(1Ti 4:4-5)
Psalm 104 credits God – at least indirectly, with the creation of alcohol – which means according to Paul (1Ti 4), it (like other “foods” created by God – v3) “is good” (Gen 1:31) and not to be “rejected (condemned or forbidden) – but rather “received with gratitude.” However (as Paul also makes clear), its place as good is dependent on it being “sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.” IOW: even created things first declared good by God must be practiced according to His prescription (“the Word of God”) and dedicated to His glory (“prayer” – 1Co 10:31) if they are to remain good – and not become stumbling blocks and sin. Assuming the latter to be given (we have prayerfully committed to God that the pleasure we receive in consuming alcohol will bring Him glory), only the former remains in question: what is God’s prescription for consuming alcohol? This study will provide the answer to that question as well what happens when we don’t follow His prescription.
1. Like God’s other powerful gifts (e.g., sex), His prescription for consuming alcohol enjoys a very limited context: excluding medicinal use[1], its sole purpose is to function only as an initial aid to the kind of gladness of heart conducive to God-honoring comfort and conversation with God’s covenant family during God’s sanctioned/sacred celebrations.
1.1. (Psa 104:15) “makes man’s heart glad” = Initiates gladness of heart; “food which sustains man’s heart [with gladness].” = Sustains gladness of heart. IOW: it was never God’s intention that mankind would fill up on alcohol as the means to sustaining the gladness initiated by alcohol. That gladness is instead to be sustained through filling up on food (or feasting)
1.2. Hence the reason those who fill up on alcohol (i.e., attempt to sustain their gladness by continuing to consume alcohol) are cursed with drunkenness (Gen 9:21 “drunk”) = To fill up or saturate (versus initiate) w/alcohol. NOTICE: the word does not point to the result (becoming tipsy, impaired, etc.,) but rather the cause – i.e., attempting to sustain (through filling up or saturation w/alcohol) the gladness of heart initiated by alcohol.
1.3. In summary: We are to initiate gladness thru alcohol but sustain that gladness thru food/feasting. And all of this is only to take place with covenant family during God’s sanctioned/sacred celebrations:
1) Sabbath feasts (Deu 14:26) = The consumption of alcohol takes place along w/eating meat or feasting (in the ANE, meat on the menu - more than not, indicated the existence of a special feast or celebration).
2) Wedding-related celebrations - including betrothal celebrations [e.g., baptisms] (Gen 14:17-20) = This sacred meal (of bread and wine/alcohol) along w/giving a tenth represents the beginning of the marriage covenant/betrothal process between Abe and God (followed by the binding vow ceremony in 15:1-21)[2]; (Joh 2:1-10).
3) Celebrations of covenant renewal/ratification or reconciliation (Mat 26:27-29) = The LT (ratification/renewal of the covenant initiated at baptism (Joh 13:10); (Luk 15:23) = Considering what we also know about ANE practice, two things in this verse imply the consumption of alcohol: the consumption of meat and the mention of celebration.
4) Birthday celebrations w/covenant family (Job 1:4 [“his day” same word as 3:1] w/13 “wine”).
5) Celebrations established by God’s leaders in the covenant community (Joh 10:22-23) = Jesus celebrated Hanukah/Festival of Dedication, a sacred holiday established – not by God, but the leaders of the covenant community [the Maccabees] involving the consumption of alcohol (e.g., camping trip; members dinner; ordination celebrations).
1.4. What (then) is not considered by God as sanctioned/sacred celebrations (though we are with covenant family): Any fellowship or celebration not mentioned above (e.g., vacation w/covenant family; Gen 18:1-8 = Abe serves milk not wine).
1.5. PNTM: Per God’s prescription, consuming alcohol requires possessing the right context: drinking to initiate gladness/conversation w/covenant family that takes place in those religious or covenant family environments established by God or His leaders. Following this prescription not only causes us to fulfill our prayer of dedication to God (we are drinking in a way that glorifies God) but avoid the consequences associated w/alcohol abuse and sin.[3]
2. God’s curse in various forms of harm – even death and hell, are appointed to those who sin by not treating alcohol according to His prescription.
2.1. (Jam 4:17; Rom 14:23 = Failing to do something according to faith [and therefore sinning against God] would include not only those things you know to be sinful but also anything you know could be sinful - yet still choose to do, though you do not possess the biblical support to prove it is righteous). This would include:
1) Getting drunk (1Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; 1Co 11:20-21 w/29-34) = Hell wb the home of drunkards.[4] Additional dangers associated w/getting drunk: a) You open yourself up to demonic influence (or possession) (Eph 5:15-16) “days are evil” = Every day is filled with evil spirits attempting to make contact with us (See Eph 6:11-13 “the evil day” = Day when we are being attacked by evil spirits) (w/17-18) “do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation” [Grk., asotia = Literally, unsavedness – or an unsaved version of being filled up or occupied] = IOW: you are not filling up with the Spirit – but w/what invites those opposed to salvation (evil spirits/demons). Ancient cultures used drunkenness to occupy – or be occupied/filled by the spirit realm. In the first century, Ephesus was the epicenter for such demonic practice (hence why Act 19:18-19; See Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in Ephesians). b) You increase the chances of sexual perversion (e.g., Gen 9:20-25; Gen 19:30-36; 50% of all sexual assault cases involve alcohol and/or drunkenness).
