Be Teetotallers! (I)

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

Proverbs 31:6-7, “Give strong drink 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.” There is a need to warn against the sin of drinking.

The Bible does not teach Christians to drink in moderation. The Bible warns of the pitfalls and consequences of drinking. Men like Noah ended up naked in his own bed and caused his son to sin, and then he had to curse his son’s descendants afterwards. Lot was made drunk by his two daughters, and they committed incest with him. If only they had not ended up as drunkards, the events in their lives and that of the world would have been quite different. The sad reality is that no amount of tears and sorrow can undo what has been done when in a state of drunken stupor. How many men have used wine to trick women into bed, and how many women have been taken advantage of because they were drunk? How many have killed or crippled others because they drink and drive? Are such warnings of the dangers of drunkenness good enough to stop Christians from drinking? Many would find all kinds of arguments to counter or neutralise all the reasons in favour of total abstinence.

There are Christians who argue that drinking is good on the basis of medical science. They say that medical science tells them that drinking a glass of red wine once in a while is good for their health. It must be pointed out that medical reasons cannot be used to stop an act of the will or to support an action. Smoking has been proven by medical science to cause cancer and other deadly diseases but that has not stopped millions of both young and old from smoking! Medical science is helpless against a person’s will. If one chooses to drink or smoke or eat any thing, medical science is helpless against a rebellious will. As far as the Christian is concerned, his supreme guide for life and practice must not be medical science. The Bible—God’s perfect Word—should be his supreme and final rule for life and practice.

Medical science should not be the supreme and final authority of a believer’s behaviour and manner of life. We know that medical discoveries have been proven wrong from time to  time.  Once  we  were  told  that margarine is better than butter. Now it is asserted that butter is better than margarine because it has been discovered that eating margarine is like eating plastic! Human science is fallible and capable of error. But the Bible is perfect, unchanging and ever relevant! We must live by faith in God’s Word, not by the science of man. Romans 14:23b says, “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

Time and time again it has been the argument of drinkers of wine to use Jesus’ first miracle in Cana of Galilee as a licence to drink. Did Jesus not turn water into wine? Yes Jesus did turn water into wine and the people who tasted it called it “good wine” (see John 2). But the wine in those days was not the same as the wine of today. In those days, normal grape juice or the fruit of the vine was called “wine.” Barnes explained it well when he wrote, “We should not be deceived by the phrase ‘good wine.’ We often use the phrase to denote that it is good in proportion to its strength and its power to intoxicate; but no such sense is to be attached to the word here. Pliny, Plutarch, and Horace described wine as good, or mentioned that as the best wine, it was harmless or innocent—poculo vini innocentis. The most useful wine— utilissimum vinum—was that which had little strength; and the most wholesome wine— saluberrimum vinum—was that which had not been adulterated by ‘the addition of anything to the must or juice.’ Pliny expressly said that ‘good wine’ was one that was destitute of spirit (lib. iv. c. 13). It should not be assumed, therefore, that the ‘good wine’ was stronger than the other: it is rather to be presumed that it was milder. The wine referred to here was doubtless such as was commonly drunk in Palestine. That was the pure juice of the grape. It was not brandied wine, nor drugged wine, nor wine compounded of various substances, such as we drink in this land. The common wine drunk in Palestine was that which was the simple juice of the grape. We use the word wine now to denote the kind of liquid which passes under that name in this country—always containing a considerable portion of alcohol—not only the alcohol produced by fermentation, but alcohol added to keep it or make it stronger. But we have no right to take that sense of the word, and go with it to the interpretation of the Scriptures. We should endeavour to place ourselves in the exact circumstances of those times, ascertain precisely what idea the word would convey to those who used it then, and apply that sense to the word in the interpretation of the Bible; and there is not the slightest evidence that the word so used would have conveyed any idea but that of the pure juice of the grape, nor the slightest circumstance mentioned in this account that would not be fully met by such a supposition. No man should adduce this instance in favour of drinking wine unless he can prove that the wine made in the ‘water-pots’ of Cana was just like the wine which he proposes to drink. The Saviour’s example may be always pleaded just as it was; but it is a matter of obvious and simple justice that we should find out exactly what the example was before we plead it. There is, moreover, no evidence that any other part of the water was converted into wine than that which was drawn out of the water-casks for the use of the guests.”

There are 12 words used in the Bible for the different types of drinks that were available in biblical times. The following is adapted from Easton’s Bible Dictionary:

The most common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning “to boil up,” “to be in a ferment.” Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,” and hence the juice of the grape trodden out. The Greek word for wine is oinos, and the Latin vinun. But besides this common Hebrew word, there are several others which are thus rendered.

