Wine Makes Merry

One argument used for the drinking of alcohol is that "wine makes merry". It seems to be supported by proverbs and David and Solomon. Wisdom from the Holy Spirit. I was noticing however that some of the verses referred to the harvest. It was a time of expectation where we plant and then wait for the fruit of the planting. The word wine can mean the grape or the juice.

When harvest finally comes it causes a lot of work, but also a lot of joy. Plus it gives peace when you have food for another season.

Psa 4:7  Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

Psa 4:8  I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Corn and wine are both said to make merry in the bible. It isn't about drunkenness, it is about being filled and happy and joyful. Having the peace of knowing you have food on the table.

In bible days grapes and the juice were a part of their diet, and the juice was a great change from the water they drank. Fresh juice has sweetness and purity. Both corn and wine offer natural carb and sugar supplements to supply energy.

Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

Corn and wine were for sustenance, not drunkenness as most use it today. As a matter of fact, much of the energy given in corn and wine is lost when the sugar turns to alcohol. It is no longer useful for our sustenance.

Just a quick internet search reveals wine and whiskey have little supplemental food value.

"Quick Answer

In one serving of 1.5 fluid ounces of 80 proof whiskey, there are 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of protein and 0 grams of sugar. Similarly, whiskey does not contain fats, sodium, or any vitamins or minerals.

When corn is used for food a portion supplies energy for hours of work, when used for alcohol the benefits are lost. The same is true of wine, once fermented there is little support for daily life left.

A 5-ounce serving of common table wine contains 4 grams of carbohydrates, 1.2 of which come from sugars. Dry wines typically have fewer carbohydrates, as larger amounts of residual sugars are fermented out."

Some modern wines have no carbs at all, and provide little energy support.

This is why we should down play the alcohol production using corn and wine, they were for sustenance, not drunkenness.

Mankind has to purposely make alcohol, such as cooking the corn first to extract the sugars into the mash before adding yeast. Corn can stay in the bin for months or years, and can be cooked and eaten without fermentation if eaten after cooking.

Grapes, if not mashed, can last months depending upon the time picked and if frozen. If picked in cool weather such as late September/October perhaps a month, 2 weeks if picked in mid-august.

Grapes picked in late august can be crushed in mid to late September, a time of year when cooler weather slows fermentation. As avg temps get below 70 degrees it slows fermentation to a crawl. As temps get to 60 degrees fermentation stops completely.

Avg temp is important because the wine temp is much steadier than air temp, the wine temp stays close to the avg daily air temp.

That means that grapes crushed for juice after mid-September made little alcohol, grapes crushed the first of October made no alcohol, so that the juice retained its carb and sugar content through the winter. It was useful for sustenance the next 6 months or so.

Grapes fermented at temps above 75 degrees simply taste bad. It really isn't useful for a pleasant beverage. Thus, a small window to make an alcoholic wine.

There does not seem to be winepress operation in Israel from grapes picked in June thru August, the command was to have grapes ready for the winepress at the feast of tabernacles. Grapes picked in June were for food primarily. The temperature was too hot for making a good beverage.

Since feast of tabernacles is from late September to late October, temperatures will average below 70 degrees. High temps may be 80 but avg temps that regulate wine temp will fall below 70 degrees. Especially years where the feast falls in October.

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing flooro and your winepress.p 14 Be joyfulq at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joyr will be complete.

This means the harvest is past before the feast of tabernacles but they could not drink until the festival and the offerings made. That would mean the grapes were fresh and the produce gathered. I haven't found any evidence of early winepress usage in earlier months.

The question is the average temps by month. Grapes do not ferment when below 70 degrees, the yeast is dormant, and taste bad when fermentation is above 75 degrees.

http://blog.eckraus.com/making-wine-in-cold-weather

July is the hottest month in Jerusalem with an average temperature of 23°C (73°F) and the coldest is January at 8°C (46°F) with the most daily sunshine hours at 13 in July. The wettest month is January with an average of 90mm of rain.

The average temp for late September and October are below 70 degrees so it is not optimal for fermentation. High temperatures may give a little time for fermentation but the average temperature of the juice would be below 70 degrees.

Grapes crushed after the feast of tabernacles would not ferment until late may.

The average temp for September is 72 degrees, but late September is below that. The average temp for October is 66 degrees. Only Mid-May to Mid-September were really optimal, for fermentation, but Grapes seldom matured in sugar content until august.

It seems God made wine making in Israel to fall after the temperature was below fermentation temp. Plus, it seems they could eat grapes before the feast of tabernacles, but need to wait until the feast to begin making wine.

In other cultures people control the temperature so they can make wine year around. Yet, Israel did not do that. The wine Jesus drank was likely not fermented. It would not ferment from late September to May, and that fermented from June to Early September wouldn't taste good. It would only be for Alcohol purposes.

The point is, those following the Law of Moses didn't make wine at times it would ferment. Of course, many broke the law but that is a different issue, the precedence for drunkenness in Israel may not be Biblical, but came from other cultures.

In Kansas it is similar, the avg temp for September is at or below 70 degrees.

Late September crushing would produce little alcohol. As in Concordia, the avg temp would be 68 degrees.

If following the law of Moses and crushing the grapes after feast of tabernacles, there would be no alcohol.

This would also effect the teaching Jesus had on wineskins. Jesus doesn't mention fermentation from new wine, that is only assumed. The old wine bottled in October and kept thru may-August would ferment, and if yo wanted to preserve the new wine you couldn't if you mixed the new and old.