ROBBY C. EVERSOLE

THIS LENGTHLY ARTICLE CONCERNS THOSE WHO STOP SHORT OF SAYING, “DRINKING ALCOHOL SOCIALLY OR OTHERWISE IS SIN.” This issue with men who don’t practice a certain thing, but not condemn it, is multipliable across many issues (homosexuality, instrumental music, women in authority, oneness of the church, etc.).

BRAD, DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS ARTICLE?

I want to begin with the following premise. I believe that the consumption of beverage alcohol, FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES OR FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTOXICATION IS SINFUL! The fact that alcohol has done much good in medicine is without dispute. But there is a difference in, “Getting the alcohol for the ache” than in, “Getting the ache from the alcohol”. There are very few medicines today that contain alcohol.

In a study of the Bible, it is important that we understand that some words do not have the same meaning in the Bible that we understand them to mean in modern usage. Therefore, it is necessary to ascertain the precise idea a word would convey to those people to whom it was originally written and apply that same sense to the word in our interpretation of the Bible. Several words serve to illustrate this principle. The word “Conversation” in the KJV means “Deportment or general behavior” (Galatians 1:13; I Timothy 4:12; I Peter 3:1). Its usual meaning in modern speech is “A talking together”. The word “Hate” is generally understood to mean “To detest, loathe, abominate”. But Jesus said a man must “Hate his father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, and his own life also” (Luke 14:26). It is obvious that Jesus is saying that a choice between Him and one’s on family must be made. So, the one not chosen is said to be hated (cf. Genesis 29:30, 31; Romans 9:13).

“Wine” in the Bible refers to the juice of the grape. When we think of wine in modern parlance, we think of the alcoholic beverage by that name sold in liquor stores. In the Bible, however, the word wine is used to refer to the juice of the grape in any form, whether fermented, freshly pressed, or still in the grape. Sometimes it is possible to determine from the context the precise meaning of the word. For example, in the following three passages it is quite obvious that the word wine refers to an alcoholic beverage: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 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. 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 (Proverbs 23:31-35). “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 5:11).

On the other hand, it is just as obvious that the same word, “Wine” in (Isaiah 16:10), refers to fresh grape juice: “And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in the presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease”.

In still another passage we have a reference to wine which is still in the grapes: “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” (Isaiah 65:8).

These passages serve to illustrate the fact that the word wine is used to refer to the juice of the grape, in whatever form it may be found. While these passages are quite clear as to the respective meanings of the word wine, it is not always this easy, nor is it always possible to determine which of these specific meanings is applicable to a passage. In such cases the careful Bible student will not press one definition to the exclusion of others until he has proved satisfactorily that no other definition can apply.

Years ago, Olan Hicks, James D. Bales and others, following their pernicious teaching succeeded in filling the church with adulterers. Today, another ilk of men are compromising God’s truth, to fill the church with drunkards.

The story is told of a family of hogs. Papa hog came home drunk and momma hog hid her little pigs because she didn’t want them to see their papa acting like a human. I’m afraid that this little story illustrates more than we would like to admit.

Allow me to set out several statements and positions from the scriptures, both from the Old and New Testaments. May we always remember that any interpretation of any scripture that denies the validity of another scripture is a false interpretation.

We must understand that the word, “Wine” is a generic word. It’s like the words, “Fruit, water, groceries, etc”. If I said to you that, “I ate a piece of fruit”, you wouldn’t know what I ate unless I told you. Fruit is generic. Same with wine. The Hebrew and Greek words translated, “Wine” in the scriptures are generic. Context must tell us what kind of wine is under discussion, just like I must tell you what fruit I ate. The word water doesn’t tell you if it is pond water, sea water, hot water, cold water, running water or stagnant water. Unless context tells you, you will not know. It is generic! Just because a word translated wine means intoxicating wine in one place, doesn’t mean that the same word means intoxicating wine in another place. Context must tell us. To illustrate, the word baptism in the New Testament means, “To dip, plunge or immerse, to bury”, but context must tell us what baptism is being talked about. One cannot infer from the word, “Baptism” whether it is the baptism of suffering, fire, Moses, John, the Spirit, Jesus, or Great Commission. Context must tell us because the word, “Baptism” is generic.

