The Wedding at Cana: Rubel Shelly Reviewed

Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald Tennessee

Rubel Shelly: Jesus and the wedding at Cana. "Those who charge Jesus with making intoxicants are eager to mar the image of a perfect Holiness, which offends and rebukes them."

See review of Rubel Shelly on Isaiah Five and the Vineyard "movement" along with God's "song."

Aristotle Politics: Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed drink is called oinos, 'wine'.

Hence Ganymede is said 'to pour the wine to Zeus,' though the gods do not drink wine. So too workers in iron are called chalkeas, or 'workers in bronze.' This, however, may also be taken as a metaphor.

Below, we have added some implications of agreeing with the false accusers who said that Jesus was a fermented wine drinker.

See Jack Reese.

In the first half of this review, Dr. Rubel Shelly amplified the Post-Modern (Post-Biblical) view of the latter-day apostles. This is also a revived model of Catholic, Communistic "Liberation Theology" and "Feminist Theology" called Narrative Theology.

It has been left to our blessed generation to have the end-time form of theology revealed which abrogates the story as told in the Bible and gives us "the liberty" to construct our own story. In other versions this means to "be the Moses of our day." Still under Henry Blackaby to "be the Christ" for our generation with more power and authority than Jesus had.

This new theology also abrogates all of the known historical writers of the church who understood that Exodus meant "No Redemption" with idol worship but Dr. Shelly reveales that their pattern can be our pattern.

In short, God has permitted only a few specially chosen and trained "evangelists by the sovereign will of God" to be the revealers of the end time TRUTH which abrogates the Biblical model of Truth.

This view of latter-day apostles or "christs" is explained by Rubel Shelly.

If you have followed in step with the spirit of the Last Days "worship" you will have been able, with the help of mind-altering music, to absorb the following thesis of the New Wineskin. It is not clear who is doing the straining but it seems to apply to Bible writers such as John.

Making Jesus into the Destroyer as the Wine Merchant is like making God into the Dance Master. It is also making God the giver of musical instruments to be used on Him. Because all of the evidence is in direct contradiction to these claims, one wonders about the source of the "music, women and wine" form of "exhilarated" worship as a way to "move the worshipers into the presence of God (gods)?"

It comes from the same source as making the terminally musical idolaters at Mount Sinai into our "pattern for Christian worship and community." Where is that? It comes from the Shelly Sifter which sifts out everything but a "core" of seven facts about Jesus.

After that, we can attack Jesus as the DESTROYER by making Him into the pattern of wine drinkers, wine manufacturers and wine distributers to pregnant women.

---

"When Jesus Is Your Guest (John 2:1-12) Preached October 14, 2001, at Woodmont Hills Family of God, Reviewed October 14, 2001

Reviewed by: Kenneth Sublett, Piney.com, Hohenwald, Tennessee

By the Shelly Sifter, Dr. Shelly has Jesus feeding an already-drunk community party another 180 gallons of fermented wine. Therefore, Jesus drank wne, manufactured wine and encourged not only drinking but drunkeness. However, we know of no evidence that Jesus was inferior to Samson, the Kings, Princes, Priests or John the Baptist. Scholars will say that to accuse Jesus of drinking fermented wine (strong drink) is a deliberate attempt to mar His character and therefore Hid full Deity.

As a parable, the connection between the "piping" of the Jews trying to get Jesus into the Dionysus singing and lamenting of defeat, along with their charge that Jesus was a winebibber, gives credance to Cana that the first miracle was to separate Jesus from Dionysus, the god of new wine in new wineskins: the god of singing, instruments and "exhilarating" worship--of HIM.

Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Matt 11:20

Woe unto thee, Chorazin woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Matt 11:21

First Half Review: The Apostles sifted through philosophy, fragments of the Bible, their own theological agenda and needs to write the Bible.

Jesus, The Little Old Wine Maker at Cana, Dispenser, User and Endorser.

Jesus refused to speak to the "multitudes" except in parables. And assuredly the ceremonially pure water jars has a parable meaning. The people who saw His greatest miracles were the least likely to believe.

So maybe this event of "littleness" has enough power to blow the lid off so much "new wineskin" religion.

The Bible speaks of "wine is in the cluster, in the vat, canned as whole grapes, preserved as juice, boiled to a powder (instant wine) or syrup, dried as raisins, made into cakes but fermented only for those who wanted to get drunk. That is so basic that it should need no proof but here is one:

Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine 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. Is.65:8KJV, NAS, NKJV, RSV

The KJV revisers translated one Hebrew word by 61 different english words: sometines, they say, just for pleasing affect. So wine is not wine and water is not water. A gallon of water with a pinch of arsenic is not called water any more.

There are three ways of looking at The Wedding at Cana

First, as pronouncing a blessing on the wedding by supplying the common beverage which was fresh wine or juice. Otherwise, its taste would be terrible and mixed half and half with water or vinegar to mask the spoled but often-fermented flavor.

