Quick Question

[ge0rgei]

i started reading the bible and i have a couple of questions heres one for right now.

in Number 28 (NLT) it talks about the daily offerings and how god likes the smell and that its his "FOOD". it says that for a liquid offering you must present one quart of alcoholic drink.

so my question is... is it ok to drink?

EDIT: I'm not a drinker i only drink socially and not to get wasted. another thing to note is that I'm not a very social person

 

[SharonL]

You will get all kinds of answsers - I was raised drinking is a sin, but i have not had the Holy Spirit condemn me for a social drink - I don't like it, so only sip it - but anything we do in excess can be wrong - we can drink too many cokes. But go with the leading of the Holy Spirit on this because you will hear from some yes people and some no people.

The wine they speak of in the Bible some say is not ferminted, but then why does the Bible speak of drunks - so you will get arguments on both sides.

 

[heron]

I agree, we can easily drink too many Cokes.


Be careful to present My offering, My bread for My offerings by fire, of a soothing aroma to Me, at their appointed time.

28:7 Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]Necek : [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Geneva]drink offering, libation, molten image, something poured out

[/FONT]It appears that the drink offering was not ingested, but poured out, maybe onto the altar. If so, you could also make the argument that it's like an alcoholic dumping their bottles of vodka down the sink. Lol, that wasn't what you wanted to hear.

In a hot region with no refrigeration, fruit juice would change composition in a few hours. The yeast that fermented juice, prevented other bacteria from multiplying. Problems would be bacteria that form film at the top, and increase acetic acid, and spoil the juice.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e08.htm

So unless they were drinking juice immediately, they probably had a light fermentation in their drinks.

As for whether it's beneficial for Christians to drink, I would suggest looking at the realities of life and statistics. Look at what excessive drinking leads to, and ask yourself honestly if you will not head down any of those paths.

 

[chilehed]

If it were sinful to drink, then Jesus wouldn't have made water into wine at the wedding feast. Drinking is not sinful, but drunkenness is. I've proven to myself that I am a drunkard, therefore by the grace of God I do not drink at all. But that's me.

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart." Psalm 104: 14-15

"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." 1 Timothy 5:23

 

[salida]

The wine back then wasn't the alcoholic type.

 

[heron]

I Tim - an interesting verse in light of faith healing discussions-- moderating daily habits to maintain good health. With water, there were sometimes risks of hepatitis, cholera, and other water-borne diseases. We are fortunate now to have regularly-tested water.

Notice also that the average life expectancy during the Roman Empire was about 25, with many living into their 50's. That's about when adults now begin to feel the "errors of their ways."

Roman life expectancy: Ulpian's evidence. [Harv Stud Classic Philol. 1982] - PubMed result
http://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/pdfs/scheidel/091001.pdf PDF