Question
Everyone says that alcohol in moderation isn’t a problem, but doesn’t the Bible have something to say about alcohol? Jesus changed water into wine, so wine can’t be a problem, can it? Please help me understand what God wants us to do.
Answer
The problem with the whole alcohol controversy in the Bible, and why there are so many discussions about it, is that the same word is used for wine as for grape juice. The Hebrew word yayin in the Old Testament, and the Greek word oinos in the New Testament, both are used for alcoholic wine as well as grape juice, so it is left to us to figure out what is meant, by the context in which it is used. But we all know that grape juice always started out as totally unfermented (new) wine, and the longer it was kept, the more alcoholic it became (old wine), so people had to be careful what they drank.
The Bible is full of warnings about wine, but only in certain circumstances is it totally forbidden. Everyone would have been aware of the consequences of too much old wine, and God warned against overindulgence.
Here is a selection of what the Bible has to say.
Proverbs 23 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; 32 At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: 35 “They have struck me, but I was not hurt; they have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”
Leviticus 10 8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, 10 that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.”
Matthew 27:33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Galatians 5 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Proverbs 31 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink; 5 Lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the justice of all the afflicted.
Isaiah 5 11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink;
22 Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Peter 4:3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
Romans 13:13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.
Proverbs 23 20 Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; 21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
Isaiah 28 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to those who are overcome with wine!
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through intoxicating drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through intoxicating drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Ephesians 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
Habakkuk 2:15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk, that you may look on his nakedness!
Luke 21:34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.”
We don’t know exactly what the customs were in the time when Moses was writing the Bible. The Bible condemns drunkenness, as we saw above, but we have no idea whether followers of God drank only new wine, without fermentation, or if they drank also fermented wine, but moderately. If we consider the passage below, we can see that anyone drinking to the glory of God, would not overdo it to become drunk, or would only drink unfermented wine, or grape juice. As the words yayin and oinos encompassed both unfermented and fermented, it is almost impossible to make a firm conclusion on the matter. However, when God had a special person in mind for a special work, He always spoke against alcohol use.
1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Samson
Judges 13 2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was
Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
John the Baptist
Luke 1 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
I have three friends who are alcoholics, one who has been clean for about twenty years, the second who has been clean for two and a half years, and the third who for the last eight years has been in rehab about five times, and every time has fallen into it again. All three had broken marriages because of the alcoholism. For me that has confirmed my stance on alcohol abstinence, but some people don’t learn from the mistakes of others, and will only learn from their own mistakes.
Alcohol is responsible for the deaths of millions of people in road accidents, breaks up more families that anything else, causes addiction for millions, wipes out brain cells, puts millions in hospital for all kinds of medical conditions, and I could go on for a long time. The big reason why anyone wants to drink alcohol, is because the world is alcohol mad, and thinks that you cannot have fun without it. No-one knows whether they will turn into alcoholics when they take their first drink, so why take it? You just cannot guarantee that it will stay moderate. My alcoholic friends, now sober, will tell you of the anguish of being a drunk, of the loss of spouse, children, jobs, homes, dignity, pride in oneself. Are you with the world, or with God?
Even in the Bible, there are sins that have been committed solely because of alcohol. Noah and Lot are two who spring to mind. And the Bible has a lot to say about alcohol use, if you want to do some research. The quick answer is, don’t touch it, it is not worth it. The parents of Samson and of John the Baptist, were told before their sons were born, not to allow any alcohol to touch their lips, ever, as we saw above. These two were to be special servants for God. People say that Jesus drank alcohol, turned water into wine, and therefore has no problem with alcohol use. Not true! If you look at Jesus on the cross, being offered sour wine mixed with a pain killer, you will see that He refused to take it (Matthew 27:34). The water that was turned into wine, was the best grape juice, as you will see when you really study the chapter (John 2). The MC of the wedding was amazed at the quality, which was quite different from that given before. Also, as the Son of God, speaking against alcohol in the Bible, do you think that He would go against the Bible?
There is absolutely no reason for a Christian to take alcohol, even in moderation. Everyone starts in moderation, but it rarely stays there. If you are serious about God, and really want to be with Him forever, then don’t even think of alcohol. You need every brain cell, and to be stone cold sober, to overcome the devil’s temptations and deceptions, and stay committed to God. Why would you risk it? My one recovered alcoholic friend tells me that a little wine at communion in church, could tip her right back to where she used to be. The same goes for most alcoholics, so why do churches still insist on giving wine at the communion instead of grape juice?
My advice is that the use of alcohol has no benefits and a multitude of bad consequences, so stay away from it!
