What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (6)

Posted on October 20, 2011 by russellmckinney

Christ’s changing of the water into wine is one of His more famous miracles. It’s also one of His most debated. Some folks absolutely cringe at the very notion of Jesus devoting a miracle to making alcoholic wine. They say, “It had to be grape juice because the Lord isn’t a bootlegger.”

The problem with that line of interpretation is that it doesn’t really fit the story itself as the Bible presents it in John 2:1-11. I’m not trying to offend anyone or create a fuss; I’m simply trying to let the story read the way it reads and understand it correctly. And when we do that we see that there are at least two solid reasons why we should believe that the wine really was of the intoxicating variety.

Reason #1: The Greek word the story uses for wine in verses 3, 9, and 10 is oinos. As we learned in the first post from this series, this word clearly refers to alcoholic wine. It’s used in Ephesians 5:18, 1 Timothy 5:23, and Titus 2:3, and in those passages it obviously refers to wine that will make you drunk if you imbibe too much of it. As renowned Greek scholar Dr. Marvin Vincent says in his Word Studies In The New Testament, “In every instance of its use in the New Testament the word means intoxication.”

Reason #2: The words from the master of the feast make little sense if the wine was grape juice. He said, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10, N.K.J.V.). Now you tell me, what would be the advantage of serving the inferior wine later? You know that answer. I’m not saying the guests would have been so wasted that they wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference in the quality. (To the contrary, the fact that the master of the feast could tell the difference between the first wine and Christ’s wine proves positively that he wasn’t drunk). But let’s at least admit that their moods would have been better and their taste buds more agreeable. Remember that the Bible makes no bones about the fact that wine makes the heart merry (Judges 9:13; Ruth 3:7; 2 Samuel 13:28; Esther 1:10; Psalm 31:6; Psalm 104:15; Ecclesiastes 9:7; and Ecclesiastes 10:19).

By the way, the argument that Jesus wouldn’t have made such a vast amount of alcoholic wine (between 120 and 180 gallons) for one wedding celebration fails to consider that a large Jewish wedding of that day would last for seven days and play host to dozens upon dozens of guests. Furthermore, the argument that Jesus making alcoholic wine would have violated Habakkuk 2:15 doesn’t hold either because the prohibition there is against forcing someone to get drunk so that you can engage in sexual sin with that person. Jewish weddings never descended into the realm of drunken orgies.

And so, in conclusion, these two valid reasons leave us to believe that Jesus turned the water into alcoholic wine. Now, was that wine as potent as the wine of our day? Well, I’m glad you asked that question because I’m going to devote my next post to answering it. So, I’ll ask you to hang with me and stay tuned.

Posted in Alcohol, Christ's Miracles, Christian Liberty, Series: "What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol?" | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (5)

Posted on October 17, 2011 by russellmckinney

Did Jesus drink fermented (alcoholic) wine? Needless to say, that’s a hot-button question. To answer it, all I know to do is go to the Bible.

I’ll begin by saying that the gospels do not use oinos, the Greek word for alcoholic wine, in regards to Christ’s instituting of The Lord’s Supper. We see this in Matthew 26:27-29, Mark 14:22-25, and Luke 22:14-22. I’ll quote the Matthew passage here:

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

You’ll notice that the phrase “fruit of the vine” is used in this passage rather than the word “wine.” This leads some Christians to contend that the cup that got passed around at The Lord’s Supper contained unfermented grape juice rather than fermented wine. As the argument goes, if that cup had contained fermented wine, the New Testament’s original Greek would use the word oinos. For the record, in my previous days, that is the interpretation that I applied to the passage.

