By: Robert Serreyn
Question? Was it Grape Juice or Alcohol that Timothy was suppose to drink for his stomach?
Answer:
In 1 Timothy 5:23 we have the written record that Timothy was to drink wine for his stomach.
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.
The word WINE is the Greek word OINOS and it is a GENERIC TERM used in bible times to described all kinds of Juices and wines whether it be Alcoholic or Non Alcoholic ONLY BY the context can its usage be determined.
For Example: If I was to tell someone to go to the grocery store to buy me milk , now there are all kinds of different types of milks such as Soy Milk, Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, Cows Milk etc. If I want a particular type of milk I would need to tell the person which one I wanted to be purchased, The same principle is applied with the word WINE in the Bible.
The WINE in 1 Timothy 5:23 refers to the NON Alcoholic type.
The Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy for his stomach ailment (infirmities) was to use a LITTLE WINE (the sweet UNFERMENTED Grape Juice), in other words Paul instructed Timothy to drink JUST ENOUGH to be of a MEDICINAL PURPOSE.
In Conclusion:
Often times the WRONG IDEA of “If a little is good, then a lot should be better” is the UNDOING of many people, Wrong Ideas USUALLY EQUAL Bad Outcomes if pursued.
It is the spirit by which we partake of them that makes them sin and we can govern other things in life by this same principle.
In the Bible, God tells us PLENTY of times that “drinking alcohol” is UNWISE and one to be abstained from at ALL COST.
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 23:29-35 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? (30) They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. (31) Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. (32) At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. (33) Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. (34) Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. (35) They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Habakkuk 2:15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
Deuteronomy 32:32-33 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: (33) Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing to know IS Jesus Christ as savior, just simply believe that Jesus Christ went to the cross and DIED and shed his blood, was BURIED and three days later RESURRECTED from the dead to pay for your sins.
The moment that you do YOU HAVE (at that second and forever) Everlasting Life which WILL NEVER be taken away no matter what.
-Christ DIED for you – Romans 5:8
-Christ PAID your sins in full – 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 Peter 2:24
-BELIEVE (Trust In Completely) in Christ ALONE as the complete payment of sin for salvation – John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8,9
“For the wages(payment) of sin is death (eternal torment in hell); but the GIFT(salvation) of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord”. Romans 6:23
IT IS THAT SIMPLE – THE GOSPEL TRUTH