Teach me the Psalms of thy truth,

that I may bring forth fruit in thee: And

open to me the harp of thy Holy Spirit,

that with all its notes I may praise thee, O Lord." odes, Ode 14:7-8

Second, the image of those engaged in literal New Wine would also have been involved in singing, dancing and playing instrumental music like the homecoming party for the prodigal. These were just godless people with no spiritual vision:

After defining the musical idolatry of Israel in Amos chapters 5 and 6, chapter 8 warns that:

The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Amos 8:7

Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. Amos 8: 8

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: Amos 8: 9

And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Amos 8: 10

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: Amos 8: 11

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Amos 8: 12

In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. Amos 8: 13

They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. Amos 8: 14

Music and wine caused the loss of the Word in Isaiah also:

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them Isaiah 5:11

And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Isaiah 5:12

Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isaiah 5:13

Third: A Satanic Attack. The Wine Merchant is The Destroyer

The Odes of Solomon speak of instruments in a destructive as does the Old Testament. Instrumental music was the "party" concept where it was absolute proof that people had no interest in hearing spiritual truth even when Full Deity was in their midst "taking on the disguise of a servant." They didn't want Jesus to teach, they wanted a Jesus as wine merchant.

If Jesus was the wine manufacturer then the imagry is of blinding those who will not hear His Words:

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? Mt.13:10

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Mt 13:11

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Matt 13:12

Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Mt.13:13

Jesus never spoke to the multitudes without using a parable. The story of the wedding is that of a fairly large group and the host has not supplied himself with wine or "oil" for his lamp.

And I saw the destroyer of destruction, when the bride who is corrupted is adorned: and the

bridegroom who corrupts and is corrupted.

And I asked the Truth, 'Who are these?'; and He said to me,

'This is the deceiver and the error; odes, Ode 38:9-10
and they are alike in the beloved and in his bride:
and they lead astray and corrupt the whole world: odes, Ode 38:11
> and they invite many to the banquet, and
> give them to drink of the wine of their intoxication,
> and remove their wisdom and knowledge, and so they make them without intelligence" odes, Ode 38:12-13

The Wedding at Cana party is a good place to show that "marrying and giving in marriage" is the sign of the end-time religion:

For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase:

because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. Hos 4:10

Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. Hos 4:11

My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. Hos 4:12

Aristophanes Wasps 1475

Some Evil Genius has brought this unbearable disorder into our house. The old man, full up with wine and excited by the sound of the flute, is so delighted, so enraptured, that he is spending the night executing the old dances that Thespis first produced on the stage,

Aristophanes in Acharnians, long before the time of Christ wrote:

Chorus-Leader

With ease does he acquire whatever's fine and good. We'll never ask the War-god to our neighborhood,

nor in his presence sing a patriotic tune,
for when the War-god drinks he acts the perfect goon.

When we were prosperous he burst upon the scene, committed crimes, upended and wasted everything. He'd fight and when we said, "sit down and have a sip; let's drink a friendly toast to our good fellowship," instead he'd turn more violent,

set fire to our vines, and tramp them till he'd squeezed out every drop of wine.

Hermes then defines a tippler:

Oh! the delicious tipple, half-wine, half-water!

Aristotle Politics: Or by the usage of language. Thus any mixed drink is called oinos, 'wine'.

Hence Ganymede is said 'to pour the wine to Zeus,' though the gods do not drink wine. So too workers in iron are called chalkeas, or 'workers in bronze.' This, however, may also be taken as a metaphor.

Arnobius identifies another "mark" of the beast:

"Catamitus is carried off to be a favourite and cup-bearer; and Fabius, that he may be called Jove's darling, is branded on the soft parts, and marked in the hinder.

Greek GANYMEDES, Latin GANYMEDES, OR CATAMITUS, in Greek legend, the son of Tros (or Laomedon), king of Troy. Because of his unusual beauty, he was carried off either by the gods or by Zeus, disguised as an eagle, or, according to a Cretan account, by Minos, to serve as cupbearer. In compensation, Zeus gave Ganymede's father a stud of immortal horses (or a golden vine). From early times it was believed that Ganymede's kidnapper had a homosexual passion for him, hence the term catamite, derived from the popular Latin form of his name. He was later identified with the constellation Aquarius.

In Plutus, Hermes says:

[1120] Formerly, from earliest dawn, I was offered all sorts of good things in the wine-shops, -- wine-cakes, honey, dried figs, in short, dishes worthy of Hermes. Now, I lie the livelong day on my back, with my legs in the air, famishing.

Aristotle said:

And the pleasanter wine is not the wine pleasant to a man whose palate has been corrupted by tippling,

since sometimes they pour in a dash of vinegar, but to the uncorrupted taste.

And: For taste is concerned with discriminating flavors, as is done by wine-tasters, and cooks preparing savory dishes

This image is that people are not going to listen to the Spirit message of Jesus and perhaps He poured out the wrath of judgment just like the end-time symbol of God's wrath will be the wine cup.