In more recent days, however, I have been struck by the fact that the phrase “fruit of the vine” could describe fermented wine just as easily as it could unfermented grape juice. After all, the grapes themselves are the fruit, and grape juice and wine are both made from them. Furthermore, Jesus had served fermented wine as part of another meal earlier in His ministry (John 2:1-12). (I’ll talk about that story in my next post.) Therefore, my thinking now has changed in regards to the question of whether or not Jesus served real wine at The Lord’s Supper. While I’ll quickly concede that the contents of the cup at The Lord’s Supper could have been unfermented grape juice, my own thinking on the topic now aligns with the majority opinion among Bible scholars and commentators, that being that the cup contained actual wine.

Of course, even if the wine was fermented, the Jews typically diluted their wine with enough water (two-thirds water/one-third wine) to render the drink essentially non-intoxicating. As a matter of fact, this is how most commentators interpret the beverage used at The Lord’s Supper. The common assumption is that the “last supper” that Jesus enjoyed with His disciples on the night of His arrest was a typical Jewish Passover meal (complete with a Passover lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and watered-down wine), and Jesus instituted The Lord’s Supper at the close of that meal, using the same type of drink that had been used during the meal. If this interpretation is correct, it means that Jesus drank watered-down alcoholic wine as part of His “last supper” with His apostles and The Lord’s Supper that followed.

Okay, so are there any other passages that might have some relevancy to the question of whether or not Jesus ever drank alcoholic wine? Yes, there are. One is Mark 15:23, which in the context of describing Christ’s crucifixion, says this:

Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. (N.K.J.V.)

This verse’s Greek word for “wine” is the familiar oinos, which means alcoholic wine. The Romans offered such a drink as a painkiller to men being crucified. Jesus, however, refused it, and His refusal allows some Christians — those who contend that Jesus never drank any type of fermented wine — to say that He refused it because He was thoroughly opposed to anyone drinking alcoholic beverages under any circumstances.

Again, however, there is another possible interpretation that many, including myself, think rings closer to the truth. According to this interpretation, Jesus refused the oinos those Romans offered Him because He wanted to experience the fullness of the cross without having His senses dulled in any way. In other words, if He was going to die to pay the world’s sin debt, He wanted to do so without any aid from anything that would dull the pain and thus lessen the suffering.

Now let’s move on to a couple of other passages that we need to consider. The passages are Matthew 11:18-19 and Luke 7:33-34, and they both tell the same story. I’ll quote the one from Luke. It records Jesus saying to the Jewish religious leaders:

“For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking 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 winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'” (N.K.J.V., emphasis mine)

Basically, those Jewish religious leaders couldn’t be appeased. On the one hand, they criticized John the Baptist for his isolationist lifestyle and minimalistic diet (Luke 1:13-15; Matthew 2:4). On the other hand, they criticized Jesus for the fact that, socially speaking, He was the polar opposite of John the Baptist (Luke 5:27-32). But what we want to focus upon is the fact that those leaders called Jesus a “winebibber,” which means “a person who drinks excessive amounts of wine.”

Admittedly, we need to be careful here because we can’t assume that Jesus drank alcoholic wine simply because those Jews said that He did. With that noted, however, I don’t feel totally comfortable believing that they just pulled that accusation out of thin air. I mean, they didn’t call John the Baptist a “winebibber,” did they?

I suppose the accusation could have simply grown out of Jesus attending feasts like the one in the home of Matthew (Levi) (Luke 5:29-32). Surely alcoholic wine was served at that feast. Again, this doesn’t automatically mean that Jesus drank such wine there, but those Jewish did complain that He ate and drank with tax collectors and other so-called “sinners” (Luke 5:30).

There are some who contend that Jesus would never have drunk wine because that would have violated Old Testament law concerning the priesthood. Certainly Jesus did live His earthly life as a Jew who kept that body of law that God had given to Moses and the Israelites. He even made a point of saying, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) And what did that law command concerning priests as they ministered in the tabernacle (temple)? Leviticus 10:8-11 tells us:

Then the Lord spoke to Aaron (Israel’s first high priest), saying: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statue forever throughout your generations, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.” (N.K.J.V.)