God did not allow Aaron or his sons, as priests, to use strong drink or wine, so that each succeeding generation could be taught the word of the Lord. There was to be a difference between common and holy things and a violation of this imperative was punishable by death (Leviticus 10:8-11). In verse 9, two Hebrew words are used for the thing that is prohibited and punishable by death. “Wine” – yayin and “Strong drink” – shekar. These words form a Hebrew, absolute state, genitival relationship where both terms mean the same thing. Yayin corresponds to one of the New Testament Greek words for “Wine” – oinos.  Christians are God’s priesthood every hour of every day (Revelation 1:5-6; I Peter 2:5-9)!

Daniel purposed in his heart to not drink wine because of its defiling nature (Daniel 1:8). Sounds like Daniel understood what Moses penned in (Leviticus 10:8-11). “Defile” Hebrew ga’al, means to “Defile, pollute or desecrate” BDB Hebrew Lexicon. Alcohol consumed for the purpose of intoxication is still polluting and defiling today. Alcohol used for the purpose of intoxication is responsible for tragedy and defilement in every community. The loose moral code, loss of virtue, crime and violence in our communities can be traced back to alcohol. Also, consider the defilement in the home. Divorce, child abuse and battered spouses are often a direct result of drinking alcohol. Every drunken child molester and wife beater got his start with the first drink. Every alcoholic began his journey with the first drink. Indeed, alcohol is still defiling today! Can someone name one GOOD thing attributed to the consumption of alcohol for the purpose of intoxication? How can a Christian defend, promote, preach and teach that the God of heaven sanctions such foolishness and evil? Some even go so far as to say that Jesus made intoxicating wine in John 2.

George W. DeHoff once wrote, “One who would insist that Jesus made, endorsed or used intoxicating beverages in view of what the Bible has to say about their use, simply exposes his ignorance and dishonesty in handling the truth. Bootleggers, whores, crooks and gamblers may endorse the drinking of intoxicants. Members of the church who have not really studied the problem may endorse drinking to a limited extent, but the Son of God – NEVER!” (God’s Plan For Us, A Junior workbook, p. 11). The very idea that our blessed Lord made approximately 150 gallons of alcoholic beverage and gave it to people that were already “Well drunk” is ludicrous. Those who teach such have taken leave of their senses. Notice the following argument if Jesus made alcoholic wine in John 2:

1. Major Premise: Alcohol for the purpose of intoxication is evil (Isaiah 5:11, 20, 22; I Peter 4:3; Luke 21:34; Habakkuk 2:15; Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35; Hosea 4:1).
2. Minor Premise: Jesus made alcohol for the purpose of intoxication (John 2).
3. ⸫ Jesus is evil (Matthew 7:15-20).

This argument is both valid and sound. It is valid because the conclusion follows the premises. And the argument is sound because the premises are true.

Who can believe it? This would make Jesus a first century bar tender. If Jesus attended a wedding today, would it be safe to say that he would supply the alcohol? What about cocaine for the snorters, heroin for the shooters, pills for the poppers and marijuana for the smokers? Jesus is no respecter of persons. If he did it for the drinkers, he would do it for the others. Maybe Jesus could buy the Miller Brewing Company and Jack Daniels Distillery, then he could really supply the needs of the people. He could buy land in Columbia and grow his own opium crops and meet the needs of more people. Maybe Jesus could coin His own slogan, “Choose the drug of your choice”! How insane to associate the name of our blessed Lord, the holy Son of God with this toxic evil.

(I Peter 4:3), “For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries”.

“Banquetings” in I Peter 4:3 is, potos (pot’-os); and means, “A drinking-bout or carousal:” Abbott – Smith. This is what is meant by a social drinking party. Peter said they had been drinkers and drunks before they were converted, but since their conversion they had stopped those activities. Because of their lifestyle change, their old friends counted it strange that they didn’t run in the same circles as before (I Peter 4:4).

(Luke 21:34), “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares”. Notice friends “Surfeiting” is one thing and “Drunkenness” is another.

“Surfeiting” in Luke 21:34 is kraipale (a Synonym of potos, “Banqueting” above. Actually, it is from the same root word) and is set apart or opposite to drunkenness, and again is what one could refer to as a social drinking party but includes the head sickness that attends drinking. Both are condemned!

