1 Corinthians 6:9
“Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of ELOHIM? Don’t delude yourselves-----people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, who steal, who are greedy, WHO GET DRUNK, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob---none of them will share in the Kingdom of ELOHIM.”
As we see in Paul’s letter to the assembly of Corinth is that drinking was not the problem, but drunkenness is, and that no drunkard will not inherit the kingdom of ELOHIM.
1 Peter 5:8
“Stay SOBER, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary, stalks about like a roaring lion looking for someone do devour.”
How can you be sobered minded when you are drunk? When you are drunk you are not in the right state of mind just like getting high, which means you not able to think rationally and this opens the doorway for Satan to tempt you into transgression.
Drinking was allowed
Psalms 104:15 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“WINE that gladdens the human heart, oil to make faces glow, and food to sustain their strength.”
Deuteronomy 14:26 (Samaritan Torah)
“And you may spend the money for whatever your soul desires, for bulls, and in sheep WITH WINE, OR STRONG DRINK, or whatever your soul desires.”
Deuteronomy 14:26 (Complete Jewish Bible)
“And exchange the money for anything you want—cattle, sheep, WINE, OTHER INTOXICATING LIQUOR, or anything you please---and you are to eat there in the presence of YAHWEH your ELOHIM, and enjoy yourselves, you and your household.”
The etymology for the word wine is #H3196 “Yayin”, Brown-Driver’s Brigg’s says wine is from an unused root meaning to effervesce. And effervesce which is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as bubble, hiss, and foam as gas escapes. Dictionary.cambridge.org defines it as to emit bubbles, as certain kinds of LIQUIORS; to effervesce, as sparkling wine. Strong’s says: From an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as FERMENTED); by implication INTOXICATION-banqueting, wine, wine bibber.
The etymology for Strong drink is #H7941 “Shekar” pronounced (Shay-kawr) and defined by Brown-Driver’s-Brigg’s as strong drink, INTOXICATING drink, FERMENTED, or INTOXICATING LIQUOR. Strong’s definition is an intoxicant, that is, intensely alcoholic liquor-strong drink, drunkard, strong wine.
Numbers 6:1-4 (Samaritan Torah)
“And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the Sons of Yisra’el and say to them, when a man or woman makes a special vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself to YAHWEH, he shall abstain from WINE AND STRONG DRINK. He shall drink no vinegar, made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh or dried grapes. All the days of his naziriteship he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.”
The Nazirite vow in the Torah shows that wine and strong drink were only forbidden during the time of the vow, which proves that if someone was not taking a Nazarite vow that they would be able to drink wine and strong drink.
So, as we see in the Torah that wine and strong drinks were allowed by our ELOHIM; however, He does not permit you to drink to become drunk. All fermented/intoxicating drinks CAN LEAD to drunkenness if one does not know how to control himself. Other scriptures prove this to be true.
Deuteronomy 21:18-20
“If a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey what his father or mother says, and even after they discipline him he still refuses to pay attention to them; then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the leaders of his town, at the gate of that place, and say to the leaders of his town, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he doesn’t pay attention to us, lives wildly, GETS DRUNK.”
Testament of Judah 11:1-2
“And I knew that the race of the Kana’anites was wicked, but the impulse of youth blinded my mind. And when I saw her pouring out wine, I was deceived BECAUSE OF INTOXICATION FROM WINE, and took her, although my father had not counselled it.”
Testament of Judah 14:1-8
“And now, my children, I say to you: do not be DRUNK WITH WINE, for wine turns the mind AWAY FROM THE TRUTH, and inspires the passion of lust, and leads the eyes into error. For the spirit of whoring has wine as an attendant to give pleasure to the mind; for these two also take away the mind of man. For if a man DRINKS WINE TO DRUNKENNESS, IT DISTURBS THE MIND WITH UNCLEAN THOUGHTS which lead to whoring, and heats the body to fleshly union. And if the cause of the lust is present, he works the iniquity, and is not ashamed. Such is the DRUNK MAN, my children; for he who is DRUNK does not respect anyone. For behold, it (wine) caused me to also ERR, so that I was not ashamed of the multitude in the city, in that before the eyes of all I turned aside to Tamar, and I worked a great transgression, and I uncovered the covering of my sons’ shame. After I had drunk wine I did not respect the command of ELOHIM, and I took a woman of Kana’an as wife. For the man who drinks wine NEEDS MUCH DISCRECTION, my children; and here is discretion in drinking wine: A MAN MAY DRINK SO LONG AS HE PRESERVES MODESTY. But if he goes BEYOND THIS LIMIT, the spirit of deceit attacks his mind, and it makes the DRUNKARD to speak uncleanness, and to transgress, and not to be ashamed, but even to esteem in his shame, and to think himself honorable.”