You say, “Ah, at last, that settles it! Jesus would never have drunk alcoholic wine because He was a priest, like Aaron.” Well, unfortunately, things aren’t so cut and dried as that. Consider the following facts:

#1: That law specifically dealt with ministering in the Jewish tabernacle or (later on) the Jewish temple. But Jesus never ministered as a priest at the temple of His day. He visited there, but He never performed any priestly duties there. Israel had its own priests.

#2: The New Testament book of Hebrews expressly teaches that even though Jesus is a High Priest, He isn’t of the priestly order of Aaron. He is, instead, of the priestly order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:1-6; 7:1-27) Interestingly, Melchizedek ministered in a time before the building of the Jewish tabernacle or the temple.

#3: In Genesis 14:18-20, the only Old Testament passage that speaks of Melchizedek, he brings two particular items to Abraham. Those items are bread and (you got it) wine.

So, in conclusion, what answer are we left with at the end of this post? Did Jesus drink alcoholic wine or not? The truth is, there is simply no way to take the Bible and build a 100% case for either a “yes” or a “no” answer. With that understood, though, if you pin me up against a wall and force me to state my opinion, I’ll say that I believe that, on occasion, He did. For one thing, fermented, watered-down wine was a very common part of the Jewish way of life. And for another, I just don’t think those Jewish religious leaders completely fabricated that charge about Him being a “winebibber.” Obviously, He never drank wine to excess because that would have been a sin, but I do lean toward thinking that those guys had at least seen him drink some wine. And as for the argument that Old Testament law concerning the priesthood kept Him from drinking, as I’ve shown you, that argument can be pretty easily refuted.

Posted in Alcohol, Christ's Death, Christian Liberty, Crucifixion, Series: "What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol?", The Lord's Supper | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (4)

Posted on October 14, 2011 by russellmckinney

I used my previous post in this series to condemn the sin of drunkenness. Now I want to share a few thoughts on addiction to alcohol. All drunkenness is sin, but there’s a difference between getting drunk once at a party and being a full-blown alcoholic.

I take no joy or pride in admitting that alcoholism runs on both sides of my family. So, trust me, I could write a book on the subject. Isn’t it amazing how easily one glass of wine or one can of beer can turn into decades of hard drinking? The old saying is so true: “First the man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man.”

Many of us know all too well the incredible damage that alcohol can do to a life. That’s why we shy away from having honest discussions about the Bible making any allowances for drinking. We fear that if we give ground on having even one glass of wine with a plate of lasagna at an Italian restaurant, one bottle of beer at a July picnic, or one shot of liquor on a cold night, we will fan the flames of the already raging bonfire of alcohol addiction in this country.

Consequently, many of us end up in one of two camps. Camp 1: We try to ignore the subject outright by never talking about it. Or Camp 2: We talk about it too much as we try to get everybody to join us inside our fortress of total abstinence. Our problem, however, is that neither camp lines up with the totality of what the Bible teaches.

Is alcoholism a very real problem? Of course it is. But does everyone who drinks become addicted? Believe it or not, they don’t. Maybe your uncle Joe did. Maybe your cousin Sue did. Maybe your child did. Maybe you did. But that doesn’t mean that everyone does.

You see, in one way, alcohol is like food. When used appropriately it can be viewed as a blessing from God. It makes this difficult life a little more enjoyable. It brings pleasure to the taste buds. It can even help settle the stomach. But when it is used to sinful excess, the good turns to harm. Just as overeating creates the sin of gluttony and causes all kinds of physical, emotional, and psychological problems, drinking too much creates the sin of drunkenness and causes the same kinds of problems. Is it any wonder, then, that the Bible so frequently links the sins of gluttony and drunkenness together? (Deuteronomy 21:20; Proverbs 23:21; Ecclesiastes 10:16-19; Isaiah 22:12-13; Amos 6:3-7; Luke 12:19; 1 Peter 4:3)

And so, how should we deal with addiction to alcohol, or any addiction for that matter (food, drugs, pornography, sex, etc.)? Well, it sounds like a cliche but the cure for every addiction is Jesus. I can think of two passages that say it all. First, there is John 8:34,36:

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (N.K.J.V.)