Drinking [not drunkenness] leads to sorrow, woe and contentions in (Proverbs 23:29-30). Let’s look deeper into this text.

 29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? (verse 30 answers all of these questions).

30 They that tarry long at the wine they that go to seek mixed wine.

1. “Tarry long” (achar, meaning to delay – Brown-Driver-Briggs).
2. “Wine” (yayin – A masculine noun referring to wine. It indicates the juice of the grapevine and its fruits, a common drink for refreshment in the Old Testament (Genesis 14:18; 27:25; Judges 19:19; The Complete Word Study Dictionary). This word is used both for intoxicating wine and grape juice. Context must tell us the usage.
3. “Mixed wine”, (mamcak – wine mixed with water or spices (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance; and Complete Word Study of the Old Testament).

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

1. “Aright” (meyshar — figurative for free from difficulties; smoothness, of the flow of wine, Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged). The advertisers make alcohol look so smooth and good. Nearly nude ladies are used to glorify this toxic slop. I wish they would show the truth of what it really does. The advertisers will not show you what it really accomplishes. They will not reveal to you that the finished product of the brewer’s art is in the gutter.
2. I wish I had some way to put on national T.V. these true word pictures. A young man I was stationed with 45 years ago in Charleston, S.C. was hit by a train. We had come home from a long, hard trip from overseas and he took his motorcycle out of storage and headed straight for a bar. When he left the bar room, he was drunk enough to think he could beat the train to the crossing. He was wrong, and they had to get him up with a vacuum cleaner. They don’t show you that!
3. Or the husband in Kentucky that was so drunk that he didn’t see the stop sign and crashed his car into a rock wall and killed his wife. I assisted the State Trooper in getting her crumpled body from beneath the dashboard. She had a hole in her forehead the size of a quarter and blood was squirting at least 4 inches with every heartbeat. She was dead when we laid her on the stretcher. They don’t show you that!
4. I wish I could put on television for you the story of a young man in Cleveland, Tennessee. He let alcohol take over his life and was beating his wife who was 6 months pregnant with their first child. When his mother tried to intervene and stop him, he began beating his mother severely. Later, with his bags packed ready to leave the next morning for drug rehab, he had to have one more party. His heart burst and blood squirted from every orifice in his body. The liquor industry doesn’t include this in their ads. Liquor is how he got his start into the drug scene; I know this because he was my brother-in-law.
5. Or the inebriated man in Knoxville, Tennessee, who in a fresh snow, plowed into the rear end of a parked 18-wheeler on I-75. The traffic was stopped and he hit the truck at an estimated speed of 60 MPH. I helped the state trooper get him out of his Lincoln Town Car. Both legs were broken. His left eye had popped out of its socket and was hanging down on his cheek. His upper lip was laying on his chest. His bottom lip was hanging by a thread. He was so drunk that he didn’t even know he was injured. They dare not show you this!
6. They don’t show you the woman that allowed her boyfriend to move in with her and her 4 years old daughter in Tennessee. On a freezing day in February, when, he in his drunken state, locked the little girl out in the cold with nothing on but her house shoes and panties for nearly an hour. When her crying became so loud that they were afraid that the neighbors would come to investigate they let her back in. When she complained of being cold and would not cease to cry, he poured hot sauce down her throat and then kicked and stomped her until she died. They don’t show you this in their commercials!
7. The mother of my children was driving from Chattanooga to Cleveland Tennessee. A drunk man boasted to his friends that he could drive from the Holiday Inn at exit 25 in Cleveland all the way to Chattanooga on the wrong side of the interstate. At about exit 11, traveling South bound on the North bound side at an insane rate of speed and hit her head on and for a long time no one knew if she would live or die. They don’t show you that!
8. Or the Ford Pinto setting at a red light in Birmingham Alabama and a drunk driver hit them from behind. The gas tank of the Pinto exploded and burned up with 4 human beings trapped inside. I can still smell the burning flesh these 40 years later. They don’t show you that!
9. This does not include many of the other things that I have seen as a result of alcohol, nor the tragedies that have happened in my own family because of alcohol and drugs. What of the string of broken homes – battered wives – abused children – lost virtue – murder – rape – stealing? They don’t show you this! Alcohol has left children without parents and parents without children.
10. Notice some more statistics. “Alcohol is associated with most crime; it is involved in 70% of all murders, 41% of assaults, 50% of rapes, 60%of sex crimes against children, 56% of fights and assaults in homes, 37% of suicides and 55% of all arrests. Further, alcohol is a safety hazard; it is involved in 66% of fatal accidents, 53% of fire deaths, 36% of pedestrian accidents, more admissions to mental hospitals than any other cause, 50% of all traffic accidents (killing 25,000 and seriously injuring 1,000,000 annually) and is the #1 killer of people 25 and under (the #3 killer in America for all ages)”. (Beverage Alcohol; Louis Rushmore, P. 13).
11. The fact that alcohol is the #1 killer of people 25 years old and under staggers the imagination. What is more staggering is that grown men who ought to know better get in front of that very age group and say that God sanctions such!

