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What Does the Bible Say About Alcohol?
The Drinking of Alcohol
This is an addendum piece that I have written after the completion of this book realising the necessity for scriptural evidence in regard to this topic. I have mentioned alcohol elsewhere in the writing but I feel it productive to devote a separate chapter to this to make the reader aware about both sides of the argument concerning alcohol.
Whilst we read the King James Bible we can deduce the meaning of the word wine by the context of the scripture, some are unable to do this. I believe it is because they come to the bible with a presupposition and want to make the bible fit their ideas. It puts them in the non-science camp of making the evidence fit the hypothesis rather than the forensic position of basing the theorem on the evidence.
We must take into consideration the following:
The Bible uses several words from Greek and Hebrew to translate our English word wine. Often the same word is used to describe fermented and unfermented wine but the rendering is clear from the context.
The two main words in Hebrew are ‘tiyrowsh’ (used specifically of freshly squeezed grape juice referred to as new wine or sweet wine) and ‘yayin’ (can be used mostly of older wine, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic)
Let’s look at tiyrowsh first:
Genesis 27:28-29 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: [29] Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
Isaiah 65:8 Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
Proverbs 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
We see the very first instance of this word for wine is used in the blessing of Jacob from Isaac. There are 40 other verses where this word is used but you can see from Isa 65:8 and Prov 3:10 that it is synonymous with freshly squeezed grape juice. One verse where it is translated ‘sweet wine’ is in Micah 6:15 where the word ‘yayin’ is also used showing the contrast between the fresh and the fermented.
Micah 6:15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine[‘tiyrowsh’], but shalt not drink wine[yayin].
It is worth noting too that it is only this type of wine that is tithed off of because God requires the firstfruits for His tithe
Neh. 13:12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.
In every instance of this word ‘tiyrowsh’, we find that the only rendering is that of fresh juice. This would equate to what Jesus refers to as “the fruit of the vine” at the Lord’s Supper.
Now what about ‘yayin’?
The first instance of this word is where Noah has drunk of the ‘yayin’ and does in fact get intoxicated. There are many speculations to why this happened but the facts are clear that he drank wine ‘yayin’ and got drunk and passed out naked in his tent. This then led to the cursing of Canaan, the son of Ham.
Genesis 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
Next we find Melchizedek bringing bread and wine to Abram.
Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Whether this was alcohol or not is not clear by just the word so we need to look at the whole verse. If we first look at the word bread we soon see that this is an ambiguous word to mean some form of bread. It is also rendered shewbread and also to describe the manna but it is not ‘chametz’ which is always rendered leavened bread. If we then take the fact that Melchizedek was priest of the most high God and we know that the priests were forbidden from alcoholic drink in Lev 10 so it is highly unlikely; that given Melchizedek is performing a ceremonial meal with Abram before covenant is made with God the following day; that he gave him intoxicating drink. We must also understand that this is the beginnings of both the Passover and Lord’s Supper in regard to the elements taken the night before the covenant is made and God was very specific that this is unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. Thus we can conclude that in this instance it is certainly non-alcoholic wine.
The next case is where Lot’s two daughters give him wine for the purpose of making him drunk
Genesis 19:32-35 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. [33] And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. [34] And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. [35] And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Again leaving the theology of incest for another study, we can certainly see here that this was intoxicating alcohol. This instance of drunkenness led to the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters. Some justify this by saying the law was not written yet but would Lot have done this in his right mind? No, that’s why they got him drunk. Certainly he was not in control of his mind and therefore not in control of his body either.
An interesting passage is that describing the vows of a Nazarite (not a Nazarene which is what Jesus was being from Nazareth) but where a man is separated for God’s use.
Numbers 6:2-4 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: [3] He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. [4] All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Here we have ‘yayin’ translated wine and also vine which is interesting because you would never find an alcohol tree so again showing that this word can be translated both ways. The word for ‘strong drink’ is ‘shekar’ which is mostly rendered in connection with strong alcohol with a few exceptions
In Judges 13:7 it is rendered not as a noun, but as a verb ‘to drink’. Then we have another verse that is problem for most.
Deut. 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
We have a few ‘schools of thought’ but there can only be one truth of interpretation. The first is that it alcohol was permitted on this feast day that this tithe was saved for; second that alcohol was ok then but not now like polygamy was considered ok for some but now in the NT it is clear that man should have a monogamous relationship; third, our interpretation of strong drink is not complete.
Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
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!
Isaiah 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
These three verses are in reference to alcohol and the repercussions of drinking it so we can see that the Bible clearly warns about the dangers of partaking in it. Permit me to digress to the logical for a season.
