Does Scripture forbid alcohol?
No - in no places is alcohol consumption forbidden
in fact…
in many places, wine is a symbol of God’s blessing
Dt 7:13 “13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will bless your offspring, and the produce of your land—your grain, new wine, and fresh oil—the young of your herds, and the newborn of your flocks, in the land he swore to your ancestors that he would give you.”
Gen 27:28 “28 May God give to you— from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land— an abundance of grain and new wine.”
Pr 3:9-10 “9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; 10 then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.”
Joe2:18-19 “18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and spared his people. 19 The Lord answered his people: Look, I am about to send you grain, new wine, and fresh oil. You will be satiated with them, and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations.”
Wine as a picture of Joy
Ps 104:15 “15 wine that makes human hearts glad— making his face shine with oil— and bread that sustains human hearts.”
Ecc9:7 “7 Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.”
Ecc10:19 “19 A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life happy, and money is the answer for everything.”
Jesus Himself drank wine, offered wine to His disciples and turned water into wine
John 2:10 “10 and told him, “Everyone sets out the fine wine first, then, after people are drunk, the inferior. But you have kept the fine wine until now.””
we have to note, that there was a practice of mixing wine (more vinegar) into water to kill some of the microbes… that simply doesn’t explain what is happening -
if you have ever drunk vinegar, it was not a “joyful” experience
the master of the banquet in John 2 would not likely have considered Jesus’ miracle wine to be the good stuff
Not only does Scripture not prohibit wine but it seems to be accepted, expected and even encouraged in some cases…
HOWEVER —> this is not an endorsement of drinking - Scripture issues endless warnings about the dangers of wine, beer and strong drink (a strong liquor distilled from corn, honey or dates - similar to mead but probably not as strong as like Vodka, Whiskey or Rum
- moral dangers
Pr 20:1 “1 Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler; whoever goes astray because of them is not wise.”
Galatians 5: 19-21 “19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- *Loss of sense/ faculties *
Is 28:7-8 “7 Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: Priest and prophet stagger because of beer. They are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer. They are muddled in their visions. They stumble in their judgments. 8 Indeed, all their tables are covered with vomit; there is no place without a stench.”
Prov 31:4-7 “4 It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer. 5 Otherwise, he will drink, forget what is decreed, and pervert justice for all the oppressed. 6 Give beer to one who is dying and wine to one whose life is bitter. 7 Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more.”
- *Spiritual sobriety *
Lev 10:8-10 “8 The Lord spoke to Aaron: 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or beer when you enter the tent of meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute throughout your generations. 10 You must distinguish between the holy and the common, and the clean and the unclean,”
Is 5:12 “12 At their feasts they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flute, and wine. They do not perceive the Lord’s actions, and they do not see the work of his hands.”
Luke 21:34 “34 “Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly”
Rom 13:13 “13 Let us walk with decency, as in the daytime: not in carousing and drunkenness; not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “9 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.”
Ephesians 5:18 “18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit:” ( notice the contrast between drunkeness and being led by the Spirit - it seems you cannot be both)
1 Thess 5: 7-8 “7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.”
- *Addiction *
Is 5:11 “11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine.
Titus 2:3 “3 In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good,”
Aside from direct statements about the dangers of drunkenness, we have so MANY stories in Scripture about people - even godly people - who’s folly with alcohol have devastating effects: but lets just look to Noah: Gen 9:20-21 ; Lot - moab&Ammon Gen 19:30-38;
Drugs
- Is Marijuana prohibited?
Point 1 - Pharmakia - translated as witchcraft/ Sorcery - used in Galatians 5:20 right next to anger, jealousy, sexual immorality and you guessed it drunkenness - we also see it used twice in the book of Revelation describing the degrading society in the end times, and several times in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT) why does this matter and how did we end up talking about witchcraft… I’m glad you asked ?
“Sorcery,” intriguingly, is pharmakeia in Greek, from which we derive our words “pharmacy” and “pharmaceutical.” Diviners, enchanters, witches, and sorcerers employed drugs and other potions to put them or their clients “in the spirit” so their “magic” would work. The drugs, then, came to stand for sorcery of all kinds.
its almost as if there is something inherently spiritual about drug use - not in a positive way….
Point 2 - Intoxication - and I think it goes hand-in-and
remember that a good portion of the warnings against drunkenness are warnings of Spiritual dangers
I believe it has to do with an altered state of consciousness. -
getting high automatically changes your state of consciousness - you either are or you aren’t - there is not in between
this is not necessarily the case when it comes to wine - beer - and even hard liquor (although a case could be made for that)
So is drug use prohibited specifically in Scripture? Not by name - no it doesn’t say “thou shalt not smoketh thine weed …” however in principle there doesn’t seem to be any wiggle room - the altered state of mind is central to the drug use experience…
Application - how do we live in light of God’s Word on intoxication
intoxication of any kind during church or as a part of a service is forbidden -Aaron’s son’s were killed by the Lord for bringing strange fire and trying to worship in whatever way they deemed - not to mention they were probably drunk and God had forbidden any drink for people who were ministering at the tent of meeting…. remember - church is about worshipping God - not just reaching sinners - and we do that according to His preferences - not the sinner’s preferences
Prohibition - Will I tell people that it is sinful to drink alcohol
no - Scripture does not and I am here to bring Scripture to bear on your life
no I won’t forbid alcohol use - but with some caveats
however ….
Paul’s filter - the context here is about items sacrificed to an idol - we know the idol is not real and holds no real spiritual power, however….
in our case, we know that alcohol -used properly - is not forbidden by Scripture and holds no spiritual power however….
1 Corinthians 6:12 “12 “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything.”
*is it beneficial? *
*does it master you? *
1 Corinthians 6:20 “20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”
*Does it glorify God? *
1 Corinthians 8:7-13 “7 However, not everyone has this knowledge. Some have been so used to idolatry up until now that when they eat food sacrificed to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not bring us close to God. We are not worse off if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. 9 But be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone sees you, the one who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, won’t his weak conscience be encouraged to eat food offered to idols? 11 So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. 12 Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall.”
if another person may have trouble because of an inability to distinguish a “proper use” of it, or they may be mastered by it - they lack Spiritual knowledge it becomes sinful for me to tempt them with my “freedom”
1Corinthians 9:19-22 “19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. 21 To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”
Does it love other people?