wine, wisdom, meddling

I am still planning on addressing the submission, sexist topic, but this morning I have come across so many wonderful truths in Proverbs and Matthew.  When I came to know Christ as my savior at 22 years old, I was saved out of a life where the bar was a social gathering place. Alcohol and drugs were an every day common occurrence among my peers. When I experienced Christ for the first time in my life, the whole of creation opened for me...i was able to see the beauty and majesty of God for the first time. I was overwhelmed by his love, his beauty, his forgiveness, and his magnificent plan for my life. Almost immediately there was no time and no desire to stay with the old crowd or my old ways...all things had become new. Since that time, over thirty years ago, I have never looked back or even once desired the old ways. Having an alcoholic drink, though I would not judge another, does not appeal to me. One, I do not enjoy the taste, so I don't know if I would hold the same conviction if I did; I would hope so because of what the Scriptures teach. My view of alcohol from a Biblical perspective began when a good friend of mine, Dr. Colin Smith, whom I admired, shared that Kings and Priests, and the Nazarites in the Bible did not drink alcoholic drinks. They were forbidden. In fact the language in Leviticus 10 is so strong that I would be scared to death if I were a priest. “And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, ‘Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.” That is pretty strong language! And I do realize that the context is referring to abstaining from alcohol when in the tent of meeting, or in the presence of the Lord, but that is what makes Dr. Smith’s teaching so powerful. We today are in the continual presence of God because we are the living walking temple of God…He lives within us!

            If you went on line and just typed in the phrase (did priests drink wine in bible?) you will find some very interesting articles about fermented and unfermented wine and pictures of what happens to the brain for those who drink alcohol. It is an eye opener.  Well, I can see that I am running out of time and won’t get to the wisdom and meddling subjects as noted in the title. What I wanted to say, was that my generation seems to stay away from alcohol, we who are first generation Christians (for the most part), but our children’s generation seem to accept it as an ordinary part of their lives. Maybe because when something is forbidden, you tend to want it all the more…? Below are some very eye opening truths taught in the Bible…that I found this morning while doing some digging…

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In the Old Testament, the Bible says:

The very first time drunkenness appears is in Genesis where Noah gets drunk and as a result, it opens the door for his son to commit some detestable sin that brings a curse upon his family for generations to come. So in a sense, the first sin, after God had just judged the entire world with a flood, was initiated because of alcohol. That should say something.

Hosea chapter 4 (TEV)

11 The Lord says, "Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses!"

Proverbs chapter 23 (TEV)

19 Listen, my child, be wise and give serious thought to the way you live. 20 Don't associate with people who drink too much wine or stuff themselves with food. 21 Drunkards and gluttons will be reduced to poverty. If all you do is eat and sleep, you will soon be wearing rags.

29 Show me people who drink too much, who have to try out fancy drinks, and I will show you people who are miserable and sorry for themselves, always causing trouble and always complaining. Their eyes are bloodshot, and they have bruises that could have been avoided.
31 Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, and it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32 The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33 Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. 34 You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, seasick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship. 35 "I must have been hit," you will say; "I must have been beaten up, but I don't remember it. Why can't I wake up? I need another drink."

A prophet of ancient Israel said:

Isaiah chapter 28 (NLT)

1 Destruction is certain for the city of Samaria - the pride and joy of the drunkards of Israel! 7 Israel is being led by drunks! The priests and prophets reel and stagger from beer and wine. They make stupid mistakes as they carry out their responsibilities.

In the Book of Proverbs, the Bible says:

Proverbs chapter 31 (TEV)

1 These are the solemn words which King Lemuel's mother said to him:
2 "You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you?
4 Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol. 5 When they drink, they forget the laws and ignore the rights of people in need.
6 Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness."

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There are also Bible quotations in the New Testament warning Christians not to get drunk. The whole frame of mind of a Christian should be one in which we don't want to be controlled by anything or anyone other than the Holy Spirit.

The Bible advises Christians:

Ephesians chapter 5 (NLT)

18 Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life.
Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Galatians chapter 5 (NLT)

16 I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. ....

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.

Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us:

• love,
• joy,
• peace,
• patience,
• kindness,
• goodness,
• faithfulness,
• 23 gentleness,
• and self-control....

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 (NLT)

6 ... Stay alert and be sober. 7 Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. 8 But let us ... think clearly, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. 9 For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 10 He died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return.

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Some people justify drinking by saying that Jesus turned water into wine so it must be ok. But some understanding of the cultural background/customs of the time and in the area where the miracle happened shows that this was not just a simple case of Jesus approving intoxication.

And from The New Testament Commentary: Vol. III--John (1886) by B. W. Johnson:

From some cause, perhaps from a larger number of guests than was expected, the wine gave out.
"None but those who know how sacred in the East is the duty of lavish hospitality, and how passionately the obligation to exercise to the utmost it is felt, can realize the gloom which this incident would have thrown over the occasion, or the misery and mortification it would have caused to the wedded pair. They would have felt it to be, as in the East it is still felt to be, an indelible disgrace."--Farrar.

 

Below is a view I heard thirty years ago and have just recently found again. If i had to take a position, it would be here:

 

It must be borne in mind that among the Greeks and Romans and in Palestine there were three kinds of wine: 1. Fermented wines, which, however, were very unlike our fiery liquors, and contained only a small per cent of alcohol. These were mixed with two or three parts of water. The laws of Zaleucus, the Locrian, put to death anyone who drank unmixed wine, except as medicine. The fermented wine, at first mild, and then diluted with water, was a drink as used, that had no intoxicating power unless used in enormous quantities. 2. New wine, the fresh juice of the grape, like our new cider, not intoxicating. 3. Wines in which, by boiling the unfermented juice of the grape, or by the addition of certain drugs, the process of fermentation was stopped, and which had no intoxicating properties. We cannot surely determine which kind the Savior made here, but we agree with Whedon, who says: "We see no reason for supposing that the wine of the present occasion was that upon which Scripture places its strongest interdict, (Proverbs 20:1; 23:31; Isaiah 22:13,) rather than that eulogized as a blessing (Psalms 104:15; Isaiah 55:1)." Even adopting the view that it was fermented wine, it was totally unlike the fiery and undiluted drinks sold as wines in saloons, used in many families, offered at hotels and wine parties, and even poured out at communion tables.

 

Well, I think there is enough opposition to alcohol in the Bible that would far outweigh any positive argument, that should help one to make a clear decision about what is important to God. That’s my view…again, I would not judge another for disagreeing.