If Jesus was God He knew that a fraction of an ounce of alcohol could create problems in those just getting pregnant. Or, didn't Jesus know that the week long feast would likely lead to that.

If Jesus made literal wine then He was not just accomodating His mother's untimely and unseemly request that the Incarnate God of the Universe become a wholesale manufacturer and retailer of intoxicants.

Theatrical preaching, drama and music produce the WINE function of taking away wisdom.

Plato would have understood that "simple words" are the primary way of communication knowledge. If you put the words to meter or sing them you are ONCE REMOVED from the truth. Then if you add instruments or drama you are TWICE REMOVED from the truth.

Mimesis: According to Plato, all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really exists (in the "world of ideas") is a type created by God;

the concrete things man perceives in his existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.

"Therefore, the painter, the tragedian, and the musician are imitators of an imitation, twice removed from the truth.

Aristotle, speaking of tragedy, stressed the point that it was an "imitation of an action"--that of a man falling from a higher to a lower estate.

Consistent with a half dozen Old Testament passages, the use of instrumental music was both the cause and sign of people "falling from the Word of God" and saying: "We will not listen to your words any more."

Dr. Shelly makes this pronouncement in another article on the loss of the Word replaced by a direct operation of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Shelly also uses Bob Mumford a leading light in THE SHEPHERDING MOVEMENT. This results in an inner CORE of locked-step comrads and increasing circles of human material as "audience." This is the Willow Creek and the Saddleback Community Church giving the old, backward looking church, a second incarnation as a theater to make the TITHERS AND MORE feel good about themselves.

See Jeff Walling "training" the youth ministers.

Therefore, music and drama works because we know that the performers know that it is all a lie.

Plato also wrote:

Athenian: Then let us not faint in discussing the peculiar difficulty of music.

"Music is more celebrated than any other kind of imitation, and therefore requires the greatest care of them all. For if a man makes a mistake here, he may do himself the greatest injury

by welcoming evil dispositions, and the mistake may be very difficult to discern,
because the poets are artists very inferior in character to the Muses themselves,

> who would never fall into the monstrous error of

assigning to the words of men

the gestures and songs of women;

> nor after combining the melodies with the gestures of freemen would they add on the rhythms of slaves and men of the baser sort;

> nor, beginning with the rhythms and gestures of freemen, would they assign to them a melody or words which are of an opposite character;

> nor would they mix up the voices and sounds of animals and of men and instruments, and every other sort of noise, as if they were all one.

I can tell you who would do that: those who get drunk on new wine, drunk on ignorance or sniff poppy seed vapor or chew laurel leaves to make themselves foam at the mouth. Then, they could "praise" like David's military instrumentalists trying to drive the enemy into panic.

But human poets are fond of introducing this sort of inconsistent mixture, and so make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of those who, as Orpheus (wineskin god) says, "are ripe for true pleasure."

The experienced see all this confusion, and yet the poets go on and make still further havoc by separating the rhythm and the figure of the dance from the melody,

setting bare words to metre, and also separating the melody and the rhythm from the words, using the lyre or the flute alone.

For when there are no words, it is very difficult to recognize the meaning of the harmony and rhythm, or to see that any worthy object is imitated by them. (See 1 Cor 14. Paul compares speaking in tongues to instruments of war.)

And we must acknowledge that all this sort of thing, which aims only at swiftness and smoothness and a brutish noise,

and uses the flute and the lyre not as the mere accompaniments of the dance and song, is exceedingly coarse and tasteless.

The use of either instrument, when unaccompanied, leads to every sort of irregularity and trickery.

This is all rational enough.

Manufacturing up to 180 gallons of intoxicating wine at the Wedding at Cana might be the god of the li'l old merchant of new wineskins but how would God abandoning His Glory and Majesty to take on the body of a servant be willing to experience making 180 gallons of intoxicants to an already-drunken wedding party? Doesn't that experience give us the permission, nay command to be a wine drinker and to give others within the hearing of the "sermon" the right to go thou and do likewise?

However, John made a very logical pronouncement which was not just "fragments" which came through his "sifter." He wrote:

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

The same was in the beginning with God. John 1: 2
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1: 3
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1: 4
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1: 5

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. John 1:6

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. John 1: 7

He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light John 1: 8 .
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1: 9

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John 1: 10

Of John the Baptist:

And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. John 1: 34

Again the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples; John 1: 35

And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God John 1: 36

If Jesus is the Logos then it is important to point out that He is not Mercury or Hermes or, as the Jewish clergy hoped, Dionysus as the god of new wine.

After some more of the story we hear:

No evidence given, none required to be a truth sifter. Just that cry of ridicule: Oh, pleeeaassseee! Now, no one can dare question the speaker and the claim of charisma and the musical approach guarantees that the emotional ridicule of the Incarnate God of the Universe will make its way past the rational mind and right into the emotional seat.

"Every boy, with straw in hand, knows that (apple juice) is cider&emdash;so does every farmer and housewife. After it has fermented, it is also called cider. It is a generic word, applicable to the juice of the apple in all its stages, just as yayin in the Hebrew, oinos in the Greek, and vinum in the Latin, and wine in English are generic words, and denote the joice of the grape in all conditions. When the barrel is filled with the fresh unfermented juice of the apple, add sulphur, or mustard seed, make the barrel air-tight, and keep it where it is cold, and fermentation will not take place." (Patton, p. 41)

By using a story much like the Creation event, Deut 32 notes that

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth (Gen 1:2) over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: Deut 32:11

So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. Deut 32:12

He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Deut 32:13

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. Deut 32:14

However, God did not supply them with either fermented grape juice or strong (highly fermented) wine or beer while in the wilderness:

Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord your God. Deut 29:6

As a result of repudiating the Rock as their Leader as Rubel Shelly and John York identify the Rock as Jewish Legend, peope naturally fall back into the practices of Sodom:

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: Deut 32:32

The blood of the VINE is crushed out of the grapes: it is not dipped or sipped out of the vat. Christ shed His blood by being crushed to death on the rack and on the cross. Therefore, to represent the crushing of the blood by intoxicating WORKS OF MEN'S HANDS is to repudiate the value of Christ. Blood is:

Dam (h1818) dawm; from 1826 (comp. 119); blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by anal. the juice of the grape; fig. (espec. in the plur.) bloodshed (i. e. drops of blood): - blood (-y, -guiltiness, [-thirsty], / innocent.

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. Isa 4:4

From the following, the wine and blood of the grape comes from the vine and then crushed in the vat. If one gets drunk on "wine" then it is intoxicating. However, the word is used of fresh grape juice as the product of crushing the life out of the grape:

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. Isaiah 49:10

Binding his foal unto the vine, and his asss colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: Isaiah 49:11

His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Isaiah 49:12

Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? Isaiah 63:2

Both "wine" and "milk" are natural food products: only if you want to get drunk do you ferment the wine or blood of the grape.

It is extremely rare to hear one claiming to speak for God who would accuse Jesus of being a base, evil person. And even rarer to hear a "scholar" who does not know the historical facts:

Q. In John, Chapter 2, where Jesus turned the water into wine; was this intoxicating wine?

A. The answer is, "No", and here are the facts.The Greek word for "wine" here is "oinos".It is a GENERIC word which includes all kinds of wine and all stages of the juice of the grape, sometimes the clusters, and even the vine.The word itself, therefore, cannot give us the answer. In Proverbs 20:1 we are told that "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."Would it not be derogatory to the character of Christ to suppose that He exerted His miraculous power to produce 60 gallons of intoxicating wine. Wine which the Bible had denounced as "a mocker" (Proverbs 20:1), "biting like a serpent" and "stinging like an adder" (Proverbs 23:32), as the "poison of dragons" (Psalm 58:4), "the cruel venom of asps (Deuteronomy 32:33), and which the Holy Spirit had selected as the emblem of God's wrath (Revelation 16:19).

"Another fact is that alcohol does not occur naturally in any product of nature, was never created by God; but is essentially an artificial thing prepared by man through the destructive process of fermentation. A man who visited Palestine 130 years ago, researching Bible wines, quoted the following:

"All who know of the wines then used, well understand the unfermented juice of the grape.The present wines of Jerusalem and Lebanon, as we tasted them, were commonly boiled and sweet, without intoxicating qualities, such as we here get in liquors called wines.The boiling prevents fermentation.

Those were esteemed the best wines which were least strong."

"This event, the Wedding at Cana, furnishes no sanction for the use of alcoholic beverages today. Dr. Max D. Younce

This writer tried it: Squeeze out the juice, place it in a crock, cover it and IT WIL ROT. Making wine is a highly skilled art of those who intend to convert "wine" or juice into an intoxicant.

Fundamental Baptists reasons for rejecting Rubel Shelly's put down of Jesus.

If wine makes you drunk then it is fermented: if wine does not make you drunk then it is not fermented.

"Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, 'Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son... (Judges 13:3)

"Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing... (v. 4)

The future Judge was to be protected from brain-damage from strong drink as well as to have a mother who "was not a base woman" which would be proven if she drank. (Just as Hannah would be prohibited wine and its use would have made her "a base woman" the mother of Samson, a future judge was not to drink wine).

"But the angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask my name, seeing it is WONDERFUL?" (v. 18).

George Whitefield on The Wedding at Cana

"When men have well drunken," but it nowhere appears that they were the men. Is it to be supposed, that the most holy and unspotted Lamb of God, who was manifested to destroy the works ofthe devil, and who, when at a Pharisee's house, took notice of even the gestures of those with whom he sat at meat;

is it to be supposed, that our dear Redeemer, whose constant practice it was to tell people they must deny themselves, and take up their crosses daily; who bid his disciples to take heed, lest at any time their hearts might be over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness; can it be supposed, that such a self-denying Jesus should now turn six large water-pots of water into the richest wine, to encourage excess and drunkenness in persons, who, according to this writer, had indulged to pleasure and cheerfulness already?

