SUBJECT: Passover/Lord’s
Supper Wine
QUESTION: Is it to be wine we drink at this service? Would
grape juice be permissible?
ANSWER:
Drink the Pure Blood of
the Grape
Fermented wine, and not
grape juice, is to be used for the ordinance of the
Christian Passover/Lord’s Supper.
Deuteronomy 32:9-10, 14, "For the LORD's portion
is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found
him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness;
He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the
apple of His eye . . . . thou didst drink the pure blood of
the grape."
How God has blessed us! The
greatest blessing is to drink the pure blood of the grape, a
symbol of the perfect shed blood of our Savior. That is why
at the Christian Passover we symbolically partake of the
blood (the life) of the
Messiah. We are shown to be the Almighty's inheritance by
partaking of the annual Passover. Partaking of our Savior's
body and blood at His table is proof we are His.
Many of Israel (Jeshurun)
wax fat, forget the Eternal, lack faith, and worship other
gods, Deuteronomy 32:15-31. Verses
32-33, "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,
and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of
gall, their clusters are bitter: Their wine is the poison of
dragons, and the cruel venom of asps." The result is the
Eternal's judgment, verses 34-43.
Genesis 49:10-12, "The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people
be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto
the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his
clothes in the blood of grapes; His eyes shall be red with
wine, and his teeth white with milk." Shiloh is a type of
the Messiah, the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Grapes are Symbolic of the Fruits of Men's Lives
Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles?" Luke 6:44-46 shows that the fruits have much to
do with what a man says, and whether or not he obeys God.
Revelation 14:14-20, God will reap for His
winepress of wrath the "grapes," i.e. the rebellious people,
whose lives have produced bitter fruit.
Christ is the Vine, We Are the Fruitful Branches
John 15:1-16, God the Father is the husbandman,
Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. Fruit borne on
the branches comes from the vine. Pruning is necessary to
produce much fruit. Branches die if disconnected from the
vine. They will be burned. Producing fruits depends on
keeping the Commandments. Lasting fruit is the reason why
the husbandman (God)
works with the branches.
Christ To Abstain From the Fruit of the Vine -- For a Time
Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luke 22:18, "For I say
unto you I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until
the Kingdom of God shall come."
Why? Because, like the High
Priest, He is serving in the Eternal's Temple, Leviticus
10:8-11.
Fermented Wine Represents Shed Blood of Our Savior
Wine was offered along with
the daily sacrifice (morning and
evening) as a drink offering, Exodus 29:38-40.
Also Numbers 15:5, 7, 10, 28:14. (Note:
1 hin = 6 quarts, 1/4 hin would be about l l/2 quarts, or l
liter.) Wine was also part of the wavesheaf
offering, Leviticus 23:13. Notice the different quantities
of wine offered with different animals.
The various offerings show
in detail the many aspects of the sacrifice of our Savior.
The living wine symbolizes the shed blood of our Savior,
giving us the lesson that it was not by His death that we
are saved, but by His life, Romans 5:9-10. The life is in
the blood. Note:
the Hebrew word used for wine in these references is yayin,
which elsewhere is proved to be fermented wine.
Wine Is Fermented
Genesis 9:20-21, Noah planted a vineyard, drank
of the wine, and was drunken.
Proverbs 20:1, Much wine makes you lose control
of your mind; whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 23:20-21, Don't be an alcoholic, for the
drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.
Proverbs 31:4-5, Kings and those in authority
should take special care not to imbibe too much wine lest
they forget the law and pervert judgment.
There is a time when wine
should be used by those of a heavy heart or who are ready to
perish, Proverbs 31:6-7, and those with stomach problems, 1
Timothy 5:23.
Use of Wine During the
Feasts
Wine is an important part of
joyful observance of the Eternal's Feasts. In Judges 9:13,
wine cheers God and Man.
Tithes of wine are to be
paid, Deuteronomy 14:22-27. The priest was to receive
firstfruits of the wine, Deuteronomy 18:3-5, Exodus 22:29.
Deuteronomy 16:13-15, the Feast of Tabernacles is
a time of rejoicing after you have gathered in your corn and
wine. Zechariah 9:16-17, 10:7 also shows the use of wine.
We are warned against
drinking to excess, Isaiah 5:20-25. Verse 12: "the harp, and
the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their
feasts: but they regard not the work of the Eternal, neither
consider the operation of His hands." Because some abuse
wine, the Almighty says "I hate, I despise your feast days,
and I will not smell your solemn assemblies," Amos 5:21. The
Eternal doesn't want anything to do with a drunken orgy. To
those who "drink bowls of wine," Amos 6:6, He says, "I will
turn your feasts into mourning," Amos 8:10.