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

1. “At the last”, meaning “At the end” (Word Study of the Old Testament). One needs to consider an activity at the end. Where is this going to take me? What is the final result?
2. “Biteth”, (nashak — Wherever the verb “to bite” occurs in its literal physical sense in biblical Heb, it has a snake or serpent as its subject. [Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament].
3. “Stingeth”, (parash – “To pierce, to sting” [BDB].

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

1. “Strange women” (zewr — A verb meaning to be a stranger. “The basic meaning of this word is to turn aside (particularly for lodging”); (The Complete Word Study Dictionary). This very thought has a sexual connotation. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and causes the moral restraint to be weakened.
2. “Perverse things” (tahpukah – “A feminine noun meaning perversity. It is used of a generation of Israelites who deviated and distorted the Lord’s ways”. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament).

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.” This shows the dangerous nature, the chance taking nature of alcohol. Man’s inhibitions are deadened. Alcohol makes one feel invincible.

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.” Herein is found the numbing and addictive nature of beverage alcohol. Notice the following damnable nature of alcohol.

1. (V. 29) – The destructive nature. It will destroy internally, externally and eternally.
2. (V. 31) – The appealing nature of alcohol. The devil makes sin look so fun, right and good.
3. (V. 32) – The poisonous nature of it. Alcohol is a toxin.
4. (V. 33) – The degrading nature of it.
5. (V. 34) – The blinding nature of it. Alcohol blinds to danger.
6. (V. 35) – The numbing and addictive nature of alcohol. When a drunk awakes he often speaks of needing, “A hair of the dog that bit him”.

We are admonished to refrain from looking at wine (Proverbs 23:31-32). Question, “If one is not to even look upon it – how can he put it into his body”?

Looking at the stats recorded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:

1. By age 15, about 33 percent of teens have had at least 1 drink.
2. By age 18, about 60 percent of teens have had at least 1 drink.
3. In 2015, 7.7 million young people ages 12–20 reported that they drank alcohol beyond “Just a few sips” in the past month.
4. People ages 12 through 20 drink 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States.
5. 5.1 million young people reported binge drinking (for males 5 or more drinks and for females 4 or more drinks on the same occasion within a few hours) at least once in the past month.
6. 1.3 million young people reported binge drinking on 5 or more days over the past month. (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics).

It only leads to vanity and vexation of the spirit (Ecclesiastes 2:3-11), and takes away the heart (Hosea 4:11), “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart”. This wine and new wine referenced here is intoxicating in nature. I know this because it is negatively viewed. Why would grape juice be compared to whoredom? Notice, the company that intoxicating wine keeps – whoredom! Alcohol and whoredom take away all the devotion of the heart. This demonic, devilish and damnable duo takes that which belongs to God and consumes it upon self! How can alcoholic wine and its use be good in one place and be bad in another? How can a holy God (I Peter 1:15-16), condemn it in one place and approve it in another?

God has pronounced a woe on those who use alcohol (Isaiah 5:11-12, 20, 22). Read verse 20. But verse 11 comes just before verse 20 and verse 22 comes just after verse 20. God’s leaders became incapable of spiritual leadership as a result of drinking alcohol (Isaiah 28:7). Here Isaiah 28:7 affirms that wine upsets the mind and renders one incapable of making reasonable choices. The mind and intellect become clouded. Under its influence the mind is altered, and decision making is impaired.

