My friend George Pointed out a correction on my Wine Blog which is important to point out:

“In John 2:3, two different forms for oinos are used: oinou and oinon. The masculine singular genitive form is actually oinou. It is the masculine singular accusative form that is oinon.”

ALLLLL DONE.

Of late I have had several conversations about the validity of Contemporary music over hymns, etc. Thought I might share a great example of why contemporary music is sung at The Mount. One of my favorite songs that we do right now is Chris Tomlin’s Song Everlasting God:

“Everlasting God”

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary

You’re the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

Now take a look at the passage this is derived from. Isaiah 40:27-31 This passage is the same chapter that John the Baptist quotes when he is asked who is he? The Scribes ask him if he is the Messiah, or perhaps Elijah or the Prophet? He says, no I am the man preparing the way for the LORD in the wilderness: Isaiah 40:3-5

OK, so this issue has popped up a lot recently for some reason, and I thought I might put down some of the details of what I think the scripture is really saying when it comes to having an occasional glass of wine. Understand, there is no debate here about what the scripture says about becoming drunk…there is no question at all there, that you should not become drunk with wine. However, I believe the contemporary church has manipulated some scripture to fit its needs on the issue of drinking, and quite honestly its view, I believe, is incorrect. Here’s why:

The common argument  is that when Jesus turned the water into wine, or when Paul said you should have a little wine for the sake of your stomach that those examples were really “new wine” or unfermented wine, or today commonly known as grape juice…unfortunately for those who hold this position, the argument just does not hold up when looking at the greek use of the word wine.

To understand why, we must first look at the two different uses of the word for wine that we are addressing here. First the common term for wine in the greek is ‘oinos’. When referring to “new wine” the word ‘neos’ is added.

Now there are only a few places in scripture that use the combination of ‘oinos neos’ and all of them are translated into the words ‘new wine’ in our modern english. (See Mark 2:22 as an example – new wine in old wineskins)

That leaves us with the question: What is being referred to in the other passages that use other forms of ‘oinos’ The only logical conclusion is that the scriptures mean fermented wine, as we know it. Here are some fo the examples:

1.  John 2:3 uses ‘oinon’ which is the masculine, singular, genitive of ‘oinos’
2.  John 2:9 same form but in the masculine, singular, accusative
3. Romans 14:21 Exact same as John 2:9. Ask yourself what Paul is really saying here. should we abstain completely from meat? No, he is talking about using your judgment and discernment for particular situations that you find yourself, but this is primarily a passage about FREEDOM
4. Ephesians 5:18 uses ‘oino’ which is the masculine, singular, dative form. And tells us not to become drunk with wine. Question: if this is unfermented wine-why would we be told not to get drunk by it?? – same word here folks!
5. 1 Timothy 3:8 same exact form as Eph 5:18 This time “not be given to much wine” which indicates an addiction to wine: don’t be given over to it.
6. 1 Timothy  5:23 exact same as Ephesians 5:18 Drink some for your stomach – again EXACT same form, why would that be the case, to at one point state don’t become drunk, and with the same word and word form state to have some for the sake of your stomach??
7. Titus 1:7 “given to wine”here is actually a different form that is descriptive of the person, a term that literally means drunkard: ‘paroinos’ (notice the root is oinos)
8. Titus 2:3 Also same as Eph 5:18 – this time harsh words – don’t become “enslaved” to much wine

Now that is the primary arguement, but I want to point out for just a second the Old Testament evidence. First of all the Hebrew is pretty conclusive on what is “real wine”. There are a number of different Hebrew words for each stage of the development of wine, so there is little confusion about what is meant where.

New Wine is a word that literally means to ferment or to boil (referring to the foaming process of fermenting wine)
Ch-M-R

Also a form of New Wine, which really means before the fermenting has properly begun is Th-Y-R-Sh, and might most closely resemble grape juice today.

The important word here is the one that means fully fermented wine, and is many times used in conjunction with “Strong Drink” which would be distilled spirits. This word is Y-Y-N. This is the most commonly used word and is used every time that  drink offerings are referred to. It is the word used when the Nazerite is to refrain from using during his separation time, and for the Priests when they are in service before the LORD.

All of this is to say, I believe the scriptures clearly give us freedom to have a glass of wine, while there is no question that we should not become drunk. There is also a good argument for abstaining while in service before the LORD (or in NT terms while in a position of leadership in the church). And certainly, we should use our judgment as to when or when we will not drink based on those who are around us. Take care not to make our brother stumble.

So that’s it…use it tear it up, whatever…that’s why its a blog 

OK, so call me weird, but this is sometimes what I like to do. I sometimes look up Hebrew verses and try to memorize them in Hebrew. there is no real function in doing this, other than for some reason I enjoy it. So I found this verse that I wanted to memorize…Psalm 19:7:

The Law of the LORD is perfect
reviving the soul
The Decrees of the LORD are trustworthy
making wise the simple.

One of those verses that I just enjoy, so off I go to my torah to look it up. For those of you not familiar with the torah, this would be found in Tehellim (which is Hebrew for Psalms) and then look for Yod-Teth (Which represents 19) and then Zayin (which represents 7)….or so I thought. As I began to transliterate the verse, I realized, WAIT…there is no YHWH in this verse….and hey wait a minute, The Law is TORAH….also not in the verse. Upon closer observation, the verse in our english bible that is noted as 19:7 is, in the Torah, 19:8! I know that there are oddities about different source translations, etc, but had not found this one before. Since it was a source of some headache for me, thought I would share.

Translation literally becomes:

The Law of G-d completely restores the soul
The Testimony of G-d establishes the wise

and is roughly transliterated:

Torat YHWH tamimah mashivat nafesh edoot YHWH naemanah machakimat