The drunkard speaks uncleanness by being verbally abusive and he is not ashamed because the alcohol has given him liquid courage and he/she spews out words from his or her mouth that they cannot take back. Some people are unaware of their actions until they are told after they have sobered up. Also, what Judah describes about how alcohol heats up the body to fleshly union can cause people to fornicate. If you can drink in moderation and not become drunk or it does not lead to other transgressions then drinking is not wrong, but if you cannot control yourself when you drink then it is wrong for all the reasons outlined! I personally saw what it did to me, so I obeyed the words of YESHUA and removed what made me stumble out of my life.
Matthew 5:29-30 (Hebrew)
“Surely, if your right eye offends (causes you to stumble), take it out and remove it far from you, for it is better for you that one member perishes, than for all the body to be punished. And if your right hand offends, cut it off and remove it far from you, for it is more appropriate to you that one member perishes than for all the body to be punished forever.”
Testament of Judah 16:1-5
“Observe, therefore, my children, the RIGHT LIMIT IN WINE; for there are four evil spirits in it: lust, heated passion, wickedness, and greed. If you drink wine in gladness, be MODEST IN THE FEAR OF ELOHIM. For if in your gladness the fear of ELOHIM departs, then DRUNKENNESS arises and shamelessness sneaks in. BUT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE CAUTIOUSLY, DO NOT DRINK WINE AT ALL, lest you transgress in words of outrage, and in fighting’s and slanders, and transgressions of the commands of ELOHIM, and you die before your time.”
Judah reiterates that if you are going to drink to do it in moderation and in the fear of YAHWEH, but once that fear of ELOHIM departs is when you become drunk, which then leads to lusts, heated passions, wickedness, slander, and greed. Others start fights are filled with words of outrage and these would be classified as the angry drunks. If this is you when you drink then alcohol is not for you, because you are transgressing against the Torah, why? All these actions are OPPOSITE of the love which the Torah is.
Testament of Issachar 7:3
“I did not drink wine to be led astray by it. I did not covet any desirable thing that was my neighbor’s.”
1 Timothy 3:1-3
“Here is a statement you can trust: anyone aspiring to be a congregation leader is seeking worthwhile work. A congregation leader must be above reproach, he must be faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, orderly, hospitable and able to teach. He must NOT DRINK EXCESSIVELY or get into fights…”
Paul did not say the elders/congregational leaders or the deacons could not drink, he said they should not drink excessively, which means becoming drunk.
1 Timothy 5:23
“Stop drinking water; instead, use A LITTLE WINE for the sake of your digestion and because of your frequent illnesses.”
Titus 1:7
“For an overseer, as someone entrusted with ELOHIM’s affairs, must be blameless---he must not be self-willed or quick-tempered, HE MUST NOT DRINK EXCESSIVELY (Aramaic says “Not excessive in WINE”)…
Sirach 31:25-31
“Do not show your bravery in wine; for wine HAS DESTROYED MANY. The furnace proves the edge by dipping: so does wine the hearts of the proud by DRUNKEDNESS. Wine is as good as life to a man, IF IT IS DRUNK MODERATELY: what life is then to a man that is without wine? For it was made to make men glad (Psalms 104:15). Wine measurably drunk and in season brings gladness of the heart and cheerfulness of the mind. But wine drunk with EXCESS makes bitterness of the mind, with FIGHTING AND QUARRELING. DRUNKENNESS increases the rage of a fool until he offends: it diminishes strength and makes wounds. Do not rebuke your neighbor drinking wine and do not despise him in his joy: give him no despiteful words and do not press on him with urging to drink.”
Many people will rebuke their neighbors for drinking when it is not supported in the scriptures, rather their personal convictions have become another man’s law! I personally do not drink for the reasons stated above, but I would never tell anyone that it is wrong when it is not.
In conclusion, we see that drinking is NOT FORBIDDEN in the scriptures, the only thing that is forbidden is drunkenness because we see the aftermath of drunkenness is transgression and we know that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom. So, if you know how to drink in moderation then enjoy the beautiful gift that YAHWEH created to make the heart glad, but if you cannot control yourself then you must let it go.
As always may YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!