1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; [14] As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: [15] But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
2 Cor. 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
“What has this got to do with alcohol?” you may ask. Anything that alters our mind is considered sin. The Bible tells us to "gird up the loins of our mind" and also to bring all thoughts under subjection to Christ, and any amount of alcohol affects the mind even a little. Being sober is not just the ability to walk without falling over. It is being in complete control of your mind. When you are on medication, or drugs or anything that changes that, it becomes fair game for the Devil to plant his thoughts in your mind; so even a little alcohol affects the mind away from this complete control. It baffles me that folk use the argument too much is sin but a little is not. Who decides what too much is? Too much for one is not enough for another; one guy gets drunk on two pints but another has to have eight to get to the same level. Why is that then sin for the one but not for the other? If it takes say 10 pints to get 100% drunk then 1 pint is 10% drunk. If it takes 20 sips to finish 1 pint then 1 sip is 0.5% drunk. You see in maintaining soberness of the mind is about guarding it from anything that will alter that state. This is also why certain music, TV shows and certainly things like hypnosis can be extremely dangerous in opening up the mind to external forces.
Now given the understanding that God certainly does not condone the use of any intoxicating substance whether, smoked, drunk, ingested or injected we can conclude that strong drink in Deut 14:26 is not an alcoholic substance.
Isaiah 24:9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
From this verse we see that strong drink here is something bitter and of a strong flavour. Often some fruit juices are very bitter unless diluted but this does not render the original alcoholic, no, strong drink is something that is intense, sometimes intoxicating and sometimes not.
If we now look at the New Testament in regard to wine, we see again an ambiguous word ‘oinos’ to describe both fermented and non-fermented wine.
Often it is rendered ‘wine’ with the word ‘new’ showing that it is freshly squeezed juice and other times just wine. It is used both literally and figuratively.
We see it used in regard to John the Baptist’s Nazarite vows:
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
It is used in a figurative way.
Rev. 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Also translated as winepress
Rev. 19:15 … and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
In defence of drinking alcohol people will use Jesus turning water into wine, Paul telling Timothy to take it for his stomach and not to do it in excess. Let’s look at these things.
At the marriage at Cana (John 2), Jesus is told they have run out of wine. Let’s think about this, would Jesus really make something that would cause these people to become intoxicated, given that they had already consumed much wine? Would this in itself not be drinking with excess and Jesus being the cause of this? Logically and Biblically we have to realise that this wine was unfermented.
1 Tim. 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
Take this with the other mentions in Timothy.
1 Tim. 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1 Tim. 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
What wine is Paul referring to? Medically speaking grape juice is excellent for the gut when you have a stomach ailment but when fermented it can have an adverse effect. In chapter 3 the Pastor and Deacons are told not to give themselves to wine. Meaning it should not be a habit. Coffee can be an addiction and a habit just as any alcohol will be. The root is what is causing the addiction? Grape juice has a high sugar content and should not be overindulged it due to the effect sugar has on the body. Sugar is addicting in itself and many people struggle with a sugar addiction. Sugar in turn causes highs and lows emotionally, affecting the brain and thus the mind. We are again back to what alters the thinking of a man.
Last of the common scripture uses:
Ephes. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Now obviously this is regarding alcohol but this does not mean that you can drink but not excessively. If we take the word excess and return to the Greek for just a minute we see an interesting compound word from ‘a’ being the negative particle and ‘sozo’ meaning ‘to save’.
Rev. 22:13 I am Alpha[a] and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved[sozo], and thy house.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved[sozo],.
When these are put together the ‘alpha’, being the negative particle, renders the word ‘sozo’ opposite to give a meaning of unsavedness.
So what is Paul saying? He is saying that being drunk is the behaviour of the unsaved. Christians are to be filled with the Spirit. If you are filled with the Spirit then your mind is on the Lord and you will also being walking in the Spirit and not fulfil the lusts or desires of the flesh to succumb to wine or any form of mind altering substance.
Personally I believe that the same applies to ANYTHING that alters the way you think. Caffeine is a mind altering substance too but yet legal. However, we are told that it is unsafe for those under the age of 16. What else has an age restriction? Alcohol & cigarettes.
Whilst there are many other scriptures and rendering of words we could look at, I believe I have covered the main points here. Your own personal study on the subject should complete your knowledge of these things. But let’s just look at a few more for reference:
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 23:29-35 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? [30] They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. [31] Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. [32] At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. [33] Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. [34] Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. [35] They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
A small amount of alcohol leads to more. And that leads to a perverse heart.
The true test is if we are willing to totally submit to the Lord and seek what the Spirit sayeth on this matter. God will give you wisdom if you will ask for it.
