Ancient Biblical Grape Juice And Wine Drinkers, Raisin Eaters And Teetotalers (part 1) Scriptures by Patrick Malcolm
Copyright (c) 2006 Patrick Malcolm
The purpose of writing this article is an attempt to clarify opinions, about whether it is a sin or social offense to drink wine or strong drinks as explained in the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible. Personal opinions are multitudinous on the subject and will not be exercised in the discussion subject except to let the reader judge for himself and form an opinion based on an honest selection of statements from the Bible.
It is well known that birds are attracted toward the alcoholic fermentation of berries on vines and trees. Mankind also has been drawn to the alcoholic process of fermentation of fruits and berries transformed into an aromatic liquid, that when drunk will raise man's spirits. These drinks are often called 'Spirits', because they appear to relax the mind from worldly cares and can lift his spirits to ecstatic levels of enjoyment and detachment. The spirits, when drunk to excess, can cause the drinker to be transformed into drunken behavior.
In the year 154 B.C., the Roman historian, Pliny, wrote that the Roman steam baths in the city of Pompeii were so hot and were supplied from the boiling waters of the volcano, Vesuvius. The bathers would sometimes faint into unconsciousness and after recovering would rush out of the steam room "often still naked, to grab a large vessel of wine and drink down its contents, only to vomit it up again so more could be drunk" (XIV 136)
The defense of many protestant religious and ministers of forbidding wine drinking to Christians is the claim that Jesus drank grape juice, not the fermented wine. It is clear from reading the Scriptures in this article that claim is untrue. Many references are given to show that the Bible translators had an understanding that grape juice, grape wine, and raisins are were all separate products of grape and were translated by different words.
All Scriptural references to wine are not negative, nor prohibitive of drinking wine or strong drink. The Old Testament of the Hebrew Bible basically is anti-wine drinking, but some Old Testament Scriptures approve of drinking wine.
"When you arrive, use the money to buy an ox, a sheep, or some strong drink to feast there before the Lord your God, and rejoice with your household." Deuteronomy 14:26
"Well, one thing at least is good: it is for a man to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, accept his position in life, and enjoy his work, whatever his job may be, for however long the Lord may let him live" Ecclesiastes 5:8
"So go ahead, eat, drink, and be merry, for it makes no difference to God!" Ecclesiastes 9:7
Wine was given as a reward by God to tithers (financial supporters) of the Hebrew Temple fund, as stated in Proverbs 3:9 "Overflow your wine vats with the finest wines."
Most Scriptures of the Major Prophet, Isaiah, are negative toward drinking wine except for two Scriptures. This is a bit of evidence for the theory, that there were three Isaiah Prophets whose works were combined into one book.
"Sing and dance and play and feast and drink. Let us drink, eat, and be merry you say: What is the difference, for tomorrow we die" Isaiah 22:13
This particular Scripture from Isaiah may be a prophecy concerning Heavenly feasting and wine drinking in Paradise and the promise of eternal life.
The Lord..."will spread a wondrous feast for everyone around the world...a delicious feast of good food, with clear, well-aged wine, and choice beef...he will swallow up death forever." Isaiah 25:7
Jesus told a parable (story with hidden meanings), that because the Jews would not be willing to give up their embedded religious bias, that in metaphor form, prophecized that the kingdom of Heaven would be taken from the Jews and given to others (Gentiles)
In this parable Jesus told the story of a grape vineyard farmer, who "dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice", and "At grape picking time, he sent" various men including his only son", all of whom were murdered by the vineyard tenants. Jesus suggested that the tenants (Hebrews) who murdered the only son (God's only son, Jesus), the Jews would be cursed and the grape juice vineyard (God's kingdom) would be given by God to others (Gentiles). Mark 12:1
Perhaps, the strongest suggestion in the Hebrew Scriptures, that wine drinking was permissible was given by Jesus, a Jew himself. The first miracle performed by Jesus was turning water into wine.
Jesus, when pressed by his mother, Mary, with a shortage of wine at the wedding feast, changed six barrels of water – each containing 20 to 30 gallons each into the finest wine. John 2:6
There can be no doubt that Jesus drank wine as revealed in the following Scriptures describing the event known as the Last Supper in the upper room, that today is recreated into the sacrament of Communion at Christian churches.
"After supper he gave them another glass of wine, saying, this wine is taken of God's new agreement to save you." Luke 22:20
"And he (Jesus) took a cup of wine and gave thanks for it and gave it to them and said, Each one (of you) drink from it, for this is my blood, sealing the new covenant. It is poured out to forgive the sins of multitudes. Mark my words – I will not drink this wine again until the day I drink it new and with you (disciples) in my Fathers Kingdom." Matthew 26:27
Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees because the disciples of John the Baptist fasted, "Why are you wining and dining?" Jesus answered (Luke 5:37) "No one puts new wine in old wine skins (to store) for the new wine bursts the old wine skins, ruining the wine skins and spilling the wine. New wine must be put into new wine skins. But no one drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. The old ways are best, they say." Luke 5:33
Jesus said, "But I eat my food and drink my wine, and you say, What a glutton Jesus is! And he drinks! And he has the lowest sort of friends." Luke 7:14
Jesus said, "For John the Baptist doesn't even drink wine and often goes without food; and you will say , He's crazy. 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." Matthew 11:18
The book of Timothy suggested that wine may be drunk to relieve digestion problems.
"(By the way this doesn't mean you should completely give up wine. You ought to take a little sometimes, as medicine for your stomach because you are sick so often)" 1 Timothy 5:23
Jesus, in one of his famous, I AM, statements in the Gospel of John told his disciples, "Yes, I AM the Vine (grapevine) you are the branches. Whosoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can't do a thing" John 15:5
Continued in Part 2 The translation of the Scriptures in this article comes from The Living Bible
Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: www.tytyga.com
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culture. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Ancient Bible References to Date Palm Trees, Phoenix dactylifera
Ancient Bible References to Date Palm Trees, Phoenix dactylifera by Patrick Malcolm
Copyright 2006 Patrick Malcolm
Palm trees in ancient desert sands grew and satisfied almost every need the ancient Jews needed. The Jews ate the palm tree dates; the tree juices were fermented into wine; the trunk of the palm tree was used as construction timber; and the palm leaves were woven into baskets, mats, brooms, beds, ropes and made into furniture.
Promises were made in the Hebrew Bible by God for a new home for the nation of Israel , and the moving finger on the wall pointed to the palm tree as the perfect supplier of food, shelter and medicine. This was the promised land of “milk and honey, (palm dates.)” the land of Canaan located on the banks of the Jordan River.
Ezekiel 47-12: “All kinds of fruit trees will grow along the river banks, the leaves will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit. There will be a new crop every month- without fail! For they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for medicine.”
Date palm trees grow tall point toward the infinite heavens where there is a promise of Life Eternal. The symbolism of the straight trunk of the palm tree is clear; that humans should journey down the straight path that leads Christians toward righteousness. The straight soft trunk was capped with a canopy of 20 foot leaves of green that unfolded like a botanical star burst. The delicious honey-sweet dates fed the ancient Jewish nomads and the eventual settlers of Israel. The palm leaves shaded the hot, bright desert sands and the fibers provided a plethora of uses in the primitive lands.
The ancient date palm tree, it has been suggested, is the oldest fruit bearing tree on earth. Palm trees grow worldwide from sandy deserts to tropical rain forests. The palm trees has been grown in grove plantings, since the ancients understood the food value of the dates and the exotic appearance and shading on the landscape of the desert sands. Palm trees were often planted near an oasis as a source of water, shade and food.
Historically the tropical appearance of palm trees was noted in ancient documents, and on stone inscriptions uncovered by archaeological excavations and from multiple references in the Bible Scriptures. Ancient civilizations revered palm trees as symbols of fertility, peace, and victory. Palm tree images were struck and minted on ageless coins of the Greeks and Romans. The trees were an economic resource for the exporting of high quality, edible dates into areas outside the Middle East and Africa.
In the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible, Joshua 6-20, the brother of Moses, Joshua, stood at the miraculous crumbled walls at the city of Jericho, “the City of Palms”, that was situated in the land of the Canaanites, located along the Mediterranean Coast. All these coastal lands of Phoenecia were the land of the palms where the Philistines lived, the legendary enemies of Israel, which is today named, Beirut, Lebanon, and Phoenicia was abundantly covered with palm trees. So the land of the palm trees was also the land, where in addition the to the productive crops of dates, grape vineyards grew there, and groves of fig trees, olive trees and pomegranate trees thrived. The Greeks were reported to have carved their magnificent fluted columns of marble to memorialize the shape of the trunk of a palm tree.
Deuteronomy 34.3: “There is the Negeb (desert) and the Jordan Valley; and Jericho, the city of palm trees; and Zoar, the Lord told him.”
Exodus 15.27 “And they come to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there beside the spring.”
Tamar was the Hebrew name given to palm trees in Genesis and was often used to describe a beautiful woman. Gen 38.6 “Judah arranged for him to marry a girl named Tamar.” (Palm Tree.)
2 Samuel 13.1 “King Davids son, Absalom, had a beautiful sister named Tamar.”
2 Samuel 14.27 “He, (Absalom), had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who was a very beautiful girl.”
Palm trees produced long stout leaves that were used to build temporary tents and shelters at Jewish festivals. Leviticus 23.40, “ Take boughs of fruit trees laden with fruit, and palm fronds, and the boughs of leafy trees------such as willows that grow by the brooks....and (build shelters with them.).”
Ezekiel 41.18 “the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces and of palm trees alternating with cherubim.”
Ezekiel 41.20 “ One face,....that of a man....looked toward the palm tree on one side, and the other face...that of a young lion....looked toward the palm tree on the other side: and so it was, all around the inner wall of the Temple.”
Ezekiel 41 25-26 “The doors leading into the nave were decorated with cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls...There were recessed windows and carved palm trees on both sides of the entry hall, the hallways beside the Temple, and on the canopy at the entrance.”
1 Kings 6.29 “Figures of angels, palm trees, and open flowers were carved on all the walls of both rooms of the Temple and the floor of both rooms was overlaid with gold.”
The New Testament Scriptures note the spreading of Christianity throughout the lands bordering Israel. These lands were known for their palm trees.
Acts 11.19 “believers who fled from Jerusalem during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, land of palms.”
Acts 15.3 “the delegates went on to Jerusalem, stopping along the way in the cities of Phoenicia, the land of the palms.”
John 12. 12-13 “ The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city, and a huge crown of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him shouting, 'The Savior! God Bless the King of Israel! Hail to God's Ambassador!'”
Revelation 7.9 “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from all nations and provinces and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands.”
The San Fransisco Chronicle reported, Sunday 12, 2005, that Archaeologist , Ehud Netzer, discovered seed from the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, from the spectacular palace built by King Herod on top of Mount Masada in Israel. The Romans destroyed the palace after the Jews committed mass suicide on Mount Masada, rather than surrender to the Roman soldiers. Archaeologist Ehud Netzer, found the date palm seed in a cache at the excavation site that presumably had been tossed into a corner after the Mount Masada Jews were cornered.
A few seed were treated by Eaine Solowey with the growth hormone Gibberellic acid- widely researched and tested at Yale University in the 1960's, and within five weeks a 2000 year old seed sprouted to form a small tree named the “Methuselah Palm.” Years before this experiment was done, some Egyptian Pharaoh seed of grain were sprouted but did not survive. Seeds of excavated lotus water lilies, dating back 1200 years ago, have been sprouted from their ancient dormancy to grow into lotus lilies.
Date palms grew up to 80ft tall in a river valley 7 miles wide, where ancient Israel had generated a giant economy. The fruit of the date palm was known for its high quality and was exported throughout the Roman empire.
The seed were planted on Jan 25, 2005, by a botanist, Eaine Solowey, who was educated at UCLA....Other seed were sent off for radioactive carbon dating to the University of Zürich, Switzerland, and determined to be approximately 2000 years old.
This remarkable discovery of Date Palm Seeds, Phoenix dactylifera, that have been confirmed by scientific experts to date approximately 2000 years old led to an unbelievable miracle that resurrected a dormant 2000 year old seed into a living tree...the Date Palm...that symbolized the tree that nurtured the Jews in the promised land of “milk and honey”, the land of Canaan, that became ancient Israel. Now those ancient seeds of the Date Palm have been resurrected to sprout and grow as Israel did, a land that also lay dormant for 2000 years. Israel has also been Resurrected.
Is this mysterious phenomenon and miracle of restoration a metaphor to all people of the world, that Jesus' promise to raise Christians from the dead to be resurrected to eternal life, a revelation that might be understood in this modern day parable of reality?
Psalms 92 12-14 “But the Godly shall flourish like palm trees, and grow as tall as the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord's own garden and are under his personal care. Even in old age they will still produce fruit and be vital and green.
The translation of the Scriptures in this article comes from The Living Bible.
Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: http://www.tytyga.com
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
Copyright 2006 Patrick Malcolm
Palm trees in ancient desert sands grew and satisfied almost every need the ancient Jews needed. The Jews ate the palm tree dates; the tree juices were fermented into wine; the trunk of the palm tree was used as construction timber; and the palm leaves were woven into baskets, mats, brooms, beds, ropes and made into furniture.
Promises were made in the Hebrew Bible by God for a new home for the nation of Israel , and the moving finger on the wall pointed to the palm tree as the perfect supplier of food, shelter and medicine. This was the promised land of “milk and honey, (palm dates.)” the land of Canaan located on the banks of the Jordan River.
Ezekiel 47-12: “All kinds of fruit trees will grow along the river banks, the leaves will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit. There will be a new crop every month- without fail! For they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for medicine.”
Date palm trees grow tall point toward the infinite heavens where there is a promise of Life Eternal. The symbolism of the straight trunk of the palm tree is clear; that humans should journey down the straight path that leads Christians toward righteousness. The straight soft trunk was capped with a canopy of 20 foot leaves of green that unfolded like a botanical star burst. The delicious honey-sweet dates fed the ancient Jewish nomads and the eventual settlers of Israel. The palm leaves shaded the hot, bright desert sands and the fibers provided a plethora of uses in the primitive lands.
The ancient date palm tree, it has been suggested, is the oldest fruit bearing tree on earth. Palm trees grow worldwide from sandy deserts to tropical rain forests. The palm trees has been grown in grove plantings, since the ancients understood the food value of the dates and the exotic appearance and shading on the landscape of the desert sands. Palm trees were often planted near an oasis as a source of water, shade and food.
Historically the tropical appearance of palm trees was noted in ancient documents, and on stone inscriptions uncovered by archaeological excavations and from multiple references in the Bible Scriptures. Ancient civilizations revered palm trees as symbols of fertility, peace, and victory. Palm tree images were struck and minted on ageless coins of the Greeks and Romans. The trees were an economic resource for the exporting of high quality, edible dates into areas outside the Middle East and Africa.
In the Scriptures of the Hebrew Bible, Joshua 6-20, the brother of Moses, Joshua, stood at the miraculous crumbled walls at the city of Jericho, “the City of Palms”, that was situated in the land of the Canaanites, located along the Mediterranean Coast. All these coastal lands of Phoenecia were the land of the palms where the Philistines lived, the legendary enemies of Israel, which is today named, Beirut, Lebanon, and Phoenicia was abundantly covered with palm trees. So the land of the palm trees was also the land, where in addition the to the productive crops of dates, grape vineyards grew there, and groves of fig trees, olive trees and pomegranate trees thrived. The Greeks were reported to have carved their magnificent fluted columns of marble to memorialize the shape of the trunk of a palm tree.
Deuteronomy 34.3: “There is the Negeb (desert) and the Jordan Valley; and Jericho, the city of palm trees; and Zoar, the Lord told him.”
Exodus 15.27 “And they come to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there beside the spring.”
Tamar was the Hebrew name given to palm trees in Genesis and was often used to describe a beautiful woman. Gen 38.6 “Judah arranged for him to marry a girl named Tamar.” (Palm Tree.)
