The Wine of the Covenant: Not Just Any Wine

What is the role of wine in Scripture? It is mentioned 237 times in 44 books, so it must be important. The first time wine is mentioned is in Genesis 9:21 where we are told that Noah planted a vineyard, drank of the wine, became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. We are not told the circumstances of the drunkenness—was it a deliberate attempt to get sloshed by overindulging or merely an underestimation of the potency of the wine produced by a cleansed earth? All we know for sure is the wine was pretty potent stuff. 

 Fast forward to the story of Melchizedek in Genesis 14. Melchizedek was the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High (14:18), and as God’s representative, he brought out bread and wine to Abraham, along with a blessing from God Himself. Melchizedek was the priestly prototype of the Messianic priesthood. His gifts signaled shalom and foreshadowed the coming of God’s kingdom to earth. 

Fast forward again to Moses, the lawgiver. Through Moses, God covenanted with the entire nation as he laid out the laws for proper worship. These laws included specific rites and rituals that were to be carried out in detail. Unblemished animals, and the first fruits of grain, wine and oil, and the first fleece of the sheep were the signs and symbols of the Old Covenant (Deuteronomy 18:4). Notice that the Israelites were not allowed to bring just any grain or any wine. The grain had to be the first fruits and the very best, and the wine had to be a product “of the winepress” and their “best wine” (Numbers 18:12, 27-30). Not only did the wine of the covenant have to be a product of the winepress, but it had to be “strong drink” (Numbers 28:7). According to Jewish tradition at that time, well-aged or strong drink meant a minimum of 1-2 years of fermentation. The wine of the covenant was strong stuff. 

When the Israelite territory became too large for people to travel to Jerusalem carrying all these animals, grain, wine, and oil, God told them they could take money instead: “bind up the money in your hand and go to the place the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire — oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. and you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household” (Deuteronomy 14:25-26). The fact that this potent wine was considered a good gift from God to his people is also attested to in Psalm 104:14-15. “You cause the grass to grow for livestock and plants for men to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart.” Solomon said, “Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress” (Proverbs 31:6). And “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce, then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Conversely, a consequence of disobedience brought God’s curse: “And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting” (Isaiah 16:10). And Isaiah 24:6-7 says, “Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. The wine mourns and the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. There is an outcry in the street for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.” 

Fast forward several centuries to examine the actual practices of Israel and Judah. The number one reason that both Israel and Judah were brought into captivity was their failure to keep the covenant. God called them “whores.” What were their crimes? They showed their disdain for God in the way they worshipped. God says in Amos 5:21-23, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look on them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of the your harps I will not listen.” Isaiah 1:13-15, 21-23a gives a similar list of offenses: Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations — I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; the have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood… …How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves.” 

One of the things we notice in this passage from Isaiah is that God considers watered down wine to be worthless, an unconscionable insult, and an evasion of his holy requirements. Their “best wine” belonged to God. He is not fooled by their chicanery, especially since they use their best wine for getting drunk (Isaiah 5:11, Amos 4:1) and for drink offerings to other gods (Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-25). This is important because it was not only a problem for the Israelites, but continues to be a problem in the church today. We need to start asking, “Why is the potency of this drink so important to God?” Why would he care if it was watered down? 

Isaiah is the one who begins to answer this question for us. In Isaiah chapter 5, we encounter a love song written like a folk ballad in which God calls Israel his vineyard (5:7). He describes how he tenderly cared for it, placing it on a fertile hill, clearing it of stones, planting it with choice vines, building a watchtower, and hewing out a wine vat. But it yielded “wild grapes” which in the Hebrew literally means “stinking things.” In other words, no wine. Under the New Covenant, the church is the vineyard, and Jesus is the vine. The church is called to abide in the vine. Someone may object and say that the vineyard and the wine are merely metaphors and we should not take them so literally. However, Jesus took it very literally because of what it represented — the blood of the covenant, his own precious blood. 

On the very first day of Jesus’ ministry on earth, he turned approximately 150 gallons of water into well-aged wine and gave it to people who had already been drinking for a few days. This was not some random miracle that Jesus did to make his mama happy. This miracle was appointed by the Father. This was Jesus announcement that The Kingdom of God had come to earth and the well-aged wine was the proof of that. Everybody knew that the “best wine” belonged to God! Yet here was God giving his best wine to a young couple to bless their marriage. Wine was the symbol of wealth and prosperity and all the good things associated with the Kingdom of God. 

On the very last day of his earthly ministry, Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant.” There are some today who try to make a case that it is unclear what was in Jesus cup. It is only unclear if you don’t know the Mosaic law. We know Jesus had well-aged wine in his cup because He obeyed the law of God as given to Moses in regard to the feasts. Unlike the unfaithful Israelites and Jews whose wine was worthless because it was watered down, Jesus’ wine was potent stuff and fulfilled the whole law of God. 

