Everything is created by God is good, including wine. God allowed the Israelites. Deut. 14:26.

Psalm 104. God makes wine to gladden our heart. Jesus drank wine and was considered a wine
Good creation.

- Sign of blessing.
- Lord’s supper and Jesus enjoyed wine.

You assume that every time the authors of the Bible use the word “wine” they are

referring to an alcoholic beverage. However, that is not the case. The word “Yayin” in the

Hebrew, that is usually translated wine, can have a wide range of meanings, it can simply

mean a grape vine (Num. 6:4: All their days as nazirites they shall eat nothing that is

produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins), the products of the

vineyard (Deut. 28:39; cf. Jer. 40:10, 12), the liquid that comes from the winepress (Isa.

16:10: Joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field; and in the vineyards no

songs are sung, no shouts are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; the

vintage-shout is hushed. ; Jer. 48:33); or, fermented grape juice (Prov. 23:31).

Usually the word that is unmistakably referencing alcoholic beverages is “strong drink”, in

Hebrew “shechar”. However, this word can also have more nuanced meanings, according

to different scholars. Its primary meaning might refer to a kind of syrup or a drink made

from honey.

So, we must be careful in assuming that God encourages the drinking of “Wine and strong

drink”. He does not! This will guide us in interpreting Deuteronomy 14:26 where God

permits the children of Israel to buy wine and strong drink to eat in the presence of the

Lord. In the first place this is part of a religious duty, it is the fulfillment of the tithes to

God. It was not a carnal celebration but a Spiritual one, it symbolized the thankfulness to

God for His blessings in the land. They would bring the first fruits of their crops and vines
as offerings to God. In that sense, they are giving thanks for the abundance of goods that

they have received. In that sense, it is difficult to think that God would be allowing

something that in other places is condemned (Hab. 2:15-16; Prov. 20:1) for his worship.

The same applies, as we shall see, to the Lord’s Supper. Then, the passage might simply

refer to the purchase of sweet drinks that are enjoyed in the presence of the Lord. This is

a legitimate interpretation of the passage.

The overall message of this commandment, then, was to celebrate the goodness of God to

the land and to his people. The question is, then, was not wine (both the alcoholic and the

non-alcoholic) and the intoxicating strong drink created by God?

God created everything as something good and for good purposes. That does not mean

that we use those things for good purposes. In the first place, grapes, created by God, do

not contain intoxicating properties by themselves, they become intoxicating by the

process of fermentation, and even if they are fermented, they would not cause any of the

situations and symptoms that are caused by the highly intoxicating liquor that we know

now as “wine”. The wine, as unfermented grape juice, is something that gladdens the

heart and that is what the inspired authors praise God for, having a vineyard was a sign of

prosperity, but its use was perverted and became a sign of condemnation. In fact, just as

Psalm 104 praises God for making wine that gladdens the heart, the book of proverbs

acknowledges the wine as a sign of mourning, as something dedicated for the sad and

depressed: “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to

desire strong drink; or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed, and will

pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine
to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their

misery no more” (Prov. 31:4-7). By the way, this does not allow to drink when we are sad,

it is an ironic statement, contrasting what a king should do, against a poor mourner will do

in that situation.

Again, wine is a good creation of God, but intended with a different purpose. Tobacco is

certainly the creation of God, and it is good, but it is not fit for human consumption;

Cannabis, the plants that produce cocaine and heroin as well as all the different kinds of

hallucinogens mushrooms have been created by God, and are good, but they are not

made for human consumption. They might be helpful to medicine and other areas that aid

human life, but they are not to be used in a recreational way. Why should it be different

with alcoholic beverages?

Jesus was not a drunkard. Jesus did not partake of alcoholic beverages. This is something

that must be emphasized. In Matthew 11:16-18 Jesus, after praising the ministry of John

the Baptist, speaks against the Pharisees and other religious groups that opposed both

John and Jesus, and points out their hypocrisy in condemning the Baptist for not eating or

drinking, that is, for living a life solitary in the desert, but at the same time, in condemning

Jesus for eating and drinking. Read carefully: “The Son of man came eating and drinking,

and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and

sinners”. Jesus ONLY states that he came eating and drinking, He does not say eating and

drinking wine, in fact the episode in Luke is even clearer, He compares himself with John

and says: “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no 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 drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” (Luke 7:34-35). Notice

that John neither ate nor drank WINE, but Jesus came eating and drinking… it does not

specify as in the case of John. So, it is the group that oppose Jesus which says that He is a

winebibber. Should we just take their word as the truth? Are supposed to think that,

despite all the lies and false testimonies raised against Jesus, this is in fact true? I have no

doubt that Jesus was a friend of tax-collectors and sinners, because Jesus himself showed

himself to be this, but in any case, Jesus was a friend to them in order to overlook their

sins, but to call them into repentance (Mark 2:17; Luke 7:36ff).

The weeding at Cana is not an example of Jesus making alcohol, or endorsing the use of

alcohol. Again, we should not think that the word “wine” means the same in every case.

The Greek word oinos is a generic term that can mean from fresh grape juice to fermented

wine. Context should determine its meaning. There is an indication in the text that

explicitly says that this wine created by Jesus was not intoxicated. The words of the ruler

of the feast, who did not know where this wine was coming from, are essential: And saith

unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have

well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now (John

2:10). Here we see that the common practice was to bring good quality wine to the feast,

and leave the low quality one, that is, the fermented one, for the end when everyone has

already drink too much. Jesus changes this and, by the end of the feast, he gives good

wine. The words in the Greek are “kalós oinos”. Kalos indicates that the wine is not only

good in flavor, but that it is fresh, as if it was just out of the press, which indicates that it is

not fermented.
Besides that, if we take seriously who is Jesus, we would never think that Jesus gave

alcohol to others. Hear what Habakkuk said “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour

drink, That puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, That thou mayest

look on their nakedness!” (Hab. 2:15). Is it reasonable that the Son of God would go

against what the prophets have said?

It is clear that seeing in Jesus something like this is an effort to maintain the false sense of

spirituality without needing to compromise ourselves completely.

Noah and Lot: what more condemnation than their fate? The lack an explicit

condemnation in Scripture does not eliminate the clear negative light in which the Bible

portrays the use of alcohol.

The Lord’s supper

The fruit of the vine used in the Lord’s supper is also referred by the word “oinos” which

designates all kinds of wine. Context should determine if it is or not intoxicated. The fact

that God commanded it to be used in worship to Him should be a clear indication that it

cannot be intoxicated.

1 Corinthians

Jeffcoat – The Bible and social drinking.