Wine

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GOD SAID, concerning wine, Joel 2:24:

And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

GOD SAID, Genesis 27:28:

Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

GOD SAID, Proverbs 3:10:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

MAN SAID: I reject the concept of God and the infallibility of the so-called Holy Scriptures. There is no God and the Bible is just archaic literature written by man and of no real value in this modern world.

Now THE RECORD. The Bible speaks of wine over 200 times in its text and in many instances very favorably. Be assured that when God puts His imprimatur on an item, wise men stand up and take notice. Those who value and honor God’s endorsements reap the benefits of His perfect supernatural counsel. This message is just another proof that God is.

Although God highly endorses wine, He also condemns the drinking of it once it reaches the state of fermentation that causes intoxication. It must be noted here that the juice of the grape is known as wine, whether it is fermented or not. Proverbs 3:10 quoted earlier declares it:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

And then Isaiah 65:8:

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.

In Proverbs 23:29-32:

29 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.

In the Scriptures, it is defined as wine before it has fermented and also after it has fermented. Also, in regard to the unpolluted miracle wine Jesus made at the marriage supper, rest assured that it was not the wine which would have made the wedding guests drunk. Jesus speaks of the unpolluted wine, which will be served to the righteous in eternity, when He said in Matthew 26:29:

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Click on to "Alcohol and Christians" on this website for more complete details.

Many who are caught up in alcohol consumption felt morally vindicated when scientific journals began ballyhooing the benefits of drinking fermented wine, which was associated with the highly touted Mediterranean diet. They praised the fruit of the vine’s many benefits, and they are many. As we get on a little further in this article, I’ll outline what they left out. The following excerpt is from a 2003 article in Alternative Medicine:

Score one more for wine. It’s been racking up major points for reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer. Now, it turns out, it may keep your brain from developing dementia — including, perhaps, Alzheimer’s disease.

A recent study at the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen tracked the drinking habits of more than 1,700 people aged 65 and older over a 15-year period. Those who had at least one glass of wine a week were one-third as likely to develop dementia compared to those who never or hardly ever drank. More than half the people with dementia had Alzheimer’s disease. [End of quote]

Harvard researchers are touting the benefits of a discovered compound called resveratrol which is plentiful in red wine. It not only helps prevent heart disease but it mimics the benefits of caloric restriction, which is the only established regimen for lengthening life.

WebMD recently reported new research that resveratrol found in the skins of red fruits such as grapes may slow down the inflammatory process involved in the lung disease called COPD, which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Researchers are hoping resveratrol can be used to treat this irreversible lung disease. New research into the juice of God’s grapes will continue to confirm God’s endorsements in the minds of men.

Now for what they forgot to mention about consuming the juice of the grape. This following excerpt is from the publication Better Nutrition:

Solid research indicates phytonutrients in the wine, not the alcohol, are the awesome antioxidant workers. Red wine and its non-alcoholic equal, purple grape juice, are brimming with the antioxidants resveratrol, grapeseed anthocyanidins, quercitin, ellagic acid, phenolic flavonoids, and epicatechin. Purple grape juice is, perhaps, the most powerful antioxidant on earth, having demonstrated the highest ORAC rating of more than 40 fruits, vegetables, and juices tested in the lab! [End of quote]

ORAC, by the way, stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. This measurement calculates the ability of a certain entity to destroy free radicals that cause cell damage, aging, disease, etc. And it is now known, that ellagic acid, which is also a component of grape juice, reduces cancerous growths. Ellagic acid is also found in the seeds of berries.

More on the information many forgot to mention is the following excerpt in an article written by J. Miles under the title, "I Got It Through the Grapevine:"

Good news for teetotalers. Researchers have found that grapes may prevent heart disease similar to the way wine does.

Scientists at Columbus Children’s Hospital, in Ohio, served up reconstituted grapes (the equivalent of about a cup and a quarter of fresh ones) to healthy adults who had just eaten a high- fat meal. "We’re talking about a meal that could have come straight from the drive- through," says John Bauer, the researcher who led the study. The grapes completely prevented the harmful effects such meals have been shown, in other studies, to have on vascular cells. [End of quote]

This following "Q" and "A" exchange took place in "Letters To The Editor" in Energy Times:

I see repeated articles regarding the benefits of red wine/grapeseed extract, including the March 1999 Energy Times. Would not unfermented grape juice have the same health benefits? After all, some people choose to avoid alcohol.

E.L., Texas

Editor’s reply: In the April 1999 Energy Times we ran a report of a study by the University of Wisconsin Medical School demonstrating that red or purple grape juice contains the same tannins and flavonoids as wine that diminish cholesterol and may fight blood clotting. [End of quote]

It’s not the alcohol in the wine that delivers the marvelous benefits.

Now the latest research is in and it’s not good news for consumers of alcoholic beverages. The following excerpts are from a report citing the latest research concerning alcohol consumption. "Cancel Happy Hour: Alcohol Shrinks Brain" was the title of the report. It reads:

Dec. 5, 2003—Forget that cabernet at dinner; at happy hour—just say no. For middle-aged people, drinking alcohol in moderate amounts actually causes the brain to slightly deteriorate, a new study shows.

What’s more, you get no protection from stroke—which runs contrary to previous studies that show moderate alcohol intake is associated with some protection against it.

A new study, published in this month’s issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association also delves into this issue of drinking alcohol and brain shrinkage. Previous studies have linked heavy drinking with brain deterioration as well as stroke.

But this is the first to show that even moderate drinking (seven to 14 drinks a week)—causes the same sort of brain atrophy and it occurs as early as in middle age, so writes researcher Jingzhong Ding, PhD, an epidemiologist with the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Ding’s study looks at 1,900 middle-aged men and women living in communities in North Carolina and Mississippi. Each had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan to measure brain volume—based on the amount of fluid surrounding the brain, not on an actual measure of brain tissue. Greater amounts of fluid surrounding the brain indicate a decrease in the brain mass.

Researchers found that former drinkers and moderate drinkers had higher odds of stroke than those who reported drinking occasionally, even when other lifestyle factors such as smoking, body mass index, and diabetes were taken into account, reports Ding. [End of quote]

The only ray of hope in this report, according to Doctor Ding, is that quitting may partially reverse the effects.

Thousands of years before science began to understand why, God, in His Holy Word, promotes the drinking of unfermented wine and condemns the drinking of its fermented counterpart. Believers, of course, are not surprised that He who created earth’s bountiful products would know which ones would enhance life. Remember, when God puts His imprimatur on an item, wise men stand up and take notice.

GOD SAID, concerning wine, Joel 2:24:

And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

GOD SAID, Genesis 27:28:

Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

GOD SAID, Proverbs 3:10:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

MAN SAID: I reject the concept of God and the infallibility of the so-called Holy Scriptures. There is no God and the Bible is just archaic literature written by man and of no real value in this modern world.

Now you have THE RECORD.



References:

King James Bible

Davis, J.L., "Cancel Happy Hour: Alcohol Shrinks Brain," WebMD.com, 12/5/03

"Eat, Drink, and Be Eternal," Alternative Medicine, Nov./Dec. ’03, p17

"Grape Juice = A Fountain of Youth," Better Nutrition, 2/’00, p68

Miles, J., "I Got It Through The Grapevine," Alternative Medicine, July/Aug. ’03, p18

Warner, J., "Red Wine Ingredients May Fight COPD," WebMD.com, 12/5/03

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