instead of drunk with anger; now when the Jews fast,
they dance in the marketplace and go to licentious excesses. Their pretext
is that they are fasting, but they act like men who are drunk (cf. Disc.
1.2.7). Note that their drunkenness does not come from wine.
3
Cf. Is 29.9. The chapter deals with the Assyrians' assault on Jerusalem, but
the invaders will fail because of Yahweh's protection. In her blindness and
drunkenness (which makes her stagger, but not from strong drink) Jerusalem refuses to believe God's revelation that she will be saved. F. Moriarty,
JBC 16:49, says that Judah's moral lethargy and persistent refusal to listen
to conscience will inevitably lead to the loss of all moral sense.
4
Eph 5.18.
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