The rejoicing tithe...

... more great wisdom and insight from Drinking with Calvin and Luther.

An irrefutable argument for alcoholic beverages in the Old Testament is revealed by the Hebrew word shekar, which is used some 22 times and literally means "inebriating drink."...

...The shekar was so pleasing to the Lord that he commanded it as a drink offering to himself saying, "And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to poured unto the Lord for a drink offering" (Numbers 28:7)....

...Deuteronomy 14:26 ...is the classical drinking text for both Calvinists and Lutherans. We may reverently call it the "Moses Stout Text." It reads:

And you shall now bestow that money for whatsoever your soul lusts after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

What Romans 8 and 9 is to Arminianism (pulverizing the idol of free will), so is Deuteronomy 14 to prohibitionism. As we see in the Moses Stout Text, the "rejoicing tithe" may be spent for "wine, or strong drink [shekar], or for whatsoever your soul desires...." The people of God are not only permitted to drink shekar, but are to drink it "before the presence of the Lord," and "in the fear of the Lord" (14:23). Also, the Hebrew verb here for "lust" ('avah in Hebrew and epithumeo in Greek) is the same verb found in the Decalogue, where God commands us not to covet (Deuteronomy 5:21). Only here an amazing thing is said: God states that it is lawful to "lust" after wine, or strong drink, so long as these things are not the cellared property of your neighbor. Thus, the Moses Stout Text commends strong alcoholic beverages in five ways: (1) we may drink wine and Moses Stout; (2) we may even lust after Moses Stout; (3) we must always drink wine and Moses Stout in the fear and presence of the Lord; (4) we must rejoice when we drink wine and Moses Stout; (5) our households may drink wine and Moses Stout with us.

The one translation of the Moses Stout Text that bestows a probable nonalcoholic sense is the New King James Version, with its "similar drink" rendering. The translation is so bold that it is bald; that is, the whiner bias of the translator is plainly exposed. Elsewhere, the NKJV renders shekar "intoxicating drink" (Isaiah 5:11), but here in Deuteronomy 14, where the meaning is not negative but overwhelmingly positive, the word is given special treatmenet so that intoxicating drink is not readily associated with good things. The Moses Stout Text, then, is diluted and becomes a symbol not only of translation dishonesty, but of the watered-down message of much of evangelical Christendom.

Drinking with Calvin and Luther, Chapter 7- Scripture & Spirits; pp. 143-145

My favorite line: "The Moses Stout Text, then, is diluted and becomes a symbol not only of translation dishonesty, but of the watered-down message of much of evangelical Christendom."

Intriguing that the command is for wine or strong drink and that in many churches in the observance of the Lord's supper, we have replaced God's wise command for a strong beverage with our culture's wisdom/preference for weak Welch's (wine is not even an option). It is also interesting the He commanded this observance daily and in many protestant churches, you're looked at suspiciously if you want to partake in the Lord's supper more often than once a quarter. Then there's the whole commendation to lust for the strong drink and rejoice when we drink it.

Hardcore. Very interesting. Comment away.