T here are a number of reasons why people choose to drink wine. Some have chosen wine for

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1 T here are a number of reasons why people choose to drink wine. Some have chosen wine for enjoyment, others for health reasons, and some have chosen wine as a way to ignore issues of life. There are questions that many people have that God wanted me to address through His word and this is one of them. Is it a sin to drink wine according to the bible? What affect takes place in our life when we consume alcohol to a certain degree? Drinking wine as we know has it s consequences. When it is abused, it destroys lives. As children of the Most High God, we have to make choices that are beneficial to the enhancement of God s Kingdom on earth. One thing that God has given us is a choice. What will you choose? Let s Get Started Throughout the Old and New Testament, drinking wine was a customary practice and was used for our enjoyment. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man's heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man's heart. Psalms 104:14-15 NAS Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Ecclesiastes 9:7 NAS Men prepare a meal for enjoyment, and wine makes life merry, and money is the answer to everything. Ecclesiastes 10:19 NAS "You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. Deuteronomy 14:26 NAS The scripture tells us that, whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NAS 1

2 Wine or Grape Juice? A common misconception of wine is that the meaning of the word translated in the New Testament as wine is actually grape juice or possibly even molasses. In Genesis 9:21 is the first scripture in which wine is mentioned. The Hebrew word used there is yayin. It always means fermented wine, primarily from grapes. The following examples shown in this study comes from that Hebrew word yayin. The Greek word is oinos and it has the same meaning. In that day, wine was fermented (containing alcohol), but not necessarily to the degree it is today. It is incorrect to say that it was grape juice, but it is also incorrect to say that it was the same thing as the wine commonly used today. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." Matthew 15:11 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 Alcohol is not, in and of itself, tainted by sin. It is drunkenness and addiction to alcohol that God considers sin. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness and dimness of eyes? Those who tarry long at the wine, those who go to seek and try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the wineglass, when it goes down smoothly. At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. [Under the influence of wine] your eyes will behold strange things [and loose women] and your mind will utter things turned the wrong way [untrue, incorrect, and petulant]. Yes, you will be [as unsteady] as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, and [as open to disaster] as he who lies upon the top of a mast. You will say, They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me [as with a hammer], but I did not feel it! When shall I awake? I will crave and seek more wine again [and escape reality]. Proverbs 23:29-35 AMP 2

3 "Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man, So that he does not stay at home. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, And he is like death, never satisfied. He also gathers to himself all nations and collects to himself all peoples. Habakkuk 2:5 NAS He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not become rich. Proverbs 21:17 NAS Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags. Proverbs 23:20-21 NAS The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment. Isaiah 28:7 NAS So the following text teaches us that too much alcohol can produce the following: Your eyes will behold strange things. Your mind will utter things the wrong way; things that are incorrect and untrue. You will try to escape reality and crave more. You will never be satisfied. It makes you wander from home. If you have a love for wine, you will be succumb to poverty. You will also become confused and stagger. Even though wine is lawful to drink, we cannot let it master our lives to the point that we become intoxicated and dependent on it. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation (excessive indulgence), but be filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5:18 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. Romans 13:13 3

4 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise. Proverbs 20:1 Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may pursue strong drink, Who stay up late in the evening that wine may inflame them! Their banquets are accompanied by lyre and harp, by tambourine and flute, and by wine; But they do not pay attention to the deeds of the LORD, Nor do they consider the work of His hands. Isaiah 5:11-12 We must also stay away from those that are intoxicated because they will never be satisfied with just one drink. Come," they say, "let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; And tomorrow will be like today, only more so." Isaiah 56:12 For the time is Drawing Near Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Romans 13:13-14 Governed Authorities Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Romans 13:1 4

5 The Nazarite Vow The word Nazarite means consecrated or devoted one. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, there were several reasons that a Jewish person would take the Nazarite vow. Some took the vow for the purpose of dedicating themselves to the Lord and setting themselves apart for his service. Others chose to do so as atonement for some sin or to beg for favor or healing. The vow could be taken for a period of time, no less than 30 days, or it could be taken as a lifelong commitment. Upon the completion of one's term as a Nazirite, certain sacrifices were to be made at the temple in Jerusalem. One of the rules where they had to abstain from wine. he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. `All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin, Numbers 6:3-4 Then after the separation period the Nazirite may drink wine again. (vs. 20) Read Numbers 6:1-21 to see what was required from a Nazirite. Samson the Nazirite During pregnancy with Samson, his mother was required also to abstain from alcohol. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. "Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. "For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines." Judges 13:3-5 Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the LORD blessed him. Judges 13:24 5

6 John the Baptist the Nazirite "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. Luke 1:15 Did Jesus drink Wine? For John the Baptist has come 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, Behold, a Man Who is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and notorious sinners. Luke 7:33-34 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." Matthew 26:29 Jesus turned water into wine On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." John 2:1-10 6

7 Wine was suggested for Health Reasons In New Testament times, the water was not very clean. Without modern sanitation, the water was often filled with bacteria, viruses, and all kinds of contaminants. The same is true in many thirdworld countries today. As a result, people often drank wine (or grape juice) because it was far less likely to be contaminated. In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul was instructing Timothy to stop drinking the water (which was probably causing his stomach problems) and instead drink wine. No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. God s requirement for Leadership It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, For they will drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Proverbs 31:4-5 Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner court. Ezekiel 44:21 The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, "Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations-- and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean, and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through Moses." Leviticus 10:8-11 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 1 Timothy 3:8 For the oversee (bishop) must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quicktempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious (quarrelsome), no fond of sordid gain, Titus 1:7 7

8 God has given us Liberty but Beware of Offences Yes there is great liberty in God, but we cannot let that liberty be an occasion to cause someone to stumble in their walk with God. For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense (displeases). It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. Romans 14:14-21 Brotherly Love Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 8

9 Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." Luke 21:34-36 For although I am free in every way from anyone's control, I have made myself a bond servant to everyone, so that I might gain the more [for Christ]. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to men under the Law, [I became] as one under the Law, though not myself being under the Law, that I might win those under the Law. To those without (outside) law I became as one without law, not that I am without the law of God and lawless toward Him, but that I am [especially keeping] within and committed to the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak (wanting in discernment) I have become weak (wanting in discernment) that I might win the weak and overscrupulous. I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ]. And I do this for the sake of the good news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in its [blessings along with you]. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 AMP 9