Taken from “The Commandments of God” by Dr Bob Strachan
www.scotlandbaptist.com
This is an addendum piece that I have written after the completion of this book realising the necessity for scriptural evidence in regard to this topic. I have mentioned alcohol elsewhere in the writing but I feel it productive to devote a separate chapter to this to make the reader aware about both sides of the argument concerning alcohol.
Whilst we read the King James Bible we can deduce the meaning of the word wine by the context of the scripture, some are unable to do this. I believe it is because they come to the bible with a presupposition and want to make the bible fit their ideas. It puts them in the non-science camp of making the evidence fit the hypothesis rather than the forensic position of basing the theorem on the evidence.
We must take into consideration the following:
- The different types of wine
- How wine is used in the scripture
- The implications from drinking the wine
The Bible uses several words from Greek and Hebrew to translate our English word wine. Often the same word is used to describe fermented and unfermented wine but the rendering is clear from the context.
The two main words in Hebrew are ‘tiyrowsh’ (used specifically of freshly squeezed grape juice referred to as new wine or sweet wine) and ‘yayin’ (can be used mostly of older wine, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic)
Let’s look at tiyrowsh first:
Genesis 27:28-29 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: [29] Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
Isaiah 65:8 Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
Proverbs 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
We see the very first instance of this word for wine is used in the blessing of Jacob from Isaac. There are 40 other verses where this word is used but you can see from Isa 65:8 and Prov 3:10 that it is synonymous with freshly squeezed grape juice. One verse where it is translated ‘sweet wine’ is in Micah 6:15 where the word ‘yayin’ is also used showing the contrast between the fresh and the fermented.
Micah 6:15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine[‘tiyrowsh’], but shalt not drink wine[yayin].
It is worth noting too that it is only this type of wine that is tithed off of because God requires the firstfruits for His tithe
Neh. 13:12 Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.
In every instance of this word ‘tiyrowsh’, we find that the only rendering is that of fresh juice. This would equate to what Jesus refers to as “the fruit of the vine” at the Lord’s Supper.
Now what about ‘yayin’?
The first instance of this word is where Noah has drunk of the ‘yayin’ and does in fact get intoxicated. There are many speculations to why this happened but the facts are clear that he drank wine ‘yayin’ and got drunk and passed out naked in his tent. This then led to the cursing of Canaan, the son of Ham.
Genesis 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
Next we find Melchizedek bringing bread and wine to Abram.
Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Whether this was alcohol or not is not clear by just the word so we need to look at the whole verse. If we first look at the word bread we soon see that this is an ambiguous word to mean some form of bread. It is also rendered shewbread and also to describe the manna but it is not ‘chametz’ which is always rendered leavened bread. If we then take the fact that Melchizedek was priest of the most high God and we know that the priests were forbidden from alcoholic drink in Lev 10 so it is highly unlikely; that given Melchizedek is performing a ceremonial meal with Abram before covenant is made with God the following day; that he gave him intoxicating drink. We must also understand that this is the beginnings of both the Passover and Lord’s Supper in regard to the elements taken the night before the covenant is made and God was very specific that this is unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. Thus we can conclude that in this instance it is certainly non-alcoholic wine.
The next case is where Lot’s two daughters give him wine for the purpose of making him drunk
Genesis 19:32-35 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. [33] And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. [34] And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. [35] And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Again leaving the theology of incest for another study, we can certainly see here that this was intoxicating alcohol. This instance of drunkenness led to the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters. Some justify this by saying the law was not written yet but would Lot have done this in his right mind? No, that’s why they got him drunk. Certainly he was not in control of his mind and therefore not in control of his body either.
An interesting passage is that describing the vows of a Nazarite (not a Nazarene which is what Jesus was being from Nazareth) but where a man is separated for God’s use.
Numbers 6:2-4 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: [3] He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. [4] All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Here we have ‘yayin’ translated wine and also vine which is interesting because you would never find an alcohol tree so again showing that this word can be translated both ways. The word for ‘strong drink’ is ‘shekar’ which is mostly rendered in connection with strong alcohol with a few exceptions
In Judges 13:7 it is rendered not as a noun, but as a verb ‘to drink’. Then we have another verse that is problem for most.
Deut. 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
We have a few ‘schools of thought’ but there can only be one truth of interpretation. The first is that it alcohol was permitted on this feast day that this tithe was saved for; second that alcohol was ok then but not now like polygamy was considered ok for some but now in the NT it is clear that man should have a monogamous relationship; third, our interpretation of strong drink is not complete.
Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
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!
Isaiah 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
These three verses are in reference to alcohol and the repercussions of drinking it so we can see that the Bible clearly warns about the dangers of partaking in it. Permit me to digress to the logical for a season.
