June 19, 2024 / Questions For God

Hey, Calvary Fremont –

The sign on the lobby counter reads “Questions For God.”

The accompanying form reads: “Here’s a question I would ask God if I could.”

Of course, the question comes to me. Of course, I am not God. (But He speaks to Me – He really does! He speaks to me in His Word!)

Here’s the very first question submitted:

“Proverbs 31:4 says, “IT IS NOT FOR KINGS, O LEMUEL, IT IS NOT FOR KINGS TO DRINK WINE, OR FOR RULERS TO DESIRE STRONG DRINK…” A king is not supposed to drink wine. But why did Jesus Christ as the King of the Jews drink wine?”

This insight is from The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge: To drink or taste wine is a Hebraism for drinking wine to excess.

That right there is the answer in a nutshell. There is a difference between drinking and drinking to excess. Yes, Jesus drank the wine of the day (it seems too far a stretch that He didn’t) – yet He never drank to excess. He didn’t deliver the Sermon on the Mount while inebriated. He never slurred His words. He walked down the road with His disciples – He never stumbled down the road with them. No one ever had to guide Him home and He never woke up in the morning with a splitting headache regretting what He had said and done the night before.

This is from godsbreath.net: “The word “wine” in the Bible is not always alcoholic or equivalent to modern wine. The Bible uses one Greek word for “wine” and “grape juice” which could mean alcoholic wine of varying amounts or non-alcoholic grape juice. The Hebrew word for “wine” is yayin and the Greek is oinos. Biblical “wine” is grape juice that may or may not have fermented. The wine of today has considerably more alcohol than wine in the first century because of modified yeast. When reading the word “wine” in the Bible, the word may simply refer to grape juice or intoxicating wine not exceeding 10% alcohol. The reader must interpret the word “wine” within its context to determine if it is alcoholic.”

For me, the debate on the alcoholic content of the wine in Biblical days, the wine that Jesus drank, is beside the point. Regardless of its alcoholic content, Jesus never drank to excess. Jesus never got drunk. Jesus never slurred His words, stumbled down the road, grabbed at a skirt, or picked a fight because He was drunk. He was never picked up from the floor and never had to be carried home or told that He had had enough.

Some Christians justify their use of alcohol by citing the example of Jesus. If you do this, then follow the example of Jesus all the way – don’t drink to excess. What a tragedy when God’s people slur their words and stumble down the road. What a tragedy when God’s people are told that they’ve had enough and have to be picked up off the floor. What a tragedy when God’s people grab at a skirt or try to pick a fight all because they have drunk to excess.

I agree with Proverbs 31: 4. IT IS NOT FOR KINGS TO DRINK WINE, OR FOR RULERS TO DESIRE STRONG DRINK.

Be blessed and stay healthy (and sober) and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim