Strong drink used, as a beverage is a curse; an enemy to Holy living.  Today it is a growing curse in America-a stumbling block to millions of young and old people.  God led Israel for forty years in the wilderness teaching them His ways.  He fed them, and their clothing did not wear out.  They drank no Wine or Strong Drink all that time (Deuteronomy 29:6).  If Israel was better off without the Wine and Strong Drink on their way to the promise land, so are we.  Strong Drink would have added to their sins and rebellion.  No Wine was used in the Passover services during the forty years.

    The Scriptures show that drunkenness was one of the major vices of ancient times, even among the Hebrews.  Among the better-known cases of intoxication are the following: Noah- (Genesis 9:21) and Lot- (Genesis 19:33-35).  The prophets frequently denounce drunkenness as a great social evil of the wealthy.  Even the women were guilty (Amos 4:1).  The symptoms and effects of strong drink are vividly pictured in the Bible (Isaiah 28:7-8), (Hosea 4:11).  The cheapening of alcoholic drinks has made drunkenness a much greater social problem in modern times.

    There are two Wines spoken of in the Bible.  The one, sometimes called, “Strong Wine” is strictly condemned as a beverage as a mockery, as raging (Proverbs 20:1).  We are told not to indulge in it, because it is poison to us physically and morally (Deuteronomy 32:33).  It is a curse in America and many other nations today, a stumbling block to millions.  Several Hebrew words occur, of which two are frequent:  Yayin, wine which is intoxicating; and Tirosh, fresh or sweet wine, grape-juice.  In the New Testament the Greek word: Oinos, is new, sweet wine; or grape juice, which may imply that the disciples were known to drink only unfermented grape juice, the “pure blood of the grape,” that cheers God and man, a blessing and not a curse.  This is the wine that Holy men of old drank.  This is the wine that Jesus made at Cana.  This is the fruit of the vine, Grape Juice that the disciples drank at the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:20).

    Means for preserving grape juice were well known.  If one wished to have grape juice all year, he would put grape juice in an amphora and seal the cork with pitch; sink it in a fish pond, and after 30 days take it out.  It would be grape juice for a whole year.  At the Last Supper Jesus spoke of “the fruit of the vine,” (Matthew 26:29), as in the Passover liturgy.  It may be a studied avoidance of the term wine; indicating that the drink was unfermented, as the bread also was unleavened.  Whatever use Jesus or others made of wine is no proof that its use in our tense age is wine.  The Bible gives more space to the danger than to the benefit of wine.

    The word “Wine” as used in the many Bible texts does sometimes refer directly to the pure grape juice, and that some texts refer to strong wine, or fermented juice; while some texts using the word “Wine” may refer to either.  Since God so pointedly condemns strong drink as dangerous both morally and physically and refers to “Wine” in the same texts, this can only refer to strong wine used as a beverage-in social drinking.
 
    Casting a stumbling block in a weak brother’s way is a sin against Christ and may cause both that weak brother and us to be lost (1 Corinthians 8:11-13).  The weak brother could be your own child, so beware what you do, or it may be your neighbor’s son or daughter.  The spirit and self-denying principle of the Gospel teaches us that we should avoid everything in eating or drinking which may be an occasion of offense or apostasy to our brethren (Romans 14:21). Or anything by which a person is caused to fall, especially into a snare, a trap (Luke 21:35).  Without mental vigor; without power sufficiently to distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, lawful and unlawful; Salvation could be lost.