God's Word from the Scriptures on Prohibition on the issue of Alcohol
What are verses in the Bible that refer to drinking of wine and the prohibition
Prohibition and the Bible
While there does not appear to be complete prohibition of alcohol in the Bible, the use of wine and very negative consequences of drunkenness is
mentioned several times in the Bible.
Gen. 9:21
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
Here and Gen. 9:24
are the first mentions of yayin in the Bible. No explicit moral is drawn from this use of wine, though it implicitly suggests that drunkenness leads to trouble.
Gen. 19:32
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
The next several mentions of wine appear in the context of Lot's daughters making him intentionally drunk for their own purposes. Once again a lesson is drawn implicitly which speaks against wine consumption to the point of drunkeness;
there is no comment on consumption prior to that point.
Several references in Numbers and Deuteronomy hereafter refer to wine (and once, shekar -- Num. 28:7) again as an offering. Deut. 7:13 refers to tiyrowsh and would therefore be cited improperly as advocating alcoholic indulgence.
Deut. 14:26
And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household...
This verse mentions both yayin and shekar, and clearly permits its use -- whatever it is -- within a celebratory religious context. But one cannot get from these permission to go so far as to get drunk.
A ”man of distinction” and the tragic consequences of his drunkenness.
"Genesis 9 [20] And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: [21] And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. [22] And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. [23] And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. [24] And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. [25] And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. [26] And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. [27] God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."
