All Things Expounded

This post introduces a series in which I survey the voices throughout history which have advocated the legitimacy of moderate consumption of alcohol for the Christian. The view being put forward here is that Christians have a legitimate choice to either individually abstain from alcohol or consume it responsibly. If a particular believer decides to abstain from alcohol, this is acceptable. But the movements which attempt to put forward prohibition or mandatory abstention are not only un-biblical, but also a-historical.

This part will focus on witnesses in biblical times.

Witness One: The LORD

..you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord

(The LORD to Moses in Numbers 15:10, ESV)

But the vine said to them, “Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers  God and men, and go to wave over the trees?

(Judges 9:13, ESV)

“Behold the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; when the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will be dissolved. Also I will restore the captivity of my people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them, they will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, and make gardens and eat their fruit”

(The LORD in Amos 9:13-14)

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Witness Two: Melchizidek (and Abraham by implication)

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine

(Moses in Genesis 14:18, ESV)

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Witness Three: Isaac

May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.

(Isaac to his son Jacob, Genesis 27:28, ESV)

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Witness Four: Moses

and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink

(Moses in Deuteronomy 14:26, ESV)

…you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape

(The Song of Moses, enumerating God’s blessings towards Israel, Deuteronomy 32:14, ESV)

He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.

(Deuternomy 7:13, ESV)

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you….You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them.

(Moses describing the absence of wine as a curse, Deuteronomy 28:15-39, ESV)

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Witness Five: Ruth and Boaz

Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine

(Boaz to Ruth in Ruth 2:14, ESV)

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Witness Six: King David

And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them. And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

(I Chronicals 12:39-40, ESV)

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

(Psalm 104:14-15, ESV)

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Witness Seven: King Solomon

Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine

(Solomon in Proverbs 3:9-10)

Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress

(Solomon in Proverbs 31:6, ESV)

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do

(Ecclesiastes 9:7, ESV)

Bread is made for laughter,
and wine gladdens life

(Ecclesiastes 10:19, ESV)

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Witness Eight: Isaiah

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.

(Isaiah’s description of the new heaven and new earth, Isaiah 25:6, ESV)

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Witness Nine: Nehemiah

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law.  Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

(Nehemiah 8:9-10, ESV)

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Witness Ten: Jesus Christ, Son of God

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 at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

(Jesus Christ in Luke 7:33-34, ESV)

Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now

(The master of the feast to Jesus Christ in John 2:10, ESV)

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

(A narrative from Matthew 26:26-29, ESV)

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Witness Eleven: Apostle Paul

No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments

(Apostle Paul to Timothy, a Christian elder, I Timothy 5:23, ESV)

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

(Apostle Paul to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 10:16, ESV)

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Witness Twelve: Apostle Peter

witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead

(A speech by Peter, Acts 10:41, ESV)

In the next part, we will look at references from church history after the Biblical period.