standingfirminChrist
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From "Wine in the Bible and the Scriptural Case for Total Abstinence" by Leighton G. Campbell; Brentwood Publishers pp 90-93:
We have learnt from our study of Numbers 28:7 and the other texts relating to it, that the Scriptures themselves endorse the fact that the word usually translated "strong drink" in the Old Testament (shekar, shakar, shecar), does not always refer to a strong alcoholic or intoxicating substance. We have also learnt from a study of this word, that "sweet drink" is an alternative rendering, depending on the context. Kitto's Cyclopedia sums this up:
Shakar is a generic term, including palm-wine and other saccharine beverages, except those prepared from the vine.
Numbers 28:7 should therefore read:
And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for one lamb: in the holy place shall thou cause the sweet drink (unfermented palm-wine) to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering.
In the Bible God never approves of alcoholic beverages. Let us consider the following text:
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:9-11)
Notice how abstinence from alcohol is essential for being able to discriminate between clean and unclean, the text goes on to read:
And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it [is] most holy: (Leviticus 10:12)
Regarding the prohibition of leaven in all offerings by God in Leviticus 2:3-14, Professor Moses Stuart states:
The great mass of the Jews have ever understood this prohibition as extending to fermented wine, or strong drink, as well as to bread. The word is essentially the same which designates the fermentation of bread and that of liquors.
Here we can see that leaven (fermented dough) was regarded as the same as vinous fermentation; therefore fermented wine, strong drink, and leaven were all prohibited before the altar of the Lord "for it is most holy."
The next passage reads:
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, (Deuteronomy 14:26)
Those proponents of moderation with respect to intoxicating beverages might suggest that this text sanctions and encourages the drinking of beer and alcoholic wine. To be fair, it appears to be so, but this is not the case. In examining this passage we will learn that the book of
to be continued...
We have learnt from our study of Numbers 28:7 and the other texts relating to it, that the Scriptures themselves endorse the fact that the word usually translated "strong drink" in the Old Testament (shekar, shakar, shecar), does not always refer to a strong alcoholic or intoxicating substance. We have also learnt from a study of this word, that "sweet drink" is an alternative rendering, depending on the context. Kitto's Cyclopedia sums this up:
Shakar is a generic term, including palm-wine and other saccharine beverages, except those prepared from the vine.
Numbers 28:7 should therefore read:
And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for one lamb: in the holy place shall thou cause the sweet drink (unfermented palm-wine) to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering.
In the Bible God never approves of alcoholic beverages. Let us consider the following text:
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:9-11)
Notice how abstinence from alcohol is essential for being able to discriminate between clean and unclean, the text goes on to read:
And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it [is] most holy: (Leviticus 10:12)
Regarding the prohibition of leaven in all offerings by God in Leviticus 2:3-14, Professor Moses Stuart states:
The great mass of the Jews have ever understood this prohibition as extending to fermented wine, or strong drink, as well as to bread. The word is essentially the same which designates the fermentation of bread and that of liquors.
Here we can see that leaven (fermented dough) was regarded as the same as vinous fermentation; therefore fermented wine, strong drink, and leaven were all prohibited before the altar of the Lord "for it is most holy."
The next passage reads:
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, (Deuteronomy 14:26)
Those proponents of moderation with respect to intoxicating beverages might suggest that this text sanctions and encourages the drinking of beer and alcoholic wine. To be fair, it appears to be so, but this is not the case. In examining this passage we will learn that the book of
to be continued...
SFIC, has anyone told you the Crusades ended in 1291?