And then second, there is Luke 4:17-18:

And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And so, we see that Jesus is the liberator for anyone is enslaved by or held captive by addiction. He is the Moses who can lead that person out of that Egypt. He is the David who can slay that person’s giant. He is the Solomon who can erect a shining new temple of holiness in that person’s life. Addiction doesn’t intimidate Him in the least. He has released scores of captives from its grip already, and He stands ready and willing to do it one more time.

Posted in Addiction, Alcohol, Balance, Choices, Christian Liberty, Drugs, Gluttony, Personal Holiness, Series: "What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol?", Sin, Temptation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (3)

Posted on October 13, 2011 by russellmckinney

Now that we’ve taken the Bible and established that it does allow for some drinking of wine (see post 1 of this series) and other alcoholic drinks (see post 2), we really need to hit the sin of drunkenness hard. And we certainly won’t have any trouble finding scriptures to do so because God’s written word is chocked full of such texts. Here is a small sampling (all from the N.K.J.V.):

1. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise. (Proverbs 20:1)

2. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

3. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

4. Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. (Joel 1:5)

5. Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness! (Habakkuk 2:15)

6. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:13-14)

7. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:7-8)

As you can see, the Bible comes down like thunder on the sin of drunkenness. So even though the drinking of alcoholic beverages is allowable, the allowance is limited. It’s not a “get out of jail free” card. It’s not a sanctioning to drink yourself into a stupor. There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, and it’s a line that comes into play pretty quickly.

Actually, the Bible even describes some situations in which drinking alcoholic beverages was forbidden altogether. They were as follows:

1. Israel’s priests weren’t allowed to drink either wine or strong drink when they entered the tabernacle (temple). (Leviticus 10:8-11; Ezekiel 44:21; Isaiah 28:7)

2. It wasn’t good for rulers (kings and princes) to drink wine or strong drink because it might impair their judgment. (Proverbs 31:4-5)

3. Any Jew who volunteered to take the “vow of a Nazarite” had to completely separate himself or herself from all wine, strong drink, vinegar, and grape juice. (Numbers 6:1-3; Judges 13:1-5; Luke 1:13-15)

Getting back to the point, however, even though God allows for a certain amount of alcoholic consumption, the sin begins when the person abuses the privilege by getting drunk. This explains the various passages which differentiate between acceptable drinking and crossing the line. I’ll list some of those passages (again, all from the N.K.J.V.) and use boldface emphasis to mark the line between acceptable drinking and drunkenness:

1. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. (Proverbs 23:29-30)

2. Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink. (Isaiah 5:22)

3. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities. (1 Timothy 5:23)

4. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to (addicted to) wine… (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

5. Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to (addicted to) much wine… (1 Timothy 3:8)

And so, we see that it doesn’t take much to drink yourself into sin. This is why I felt such trepidation as I wrote those first two posts of this series. Frankly, it would be a whole lot easier for me, as a preacher, if God just outlawed wine and strong drink altogether. But He doesn’t do that. What He does do, though, is load the Bible with very clear warnings about the danger of drunkenness and expect us to heed them.

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What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (2)

Posted on October 12, 2011 by russellmckinney

In the previous post, I said some things about wine in the Bible. Here now, with this post, I want to do the same concerning “strong drink.” In case you don’t know, “strong drink” is different from wine.

The Hebrew word that gets translated as “strong drink” is shekar. It is used a little over twenty times in the Old Testament. The New Testament equivalent of the Hebrew shekar is the Greek sikera, and it is used just once in the New Testament (Luke 1:15).