Wine in the Millennium
Amos 9:13-15 (Living
Bible) "The time will come when there will be
such abundance of crops, that the harvest time will scarcely
end before the farmer starts again to sow another crop, and
the terraces of grapes upon the hills of Israel will drip
sweet wine! I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild their ruined cities, and live in them
again, and they shall plant vineyards and gardens and eat
their crops and drink their wine. I will firmly plant them
there upon the land that I have given them; they shall not
be pulled up again, says the Lord your God." See also
Jeremiah 31:12-13.
Wine is the "Fruit of the
Vine"
During the Savior's last
Passover meal with His disciples, He instituted the New
Testament Passover. He took the emblems of "bread" and "the
cup" and made them represent His body and shed blood
sacrificed for our sins. Contents of "the cup" are called
the "fruit of the vine, "Matthew 26:17-30.
From an understanding of the
Bible and history, we know that the "bread" was unleavened
bread, which is used with Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, Exodus 12:1-20.
What was the "cup"
containing the "fruit of the vine"? Although the laws
describing the Old Testament Passover do not mention the
commanded use of wine, we have seen how wine is a part of
the joyful observance of the Eternal's Feasts. The Passover
and Feast of Unleavened Bread are joyful feasts, of which
wine is an important part.
All reliable commentators
agree that wine with the Passover meal was an established
custom as early as Ezra's time. Here is what Peloubet's
Bible Dictionary, article "wine," states:
The use of wine at the
paschal feast [Passover]
was not enjoined by the law, but had become an established
custom, at all events in the post-Babylonian [500
BC] period. No unfermented wine is now known in
Palestine, and there is no evidence of its use at any time.
The fermentation of wine was not at all considered a similar
substance to the leaven of bread, and was not at any time
prohibited to the Jews [unless they
were under a Nazarite vow]. Most probably the
simple wines of antiquity were incomparably less deadly than
the stupefying and ardent beverages of western nations . . .
. A great attempt has been made to prove the wine drunk at
the Lord's Supper unfermented, by and for the sake of the
temperance workers of our day and nation. Such attempts are
apt to do more harm than good, among those familiar with
eastern customs today, or the history of those nations.
At the Passover meal of the
Jews, there were 3-4 cups of wine. It was one of these that
the Messiah attached special significance to, in making it
the symbol of His shed blood.
What Is the Cup of
Blessing?
1
Corinthians 10:16, "The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? . . .
."
Psalms 116:13, "I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Eternal."
Luke 22:17-18, "And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the
vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come."
Psalms 16:4-5, "Their sorrows shall be multiplied
that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of
blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my
lips. The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my
cup: thou maintainest my lot."
The drink offerings of wine,
which represented blood, were poured out on the burnt
offering, and burnt along with it. [Numbers 15:10, in the
Holy Place, Numbers 28:7.]
Isaiah 65:8 is closely
related to I Corinthians 10:16. Protection is promised to
those who drink the cup of blessing. "Thus saith the
Eternal, As the new wine [Hebrew:
tirosh] is found in the cluster, and one saith,
Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my
servants' sakes that I may not destroy them all." Those who
drink this cup of blessing have the Messiah in them and the
Holy Spirit of life. They are promised protection and life,
for wine represents the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18.
Is Tirosh Grape
Juice?
In a futile effort to prove
that grape juice is to be used with the New Testament
Passover, some have said that tirosh means grape juice, not
fermented wine.
Yayin is the common Biblical
Hebrew word for wine, used 138 times, of which 83 references
positively are referring to fermented grape juice and the
remainder may fairly be presumed to be likewise.
Shekar is used 23 times, and
means "strong drink" made from substances other than grapes.
It is more potent than grape wine.
Tirosh is used 38 times, and
is translated either "wine" or "new wine." It is used in
Judges 9:13 as cheering the heart of God and man. Psalms
104:15 states that "wine [yayin]
maketh glad the heart of man." See also Zechariah 9:17, " .
. . corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the
maids." So tirosh does the same thing as yayin. Too much of
it does the same as yayin, it intoxicates, Hosea 4:11, "wine
[yayin] and new wine [tirosh]
take away the understanding," (RSV). "New wine," is the wine
that has fermented and been separated from the dregs,
freshly bottled. Through further aging it becomes yayin.
Some commentators say tirosh is the fermented product of the
"must," the juice from the wine press that flows out by the
weight of the grapes, before treading. Tirosh cheers the
heart!
So the tirosh of Isaiah
65:8, the new wine of the cup of blessing, is intoxicating.
We have shown this from the Bible.
Symbol of Unity, Holy Spirit, Sacrifice
In addition to typifying the
shed blood of our Savior, the cup we drink symbolizes our
sharing of His suffering and sacrifice. It is the means
whereby we express our attachment to the Savior and to our
fellow believers. It shows our union with Him and each
other, because it represents the shed blood that makes this
all possible, 1 Corinthians 10:16.
The Apostle Paul exhorted us
to be a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1-2. He wrote that he
was poured out like a drink offering for the sacrifice and
service that he gladly performed for the brethren,
Philippians 2:17. Toward the end of his life, he said that
he was ready to be poured out like a drink offering, 2
Timothy 4:6. He was willing to sacrifice his whole being for
the cause of the Messiah.