Strong drink deceives and makes one unwise (Proverbs 20:1). It has deceived many young people into thinking that pre-marital sex is wise. It has deceived men and women to commit fornication, adultery, murder, lying, robbery, cheating and every other evil one could name. Could a good, holy, glorious and righteous God be party to such as this? Do we really believe that He could? Do we? Really? REALLY?

It is wrong to lead another to drink alcohol (Habakkuk 2:15; cf. Galatians 5:19-21; I Peter 4:3; Luke 21:34).

Christians are not to even keep company with drunkards (I Corinthians 5:11). If one cannot keep company with someone else that has alcohol in their body, then how can one have it in his own body?

No drunkard can or will go to heaven (I Corinthians 6:9-11). “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. The Greek word for “Drunkards” is – (methusos, drunken, intoxicated: I Cor 5:11; 6:10; Thayer). This one verse should be enough to cause one to abstain from alcohol. Knowing the fact that one runs the risk of serving it the rest of their days and miss heaven too! Why would a man get in front of impressionable college students and tell them that the Bible authorizes them to drink socially? It is beyond my ability to comprehend such ignorance. This is nothing short of playing Russian Roulette with one’s soul! Again, look at the company that the heinous sin of drunkenness keeps!

(I Timothy 3:3), “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous”. One of the qualifications of an elder is that he is to be,

1. “Not given to wine” (paroinos) a compound word from para and oinos. Para means “Beside” and oinos means “Wine”. Literally, an elder is not to be beside wine. If being beside wine would disqualify a man from being an elder, surely, he would not be able to drink it and still be qualified.
2. Question, “Does Christ hold the elders to a higher standard than He held Himself?” If the elders can’t drink, but Christ could then they are held to a higher standard than Jesus. If not, why not?
3. In listing the qualifications of elders and deacons, Paul states that an elder is not to be “Given to wine” (I Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7), and that a deacon is not to be “Given to much wine” (I Timothy 3:8).
4. Argument stated: Those who insist there is nothing wrong with social drinking use (I should say misuse) these verses to support their contention, why should the apostle say not to be given to wine, or not to be given to much wine if even small amounts would be sinful? To these, the condemnation of excessive drinking is justification for drinking moderate (?) amounts. “Don’t get drunk”, means it is perfectly alright to drink a little bit.
5. Argument refuted. To be consistent, those advocates would have you to affirm: “Be not over much wicked” (Ecclesiastes 7:17) means it is alright to be moderately wicked! “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (Romans 6:12) means there is nothing wrong with sin, so long as it does not take control of one’s life! “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) means that worldliness in moderate amounts is alright, but it would be wrong for one to be completely conformed to this world!
6. If drinking any amount of alcoholic beverages is wrong, then why did not Paul say that elders and deacons should not drink wine at all? Because such would most certainly have been misunderstood, the word wine meaning what it does in the Bible. Paul did not intend to prohibit drinking wine; but, remember that wine in the Bible is simply the juice of the grape, under the law of Moses, the Nazarite could not drink wine (grape juice) at all. In fact, he could not eat grapes, even if they were dried (Numbers 6:3). This is not what Paul was enjoining upon elders and deacons in the Lord’s church. That is why he did not forbid drinking wine, period.
7. The expressions, “Not given to wine,” and “Not given to much wine,” differ more in the Greek than they do in the English. The former seems to be, in the Greek, a reference to the brawling disposition which results from drinking alcoholic beverages (NOTE: The expression, “not given to wine,” in I Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:7 in the King James version translates the Greek word paroinos, which means literally “By or beside wine”. A marginal note says, “Ready to quarrel, and offer wrong, as one in wine”. The American Standard Version renders the word, “No brawler,” instead of “Not given to wine.” The use of this particular Greek word lends absolutely no support to the idea that drinking alcoholic beverages in small amounts is acceptable.; the latter seems to refer to the hold which alcohol has on those who have imbibed it freely. The distinction between the two expressions is certainly not a distinction between the amounts of alcoholic beverages to which elders and deacons respectively can be addicted.

(I Timothy 3:8), “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre”.