I’m generalizing here a bit, but I think we can basically employ two broad categories of alcoholic beverages. One category is “wine” and the other one is “strong drink” (beer, liquor, etc.) For the record, there are three other Hebrew words that the classic K.J.V. translation renders as “liquor” or “liquors.” They are mishrah (Numbers 6:3), mezeg (Song of Solomon 7:2), and dema (Exodus 22:29). However, all of these words can rightly come under the heading “strong drink” without doing any harm to their meaning.

And so, what does the Bible say about strong drink? Does it allow for any drinking of such beverages? Well, you might be surprised to learn that it does. The passage is Deuteronomy 14:22-26. Let me lay the groundwork for it.

These verses are part of that body of law that gave to Israel, and they specifically relate to Israel’s tithing. I won’t take the time to trace down every detail of what the law taught about tithing, but I will point out that the law called for the paying of three separate tithes. These were the “Levite’s tithe” (Numbers 18:21-24), the “poor tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29), and the “festival tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:22-26). It’s the “festival tithe” that we want to examine more closely.

Each year a Jew was to round up a tithe (tenth) of the yearly increase he had seen from farming. This included his grain, new wine, oil, and the firstborn of his flocks and herds. He was then to take all that tithe to the tabernacle. Once there, he and his family were to eat a feast out of that tithe. Whatever was left over from the feast went to the Levites, Israel’s priestly tribe. (When the temple was ultimately built to take the place of the tabernacle, the “festival tithe” was to be taken there and eaten.)

Now, some Jews lived many miles from the site of the tabernacle, and that made paying the “festival tithe” difficult for them. God understood this. That’s why He built a plan B into the law. By law, if a Jew lived far away from the tabernacle, he could gather together his “festival tithe,” sell all the items for a fair price, and then take the money to the tabernacle. Once there, he was to use the money to buy whatever his heart desired for his feast before the Lord.

Here now is where we come to our verse. Read it carefully and see if you notice anything:

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. (Deuteronomy 14:26, K.J.V, emphasis mine)

In case you are wondering, the Hebrew word that is translated there as “strong drink” is indeed shekar, which means that the translation is thoroughly correct. So, right about now, you might be saying, “Russell, are you telling me that God’s holy law actually allowed a Jew to drink not only wine but also strong drink as a part of a feast at the tabernacle, the most holy site in all Israel, the site where God manifested His presence?” Yes, that’s what I’m telling you.

Let me shock you even more. The Holman Christian Standard translation and older versions of the New Living Translation even translate shekar in Deuteronomy 14:26 as “beer” rather than “strong drink.” Drinking beer and wine at the tabernacle? With God’s approval no less? You got it.

Okay, with that said, is there any other Bible passage that allows for the consumption of “strong drink”? Yes, there is. Proverbs 31:6-7 says this:

Give strong drink (shekar) unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. (N.K.J.V.)

Of course, some people contend that this passage’s call to give “strong drink” was exclusively meant for medicinal purposes to ease the intense pain of the one at death’s door. This would be akin to the way today’s hospitals give morphine to the dying. But what do we do with the call to give wine to those that be of heavy hearts? After all, having a heavy heart isn’t exactly a terminal condition. Also, the last part of the passage talks about drinking to forget your poverty and misery. That’s a far cry from drinking to relieve the pain of a medical problem.

In closing, I feel like I should mention that I never drink anything stronger than Dr. Pepper. So, trust me, I haven’t written all this to justify, rationalize, or explain my own imbibing of beer, wine, or liquor. No, I’ve written it in an attempt to be honest and legitimate about what the Bible teaches about drinking “strong drink.” Is this all that needs to be said on the subject? No, it isn’t. Along those lines, my next post will deal with certain restrictions to drinking wine and “strong drink” as well as the sin of getting drunk off either. But, for now, I’ll stop right here because I trust that I’ve made the point that I was trying to make with this post.

