Real World Issues
Drinking Wine or Alcohol
Was wine spoken of in the Bible fermented or unfermented?
This subject has been cause for much debate and speculation among Christians and non-Christians alike. Much of the confusion as to whether wine was fermented or unfermented stems from the word "wine" being used in translation of the Greek word "oinos", which can denote either grape juice or intoxicating wine. This word "oinos" was used by secular and religious authors during Biblical times in referring to the juice of the grape. Nicander writes of squeezing grapes and refers to the juice produced as wine or "oinos". Papias, one of the early Church fathers, wrote that when grapes are crushed, they yield jars of wine or "oinos". The Translators of the Bible knew that the word "oinos" could refer to either fermented or unfermented wine. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul commands us to "be not drunk with wine (oinos)." But in Revelation 19:15, Jesus is described as treading out the winepress. The original Greek text reads, "He treads the winepress of the wine (oinos)." Wine coming from a winepress would, of course, be juice squeezed from the grapes.
Many processes in Biblical times were used to process the juice and keep it fresh for long periods without fermenting.Wines of antiquity were more like syrup, not fermented, and kept sweet for several months. One method of processing the grapes required boiling them until a thick paste was formed. This paste, which had a high sugar concentration, could be stored for a long time. It was used as a spread for bread, or mixed with water to make juice. New wine was, as the name implies, freshly pressed juice. When speaking of fermented wine, Jewish customs of Biblical times required mixing the wine with as least three parts of water, or even as much as ten parts water. Otherwise, it would defile the person drinking it. Knowing this, some insight is added to the Revelation 14:10 which speaks of those taking the mark of beast drinking of the wine of God's wrath "without mixture" or full strength.
The Passover required bread made without yeast, an agent of fermentation. It could be safe to assume that the wine was also without fermentation. At the Passover meal before Jesus' crucifixion, He stated the bread represented His body and the fruit of the vine represented His blood. It would be consistent to think that both the bread and wine, since they represented Christ's body and blood, were without any fermentation agents and were uncorrupted. Fermented wine was never to be used in the temple, nor could the priests draw near to God in worship if they had used fermented wine (Leviticus 10:9). Christ was our High Priest of the new covenant drawing nigh to God. The Gospels refer to Christ's blood at the Passover meal, not as wine, but as the cup or the fruit of the vine.
Knowing then that the Greek word "oinos", which is translated throughout the New Testament as "wine", could refer to fermented or unfermented wine, how do we determine which is the case? We must look at other passages in the scriptures which reference wine or drinking to determine which type of wine was used.
Leviticus 10:9, mentioned above, instructs the priests to not drink wine nor strong drink. Solomon in his Proverbs, wrote, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1). The NIV translates this verse, "Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise." Then again in chapter 23, Solomon writes, "Who hath woe? Who hath contentions? Who hath sorrow? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his 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." (23:29-33). The prophet Habbakuk penned, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also." (Habbakuk 2:15). The apostle Paul told the Romans, "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." (Romans 14:21). To the Ephesians, Paul wrote "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." To Timothy, Paul instructed him to be "not given to wine." (See Ephesians 5:18; 1 Timothy 3:3,8; 1 Peter 4:3; Titus 1:7, 2:3).
From these scriptures, we see that the Bible is strongly against drinking fermented wine. If Jesus turned the water into intoxicating wine at the wedding in Canaan, then He is in violation of Habbakuk's warning, "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink." He would have given several large pots of fermented wine to a wedding party which had already been drinking resulting in drunkeness. This miracle would not have manifested Jesus' glory if it happened so. If Jesus drank wine, then He is guilty of "looking on the wine when it is red" and ignoring Solomon's warning of contentions, babblings, sorrow and woe to those who tarry at the wine. Jesus came to fulfill the law, and not to break it.
Read Sippin' Saints by David Wilkerson
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