The Teaching in the Bible on alcohol

 

Drunkenness was a problem throughout the Bible — even for servants of God:

 

Noah:

 

And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.

Genesis 9:20-21

 

The priest and prophet:

 

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.

Isaiah 28:7

 

The Corinthian Church:

 

For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

1 Corinthians 11:20–21

 

But in spite of drunkenness during the celebration of communion, which proves they used alcoholic wine for the purpose, the remedy was not abstention, but moderation:

 

Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

1 Corinthians 11:33–34.

 

This can also be seen in Paul’s advice to the Ephesians, when saying we should be filled with the Spirit. He does not say we should abstain from wine, but avoid being drunk with it:

 

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 5:18.

 

The Bible warns against abusing (rather than using) alcohol:

 

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise… He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich… Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. 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: "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?"

Proverbs 20:1; 21:17; 23:30–35

 

Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may follow intoxicating drink; who continue until night, till wine inflames them! The harp and the strings, the tambourine and flute, and wine are in their feasts; but they do not regard the work of the LORD, nor consider the operation of His hands.

Isaiah 5:11-12

 

Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:5.

 

Those with responsible positions in Church should be ‘Not given to wine’ - in other words, not addicted to wine:

 

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; …Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,

1 Timothy 3:2-3, 8

 

For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money… the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—

Titus 1:7; 2:3.

 

The excess of wine is wrong:

 

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.

1 Peter 4:3.

 

Alcohol abuse creates poverty:

 

He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich… For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

Proverbs 21:17; 23:21.

 

Beware of and avoid alcohol abuse:

 

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.

Luke 21:34

 

Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

Romans 13:13

 

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… nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 5:11; 6:10

 

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.

1 Peter 4:3.

 

Those practising drunkenness have no part in the Kingdom of God:

 

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.

Galatians 5:21.

 

People who were told to abstain from wine:

 

The priests were prohibited from wine when serving in the tabernacle, not because wine was sinful or wrong in any way, but in order to distinguish between that which was sacred to the Lord, and everything else:

 

"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, that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."

Leviticus 10:9–11

 

No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.

Ezekiel 44:21.

 

There was no restriction against them drinking wine at other times, however. They also had to abstain from other things which at other times are legitimate; e.g. wearing no clothing other than linen and cutting hair:

 

And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court or within the house… They shall neither shave their heads, nor let their hair grow long, but they shall keep their hair well trimmed.

Ezekiel 44:17, 20

 

A person taking a Nazirite vow was to abstain from wine. But this cannot be taken to mean that wine is therefore sinful, as he also had to abstain from eating grapes, cutting his hair and going near a dead body, none of which could be called wrong. However, at the end of the vow period, they could once again drink wine:

 

"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When either a man or woman consecrates an offering to take the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to the LORD, he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. 'All the days of the vow of his separation no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he separated himself to the LORD, he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separates himself to the LORD he shall not go near a dead body… and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.'

Numbers 6:2-6, 20

 

Samson’s mother was to abstain from wine, but that was because Samson was to be a Nazirite from the womb:

 

Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.  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." … And He said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.' " … She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."

Judges 13:4–5, 7, 14.

 

The Rechabites were commended for abstaining from wine, but this was because their father had made a vow that his family should be teetotal. This cannot be used as a reason for us to abstain from alcohol, because if it was so, then to be consistent we would have to abstain from sowing seed and building houses, which was also a part of their vow! It is clear they are mentioned in contrast to disobedient Israel — the Rechabites had obeyed their father, but Israel had not obeyed God:

 

"Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink." Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door. Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine." But they said, "We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.' Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us… "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father's commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me.

Jeremiah 35:2–10, 14.

 

Christians are told to avoid anything that causes a brother to stumble:

 

It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Romans 14:21

 

Therefore, if one is eating with a vegetarian, and meat eating would cause offence or difficulty, then meat must be avoided. Likewise, if drinking with an alcoholic (or recovered alcoholic who is not able to resist excessive drinking), then alcohol must be avoided. This is no more a command to be teetotal, than it is to be vegetarian!

 

Daniel’s normal diet included both meat and wine, so it is not possible to use Daniel 1:8 to teach total abstention from alcohol, as he clearly only abstained at certain times for specific reasons:

 

I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Daniel 10:3

 

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Daniel 1:8

 

 From the two references, it would appear that in Dan 1:8, as a slave, he had no choice of food and therefore abstained from defiled food and drink. But once he was promoted, living in his own house, he was able to obtain undefiled food and drink, only abstaining from wine during his fast.

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