In Praise of Wine

[Koey]

I enjoy a lively discussion as long as there is respect on both sides, so please forgive me if this post offends anyone, especially those who call drinking a little wine sin. I especially love to bust what I call silly rules made up by mere men, which have absolutely nothing to do with genuine biblical Christianity. Mandatory teetotaling is to me, one such rule.

We are probably all familiar with the passages of the Bible that forbid drunkenness. They are often quoted by those who abstain from alcohol completely. But, did you realize there are actually passages of the Bible that praise the right, moderate use of wine? I'm sure some passages would be shocking to those who have never read their Bibles. Here are just a few examples: -

Genesis 14:18 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.​

Genesis 27:28 May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

Exodus 29:40 and with the first lamb one-tenth of a measure of choice flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering.​

Numbers 15:7 and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine, a pleasing odor to the LORD.​

Deuteronomy 11:14 then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil;​

Deuteronomy 14:23 In the presence of the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.​

Deuteronomy 14:26 spend the money for whatever you wish-- oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.​

Deuteronomy 33:28 So Israel lives in safety, untroubled is Jacob's abode in a land of grain and wine, where the heavens drop down dew.​

Psalm 104:14-15 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.​

Proverbs 31:6 Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;​

Ecclesiastes 10:19 Feasts are made for laughter; wine gladdens life, and money meets every need.​

Isaiah 36:17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.​

Amos 9:13 The time is surely coming, says the LORD, when the one who plows shall overtake the one who reaps, and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.​

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Matthew 9:17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

Luke 7:33-34 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

John 2:3-9 Jesus turned water to wine

I Timothy 5:23 No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.​

I think that is a good verse to end on -- a "little" being the operative word.​

Comments? Discussion? Who dares call moderation a sin?​

 

[Benoni]

As a boy my mother raised four small children alone, we never had a car so when we would walk to the grocery store we would always cross the street to avoid the local bars. Later when my youngest was attending Christian school the teachers told the kids that the wine in the Bible had no alcohol in it. Why do God’s people run from reality? Yes I agree I have no problem drinking wine or beer; in fact I enjoy it.

But there is a spiritual side to this awesome subject.

LEES and the Dregs
I really believe God’s Word is divine and deep things of God also the very hidden from the natural carnal understanding. According to Webster the words lees and dregs are defined as follows: lees Pronunciation: 'lEz, Function: noun plural Etymology: Middle English lie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin lia: the sediment of a liquor (as wine) during fermentation and aging. These two words are mentioned six times in scripture.

Zephaniah 1:12​

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Jeremiah 48:11, Isaiah 25:6

Isaiah 51:17
Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. ​

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Wine is very important symbolically, wine was at the wedding feast when Jesus changed the water into wine. He said the new wine is better then the old. The new wine does not fit in old wine skins and the list goes on.

My point is this; so often believers are so full of Lees and dregs or complacencies; or preconceived ideas they are hearing God’s Word; but miss the revelation. Today we are bombarded with information; be it religious, political etc. I am not a wine maker and know very little on this subject. But God’s Word is deep and there are so many awesome morsels of truth; but no we have our ideas of God or lees and dregs and there is no room for His revelation; His new wine.


Water into Wine

Wine is symbolic of the Revelation of the Spirit and water is symbolic of God’s Word; in other words tradition or revelation. You never understand the revelation of God’s Spirit if all you know are the traditions of religion. God’s Word is not a worn out old wine skin; it is something new and fresh and alive. God is not old nor is He new; He is eternal; His word to us ward is a learning, growing, flowing experience.

John 2: 10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Matthew 9:1716No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it." (Isaiah 65:8).

The first time the word "cluster" is used in the Scripture is in Genesis 40:10, at the time Joseph was in prison, and the butler told Joseph a dream, for him to interpret. In the dream was a cluster of grapes, "and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup." The point we are after is this illustration of a cluster of grapes-- not a great amount, just enough to be pressed into a cup. But it also betokens the glory of the NEW WINE that shall be forthcoming in all its reality.


We also notice that it was PRESSED into the cup. God's first fruits company of the new covenant order are truly being---


Pressed out of measure, and pressed to all lengths,
Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;
Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul;
Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.
Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends;
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.
Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into living a life in the Lord,
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured."
(Louise S. Pridgeon)

A CUP to drink! Jesus asked them, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto Him, We are able." And then He said, "Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with..." (Matthew 20:22-23). But it is one thing to talk about "drinking the cup" and quite another thing in the actual experience, as we share "the fellowship of His sufferings." Yet we read that "He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it." Did you notice that wording? He took it, AND GAVE THANKS! Can we also GIVE THANKS while we share with Him the cup, and give our life as an offering of the choice vine cluster.
"But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:29). He drank a cup with man, and promised there would be a day when man would drink WITH HIM, of that NEW WINE, in His kingdom, sharing the New covenant. Then all the former things will have passed away. "He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second." Amen!

Though there is a drinking of the "cup of suffering" now, we rejoice to know that we shall yet drink of that NEW WINE of His kingdom, to share with Him all of its glorious reality. We now belong to the CHOICE VINE, and though at this time there is but a CLUSTER-- in due time there shall be a full harvest.