Certain groups, predominantly American Evangelicals, also want to make a case that the “fruit of the vine” can be anything that is made from a grape. But Jesus specifically said “this fruit of the vine” (Matt. 26:27-29). The context in which Jesus spoke of “this fruit of the vine” is the context of this drink being his blood of the covenant. This is not just any fruit of the vine, it is the covenant drink offering. Matthew records it for us with great clarity: “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (26:27-29). First of all, the word this is a demonstrative pronoun used by Matthew which means this—what you see here in this cup. Secondly, we know what wine Jesus will drink with us in his Father’s Kingdom because Isaiah tells us: “On this mountain the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well-refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all the nations. He will swallow up death forever and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away from the earth, for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:6-8). This is the “fruit of the vine,” — the “well-aged wine,” “aged wine well-refined,” that Jesus foretold he would drink again with us in his Father’s Kingdom! (Matt. 26:29). The well-aged wine of the Mosaic covenant and the well-aged wine of the New Earth are united in the cup of Jesus. 

Finally, by saying “fruit of the vine” instead of simply “wine,” Jesus alludes to the fruit that made his sacrifice necessary: the fruit in the Garden of Eden. One bite of the wrong fruit put the entire human race on a trajectory towards hell. Taking the wrong fruit has damnable consequences. So when Jesus says to drink, “this fruit of the vine,” we had better take it seriously. We had better drink exactly what he told us to drink. 

Another thing that people get confused about is what Jesus said in instituting the Supper. He did NOT say, “Drink you all of it.” He said, “Drink this - all of you.” He did not give people a choice. He did not ask what people preferred. The Apostolic churches did not water down their wine, nor did Paul suggest such a thing even when folks were getting drunk! (I Cor. 11). In fact, Paul strongly disapproves of the whole idea of abstinence in his letter to the Colossians, saying that this kind of asceticism has the appearance of wisdom but it does nothing to curb the lusts of the flesh. The only cure for sin is the power of the Spirit of God dwelling in us, and to live like abstinence is the answer is to live like a pagan, according to Paul. 

Why is all of this so important? Because wine is the sign of God’s Kingdom. It is the sign and seal of the covenant. The first and last thing Jesus did in his earthly ministry was gift wine to his people. Well-aged wine. One wonders if this is some kind of test. It seems to be a test of obedience, and the church has failed this test over and over again throughout history. Only a couple hundred years after the establishment of the New Covenant, Justin Martyr reports that some churches were already watering down the wine. Again. There is so much blessing in the sacrament taken in faith by the believer, that Satan will move heaven and earth to keep us from taking it. In John 6:22-59, Jesus says 10 times over that those who feed on him and drink his blood receive eternal life. Do we believe believe that? Satan does! 

Fast forward one more time to the Temperance Movement. Thomas Welch was the man who came along and said something along the lines of, “Did God really say that the wine of the covenant must be fermented? Did God really say that wine is God’s good gift to mankind? Well, I tell you that wine is demon drink, and it does not need to be well-aged.” Can you hear the hiss of the snake? Thomas Welch invented a way to abort the natural process and prevent the wine from fermenting. Thomas Welch produced an impotent counterfeit. He did not produce unfermented “wine;” his invention desecrated the holy sacrament by stripping it of every God-mandated requirement. He removed the potency, the bitter taste that was meant to remind us of the bitterness of our bondage to sin, and he spoke lies in place of truth. When we examine Thomas Welch and his ideas through the filter of Scripture, what do we see? Isaiah 5:20 says “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Thomas Welch is guilty on all counts! Yet within American Evangelicalism, Thomas Welch is regarded as some kind of Christian folk hero. The United Methodist Church in particular, but also many Baptist churches, the PCUSA, and some churches in the Christian Reformed denomination follow the example of Thomas Welch over the example of Jesus Christ. Biblical illiteracy plays a significant role in the propagation of this practice and the practice of dispensing with weekly communion. When was the last time you were invited to a study on Leviticus? When major portions of Scripture are ignored, the church is easily derailed. 

It is because the elements of the sacrament have always been so abused and desecrated that the Belgic Confession solemnly warns us: “Therefore, we reject all mixtures and damnable inventions which men have added unto and blended with the Sacraments, as profanations of them, and affirm that we ought to rest satisfied with the ordinance which Christ and his Apostles have taught us, and that we must speak of them in the same manner as they have spoken” (Article XXXV). It further differentiates between the true and false church: “The true church can be recognized if it has the following marks: The church engages in the pure preaching of the gospel; it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them; it practices church discipline for correcting faults. …As for the false church, it assigns more authority to itself and its ordinances than to the Word of God; it does not want to subject itself to the yoke of Christ; it does not administer the sacraments as Christ commanded in his Word, it rather adds to them or subtracts from them as it pleases; it bases itself on humans, more than on Jesus Christ; it persecutes those who live holy lives according to the Word of God and who rebuke it for its faults, greed, and idolatry” (Article XXIX). 

The wine of the covenant was not just any wine and it was never unfermented. Not in the Old Testament, not in the New Testament, and not in the age to come. Cain, Nadab, and Abihu suffered the wrath of God when they failed to bring him exactly what he asked for. Has God relaxed his standards of worship for American Evangelicals? Doubtful. Every week we pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Do our tables reflect that?