1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; [14] As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: [15] But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
2 Cor. 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
“What has this got to do with alcohol?” you may ask. Anything that alters our mind is considered sin. The Bible tells us to "gird up the loins of our mind" and also to bring all thoughts under subjection to Christ, and any amount of alcohol affects the mind even a little. Being sober is not just the ability to walk without falling over. It is being in complete control of your mind. When you are on medication, or drugs or anything that changes that, it becomes fair game for the Devil to plant his thoughts in your mind; so even a little alcohol affects the mind away from this complete control. It baffles me that folk use the argument too much is sin but a little is not. Who decides what too much is? Too much for one is not enough for another; one guy gets drunk on two pints but another has to have eight to get to the same level. Why is that then sin for the one but not for the other? If it takes say 10 pints to get 100% drunk then 1 pint is 10% drunk. If it takes 20 sips to finish 1 pint then 1 sip is 0.5% drunk. You see in maintaining soberness of the mind is about guarding it from anything that will alter that state. This is also why certain music, TV shows and certainly things like hypnosis can be extremely dangerous in opening up the mind to external forces.
Now given the understanding that God certainly does not condone the use of any intoxicating substance whether, smoked, drunk, ingested or injected we can conclude that strong drink in Deut 14:26 is not an alcoholic substance.
Isaiah 24:9 They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
From this verse we see that strong drink here is something bitter and of a strong flavour. Often some fruit juices are very bitter unless diluted but this does not render the original alcoholic, no, strong drink is something that is intense, sometimes intoxicating and sometimes not.
If we now look at the New Testament in regard to wine, we see again an ambiguous word ‘oinos’ to describe both fermented and non-fermented wine.
Often it is rendered ‘wine’ with the word ‘new’ showing that it is freshly squeezed juice and other times just wine. It is used both literally and figuratively.
We see it used in regard to John the Baptist’s Nazarite vows:
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
It is used in a figurative way.
Rev. 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Also translated as winepress
Rev. 19:15 … and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
In defence of drinking alcohol people will use Jesus turning water into wine, Paul telling Timothy to take it for his stomach and not to do it in excess. Let’s look at these things.
At the marriage at Cana (John 2), Jesus is told they have run out of wine. Let’s think about this, would Jesus really make something that would cause these people to become intoxicated, given that they had already consumed much wine? Would this in itself not be drinking with excess and Jesus being the cause of this? Logically and Biblically we have to realise that this wine was unfermented.
1 Tim. 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.
Take this with the other mentions in Timothy.
1 Tim. 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1 Tim. 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
What wine is Paul referring to? Medically speaking grape juice is excellent for the gut when you have a stomach ailment but when fermented it can have an adverse effect. In chapter 3 the Pastor and Deacons are told not to give themselves to wine. Meaning it should not be a habit. Coffee can be an addiction and a habit just as any alcohol will be. The root is what is causing the addiction? Grape juice has a high sugar content and should not be overindulged it due to the effect sugar has on the body. Sugar is addicting in itself and many people struggle with a sugar addiction. Sugar in turn causes highs and lows emotionally, affecting the brain and thus the mind. We are again back to what alters the thinking of a man.
Last of the common scripture uses:
Ephes. 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Now obviously this is regarding alcohol but this does not mean that you can drink but not excessively. If we take the word excess and return to the Greek for just a minute we see an interesting compound word from ‘a’ being the negative particle and ‘sozo’ meaning ‘to save’.
Rev. 22:13 I am Alpha[a] and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved[sozo], and thy house.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved[sozo],.
When these are put together the ‘alpha’, being the negative particle, renders the word ‘sozo’ opposite to give a meaning of unsavedness.
So what is Paul saying? He is saying that being drunk is the behaviour of the unsaved. Christians are to be filled with the Spirit. If you are filled with the Spirit then your mind is on the Lord and you will also being walking in the Spirit and not fulfil the lusts or desires of the flesh to succumb to wine or any form of mind altering substance.
Personally I believe that the same applies to ANYTHING that alters the way you think. Caffeine is a mind altering substance too but yet legal. However, we are told that it is unsafe for those under the age of 16. What else has an age restriction? Alcohol & cigarettes.
Whilst there are many other scriptures and rendering of words we could look at, I believe I have covered the main points here. Your own personal study on the subject should complete your knowledge of these things. But let’s just look at a few more for reference:
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 23:29-35 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? [30] They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. [31] Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. [32] At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. [33] Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. [34] Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. [35] They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
A small amount of alcohol leads to more. And that leads to a perverse heart.
The true test is if we are willing to totally submit to the Lord and seek what the Spirit sayeth on this matter. God will give you wisdom if you will ask for it.
Taken from “The Commandments of God” by Dr Bob Strachan
www.scotlandbaptist.com