1. “Likewise,”, (hosautos – “Likewise, the same. In the same or like manner, likewise”; The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament; Louw and Nida; Thayer)
2. In just the same way of an elder, the deacon is to do “Likewise”.
3. “Much wine”! This has caused some confusion. It is said that the elder cannot have any wine, but the deacon can have some wine in moderation. This interpretation does away with, “Likewise” – “In the very same way”.
4. Again, as stated above, this no more gives permission to drink a little wine than Ecclesiastes 7:17 gives permission to be a little wicked. Solomon said, “Be not overmuch wicked”. If one can drink a little bit, then one can be wicked a little bit. If not, why not? Can one riot a little bit as long as he does not do it to excess (I Peter 4:4)?
5. One other observation with reference to these verses is in order. If the social drinker’s argument is any good, then what he has proved is not merely that one can drink moderately, but that he can be moderately addicted. If “Not given to much wine” means one can drink a little bit, then it also means one can be a little bit addicted. Is the social drinker ready to accept this logical conclusion of his argument? What proves too much proves nothing.

As noted earlier, for those who believe that Christians can imbibe must answer why God would approve in one place that which He condemns in another. Notice these verses: let us notice that God’s word explicitly condemns the use of wine as an intoxicating beverage in all forms.

1. Wine makes one unclean or unholy (Leviticus 10:8-10).
2. Wine is a mocker and deceiver (Proverbs 20:1).
3. Wine brings “Woe, sorrow, contentions, babblings, wounds without cause, redness of eyes” (Proverbs 23:29-30).
4. Wine makes people forget the laws and pervert justice (Proverbs 31:4-5).
5. Wine causes men to lie, seek bad women, etc. (Proverbs 23:30-33).
6. Wine causes men to err, use poor judgment, confusion and visions (Isaiah 28:1, 3, 7).
7. Wine is the cause of violence (Proverbs 4:17).
8. Strong drink was forbidden to the Nazarities (Numbers 6:1-3).
9. Daniel was forbidden to touch wine or strong drink because it defiles (Daniel 1:5, 8, 16; 10:3).
10. Samson’s mother, the wife of Manoah the Danite, was not to drink wine (Judges 13:4, 7, 12-14).
11. Israel did not drink wine in the wilderness for 40 years while following Moses to keep their mind clearly focused on the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:5-6).
12. Wine takes away man’s heart and senses rending him incapable of acting rationally (Habakkuk 2:15; Hosea 4:11).

“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17).

Regarding new wine and old or new wine skins (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37-39), some affirm that the fluid under consideration was in the process of fermenting. New wine skins versus old wineskins, it is argued, would expand with the resulting fermentation whereas old wine skins would burst. No skin however could remain whole if fermentation should get under full headway. The carbonic acid gas generated by the process would rupture a new skin almost as rapidly as an old one. Job recognized this principle when he stated, “Behold, my breast is as new wine which hath no vent; Like new wine-skins it is ready to burst” (Job 32:19).

Have you any idea how much carbon dioxide gas is produced by one gallon of grape-juice? 50 gallons! (Confirmed by Dr. Roy E. Mitchell, professor of chemistry at the Texas Technical University in Lubbock, Texas.) That would be quite a skin— wouldn’t it? That’s quite a stretch. The new wine wasn’t put in the new skin to allow for fermentation, but, But, BUT to prevent it. The true purpose of employing new wine skins rather than previously used wineskins was to prevent fermented residue inside the old skins from promoting fermentation in the fresh grape juice.

Another of their argument’s states, “Since the Lord used alcoholic wine in the institution of the Lord’s Supper, not only can we use alcoholic wine in our observance of the Lord’s Supper or Communion today, but we can drink alcoholic beverages (in moderation) also”. It is a fallacious and biblically unsound assertion that Jesus Christ implemented the Lord’s Supper with fermented or alcoholic wine. In the first place, one has to assume words into the biblical text respecting the institution of the Lord’s Supper that simply are not there! The Bible uses the words “Fruit of the vine”, but never wine, when it speaks of the communion service. Look for yourself (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 10:16; 11:23-29).

