The Prophet and His Day: Isaiah 1-39 - Free Bible Commentary

3. Believers in some cultures must limit their freedoms for the sake of the gospel (Matt.15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23; I Corinthians 8-10; Romans 14).B. Tendency to go beyond given bounds1. God is the source of all good things.2. Fallen mankind has abused all of God’s gifts by taking them beyond God-given bounds.C. Abuse is in us, not in things. There is nothing evil in the physical creation (cf. Mark 7:18-23;Rom. 14:14,20; I Cor. 10:25-26; I Tim. 4:4; Titus 1:15).IV. First Century Jewish Culture and FermentationA. Fermentation begins very soon, approximately 6 hours after the grape is crushed.B. Jewish tradition says that when a slight foam appeared on the surface (sign of fermentation),it is liable to the wine-tithe (Ma aseroth 1:7). It was called “new wine” or “sweet wine.”C. The primary violent fermentation was complete after one week.D. The secondary fermentation took about 40 days. At this state it is considered “aged wine”and could be offered on the altar (Edhuyyoth 6:1).E. Wine that had rested on its lees (old wine) was considered good, but had to be strained wellbefore use.F. Wine was considered to be properly aged usually after one year of fermentation. Three yearswas the longest period of time that wine could be safely stored. It was called “old wine” andhad to be diluted with water.G. Only in the last 100 years with a sterile environment and chemical additives has fermentationbeen postponed. The ancient world could not stop the natural process of fermentation.V. Closing StatementsA. Be sure your experience, theology, and biblical interpretation do not depreciate Jesus andfirst century Jewish/Christian culture! They were obviously not total-abstainers.B. I am not advocating the social use of alcohol. However, many have overstated the Bible’sposition on this subject and now claim superior righteousness based on a cultural ordenominational bias.C. For me, Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8-10 have provided insight and guidelines based onlove and respect for fellow believers and the spread of the gospel in our cultures, not personalfreedom or judgmental criticism. If the Bible is the only source for faith and practice, thenmaybe we must all rethink this issue.D. If we push total abstinence as God’s will, what do we imply about Jesus, as well as thosemodern cultures that regularly use wine (e.g., Europe, Israel, Argentina)?1:23NASB, NKJV,LXX, PeshittaNRSV, TEV,REBNJB“rewards”“gifts”“presents”This term (BDB 1024) occurs only here in the OT. BDB says it means “rewards” or “bribe”(parallel to bribe [BDB 1005] in the previous line). The basic root may be related to (1) shalom (BDB1024), “peace,” “health,” “wholeness,” or (2) “recompense” (BDB 1024, cf. 59:18; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p.143). In Jerusalem the only peace was for wicked, wealthy, powerful groups in society.34