Had our Lord sat by, and seen them indulge, without telling them of it, would it not be a sin? But to insinuate he not only did this, but also turned water into wine, to increase that indulgence; this is making Christ a minister of sin indeed.

What is this, but using him like the Pharisees of old, who called him a glutton, and a wine-bibber?

Alas! how may we expect our dear Lord's enemies will treat him, when he is thus wounded in the house of his seeming friends?

Sirs, if you follow such doctrine as this, you will not be righteous, but I am persuaded you will be wicked over-much.

Lenski again: "Those who charge Jesus with manufacturing intoxicants are "eager to mar, if by any means they could, the image of a perfect Holiness, which offends and rebukes them." (Quoting Trench)

It was the job of the Pharisees to accuse Jesus of being a wine drinker:

Remember that Hannah, like Jesus, prayed in the spirit and in this connection note that:

So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. 1 Sam 1:9

And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 1 Sam 1:15

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. 1 Sam 1:16

So, accusing Jesus of DRINKING did not accuse Him of drinking wine or being a WINEBIBBER.

Barnes notes that "strong drink" is no more than feremented grape juice or beer while "wine" might contain some alcohol we will see that a "tippler" was one who would drink the 50-50 mixture of wine and water.

Therefore, to give the audience the permission to drink 18% or more modern wine is to be destructive.

John the Baptist lived like a Nazarite and would not drink wine nor engage in social settings. He would drink or eat no product of the vine.

However, when Jesus "came drinking" the accusation is that he was a "wine drinker."

"It means that one who is in the habit of drinking wine, or who is accustomed to SIT WITH those who indulge in it should not be admitted to the ministry...he would wish the ministers of religion to avoid it altogether." (Barnes Commentary on I Timothy, p. 144).

"The New Testament attitude towards intoxicating drink is shown by the injunction to be NEPHALIOS, translated 'sober'. This word is used only 3 times in the New Testament ( I Tim. 3:2,11 and Titus 2:2), but it is used regularly in the classical authors meaning 'free from all wine'." (J. P. Free in Archaeology and Bible History)

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink (fermented beer); and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mothers womb. Luke 1:15

The enemies of Christ led Jesus to accuse them of promoting the Dionysus singing and dancing while they piped. This would mark Jesus as not the Hebrew Messiah:

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. Matthew 11:18

The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say,

Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.

Wine-promoters say, "Yes" Jesus drank WINE because the Jews said that He DRANK. But, they also said:

The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? John 7:20

Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? John 8:48

Therefore, they are forced to accuse Jesus of having devil.

> The Jews accused Jesus with being a wine drinker: a tippler.

Oinopotes (g3630) oy-nop-ot'-ace; from 3631 and a der. of the alt. of 4095 (drinker); a tipler: - winebibber.

In Plutus, Hermes defines a new type of "wine":

Formerly, from earliest dawn, I was offered all sorts of good things in the wine-shops, -- wine-cakes, honey, dried figs, in short, dishes worthy of Hermes. Now, I lie the livelong day on my back, with my legs in the air, famishing.

> Hermes then defines a tippler:

Oh! the delicious tipple, half-wine, half-water!

> By telling them that truth is justified by her children, Jesus said to the Jews who claimed that He drank intoxicants: "You are liars."

But wisdom is justified of her children. Matthew 11:19

And I, the Messiah, feast and drink, and you complain that I am 'a glutton and a drinking man, and hang around with the worst sort of sinners!' But brilliant men like you can justify your every inconsistency!" Matt 11:19LIV

It is significant that the passage does not say that Jesus drank wine.

"The strong drink among the Jews was probably nothing more than fermented liquors, or a drink obtained from fermented dates, figs, and the juice of the palm, or the lees of wine, mingled with sugar, and having the property of producing intoxication. Many Jewish writers say that the word here translated strong drink was meant nothing more than old wine, which probably had the power of producing intoxication" (Albert Barnes, Commentary on Luke 1:15).

"Wine, including fermented, was used in earlier times to purify water that was stored in cisterns and wells. That was a major use of it! It was mixed with water at a very low ration of (3 parts water to 1 part wine-which was the lowest acceptable ratio; this produced a drink that was 2.5-2.75% alcoholic) up to (20+ parts water to 1 part wine). Thus, it was a sub-alcoholic beverage, which is why pastors and deacons are "not given to wine," I Tim. 3:3; 8; Titus 1:7. In Prov.23:29-31 it speaks of those who "tarry long at the wine." This purification is not necessary in modern times--we have chlorine, sodium chlorohydrates,

Strong drink was "unmixed wine." At this time it would be 3-11%. Those who drank undiluted wine, drank strong drink and were considered Barbaric. Distillation produces modern wine from 9-11%. From Pastor Rick Rogers

In the image of searching for leaven of any kind:

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Zeph 1:12

The message is that John drank and ate or he would have died. Simple. Yet, John did not eat and drink in the sense of public meals.

