The wines of the Bible

When deciding whether the Bible is talking about alcoholic (fermented) wine or non alcoholic (grape juice) wine, you must always look at:

-The Context

- The Characters

- The Scriptures before and after

 Verses that condemn and speak negatively about the use of fermented wine:

1. Romans 13:13 “Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying”
   

2. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
   

3. 1 Timothy 3:2-3 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”
   

4. Proverbs 4:17 “For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.”
   

5. Deuteronomy 32:33 “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.”
   

6. Hosea 7:5 “In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.”
   

7. Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
   

8. Proverbs 23:21 “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.”
   

9. Proverbs 23:29-30 “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.”
   

10. Proverbs 23:31-33 “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”
    

11. Isaiah 5:11 “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!”
    

Verses that are commonly used to justify drinking fermented wine or alcoholic beverages.

1. Matthew 11:18-19 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”
   

*These were false accusations made by those who hated the Lord.*

2. John 2:1-11 – Jesus turned water into wine.
   

• People assume this was fermented wine. Remember the context and the characters! Jesus would not contradict his word. Habakuk 2:15 “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!”
• Jesus did not make fermented wine because He is Holy in character. Hebrews 7:26 “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;”
• He would not contradict scripture. Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
• The Priest of God was forbidden. Leviticus 10:9-11 “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.”
• Kings and Princes are forbidden. Proverbs 31:4-5 “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.” He is the Prince of peace and the King of Kings.
• Christ would not mock or deceive people. Proverbs 20:1 “Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
• He would not put a stumbling block before others. Romans 14:21 “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.”
• He would not have gotten glory out of making people drunk. John 2:11 “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”
  

3. Ephesians 5:18 “Wherein is excess”
   

The Bible is not making room for “little” use of wine in Ephesians 5:18 by     saying “wherein is excess”. This literally means given over to. The context here is speaking of the moral character of the person described.  Rather than being given over to wine, be surrendered to the Spirit.

4. 1 Timothy 3:8 “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongue, not  given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre.” And Titus 2:3 “The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine. Teachers of good things.”
   

Consider the context here. Who is he speaking to? He is speaking to former pagans who practiced the feast of drink. They would spend entire nights drinking the fruit of the vine, especially at harvest time. This was a scene of revelry, gluttony and ultimately promoted laziness. Devotion to such practices dimished devotion to Christ thus limited the distinguishing marks of the believer. This verse is not an allowance but a call to come out and be different.

The most dangerous thing a person can do is isolate Scripture. When making a decision or judgment, you must look at the three things mentioned on the first page: The context, the characters and the Scripture before and after.

We come to 2 possible conclusions.

1. The Bible contradicts itself
2. There are 2 different types of wine.
   

We know that the Bible does not contradict itself. The problem is not with God’s perfect Word, but with our limited understanding.  You will not settle this by going to the Hebrew or Greek text. The Hebrew text has 11 versions of the word “wine” and the Greek word is “Oinos” used to describe the juice of the grape in all its stages. Generic words are common in the Bible. Example: WORLD – Ps. 24:1 physical planet

                                                                          - John 3:16 Humanity

                                                                          - John 16:33 system of think./acting        

How do we distinguish the difference?

1 – CONTEXT:           Examine what is being said, who is saying it, why and so on.

2 – SCRIPTURE:         Read the verses before and after taking them into consideration.

3 – COMPARE:          Compare Scripture with Scripture and come to a conclusion.

If you do all these things, it will be clear that the word “wine” is used to describe “bad” wine and “good” wine.

HISTORICALLY

It is a well documented fact that there were several kinds of wine in the days that the Scriptures were being written. Some with alcohol and some that were grape juice.

Aristotle wrote “the wines of Arcadia were so thick that it was necessary to scrape it from the skin bottles in which it was contained and to dissolve the scrapings in water” He refers here to a paste that was created by boiling the juice from the grape. It was then preserved in bottles of skin. The boiling process and the bottling in the bottles of skin prevented fermentation. They called THIS WINE!

Naturally, grapes left on their own will not produce wine. They must be tampered with and ingredients need to be added to make an intoxicating drink. This proves the point that there were unfermented beverages and they were called wine. They were some kind of juice with NO alcohol.

In conclusion, the Bible clearly condemns the use of alcohol as a beverage. Christians who want to please the Lord will abstain from wine, liquor, beer and the like. What appear to be contradictions are simply explained by understanding the context in which the verses appear. God’s mind is clear on the matter. TOUCH NOT, TASTE NOT AND DRINK NOT! Nothing good comes from the use of alcohol. I choose to believe God and his Word. What will you do?