Posted in Addiction, Alcohol, Choices, Christian Liberty, Personal Holiness, Series: "What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol?" | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

What Does the Bible Teach About Drinking Alcohol? (1)

Posted on October 11, 2011 by russellmckinney

One of the more passionately debated Biblical topics is that of the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Does the Bible make some allowance for such drinking or does it forbid it altogether? This is a question to which I’d like to devote several posts. For this first one, I’ll deal with what the Bible says about drinking wine.

I should begin by pointing out that the Bible uses the word “wine” well over two hundred times, and it offers many different Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek words for wine. The Hebrew words are: yayin, tiyrosh, raaph, chamar, mamcak, cobe, aciyc, enab, and shemer. The Greek words are oinos and gleukos. The most used Hebrew word is yayin, which is used over 130 times. The most used Greek word is oinos, which is used over 30 times.

And is the “wine” of the Bible alcoholic (fermented, as opposed to being mere grape juice)? Yes, it is. Do you remember that I said that yayin is the Old Testament’s most common word for wine? Well, it was yayin that got Noah drunk (Genesis 9:21). Do you remember that I said that oinos is the New Testament’s most common? Well, Ephesians 5:18 says: “And do not be drunk with wine (oinos)…” You can’t get drunk on grape juice.

What we have to understand is that wine was as common to the Jewish way of life as milkshakes are to ours. I went with milkshakes because the Jews didn’t drink wine for their typical meals like they did water or milk. They usually saved it for special occasions such as feasts and celebrations (Genesis 14:18; 27:25; 2 Samuel 13:28; John 2:1-10). But make no mistake, wine was common to them. Let me offer three evidences of that.

First, the Jews saw wine as nothing less than a symbol of God’s blessing. When Isaac pronounced his patriarchal blessing upon Jacob, part of it was that God would give Jacob “plenty of grain and wine” (Genesis 27:28). Moses told the Jews that if they would faithfully obey the law that God had given them they would receive great blessings, and some of those blessings would be “your grain and your new wine and your oil” (Deuteronomy 7:13). Also, Psalm 104:15 clearly lists wine as a blessing on par with oil and bread. (By the way, that verse describes wine as that which “makes glad the heart of man.” Grape juice doesn’t do that.)

Second, the Old Testament law commanded the Jews to tithe their wine (Deuteronomy 12:17; 14:22-23). This makes perfect sense in light of the fact that they viewed wine as being a blessing along the same lines as oil and bread. Since it was made from harvested grapes, they also saw it as a part of their harvests, which certainly qualified it for tithing.

Third, under that same body of law, the Jewish priests were to use a specific amount of wine in the daily offering of two “drink offerings” (Exodus 29:38-45). One drink offering was to be done in conjuncture with the morning sacrificing of a lamb, and another drink offering was to be done with the evening sacrificing of a lamb. For the record, the Hebrew word that is used in that passage for “wine” is that familiar word yayin, which makes it alcoholic wine, the same kind that got Noah drunk. Yes, God really did command that alcoholic wine be used as a part of certain daily, holy sacrifices to Him.

You see, the idea that the Jews of the Bible were teetotalers is just plain wrong. They knew all about drinking wine. Furthermore, the idea that the wine was non-alcoholic grape juice is just as wrong. I’m not trying to make anybody mad or suggest that each of us should go have a glass of wine. I’m just conveying what the Bible teaches and letting it say what it says, not what some of us might like it to say.

Okay, so is this all that I have to share on this subject? Certainly not. This has simply been an opening post to cover some of the basics about the Bible and wine. Hang with me for the rest of this series and I promise that we will cover much more ground, topics such as: “strong drink,” drunkenness, Jesus drinking wine, Jesus making wine, prohibitions against drinking, Christian liberty, and causing a brother to stumble. So, please, stay tuned.