We are to do likewise. The
Savior "poured out his soul unto death," Isaiah 53:12. He is
our drink offering, our burnt offering, our Passover Lamb.
Just as the wine was poured over sacrifices, and covered
them, so the Holy Spirit (of which
wine is a type, Ephesians 5:18) is bestowed upon
those who have their sins covered by the blood of our
Savior. Could the symbolism be any more powerful? Wine, pure
fermented wine representing the living blood of the Messiah,
is the "fruit of the vine." That is what Deuteronomy 32:14
means in the literal Hebrew, "of the blood of the grape, you
shall drink wine." The word for "wine" here is chemer, or
chamar regarded by Jewish scholars as equivalent with
tirosh. It is the same word used in Daniel 5:1, 2, 4, 23 for
the liquid drunk at Belshazzar's feast. Also the same word
is used in Ezra 6:9 as part of the appointment of the
priests, associated with the offerings.
A Last Argument Falls
One of the most powerful
arguments given in support of the use of grape juice for the
Memorial Supper (New Testament
Passover) is the use of Leviticus 10:9, "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: . . . ." The priest, in performing service in the
tabernacle, was not to drink wine (yayin)
or strong drink (shekar).
This principle is certainly valid today. An elder or
minister, when delivering a sermon or study, or counseling
people in spiritual matters, is not to consume alcoholic
beverages.
However, some would extend
this prohibition to the partaking of the cup of the fruit of
the vine at the Memorial Supper. They say we are standing
in the presence of the Eternal doing a religious service and
should therefore use grape juice and not wine.
What do the scriptures say?
Our Savior, in drinking that last cup before His death, said
that He would not drink of the fruit of the vine until the
Kingdom comes, Luke 22:17-18. Why? Because He was to ascend
to Heaven to be our High Priest, Hebrews 4:14. Leviticus
10:9 says that a priest, when officiating, cannot drink wine
nor strong drink. So, until His return, our Savior will not
drink wine. This absolutely proves that the Last Supper did
have fermented wine, and not grape juice. Otherwise our
Savior's statement in Luke 22:17-18 in not true. Rather than
being a powerful argument in favor of grape juice, Leviticus
10:9 with our Messiah's own words prove wine is the proper
emblem for the annual commemoration of His death.
The Cup of Wrath
There is the cup of blessing
containing the blood of the grape, and there is an evil cup
of the wine of fornication.
Babylon has a golden evil
cup, and all nations are drunken with the "wine" of her
false doctrines, Jeremiah 51:7, Revelation 17:1-4, 18:6. If
we worship this beastly system, taking its mark, we shall
drink the wine of the wrath of the Almighty, poured out with
fury from "the cup of his indignation," Revelation 14:8-10.
This evil city and it's system will fall, being given "the
cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath," Revelation
16:19.
What about us? Will we
"drink of the wrath of the Almighty," Job 21:20, or the
"wine of astonishment," Psalms 60:3, or the "cup of his
fury," or "cup of trembling," Isaiah 51:17-23, or the "wine
cup of this fury," Jeremiah 25:15-31? The wicked shall drink
of this cup, Psalms 75:8, 11:6, Obadiah 15-16.
What will it be, the cup of
wrath, or the cup of blessing? Let us drink the pure blood
of the grape, in commemorating the death, burial and
resurrection of our Savior.
Let us use fermented grape
wine for the annual New Testament Passover, as the Bible
clearly commands.
A Consideration
Proverbs 20:1 tells us that
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is
deceived thereby is not wise." Some, even in the Church of
God, have had problems in the past with alcoholism, becoming
addicted to alcoholic beverages. The physical and mental
addiction to alcohol is a mighty strong temptation. If,
through the help of the Almighty, one has overcome alcohol
addiction, normally he must abstain completely from alcohol
or he could lapse into his former habit. For a former
addict, even one drink could possibly drag him back into
alcoholism.
Should a former alcoholic be
required to take fermented grape wine for the Christian
Passover service? The Creator is more powerful than the most
enslaving addiction.
According to the former
alcoholic's faith should it be. If he has the faith, the
Eternal can give him the strength to take the little wine
for Passover, and not return to alcoholic addition. If he
does not have the faith, he should consult the ministry, who
in compassion should make available a non-alcoholic
alternative. This in no way is a compromise with God's
Truth. The ministry should help build up the members'
faith, not destroy it! It is a shame that some
Sabbath-keeping ministers have actually promoted alcoholism,
by putting pressure on former alcoholics to drink wine. This
should not be done.
However, this consideration
should not lead us to create a "multiple choice" Passover
service, with wine and grape juice regularly available as
the members so desire. If one does not have a problem with
alcoholism, there is no other valid consideration, since the
Bible is abundantly clear that God intends us to use wine
for Passover.
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