Contemplative Bible Reading

Jeremiah 13:12 (New Living Translation)

12 “So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’

The prophet Jeremiah is passing along words from God to the people. God is displeased with how the people are living. They disobey daily. As a punishment, God will give them jars filled with wine.

In the next sentence, the people are happy. Jars full of wine is a sign of good crops, plenty, and good times. No. Jars filled with wine means lots of wine in stomachs and lots of clouded thinking.

Loving, caring, Godly people disagree about the alcohol content of the “wine” mentioned in the Bible and used 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. Was that “wine” what we have today? I doubt it. Was the alcohol content similar? I don’t know. What’s the harm in a glass of wine a day? What’s the harm in a beer with dinner? Let the disagreements begin.

I know the words in this passage indicate that jars filled with wine brings drunkenness. What alcohol blood level content equals “drunk.” I don’t know. Alcohol is a depressant. It slows the mental and physical reactions. It can bring fog to the thoughts and lead to poor decisions.

At some times, in some places, on some ocassions, alcohol was used as a punishment from God.