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A Cautionary Tale About Rebellion

Posted on October 5, 2011 by russellmckinney

Sixty-year-old Jan Davis was a professional parachutist. She was also involved in the dangerous sport of “BASE jumping.” “BASE jumping” is leaping off fixed places, plummeting toward the earth for a few seconds, and then pulling your parachute chord. The letters B-A-S-E represent the fixed places from which one can jump: B (buildings), A (antennas), S (spans, bridges), and E (earth, cliffs).

On October 22, 1999, Jan and four other jumpers were in California’s Yosemite National Park to jump off the 3,200 foot granite cliff known as El Capitan. They were jumping to protest the fact that the Park had made BASE jumping illegal in the wake of the six deaths and numerous injuries that jumpers had incurred in the Park. In the minds of Jan and her group, their jump would prove the safety of their sport. Jan’s husband had come along to film the event, and several reporters were also on hand.

Jan was the fourth of the five jumpers. She launched off the cliff, fell for twenty seconds, and then fatally crashed into the rocks. As it would later be learned, her chute had failed to open properly. Her husband and the reporters stood there stunned, having just watched Jan plunge to her death. The husband even had it on film.

I’m really not trying to be insensitive to the Davis family, but I think we can glean a spiritual lesson from Jan’s needless death. Over and over again the Bible warns against the sin of rebellion — such as rebelling against a logical law that has been enacted. Consider the following passages (all from the N.K.J.V.):

1. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry… (1 Samuel 15:23)

2. An evil man seeks only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him. (Proverbs 17:11)

3. There are those who rebel against the light; They do not know its ways Nor abide in its paths. (Job 24:13)

4. “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20)

5. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound in prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. (Psalm 68:6)

It is with these verses in mind that I ask you, “Are you, in some way, playing the rebel these days?” If you are, my next question is, “Do you really think that God is going to let your rebellion go unpunished?” If He did that, He’d become a rebel Himself, a rebel against His own written word. And since that isn’t going to happen, your wisest move is to quit playing the role yourself.

Posted in Attitude, Backsliding, Character, Choices, Coming Judgment, Decisions, Disobedience, Dying To Self, God's Holiness, God's Wrath, God's Judgment, Man's Freewill, Obedience, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Repentance, Sin, Submission | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Yes, We Know That Man”

Posted on October 4, 2011 by russellmckinney

A missionary assigned to a foreign land zealously embraced his new ministry by promptly telling a crowd of natives about Jesus. He spoke of Christ’s love, compassion, and power to heal. As he spoke, he was surprised to see the people smile and nod their heads. It was as if they already knew all about Jesus.

Finally, at the end of his sermon, the missionary asked, “And how many of you have ever heard of this man?” Oddly, the entire crowd indicated that they knew of him. This puzzled the missionary and he began to further question them. What he discovered was that they all thought he was talking about a Christian doctor who had lived among them at one time and faithfully ministered to them.

That, Christian, is what you are after! To live such a life that the unlearned could so closely associate you with Jesus is the ideal. The apostle Paul described it this way:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, N.K.J.V.)

There’s an old gospel hymn entitled “Let Others See Jesus In You.” Christian, do your best to live out that ideal today. You’ll be amazed at the impact it makes not just upon you but upon others as well.

Posted in Character, Discipleship, Doing Good, God's Work, Influence, Ministry, Missions, Personal Holiness, Service, Witnessing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Forgiveness, But Not Change

Posted on October 3, 2011 by russellmckinney

I live in a small, rural county in the so-called “Bible belt.” It’s the kind of place where there is a church on every corner, down every sideroad, and up every holler. Consequently, it can be hard to find someone who has no qualms about admitting to not knowing Christ as Savior. What I mean is, it seems like just about everyone I meet was baptized as a kid, has their name on a church roll, claims to attend somewhere, knows pastor so-and-so as a friend, etc. You get the idea. We’ve got religion, church, the Bible, and prayer running out our noses.