1. Ashishah (2Sa 6:19; 1Ch 16:3; Song 2:5; Ho 3:1), which denotes a solid cake of pressed grapes, or “a cake of raisins.”
2. ‘Asis, “sweet wine,” or “new wine,” the product of the same year (Song 8:2; Isa 49:26; Joe 1:5; 3:18; Am 9:13), from a root meaning “to tread,” hence juice trodden out or pressed out, thus referring to the method by which the juice is obtained. The power of intoxication is ascribed to it.
3.  Hometz i.e., vinegar or “sour wine.”

The Hebrew word is rendered vinegar in Ps 69:21, a prophecy fulfilled in the history of the crucifixion (Mt 27:34). This was the common sour wine (posea) daily made use of by the Roman soldiers. They gave it to Christ, not in derision, but from compassion, to assuage his thirst. Pr 10:26 shows that there was a stronger vinegar that was not fit for drinking.

4. Hemer, De 32:14 (rendered “blood of the grape”), Isa 27:2 (“red wine”), Ezr 6:9; 7:22; Da 5:1-2, This word conveys the idea of “foaming,” as in the process of fermentation, or when poured out. It is derived from the root hamar, meaning “to boil up,” and also “to be red,” from the idea of boiling or becoming inflamed.
5. Enabh, a grape. De 32:14, “Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” (Comp. Ge 49:11; Nu 6:3; De 23:24, etc., where this Hebrew word is rendered in the plural “grapes”.)
6. Mesekh, properly a mixture of wine and water with spices that increase its stimulating properties (Isa 5:22). Ps 75:8, “The wine (yayin) is red; it is full of mixture (mesekh);” Pr 23:30, “mixed wine;” Isa 65:11, “drink offering”.
7. Tirosh, properly “must,” translated “wine” (De 28:51); “new wine” (Pr 3:10); “sweet wine” (Mic 6:15; “vintage”). This Hebrew word has been traced to a root meaning “to take possession of” and hence it is supposed that tirosh is so designated because it is so intoxicating that it takes control of the brain. Among the blessings promised to Esau (Ge 27:28) mention is made of “plenty of corn and ” Palestine is called “a land of corn and tirosh” (De 33:28; comp. Isa 36:17). See also De 28:51; 2Ch 32:28; Joe 2:19; Ho 4:11, (“wine [yayin] and new wine [tirosh] take away the heart”).
8. Sobhe (root meaning “to drink to excess,” “to suck up,” “absorb”), found only in Isa 1:22; Ho 4:18 (“their drink;”), and Na 1:10 (“drunken as drunkards;” lit., “soaked according to their drink;” e., according to their sobhe).
9. .Shekar, “strong drink,” any intoxicating liquor; from a root meaning “to drink deeply,” “to be drunken”, a generic term applied to all fermented liquors, however Nu 28:7, “strong wine”. It is sometimes distinguished from wine, c.f., Le 10:9, “Do not drink wine [yayin] nor strong drink [shekar]” Nu 6:3; Judges 13:4, 7; Isa 28:7 (in all these places rendered “strong drink”). Translated “strong drink” also in Isa 5:11; 24:9; 29:9; 56:12; Pr 20:1; 31:6; Mic 2:11.
10. Yekebh (De 16:13, or “wine-press”), a vat into which the new wine flowed from the press. Joe 2:24, “their vats;” Joe 3:13, “the fats;” Pr 3:10, “Thy presses shall burst out with new wine [tirosh];” Hag 2:16; Jer 48:33, “wine-presses;” 2Ki 6:27; Job 24:11.
11. Shemarim (only in plural), “lees” or “dregs” of wine. In Isa 25:6 it is rendered “wines on the lees”, i.e., wine that has been kept on the lees, and therefore old wine.
12. Mesek, “a mixture,” mixed or spiced wine, not diluted with water, but mixed with drugs and spices to increase its strength, or, as some think, mingled with the lees by being shaken (Ps 75:8; Pr 23:30).

In Acts 2:13 the word gleukos, rendered “new wine,” denotes properly “sweet wine.” This is the word from which we get the English word “glucose.” In addition to wine the Hebrews also made use of what they called debash, which was obtained by boiling down must to one-half or one-third of its original bulk. In Genesis 43:11 this word is rendered “honey.” It was a kind of syrup, and is called by the Arabs at the present day dibs. This word occurs in the phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey (debash)” (Ex 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Le 20:24; Nu 13:27).

From the use of the many words to describe the “fruit of the vine” we can see that “wine” can mean different things, and the ancients have many methods to preserve, use and keep the fruit of the vine as long as possible. This makes our study of wine very interesting. There is even a drink offering offered to God. It is important to note that not all “wine” in the Scriptures mean alcoholic wine.