2 Samuel 13.1 “King Davids son, Absalom, had a beautiful sister named Tamar.”
2 Samuel 14.27 “He, (Absalom), had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who was a very beautiful girl.”
Palm trees produced long stout leaves that were used to build temporary tents and shelters at Jewish festivals. Leviticus 23.40, “ Take boughs of fruit trees laden with fruit, and palm fronds, and the boughs of leafy trees------such as willows that grow by the brooks....and (build shelters with them.).”
Ezekiel 41.18 “the walls were decorated with carvings of cherubim, each with two faces and of palm trees alternating with cherubim.”
Ezekiel 41.20 “ One face,....that of a man....looked toward the palm tree on one side, and the other face...that of a young lion....looked toward the palm tree on the other side: and so it was, all around the inner wall of the Temple.”
Ezekiel 41 25-26 “The doors leading into the nave were decorated with cherubim and palm trees, just as on the walls...There were recessed windows and carved palm trees on both sides of the entry hall, the hallways beside the Temple, and on the canopy at the entrance.”
1 Kings 6.29 “Figures of angels, palm trees, and open flowers were carved on all the walls of both rooms of the Temple and the floor of both rooms was overlaid with gold.”
The New Testament Scriptures note the spreading of Christianity throughout the lands bordering Israel. These lands were known for their palm trees.
Acts 11.19 “believers who fled from Jerusalem during the persecution after Stephen's death traveled as far as Phoenicia, land of palms.”
Acts 15.3 “the delegates went on to Jerusalem, stopping along the way in the cities of Phoenicia, the land of the palms.”
John 12. 12-13 “ The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city, and a huge crown of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him shouting, 'The Savior! God Bless the King of Israel! Hail to God's Ambassador!'”
Revelation 7.9 “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from all nations and provinces and languages, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands.”
The San Fransisco Chronicle reported, Sunday 12, 2005, that Archaeologist , Ehud Netzer, discovered seed from the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, from the spectacular palace built by King Herod on top of Mount Masada in Israel. The Romans destroyed the palace after the Jews committed mass suicide on Mount Masada, rather than surrender to the Roman soldiers. Archaeologist Ehud Netzer, found the date palm seed in a cache at the excavation site that presumably had been tossed into a corner after the Mount Masada Jews were cornered.
A few seed were treated by Eaine Solowey with the growth hormone Gibberellic acid- widely researched and tested at Yale University in the 1960's, and within five weeks a 2000 year old seed sprouted to form a small tree named the “Methuselah Palm.” Years before this experiment was done, some Egyptian Pharaoh seed of grain were sprouted but did not survive. Seeds of excavated lotus water lilies, dating back 1200 years ago, have been sprouted from their ancient dormancy to grow into lotus lilies.
Date palms grew up to 80ft tall in a river valley 7 miles wide, where ancient Israel had generated a giant economy. The fruit of the date palm was known for its high quality and was exported throughout the Roman empire.
The seed were planted on Jan 25, 2005, by a botanist, Eaine Solowey, who was educated at UCLA....Other seed were sent off for radioactive carbon dating to the University of Zürich, Switzerland, and determined to be approximately 2000 years old.
This remarkable discovery of Date Palm Seeds, Phoenix dactylifera, that have been confirmed by scientific experts to date approximately 2000 years old led to an unbelievable miracle that resurrected a dormant 2000 year old seed into a living tree...the Date Palm...that symbolized the tree that nurtured the Jews in the promised land of “milk and honey”, the land of Canaan, that became ancient Israel. Now those ancient seeds of the Date Palm have been resurrected to sprout and grow as Israel did, a land that also lay dormant for 2000 years. Israel has also been Resurrected.
Is this mysterious phenomenon and miracle of restoration a metaphor to all people of the world, that Jesus' promise to raise Christians from the dead to be resurrected to eternal life, a revelation that might be understood in this modern day parable of reality?
Psalms 92 12-14 “But the Godly shall flourish like palm trees, and grow as tall as the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted into the Lord's own garden and are under his personal care. Even in old age they will still produce fruit and be vital and green.
The translation of the Scriptures in this article comes from The Living Bible.
Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: http://www.tytyga.com
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
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