Jesus ate and drank in the public meals.

Therefore, the beyond redemption enemies of Christ charged that He was a winebibber which means a wine drinker which was not fermented or He would be guilty.

Jesus said that his enemies were liars.

Wine was forbidden to women in most cases in the Greek and Roman world and especially forbidden during pregnancy or one soon to be pregnant. Wine was always known to effeminate:

"Of the men who came into the world, those who were cowards or led unrighteous lives may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation.

Since we are depending on the Philosophers to help the inspired writers "filter" the truth out of their own heads, let's note some more Plato:

Athenian: There is a tradition or story, which has somehow crept about the world,

that Dionysus was robbed of his wits by his stepmother Hera,

and that out of revenge he inspires Bacchic furies and dancing madnesses in others; for which reason he gave men wine.

Here was another well-known understanding that when you refuse to hear the Word (Logos, Mercury, Hermes) God sends you strong delusions that you believe a lie.

Jesus not only spoke in parables but worked miracles in parables. For the watching clergy this would help fool them into believing that Jesus was Dionysus which they looked forward to as a better messiah.

Dionysus was also instrumental in the Intertestament period when unfaithful Jews built a gymnasium so that they could practice the body and new wine religion of the Greeks. This was much like Apollo's (Abbadon, Apollyon) Seeker Center at Delphi:

Such traditions concerning the gods I leave to those who think that they may be safely uttered; I only know that no animal at birth is mature or perfect in intelligence; and in the intermediate period,

in which he has not yet acquired his own proper sense, he rages and roars without rhyme or reason;

and when he has once got on his legs he jumps about without rhyme or reason; and this, as you will remember,

has been already said by us to be the origin of music and gymnastic.

Athenian: Well, and will he not be yet more ashamed if he has to stand up and sing in the theatre to a mixed audience?-and if moreover when he is required to do so,

like the other choirs who contend for prizes, and have been trained under a singing master,

he is pinched and hungry, he will certainly have a feeling of shame and discomfort which will make him very unwilling to exhibit.

Cleinias: No doubt.

Athenian: How, then, shall we reassure him, and get him to sing?

Shall we begin by enacting that boys shall not taste wine at all until they are eighteen years of age; we will tell them that fire must not be poured upon fire,

whether in the body or in the soul, until they begin to go to work-this is a precaution which has to be taken against the excitableness of youth;-

afterwards they may taste wine in moderation up to the age of thirty,

but while a man is young he should abstain altogether from intoxication and from excess of wine;

when, at length, he has reached forty years,

after dinner at a public mess, he may invite not only the other gods, but Dionysus above all, to the mystery and festivity of the elder men,

making use of the wine which he has given men to lighten the sourness of old age;

that in age we may renew our youth, and forget our sorrows; and also in order that the nature of the soul, like iron melted in the fire, may become softer and so more impressible.

In the first place, will not any one who is thus mellowed be more ready and less ashamed to sing-I do not say before a large audience, but before a moderate company; nor yet among strangers,

but among his familiars, and, as we have often said, to chant, and to enchant?

Is God the Little Old Winemaker of the Universe and at the Wedding at Cana?

Wine was a common beverage but not intoxicating wine. Wine was a primary food product: the purpose was to preserve it. By putting it into contaminated old wineskins it would not be preserved. However, our mom's knew how to preserve the wine all year and it never fermented:

Our "moms," then and now, boiled the juice to kill the yeasts and concentrate the sugar content so that it was preserved and did not ferment. Can't we see this lady even now as she "rewove" old or new cloth while she shrunk the juice to preserve it?

By winter fire-light, shaping with keen blade

The torches to a point; his wife the while,

Her tedious labour soothing with a song,

Speeds the shrill comb along the warp, or else

With Vulcan's aid boils the sweet must-juice down,

And skims with leaves the quivering cauldron's wave. (Virgil, Georgics 1:370).

 

We view beneath us- from the craggy heights

Streams thither flow with fertilizing mud-

A plain which southward rising feeds the fern

By curved ploughs detested, this one day

Shall yield thee store of vines full strong to gush

In torrents of the wine-god; this shall be

Fruitful of grapes and flowing juice like that

We pour to heaven from bowls of gold, what time

The sleek Etruscan at the altar blows

His ivory pipe, and on the curved dish

We lay the reeking entrails (Virgil, Georgics 2).

 

And rose-leaves dried, or must to thickness boiled

By a fierce fire, or juice of raisin-grapes

From Psithian vine, and with its bitter smell Virgil Georgics 4.347

"Superior honey comes from fresh comb, and from young shoots; the red honey is inferior, and owes its inferiority to the comb in which it is deposited,

just as wine is apt to be spoiled by its cask;
consequently, one should have it looked to and dried. Aristotle History of Animals 626b.1

The Bible, history and common sense are agreed. The best wine was "shrunken" wine which was aged to oxidize the impurities and even reduce remaining alcohol.

