06/27/2026
W**E and STRONG DRINK
By Thomas L. Jones
In late 2025 I walked into an Emergency room due to dizziness and was diagnosed with Pre Diabetes, my blood glucose was 461. Medical records can confirm this, no need to embellish the results. For someone that has always neglected healt due to ignorance, I cannot say this was a surprise. I probably brought this on myself by drinking Brisk sweetened tea from the Dollar General in excess.
The shock of the possibility of being dependant of Pharmaceutical drugs did not go well with me. Yes, I began with Metformin and Januvia along with other medications perscribe by my pri.ary care doctor. My last visit to the Doctor have me at a 7.5 blood sugar level. I can't tell you how much I have always despised the medical industry. I always seen it as a profession that keeps you comforted until you die. Never a cure, alway a comfort! Through my many years of studying the scriptures I always scoffed at religious leaders who condemned the use of alcohol. This is not a post to advocate for recreational use of alcohol. But I cannot and will not agree alchol in moderation is a sin. Neither is alcohol consumption condemned in the scriptures. We are warned about drunkenness and the dangers of becoming addicted to it. The scriptures even tell us what some of our tithes are to be used for during the Feastdays.
Deuteronomy 14:26 KJV
26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for w**e, 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. Rhe comical about religion is to put up an argument against alcohol use the christian churchases will try and convince you that the w**e spoken in scriptures was made without leven. Or it was nothing more than grape juice. Telling lies about the scriptures only worsens the ability to preach the gospel. I have even heard preachers call Shaul "Paul" a drunkard.
In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul informs Timothy to, “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little w**e for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” This verse has been used by some Christians to justify the recreational consumption of modern day alcoholic beverages.
It is obvious from the text that Timothy was suffering from a stomach ailment, though the nature of the ailment is not known. However, Paul appears to suggest that the water is the culprit for his illness. Since the days of Hippocrates, it has been known that the water of the ancient world contained harmful bacteria that could produce illness. When Paul writes this letter, Timothy is in Ephesus. Ephesus was an ancient, decaying city whose harbor was silting up and creating sewage problems that poisoned underground water supplies (Williams, Paul’s Metaphors, p. 101). It is very likely that this was the cause of Timothy’s stomach ailment.
Fermented w**e of ancient, biblical times was often used as a remedy for such illnesses as the alcohol would prevent dysentery by destroying the bacteria and harmful pathogens of the water. This remedy was widely recognized by the Talmudists, Plutarch, Pliny, and as far back as the writings of Hippocrates himself (Fee, New International Biblical Commentary, p. 135). Therefore, Paul’s instruction to Timothy was in no way an endorsement of the recreational and social conception of alcoholic beverages, but advised purely for medicinal purposes.
This passage also reveals a lot about Timothy’s character. Regardless of the legitimacy of his need to consume fermented w**e for medicinal purposes, it is reasonable to conclude that he had abstained from it for the sake of his own sobriety and personal influence. Such was not expedient as his personal service to Christ was far more important than the potential damage inflicted by misguided critics, hence the need for Paul’s exhortation.
This passage cannot provide support or comfort for those desiring to engage in the pleasurable consumption of modern day alcoholic beverages. First, imbibers rarely drink just a “little” as was Paul’s instruction to Timothy. Second, imbibers do not dilute their w**e with water as was practiced in ancient times. Third, fermented w**es, as drunk in ancient times, were nowhere near as potent as today’s distilled fortified w**es.
To be continued!
May YHVH bless your understanding.