In addition, our Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper following the last God-authorized observance year for the Passover. Jesus only had at his disposal for his memorial feast, the Communion, such items as were available at Passover time. Hence, the bread employed in the Lord’s Supper was (and is) unleavened bread, that is bread from dough that has not fermented. The prescription for the Passover meal in Exodus 12:15, 19-20 used two different Hebrew words interchangeably referring to the unfermented or unleavened quality of the bread. Verse 20 reads in part, “Ye shall eat nothing leavened…” Notice the biblical definitions of the words “Eat” and “Leavened” in this verse. The meaning of the former includes “Consume” (Deuteronomy 5:25; 7:16; 2 Kings 1:10, 12; Job 15:34; 20:26; Jeremiah 49:27) and the latter means “Ferment”. Ferment and leaven are classified as synonyms in any thesaurus. Actually, it is impossible to separate the two words. The fermenting process is basically the same in both bread and wine.

“Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven [“Yeast” NIV; “Swelling by fermentation”] seen with thee in all thy quarters” (Exodus 13:6-7).

Therefore, during the Passover, Israelites were forbidden from using anything that was fermented; this would extend beyond the bread to include the biblical wine under consideration for the Passover, as well as the items available to our Lord on the heels of the Passover meal with which to institute the Lord’s Supper. Further support for the unfermented nature of the Communion wine is provided by the Mosaic law which required the exclusion of all fermented articles during the Passover feast (Ex 12:15; 13:6, 7). Jesus used unfermented grape juice at all Passovers and at the Lord’s Supper because He obeyed the Mosaic law. That law said not to use anything fermented during the Passover week, Jesus came to fulfill the law; He did not disobey the law. If there is one place that should be safe for an alcoholic, it is the church. But how can they be safe at a communion service where wine with alcoholic content is served?

Deuteronomy 14:26 is another proof text they run too. Listen to the argument they make from this verse. Deuteronomy 14:26 reads, “And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink [“similar drink” NKJV], or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household”. Whatever Deuteronomy 14:26 means, respecting “Wine” and “Strong drink”, it must harmonize with other portions of divinely inspired Scripture about the same subject. Someone once said that Scripture is its own best commentary (i.e., other passages that are more easily understood pertaining to the same subject contribute to the proper understanding of more difficult passages). Scripture must serve as a guide to understand Scripture. Any problem text must be interpreted not in isolation but in the light of the overall teaching of Scripture. An interpretation of a passage contradicting the whole trend of Scripture must be rejected as wrong. One verse “Doctrines” are suspiciously under substantiated by divine inspiration and ought to scare all of us; proponents of social drinking (of alcohol) pin their hope for the defense of alcoholic beverages on Deuteronomy 14:26, forasmuch as more feeble strategies of the same sort fall flat upon inspection. The argument that Deuteronomy 14:26 demonstrates divine approval of social drinking is the lone biblical specimen of supposed divine sanction of beverage alcohol.

First, that “Strong drink” (KJV) or “Similar drink” (NKJV) in Deuteronomy 14:26 cannot refer to and sanction the use of an alcoholic beverage is obvious when one acknowledges that God specifically condemned consuming alcoholic beverages respecting acceptable worship under Judaism; “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations” (Leviticus 10:9). The Bible cannot both disallow (Leviticus 10:9) and allow (Deuteronomy 14:26) the consumption of alcohol under the same Law (Judaism) respecting the same purpose (worship) without making the Bible contradictory. Jewish worship being the same in both passages, the references to “Wine” and “Strong drink” must refer to different substances (i.e., alcoholic in Leviticus 10:9 and non-alcoholic in Deuteronomy 14:26).

Second, the words “Wine and strong drink” constitute an expression that uses two independent words to express a single idea; this figure of speech is called “Hendiadys” (Merriam-Webster’s). This is similar to the grammatical use of the apposition in language where two adjacent nouns are equivalent to each other in meaning. In other words, the affect is saying it twice. Therefore, whatever the word “Wine” means in the context in which the expression appears is what the words “Strong drink” or “Similar drink” mean. The context of Deuteronomy 14:26, then, neither refers to alcoholic wine nor other alcoholic drinks since the Law prohibited the use of alcoholic beverages by Jewish worshippers (Leviticus 10:9). “Strong drink” or “Similar drink” in Deuteronomy 14:26 cannot refer to an alcoholic beverage.