Heaven is my guardian; heaven approves

A blameless life, by song made sweet;

Come hither, and the fields and groves

Their horn shall empty at your feet.

Here, shelter'd by a friendiy tree,

In Teian measures you shall sing

Bright Circe and Penelope,

Love-smitten both by one sharp sting.

Here shall you quaff beneath the shade

Sweet Lesbian draughts that injure none,

Nor fear lest Mars the realm invade

Of Semele's Thyonian son,

Lest Cyrus on a foe too weak

Lay the rude hand of wild excess,

His passion on your chaplet wreak,

Or spoil your undeserving dress. Horace, Ode 1.17

"The ancients filtered their wines repeatedly before they could have fermented, and thus the (leaven) which nourish the strength of the wine being taken away, they rendered the wine itself more liquid, weaker, lighter, and more PLEASANT to drink." (Delphian commentary on Horace, Book 1, Ode 17).

The Lacedaemonians (Spartans) used to boil their wines upon the fire until the fifth part was consumed; then after four years were ex

If you cannot get the worship to bubble, and the audience returns Sunday evening then send for the wailing or "jubilating celebrative" women minstrels. The Bible clearly warns against a wineskin and musical worship team:

"those who charge Jesus with manufacturing intoxicants are "eager to mar, if by any means they could, the image of a perfect Holiness, which offends and rebukes them." (Lenski quoting Trench)

"Sour old wine is an abomination, praise it as a man will; the sweet new wine of Jesus remains sweet forever, it is changeless in its purity and excellence, beyond the praise of even those who realize this" (Lenski, Commentary on Luke, p. 320).

"This is one of the most misunderstood, and misrepresented passages in the whole of the Gospels...The misunderstanding has arisen from imposing upon the ancient Greek text, and ancient Jewish habits of food and drink, and relying entirely upon the modern and Northern European conception, that the word 'wine' always means intoxicating liquor." Quoted by J. L. Kachelman, Jr. (unpublished paper)

"The Jews do not, in their feasts for sacred purposes, including the marriage feast, ever use any kind of fermented drinks..." (Dr. S. M. Issacs, a Jewish rabbi of the last century, quoted by Patton, p. 83).

Because Jesus was speaking in parables, Vine notes that to the true listeners, if the "wine" begins to bubble and churn and the bread molds then some unauthorized agent has put leaven into the gospel or kingdom and it will destroy itself --

"that the kingdom of heaven is likened to leaven, does not mean that the Kingdom is leaven. The same statement, as made in other parables, show that it is the whole parable which constitutes the similitude of the Kingdom; the history of Christendom confirms the fact that the pure meal of the doctrine of Christ has been adulterated with error."

"Leaven was forbidden in all offerings to the Lord by fire, (Lev. 2:11; 6:17). Being bred of corruption and spreading through the mass of that in which it is mixed, and therefore symbolizing the pervasive character of evil,

leaven was utterly inconsistent in offerings which typified the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ." (Vine's on Leaven, p. 667).

The kingdom spreads like leaven. This is clearly a parable. That is, it does not grow like a tree which needs a bigger and bigger forest to hold it. Rather, each yeast cell breaks off and grows a new batch. T his was a Parable. Real leaven, on the other hand, has always been a symbol of evil. It was forbidden in that which was offered to God and it was forbidden in the wine:

"The great mass of the Jews have ever understood this prohibition as extending to fermented wine, or strong drink, as well as to bread. The word is essentially the same which designates the fermentation of bread and that of liquors." (Dr. S. M. Issacs, a Jewish rabbi of the last century, quoted by Patton, p. 83).

We noted in an earlier review that Dr. Shelly suggests that God can "baptize" most things and make them Christian. Perhaps He also uses the Truth Sifter. In Narrative Theology the unforgivable sin of musical idolatry at Mount Sinai is turned into a "pattern for Christian worship and community."

When God "turned Israel over to worship the starry host" (Acts 7) which would include the sun, Dr. Shelly says that God can baptize the S.U.N and substitute for the S.O.N. (as we understand the pattern.)

Now, John using his Philosopher's Sifter can have the Holy God sanctify a young bride drinking intoxicating wine. If they are already "saturated" which could mean drunk, and Jesus manufactured up to 180 gallons of the best, feremented wine then Dr. Lenski says that we are ANXIOUS TO MAR the image of Jesus Christ.

We suggest that Jesus making intoxicants is possible. First, it would be a sign proven by this wedding party that wine and music is a sign that people will not, cannot, hear the words of Christ. Second, the message to Lemuel may look to the end-time Babylon Harlot who will be destroyed along with his/her instruments and musicians. God pouring out wine in profusion is both the symbol and reality of His judgment.

Again, we note that Jesus was "Prince, Priest, King." He could drink no wine without losing his glory.

Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. Prov 31:3

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Prov 31:4 I

Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Prov 31:5

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts (BITTER). Prov 31:6

Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. Prov 31:7

Bitter is from the Hebrew:

Mar (h4751) mar; or (fem.) 4784 maw-raw'; from 4843; bitter (lit. or fig.); also (as noun) bitterness, or (adv.) bitterly: - / angry, bitter (-ly, -ness), chafed, discontented, * great, heavy.

Marah (h4784) maw-raw'; a prim. root; to be (caus. make) bitter (or unpleasant); (fig.) to rebel (or resist; causat. to provoke): - bitter, change, be disobedient, disobey, grievously, provocation, provoke (- ing), (be) rebel (against, -lious).

So, the writer of Proverbs might say that the New Wine from New Wineskins is the CORE GOSPEL for the bitter and perishing. So, drink up!

The gospel as good news is compared to cold water which refreshes. It is never compared to wine.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up (swell be elated) is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Hab 2:4

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: Hab 2:5

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay (pawned goods)! Hab 2:6

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14

Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle (wineskin) to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness Hab.2:15

Thou art filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the Lords right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. Hab2:16

Therefore, Dr. Shelly is saying that making 180 gallos of the stuff does not DEMONSTRATE the glory of God but it FILLS THE INCARNATE GOD WITH SHAME. Lenski says that people are ANXIOUS to do that.

Most pagans did and do believe that the "gods" live in or are aroused by musical instruments which were often in the form of the "god" such as the bull harp of Ur. When one gets drunk from NEW WINESKINS music to "bring the worshipers into the presence of God" naturally follow as they do at any drunken or "exhialerated" party:

Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. Hab 2:19

But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Hab 2:20

The end-time Babylon harlot worship will be devoted to commerce (Seeker) worship with music (Rev. 18). Therefore, the NEW WINESKIN is both the cause and supernatural symptom that people are experiencing the wrath of God in the form of new wine which does not come out of the VAT but out of the GRAPES. However, if not preserved it will ferment and become the universal sign that God is writing people off as He undoubtedly did at the wedding feast:

So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Re 14:19

And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. Re 14:20

Below is the wine press image which gave its name to "nagan" meaning to play a harp or other image. To play the flute, pollute or to prostitute comes from the same Hebrew word.

Gath (h1660) gath; prob. from 5059 (in the sense of treading out grapes); a wine-press (or vat for holding the grapes in pressing them): - (wine-) press (fat).

Nagan (h5059) naw-gan'; a prim. root; prop. to thrum, i. e. beat a tune with the fingers; espec. to play on a stringed instrument; hence (gen.) to make music: - player on instruments, sing to the stringed instruments, melody, ministrel, play (-er, -ing.

Therefore, we have the universal connection between music, the strangers, the minstrels and male and female prostitutes:

Naga (h5060) naw-gah'; a prim. root; prop. to touch, i. e. lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphem., to lie with a woman); by impl. to reach (fig. to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.): - beat, (* be able to) bring (down), cast, come (nigh), draw near (nigh), get up, happen, join, near, plague, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.

Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. Is.23:16

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. Eze.33:32

The kings of Tyre and Babylon were "harp-playing prostitutes" and they used the things they lusted after to seduce the people to put them into slavery. The king of Tyre came "equipped for a musical ministry" and the king of Babylon would go with "her" harps into Sheol.

"Standing in the bowl of the winged serpent, we are inside that sacramental chalice, drinking with our eyes, so to say, the intoxicant, there symbolized as wine, of the mystery of the substance of our being." - Joseph Campbell, Creative Mythology

Bacchus I call, loud-sounding and divine,

Fanatic God, a two-fold shape is thine:

Thy various names and attributes I sing,

O, first-born, thrice begotten, Bacchic king:

Rural, ineffable, two-formed, obscure,

Two-horned, with ivy crowned, euion, pure:

Bull-faced, and martial, bearer of the vine,

Endued with counsel prudent and divine:

Triennial, whom the leaves of vines adorn,

Of Jove and Proserpine, occultly born.

Immortal daemon, hear my suppliant voice,

Give me in blameless plenty to rejoice;

And listen gracious to my mystic prayer,

Surrounded with thy choir of nurses fair.

Translation by Thomas Taylor.

The end-time Great Harlot will be be drunk with "new wine" or "the blood of Christ."

And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Re 17:5

I saw the woman, drunk with the blood (haima new wine or the blood of Christ) of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. Re 17:6

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Re 17:7

"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Re.17:9

And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; Rev 18:22

Castigating the worship of the starry host such as in Amos 5 and 6 had God saying, "You offer the sacrifice to me but you eat the meat." Furthermore, the drink offering must be POURED OUT on the altar:

"The Lord, the LORD Almighty, called you on that day to weep and to wail (repent), to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth. Isa 22:12

But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!" Isa 22:13

The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: "Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for," says the Lord, the LORD Almighty. Isa 22:14

The Wedding at Cana is not authority to change the "laws" of the church.

Fred Peatross and wine in the emerging church of Christ.

Wine, Dionysus and the Effeminate Worship Context.

Rubel Shelly Sermon Reviews

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