2) Drinking large amounts (i.e., beyond what should be needed as an initial aid to gladness of heart)(Isa 5:22) “Woe to those [you are in danger of damnation] who are heroes at drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink” [those able to tolerate large quantities of alcohol before becoming intoxicated/before reaching the initiating effects of gladness] (w/24-25) = God will punish these heroes of alcohol as rebels who have rejected His law; (1Ti 3:3) “addicted to wine” [Grk., paroinos] = One who consumes more wine than needed. [5] Additional danger associated w/drinking large amounts of alcohol = Permanent brain damage or shrinkage of those parts of the brain associated with memory, reasoning, cognition and learning (Pro 31:4-7).[6]
3) Drinking with or like the pagans (drunkards) (1Pe 4:3 “Gentiles” = Pagans) = You drink w/or like the pagans you will condemned w/or like the pagans; (Mat 24:49) “drinking with the drunkards” = Drinking alcohol with pagans[7]; Hence why (2Co 6:14-7:1) “Come out of their midst and be separate from them [the “unbeliever” or pagan]…let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh” = This includes also separating/cleansing ourselves from their drinking practices/traditions (e.g., Isa 5:11-13) = Constant drinking throughout the day (which begins in the morning and continues into the evening) was a popular holiday [vacation] tradition among pagan cultures in the ANE that God condemned His people for adopting due to their willful ignorance of His Law which forbid such practice. Hence (Act 2:15).
4) Drinking on unsanctioned days (Lev 10:1-3 w/9) = The reason that God killed Nadab and Abihu is because they were drinking alcohol on the day of their service before God. IOW: they were drinking on an unsanctioned day.
2.2. PNTM: you don’t need to be drunk to be sinning when you consume alcohol.
3. Rabbi Jesus showed that loving God’s people includes rabbis functioning as spiritual physicians healing those in the covenant community burdened by alcohol-related sins and ready to repent.
3.1. Jesus hung out w/those in the covenant community who were alcoholics/abusing alcohol. Hence (Mat 11:19).
3.2. Jesus did so b/c He knew that alcoholism/alcohol abuse is not a disease (a physical problem) – but sin (a spiritual problem), and therefore could be cured by God’s spiritual physicians – rabbis like Him: men who have the special help (anointing) of God’s Sprit and know how to use God’s Word to diagnose the unbelief/deficiency causing their abuse of alcohol (Mat 9:9-13).
3.3. Jesus also knew that no one could be healed who was not ready to repent which includes confessing it and committing to seeing life (not simply their life but all of life) through God’s eyes (Joh 9:39-41; the sin of coveting as idolatry is often the reason people have substance abuse problems – Eph 5:5).
[1] (1Ti 5:23; Pro 31:6-7)
[2] Participation in a sacred meal and tithing were most likely a common part of covenant formation among all the religions of the ANE.
[3] “If there has been a single well-documented and replicated finding in the sociology of deviance, it is the low rate of alcohol problems among [American] Jews in comparison to other ethnic groups. Jews present high percentages of adult drinkers but low alcoholism and alcohol problem rates…Some researchers argue for a similarly low rate of alcohol abuse in Israel, and historical analysis suggests that alcohol problems have been rare in Jewish communities for the last 2,500 years [i.e., since her establishment as a nation under Moses]…The noteworthy sobriety of the Jews appears to be primarily associated with [their] religious culture – a culture with a ritualistic emphasis prescribing drinking which is integrated with familial religious practices [only]…What seems to be operative, then, are alcoholic-specific protective characteristics in Jewish communities. Among those frequently cited are sacramental and family drinking which have depended, of course, on traditional religious practices…Drinking [among Jews] serves as a symbolic punctuation mark that helps to separate certain good events (religious services, weddings, etc.,) from all other events…Through religious and ceremonial usage of alcohol, Jews continue to learn ‘prescriptive’ drinking norms…Sobriety amid drinking continues to be the norm in Jewish homes [which] Jews perpetuate [through] its connection to ritual, not only by affiliation with religious life but also by restricting drinking to… only with other Jews…on [special] occasions and [during] festive eating…Not only is Jewish drinking limited…to [covenant] family and religious occasions but also…the drinking is tightly connected with eating. Most [Jews] alluded to the importance of food over drink, and the absence of drinking without eating.”
[4] We need to be careful not to assume that what qualifies as drunkenness today is the same as what it was in the ancient Jewish world when the Scripture prohibitions against drunkenness were written. According to Jewish Tradition, a person is considered drunk, “when he is unable to speak before a king…without becoming confused” (Mishneh Torah, Prayer and Priestly Blessing, 4:17) – which in modern terms, means we use the impairment BAC [.05; e.g., 24 ounces of beer, 10 ounces of wine, or 3 ounces of liquor for a 180lb person] versus the drunkenness BAC [.08]).
[5] If you are this kind of person (you need to consume a lot of alcohol to feel anything), then it means you need to stop drinking until your body recalibrates to a place where you experience the initial effects of gladness consuming no more than the average person your weight, age, sex etc., (4-5 weeks). If you don’t, you will be identified (and condemned) along with those Isaiah is speaking to in 5:22.
[6]
“If a person regularly drinks much more than the recommended limit of alcohol,
it can damage their brain. It causes their memory and ability to think clearly
to get worse over time, especially if the person drinks too much over many
years. This is known as alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD). People who get
ARBD are generally aged between 40 and 50.” – Alzheimers.org.uk; “When the team
analyzed the questionnaires, the cognitive test scores, and MRI scans, they
found that the amount of shrinkage in the hippocampus – the brain area
associated with memory and reasoning …cognition and learning– was related to
the amount people drank.” – Beverly Merz (“This is your brain on alcohol”,
Harvard Health Publishing)
[7] The Yiddish expression is shikker vie a goy (drunk as a Gentile) indicating this as the view of Jews in respect to Gentiles/pagans – they are characterized by drunkenness – or when they drink, they drink to get drunk.