Third, in Deuteronomy 14:23, the “Wine” associated with the harvest offering was fresh grape juice, coming from a word, (tirosh), that means just squeezed out grape juice. The reference to “Wine” and “Strong drink” or “Similar drink” in Deuteronomy 14:26 is a reference to the same beverage for the same purpose at the same occasion and place. The only difference in circumstances between verse 23 and verse 26 is that the participants relative to the latter verse lived far from a place of worship, and they had to convert their offerings to money so they could travel more easily, but upon arrival at the place of worship, they spent the money to avail themselves of the same offerings. Hence, just as the beverage of Deuteronomy 14:23 was non-alcoholic, the reference to the same thing in Deuteronomy 14:26 refers to the same, non-alcoholic beverage. This means that the word, shekar, translated “Strong drink” or “Similar drink” does not always refer to an alcoholic beverage, but rather the context determines whether the reference is to alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. Further, the verb form of shekar refers to drinking deeply, but the context must be examined to determine what beverage is being drunk deeply, and whether that beverage is alcoholic or non-alcoholic (Haggai 1:5-6; Song of Solomon 5:1). Context is everything in Bible study, especially when generic words are involved. Robert Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible concurs that shekar may be fermented (alcoholic) or unfermented (non-alcoholic), depending upon the context in which it is found.

Fourth, sometimes shekar referred to a sweet beverage, which was obviously not alcoholic since fermented beverages are naturally bitter rather than sweet. In Isaiah 24:9, shekar would become bitter and be ruined, along with other ruinations of the Jewish homeland as punishment of God toward his rebellious people. “Isaiah 24:9 suggests that shekar in the Old Testament was a beverage valued because of its sweetness, a quality which disappears as the sugar is converted to alcohol” (Samuele Bacchiocchi; The Preservation of Grape Juice).

Fifth, the word shekar, which in Deuteronomy 14:26 is translated as “Strong drink” (KJV) or “Similar drink” (NKJV), provide us our English words “Sugar” and “Cider,” according to numerous dictionaries (Bacchiocchi). This alone indicates the true nature of the word shekar, at least in some of the biblical contexts in which it is found. This bit of information corresponds with the non-alcoholic characteristic of the beverage in Deuteronomy 14:23 and its relationship to the beverage in Deuteronomy 14:26. The context definitively pronounces the “Strong drink” or “Similar drink” of Deuteronomy 14:26 as nonalcoholic.

Each of the preceding points interacts and concurs with each other respecting the true nature of shekar or the “Strong” or “Similar drink” in Deuteronomy 14:26. The supposed last-ditch effort for imbibers to find biblical sanction for social drinking falls flat upon careful inspection.

One final verse that needs considering in this rebuttal is Ephesians 5:18. “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit”. The Greek word translated, “Drunk” methusko, signifies “To make drunk, or to grow drunk”, “To become intoxicated”, Luke 12:45; Ephesians 5:18; I Thessalonians 5:7a. (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words); “To intoxicate, make drunk” (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon).

“Excess”, – asotia “Having no hope of safety, abandoned, profligate, bringing ruin on the race, fatal to it”, (Liddell and Scott Abridged Greek Lexicon). Paul said, “And be not drunk with wine, “wherein” is excess. The excess is not in the drunkenness, but in the wine itself. It is the wine that will bring ruin on the race. There can be no drunkenness without the alcohol. The wine is the excess.

From the above definitions it becomes clear that the “Process” is the meaning of this Greek word. Don’t start the process of drunkenness. The first drink is the “Process” of drunkenness that is condemned here. When one drinks the first drink, he is one drink drunk. Some make an argument that the glutton is gluttonous when he eats the first bite. How ridiculous. We must eat to live, but we do not have to imbibe to live. Yes, gluttony is a sin, but eating isn’t. Food isn’t sinful but alcohol for the purpose of intoxication is! One drink equals one drink drunk!

I am more convinced now than ever that beverage alcohol, (as any drug), used recreationally, or for the purpose of intoxication, is sinful.

No matter how much blabber the liberal theologians may spread, and no matter how the heathen may rage and those who seek to prove alcohol for social and recreational purposes, Proverbs 20:1 still says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise”!

*I have relied heavily and quoted extensively from the following:

Louis Ruchmore, (Beverage Alcohol, 2008)

Howard Winters, (The Bible and Strong Drink, 1979)

William Patton, (Bible Wines, 1976)

Several Greek Lexicons