With that said, what bothers me about our little county (approximately 15,000 in number) is how easily we blur the line between authentic Christian conduct and rank worldliness. For example, some of the same people who go to church every Sunday morning don’t mind doing a good deal of drinking and carousing on Saturday night. Some of the ones who rant and rave about the sexual sin of homosexuality evidently don’t understand that premarital sex and adultery fall into that same category. Some of the ones who are quick to request prayer for themselves or their families are also far too well versed in backbiting, gossiping, and rumor spreading.

My point is that a lot of people love to hear about Christ, the Bible, forgiveness, grace, and salvation, but the numbers dwindle significantly when the topics become repentance, godly conduct, separation from the world, and personal holiness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not promoting a works-based plan of salvation here. I myself sin every day and have to spend more time than I should asking the Lord for forgiveness of those sins. I like to think, though, that with me, sin is the exception, not the rule. It’s the uncommon, not the common. That’s what salvation has done to me.

Maybe an illustration will help me say what I’m trying to say. Little Billy was dressed for church in his Sunday best, but his mother wasn’t quite ready to go. That gave Billy time to go out into the back yard and play in the dirt. Naturally, in just a few minutes, his clothes were absolutely filthy. When his mother saw him she became furious and threatened to punish him. Passionately, Billy said to her, “Mom, I’m real sorry. Please forgive me.” She replied, “Okay, you’re forgiven but go change.” But Billy didn’t want to go back inside the house and go to the trouble of dressing again. So, he said, “No, I’ll just go as I am.” You see, he wanted forgiveness but not change. And, unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of Billys running around out there these days.

Posted in Adultery, Alcohol, Backsliding, Change, Church Attendance, Discipleship, Disobedience, Drugs, Forgiveness, Hypocrisy, Personal, Personal Holiness, Rebellion, Salvation, Sanctification, Sin | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Power of a Word of Praise

Posted on September 30, 2011 by russellmckinney

Benjamin West was a famous British artist in the 1700s. He also served as the President of the prestigious Royal Academy of Arts. He was especially known for his paintings of historical scenes.

West first become aware of his artistic talents on a day when his mother had him babysit his younger sister, Sally. While his mother was gone, he discovered some bottles of colored ink and attempted to keep Sally amused by painting her portrait. In doing so, he made quite a mess. West expected to be reprimanded by his mother upon her return, but what she did instead was look beyond the mess, pick up the rather crude painting, smile, and say, “Why, it’s Sally!” From that point, West’s mother became his greatest source of encouragement in regards to his talent. He would often say, “My mother’s kiss made me an artist.”

We have no idea just how much influence we have over the lives of others. A well-timed word of praise can go a long way in building a person’s confidence, just as an ill-timed word of criticism can go a long way in destroying that confidence. The single greatest thing that my father ever said to me was, “I’ve seen all these ballplayers around here, and you can play with any of them.” To this day I remember how that one sentence made me feel. It made me feel like I was as good a ballplayer as anyone in our county. Maybe I wasn’t actually as good as the best players in our county, but that didn’t stop me from feeling like I was.

Rev. Jay Orr was my pastor when I felt God’s call to the ministry, and I will always be indebted to Jay for helping me to yield to that call and fulfill my God-appointed role in life. In particular, there was one line from Jay that especially found a home in my heart. We were sitting in his car talking, and he looked me squarely in the eye and said, “Well, you’re preacher material.” The funny thing is that I’m sure that Jay had no idea the impact that statement had on me.

So, the purpose of this post is to get you to find someone and brag on them a little. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it, and I definitely don’t want you to lie. But chances are that you’ll cross paths with someone very soon whom you can sincerely praise for something. Perhaps it will be your child. Perhaps it will be your spouse. Perhaps it will be someone who looks up to you. All I’m saying is, whoever it is (a budding artist, a young ballplayer, an aspiring preacher, etc.) you just never know the lifelong impact your word of praise might have.

Posted in Children, Communication, Encouragement, Fatherhood, Influence, Motherhood, Parenting, Personal, Sports, Youth | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment