IS THE EI|RREGI MEMI|RIAT EMBTEM

OT THE MESSIAH'S BTllllD

WIneor

Grape Juice?a publication of Assemblies of Yahweh

"Wine or Grape Juice?'

Copyright @ 1976, 1987, Assemblies of Yahweh, Bethel, PA 19507, (ISA, Alt Rights Reseroed

A publication of Assemblies of Yahweh"*Assemblies of Yahweh

The Narrow Waa NewsletterThe Sacred Name Broadcasterare Seroiee Marks and Tlademarks ofAssemblies of Yahweh, Bethel, PA 19507

-- --'-.r--=-or-=

=--=

Ecrape =l== =E Juice?=Ir----t---Ya?_t<

rF- 4 -''l- ?=

&BgM@Bg,er\4\EgEq4\ "g

TL,

-MBE,gM

Wfrrt symbol should be used inthe Memorial Supper to representthe Master's shed blood? This is animportant question and many stu-dents of the sacred Scriptures ex-press a diversity of strong opinionsregarding whether wine or grapejuice is indicated as the properemblem.

There are many people who havestrong opinions about the evils ofwine and strong drink. Numerousbooks have been written concerningthe abuses associat€d with drinkingalcoholic beverages. They offeiexamples of harm and degradationbrought on by the excessive use ofalcohol.

However, as sincere Bible stu-dents, we cannot allow a personalstandard of morality to sway ourjudgment. Our decision must restexclusively with BIBLE TEACHINGand the SYMBOTS USED INSCRIPTURE. We must humblysubmit to what the sacred Scripturesteach and faithfully obey what it

tells us to do.

At this point we should mentionthat the Bible does not prohibit theuse of alcoholic beverages. It does

8PA,4\grygg)

by hcob O. Meyer

not urge anyone to imbibe, but ittolerates a minimal or moderateamount of drinking alcoholic bever_ages. The sacred Scriptures strongly

eondemns dnrnkenness. However, thegeneral use of alcoholic beverages isnot the question here. Our subjectwill concentrate upon the beverage

to use for the memorial emblem.

Preservatioll-The Initial Tests

Those who hold the position thatwine should be the proper emblemfor the Passover Memorial serviceusually contend that grape juicecannot be kept from the harvest ofthe grapes in late summer until thefollowing spring for use at thePassover Memorial. Therefore, aquestionnaire was sent to variouswine and grape juice manufacturerswho were asked the following ques-

tions:1. If grape juice from whole

grapes is sealed airtight, would itever ferment and turn to wine orvinegar through the naturalenzymes or yeast within itself?Approximately how much timewould elapse before fermentationwould commence?

2. If it is possible to avertfermentation through airtightsealing today, in your opinionwould it have been possible tohave done so in Palestine 2,000yearc ago?

3. It has been suggest€d thatthe grape juice could have beenpreserved in Palestine 2,000 years

ago for a period of seven or eightmonths by placing the freshlysqueezed juice in wineskins andsealing them with beqswax. Inyour opinion, would this havebeen possible? If not, why?

From the answels received, opin-ions were equally divided over thepreservation of grape juice from thefall harvest season until the springPassover season. Half responded itcould, the other half declared itcould not. It was of special interestthat one producer stated that thegrapes produced 2,000 yeals ago inPalestine wene of a very sweet

The sacredScriptures rnus,make the final

decision.

variety, over 35 Brix, and Bo wouldkeep easily. This letter came froma Jewish source.

Another observation commentedthat pollution was not the problemanciently that it is today. At thattime the airborne dust and yeastspores were considerably less,resulting in minimal contaminationwhen using even their primitivemethods of preseruation. This replycame from a Jewish companylocated in Palestine producing bothwine and unfermented grape juice.

We were also confronted by thefact that the ancient Egyptians did,indeed, preserye a great deal of food,even in that torrid climate. Manytimes tombs of the Pharaohs havebeen opened to rcveal preservedfood gtill palatable after thousandsof years of storage! Not all ancientpeople were ignorant of technicalexpertise. Remember, Israel cameOUT of Egypt" and ro could havelearned and transmitted this know-ledge. Futhermore, as Dr. C!ryueGordon once commented, intelli-gent men were always intelligent,but they made use of that intelli-gence in different ways than we dotoday.

No General AgreementIt became apparent that no defin-

itive decision could be made eolclyon the evidence submitted by themodern manufacturers of wine andgrape juice, for they themselvesoffered differing opinions. Biasseemed to reflect from remarks in afew of the lettens.

The sacred Scriptures must makethe final decision on this questionfor us. If grape juice could indeedbe kept from the grape harvest untilthe following spring (which somerespondents plainly eonfirmed),then it is obvious that we muststudy the Scriptures with an openmind before we draw any conclu-sions, proving all things from theinspired Word alone. We must turnto the sacred Scriptures and allow itto direct our conclusion, not forcingour own inclinations or interpreta-tions upon what it says.

Blood Seals the Covenant

Throughout the Bible it has beenthe sprinkling of sacrificial bloodthat has covered the sins of mankindand offered them a way r,o bereconciled to Yahweh, the Father inHeaven. It is sin that separatesbetween Almighty Yahweh and Hishuman creation (Isaiah 59:21. Sincarries the penalty of death.Romans 5:L2, "Therefore, oE

through one man ein entered intothe uorld and death through siryond ao death pused to all men, forthat all sinned" The sacrificialsystem depicted a substitute sinoffering to bear the death penaltyfor the one who offered the sacrifice.

In the Old Testament the originalcovenant with Israel directed thateach individual participant offer aprescribed animal sacrifice to atonefor his sins. Futhermore, an annualspecial offering of a goat was madefor the entire nation, for any sinsthat had been unintentionallyomitted.

Under the New Covenant thesacrifice of Yahshua the Messiahupon the tree at Calvary took the

place of all the animal sacrificesthat were offered under Israel'sceremonial law. As a consequenee,it becomes vitally important that wedo not commit sin after we haveaccepted the blood of the Messiah,since thereupon we will be rejectingthe sacrifice that Yahweh made onceand for all to extend grace to theobedient believer.

Blood was shed to cover the sinsof Adam and Eve. AlmightyYahweh made coats of skins to covertheir nakedness (C'enesis 3:21); there-fore, animals had to die-a bloodsacrifice was made. Noah alsosacrificed animals as a thanksgivingto Almighty Yahweh when heemerged from the ark. Noah madea personal commitment to the covenant with the Most High (Genesis

8:2A22 and 9:1-17), and sealed thatcovenant with blood. Abraham alsoentered into a covenant withYahweh and was directed to sacri-fice animals and birds to bind thatagreement (Genesis 15).

When Israel ratified the covenantwith Yahweh, they were required tosacrifice burnt offerings and peace

offerings of oxen. To bind thecovenant, Moses sprinkled half ofthat blood on the altar and the otherhalf on the people (Exodus 24:4-8).

The Scriptures plainly show thateither man must die for his own sins(and thereafter die eternally) or he

must take refuge under the blood ofa substitute victim who has died forhim. The shed blood accompanyingthe ratification of the Old Testamentcovenant granted the humans whoentered it an atonement for sin.Under the OId Covenant, animalblood served to atone for sins.

Under the New Covenant, theMessiah-Yahweh's Son-died for thesins of the world. Psalm 53 andZechariah 12:10.

Here then is the background forthe Passover sacrifice and the observance of the Messiah's NewTestament Memorial Supper. TheOld Testament Passover lamb ful-filled the need for the animalsacrifice of blood shed to atone forman's sins. This statement is amply

Blood u)as shedto couer the sins

of Adam and Eue.

proven from Jeremiah 7:22-24. TheMessiah's blood was shed once andfor all and so we need onlyremember His sacrifice once eachyear, at the time of the Passover.Yahshua the Messiah instituted thesymbol of His shed blood for thispurpose, and this doctrine wasboldly taught by His Apostles. Thisis similar t0 the common Jewishceremony called Yahrzeit (meaningthe remembrance that a year of timehas ela@ since an individual'sdeath).

The cup shared by Tr:ue Wor-shipers at the Memorial Supper wasintended to represent the symhl toremind us of Yahshua's shed blood,and our personal commitment to thecovenant sealed by this symbol. Itmtut therefore be tilled with asymbol of blood at the Biblc hasdesignated iL As we drink thebeverage we are reminded of thegreat sacrifice that Yahshua theMessiah made for us and how such amagnificent sacrifice necessitateeperfection in the lives of those whoconstitute a part of the Body of theMessiah, so that we do not cast anadverse reflection on that perfectsacrifrce.

The Memorial Supperfuid their Grammatical

Associative Field

The Hebrew word fuwm is foundas #1818 in the Strong's HebrewLexicon. The definition given is:"blood hs thot uthich when shedcau,ses death) of tnan or ananimah ba anal the juice of thegrape; fig. (espec. in the plur.)bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood):-blood(-y, guiltiness, [-thirstyl, "innocent."

The Greek word for blood ishaima, Strong's #129, and is definedas: "of u,ncert. der.; blood lit. bfrnen or animals), fig. (the juice ofgrapee) or spec. (the atoning blood of[MessiahD; by impl. bloodshed, alsokindred:-blood."

Most lexicons clearly show thatthe juice of grapes is symbolic ofblood. The Holladay HebrewLexicon defines fuwm &s, metoph,blood of grap€s, Crenesis 49:11." Thechiastic parallelism here confirmsthat the blood of grapes comes fromthe vine. Those lexicons whichindicate wine is representative ofblood cannot stand the test ofscriptural scmtiny. Wine is NOT asymbol of shed blood. THE JUICEOF THE GRAPE CONSISTENTLYAPPEARS AS THAT SYMBOL.

The word dawm is closely relatedwith the Hebrew word for man,adam. Both these words trace tothe verb awdam, #119, which isdefined in Strong's Concordance as:"to shout blood ftn the face), 'Le.

flush or tunt, rosy:-be @yed,made) red (ru,ddy)." This definitionshows again, by the biblical lan-guages, that the beverage in theMemorial cup must reEemDre blood.

One of the difficulties in pin-pointing the exact nature of thebeverage is that the Old TestamentPassoaer Llemorial did not includea symbol of blood in the Pueooerritual deeeribed in Dxodns 12 utdehewhere. At the time of theExodus and throughout the Scriptures, the Passover lamb, unleavenedbread, and bitter herbs were theONLY SYMBOIS CONSUMED IN

THE PASSOVER MEMORIAL.There is no instmction given todrink any specific beverage with thePassover meal.

Some sources contend that thecup of wine in the Jewish Passoverwas instituted as late as theCommon Era. Some assumed thatthe Messiah utilized a Jewish tradi-tion when He instituted the symbolsof the New Covenant MemorialSupper, the same night in which Hewas betrayed. However, the con-verse could have been the actualcase.

Examining AIt Words forWine and Grape Juice

Smith's Bible Dictionary tells usthat the word "wine" in the KingJames Version is the translation of10 Hebrew and two Greek words.(Also see Appendix 27 in theCompanion Bible.) They are as

follows:

Chamar-Ttrick sticky (mixed)syrup (Young's); the pure blood ofthe grape, red wine (Smith's).

Chemer-(Hemer)-thick stickysyrup (Young's); pure and red .wine(Smith's); the rabbins regardedchemer and tirosh as equivalentterms (McClintock & Strong's).

'Asis-Anything pressed oD,

mead (Young's); grape juice(Smith's); derived from a wordsignifying "to tread," and thereforereferc to the method by which thejuice was expressed from the fmit.It would very properly refer t0 newwine as being recently trodden out,but not nece$sarily to unfermentedwine Onger's). Holladay joins theBrown, Driver and Briggs Lexiconalong with the Gesinius HebrewLexicon and others, to translatefreshly prersed out juice or must.

Tirosh-Must, the freshly pressedjuice of the grape (Unger's); vintagefruit, new wine (Smith's); what ispossessed, mead, new wine(Young's). The possible intoxicating

What Hebreu)word uas used

in the tent?

character of this drink is confined toa single passage where it is theclimax of engrossing influences inimmediate connection with yayinOnger's); unfermented juice or must(Jewish Encyclopedia). [In Hosea4:11, w€ find the only place wheretirosh could possibly be constmedas a fermented beverage. Note it isused there along with Uayia but ofitself does not mean that tiroshblunts the feelings. (See wine,Unger's Bible Dictionary.)l Also,tirosh is the contribution given forthe support of the priests and as thefirst fruits it without doubt meantthe fresh juice, since there could beno delay in offering the firstfruits.See tirosh (Deuteronomy 18:&4, 2

Chronicles 31:4-5, Nehemiah 10:37,

39; 13:5, 12, etc.).

Tirosh, should be more properlytranslated grape juice, and osfs,because it is an onomatopoeic word,would certainly denote freshlypressed or trampled out juice.Chamar also denotes a sweet syrupmade from grapes and unfermented.It seems, however, that, with theexception of yayin and shelcar,nearly all the words translated winemust be what we would call grape

juice or reconstituted grape juice(from syrup) and are not intoxi-cating or contain little or no alcoholbrought about by fermentation.

When we read of wine in the OldTestament, therefore, it is vital thatwe bear in rnind the word that iswritten in the Hebrew texts. If theintention is to produce wine, theneven the initial step, the extractionof the juice, could commonly becalled wine. When we read in acommentary that it was wine thatwas used and traditionally added tothe Passover service afber the returnof the Jews from Babylonian exile,we must ask what Hebrew word wasemployed in the text. Certainly,tirosh, osfs, and euen chemer,chamar shemarim could have beeneither fermented or unfermented,but the first two more likely wereunfermented. These definitionsare followed by Marcus Jastrow inhis dictionary of the Targurls,Talmud and Midrashic literature.

Yayin-Efferuescing (Unger'sBible Dictionary); what is pressedout (Young's Analytical Concor-dance); that which yields wine(Smith's Bible Dietionary); in mostof the passages in the Bible whereyayin is used (83 out of 138), itcertainly means fermented grapejuice, and in the remainder it mayfairly be presumed to do so, but stillsome passages could relate to thejuice from which comes wine iffermented. The intoxicating char-acter of yayin is usually plain fromScripture Onger's).

Shemarim-What is preserved,sediment (Young's); wine-lees(Smith's); to keep, preserve, lay uF,occurc five times, always in theplural (McClintock & Strong's).The root is said to be Shamar-towatch or guard.

Sobe-Anything sucked in or up(Young's); boiled must, syrup(Smith's); potation, occurs only threetimes . . . but the verb and participleoften-the latter to denote dmnk, adrunkard, a toper. Occurs three

times and translated wine, drink,dmnken (Unger's).

Mesek-Mimsach-anything mix-ed (Young's)i mixed wine (Smith's);mixturc, wine mixed with water oraromatics...or mingled withstupefying or exciting dmgs so thatthe wine might produce more power-t'ul effects than was possible other-wise (Unger'r).

Shekar-What satiates, pleases(Young's); an inebriating drinkwether wine prepared or distilledfrom barley, honey, or dates (Un-ger's); strong drink occum 2I timesin the New Testament (Smith's);rendered strong wine in Numbers28:7.

Enab-Ripe, round grape, grapecake (Young's).

New Testament Wine

In the New Testament we findthe following Greek words:

Oinos-Comprehending every sortof wine Onger's); wine, grape juice(Young's); wine (Smith's).

Gleukos-Sweet or new wine(Young'e); new wine (Smith's); must,sweet or new wine Onger'E). Used

but once, Acts 2:13. McClintock &Strong's offers the suggestion thatin mockery scofferc asserted that thedisciples were drunk on gleukos,grape juice (much as though sayingthese men were drunk on water).Peter counters that his fellow brethren are not drunk, &s the mockerssuppose. New wine could mean thebest, that which flows before thetreading of the winepress begins.

The Greek word oinos can meaneither grape juice or strong wine,depending upon the context.Matthew 9:17 clearly implies grape

Suice when used with the word"new," as does Mark 2:22 and Luke5:37-38. Other verses show thatoinos can mean ferment€d wine asin Ephesians 5:18, 1 fimothy 3:8,

Grape juice isthe rnain product

of the uine.

among other places.

The Cup of theNew Testament

In reading over the description ofthe Passover emblems that theMessiah instituted, we note inMatthew 26:2&29 that He took theunleavened bread, and then in velte27 He took the cup, the contentssymbolizing blood, in velBe %. Inverce 29 the content of the cup isreferred to as "the fmit of the vine."In Mark 14:22-25 we read that Hetook the cup, symhlically calling itHis blood, and referred to the factthat He would no more drink of the"fmit of the vine" until He drinks itnew in the coming Kingdom.

In Luke 22:14-20, we read againthat the Messiah said that Hedesired greatly to eat the Passover

with His disciples before He suf-fered. In verse ll we note that Hetook the cup, and in verse 18 weread that it contained the "fmit ofthe vine." In verse 20 Yahshua said," . . , This eap is the new eooenantin mA blood eoen that which ispoured out for AotL" We read herethat the cup contained a symbl ofthe blood of Messiah. Had the New

Testament writens quoted the words,"oinog" or "glnukog " when theGreek text was produced, the mean-ing would immediately have beenclear to all. But, we must nowdetermine the meaning of the term.

Fruit of the Vine

Nowhere in the New Testamentdo we read that the cup containedwine, or any alcoholic beverageproduced by the decomposition ofgrape juice. Yahshua referred tothe contents a^s "fmit of the vine."The word "fmit" is translat€d fromthe Greek word gennerna /#1081,Strong's Exhaustive Concordance).Gennetna is also translated "genera-tion" in Luke 3:7, where John said," . . . You offepring [generation] ofoipers, who warned Aou to flcefrom the wrath to eome?" Gen-nerna means "offsprirg," or byanalogy, "produce," but has beentranslat€d "fruit" and "generation."

A more literally accurate trans-lation of gennerna would be pro-duce of the Yine. Grape juice is theprimary product (produce) of thevine. Wine, technically, can be

termed a by-product. It is a

secondary product produced byalteration of the principal productthrough a process of fermentation,as the sugar in the juice is convertedinto alcohol while it is decaying oIdecomposing.

Did not Yahshua say "fruit of thevine"? Is not Yahshua Himself thefirstfruit of the dead (1 Corinthians15:20), and the tme vine (John 15:1)?

Note the symbolism! The functionof symbolism is to convey to themind some hidden relationship between the oisiblc exanplc and theinoisible epiritual abstraction.Grape juice is clearly shown in theBible to represent blood, as we shallsee from the above and also in oursubsequent study.

In some Jewish prayerc one findsthe term peri haggapen (pronouncedperi haggaphen). Some knowledgeable people, when asked for theetymological interpretation of this

The cup issurnbolic of blood,the "fntit of the

ainer') whichcauses us torernernber

Yahshuo's death.

term, whether it means fermentedwine or grape juice, will usuallyreply, "It doesn't matter, &s long asthe beverage is red." For thisreason, undoubtedly, the Jewish kosher wine companies also frequentlysell UNFERMEI.ITED GRAPEJUICE, (since not everyone sitting atthe modern Jewish Passover tablecan hold 4 cups of an alcoholicbeverage). But, is the Bible sounspecific? Could we believe thatthe Bible creates confusion? Surelythe converse is tme because ICorinthians 14:3{} tells us Yahweh isnot the author of confusion.Obviously, the Word of Yahweh hasthe accurate answers and if wesearch diligently for them, we shallfind them.

Occasionally someone will try tointerpret the term "eup of blessing"mentioned by Paul (1 Corinthians10:16, below) as being the third cupof ut'ine which is designated to be

dmnk at the modern Jewish Pass-

over service. But, what about theother three cups? Why select thethird one? Why not the second cup,

which is called the cup of redemption? Furtherrnore, simply trying tolink up wine and the Jewish Passover does not prove what YahshuahaC i:: the cup to sSrnbclizethe memorial ernblem. ''fie:e t}:er:rcnl3. tv,'o culir,"rr cf iieverag* ai the la:t,supp*r? Lxl',re 22.L\ii Yahsl:u;r

the commandment of Elohim, andhold fast the TRADITION of men."(Mark 7:8) We cannot rely upon thedoctrines of men, but we must clingfirmly to the Word of Yahwehwhich contains the answers to allour questions.

Consequently, the preferable in-terpretation of the term fntit of theadne, as the New Testament uses it,should be juice of the grape. Thisfact will harmonirn with all the restof the Bible.

Cup of Blessing

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians10:16, "TLe cup of blcssing whichwe blcsq is it not a communion ofthe blood of the Dlessiah?" HerePaul indicates that as the cup ofblessing was shared, so the TlueWorshipers who have prepared

themselves for this spiritual eventshare in the blood covenantal rela-tionship of Messiah. Hereby we

annually reconfirm our covenantrelationship with the Savior andwith our fellow believers. We have

formed an inseparable union withHim. Furtherrnore, all Assembliesof Yahweh brethren are in fellow-ship through the Messiah's stred

blcod. T"he cui) is syrnbciic of blooC,

the "fruit sf i,he vine," which r'alisea

us tr r€:i:lemhr::' ihr': fu?essiah's deirt]:.

Fau.l un*,.i:ht*ilir iar1sfurys LrS i:i::::dersL*rrd ttti h:.;r 'lsr r1' thr: i.fiItr.ih: Cu..r qtf Eleasivi?. il ni' sii-'.3

importanoe. He names the eontentsof the cup by calling it a cup ofblessing. Did you know that thisterm comes directly from the OldTestament Scriptures? Here it is:

"fn this monner sws Yahueh, Asthe new wine lg fornd in thecluster, and one swq Destroy itnoL for a blcssing is in it Eo willI do for mA seroont's sakes, that ImaA not destroy them all" Isaiah65:8.

There can be little doubt thatIsaiah intends to say that the newwine (Hebrew-Tirosh; must or freshjuice) is found in the cluster ofnewly picked grapes, and that itrelates to sparing the first fmits ofthe believers, as the first fruits ofthe winepress were brought to thepriest for a blessing. Evidently Paulsees this application directly as-

sociated with the believers inYahshua's Body who annually recon-

firm their covenant in the MemorialService, hoping to be numberedamong the firstfruits spared inYahweh's judgment and blessed witheternal life. See Exodus 23:19 and34:26, where the first fruits, inclu-ding the first juice of the grapesharvest, Numbers 18:12-13, werebrought to Yahweh's temple for thepriests and Levites who laboredthere. Deuteronomy 18:4.

It is therefore imperative toconsider 1 Corinthians 10:16 as quiteimpossible to mean anything exceptthat the symbol in the cup contain-ing the Messiah Memorial emblemcould be anything except the juice ofthe grape.

Paul again makes reference to thecup in 1 Corinthians 10:21, where hereferc to the "cup" of the Master.He says we cannot be partakers ofboth the Master's table and the tableof devils. Paul is clearly makingreference to the Passover and thenew emblem which Yahshua insti-iu,"ed" Consequently, the cup of theMessiah as wel} as the cup of dei,illslicuid be iieir tifieci.

f.tl

Ais,i ir

charge in his letter. The Corinthianasslembly has done gteat evil, andthere are divisions among them.False doctrines and heresio-s havecaused sects t0 arise among them.Factions are a destnrctive, divisiveforce against the genuine Body ofthe Messiah, the True Worshipers.We must understand his meaning.

Worldly Corinthian Assembly

The Assembly memberc in Cor-inth fell short of nearly everythingthat would identify them as TrueWorshipers of Yahweh. They lackedthe spiritual maturity to do thingsproperly and in decent order.Derived from a pagan, heathenbackground, they became known forgorging themselves on food at theirbanquets wherein gluttony was com-monly practiced. Instead of merelysipping a drink, to quench thirst,they guzzled all they could!

Paul condemned them in velse 20

for their greedy attitude. When weapproach the Master's Supp^er it isnot meant as a festive occasion, butone of seriousness and sobriety,otherwise we shall be eating anddrinking judgment to ourselves. Hevery forthrightly stated that theplace to do their feasting was athome. In the Assembly, at the timewe partake of the Memorial of ourSavior's death, this observation isquite serious. We cannot be

gluttons nor imbibe. We mustapproach the Master's Supper with asomber attitude. We are remem-bering Messiah's death. Paul stres-ses that this is a solemn oeeasionand not one for hioolity and giddamerrAmaking.

Feasting Temporallyor Spiritually

Throughout these velses in 1

Corinthians 11, Paul does not specifuthe nature cf the heverage to b€

useC ?tl, the Hentcr'ial, a::c sc sott:1tl

reade:'s c; ii,,: tt l;t, ii:;p:iisivcl;'poi ,: L l,li ',ICi'if ? i ai rl :crrteriC l.hai

The Messiah'ssupper isn'trneant to be

a festiue time.

"drunken." This is not at all true,for several reasons.

Etymologically, the Greek wordcan mean "satiated," or drinking allone can hold. Paul is in this contextcondemning the pagan practices ofthe Corinthians, and the selfishnes,sthat leads to not considering hisbrothers and sisters in the faith. Tosay that this one verse proves a

fermented beverage is the correctcontents of the "eup" creates aforced interpretation.

It is merely supposition, therefore. Paul condemns merging orattaching a "fellowship meal" intothe Memorial Supper, since the Biblenowhere commands it. It is notnecessary, and it detracts from theserious nature of the Memorial.Paul emphasizes that if someonewanted to drink any alcoholic bever-age he should do so at HOLIE andNOT IN THE ASSEMBLY (1 Cor-inthians lL:22). The cup is describedas the "New Testament" or "NewCcvenant" in Yahshua's blooci (r:erse

drinking a festive beverage atYahshua's Memorial Supper. Wine isnot to be used at an assemblyfunction, is his meaning.

In the above, we have examinedthe three evangels as well as thewritings of Paul, and in each casewe find that the Word shows thatproduce of a grape vine was in theeup. It was produce of the vinefiuice) and not a by product (wine).As Paul condemns drinking alcoholat the Memorial Supper, we cer-tainly should not take his wordslightly. He obviously obtained hisdoctrine from the Old Testament, as

we shall shortly learn. We havenoted so far in this study that allthe references point to the contentsof the cup as being symbolic ofblood. We must recognize thatsymbols are used in the Bible torepresent something significant. Thequestion before us, then, is: Whatin the Bible represents blood?What grape beverage in the Biblesymbolizes blood? lVe shall dis-cover the true interpretation in thesacred Scriptures above.

Symbols of Bloodin Scriptue

One of the first places we see aclear symbol of the blood is inGenesis 49:11, where the blessingspronounced upon Judah include thatthe grape vines will be so plentifulthat foals will be tied to them, evento choice vines. The harvest ofgrapes will be so plenteous that allthe garments and clothing will be

stained with the produce that spurtsout its juices in abundanee, and thestained clothes will be dark in thecolor of blood. How clear! Takenote that this reference (as somepeople may contend) is. not neces-

sarily the blood of the wicked! But,the ccntent of blood of grapes isindee'i proven to be iuice ratherthan ferxrenied wir,e. iPlease refer{.c ortr Eralxmati*al Clscussion,-,fG*nesis 4,9:1 1 abtte.)

I: r ,1Jeti i oroioiilr 3!1. I ,1 ',;it fi;: Ie.ncti:rr r:<ar.ple ';,'hirs drillliLg tlie

crrita ir:eC

pure "blood of the grape" is used.Here the last clause should read,when correctly and literally trans-lated from the Hebrew, " . . . of theblood of the grape Aoa drankfermented (wine)." Tltis eoidentlymeanE that the blood of the grapecan be wed to produee fermentedwine, an oboious referenee to thejuiee.

In the tithes and offerings givento the priests, pure juice of thegrape was given, as we have seen inDeuteronomy 18:&4. There the wordwine is translated from the Hebrewtirosh-the freshly pressed juicefrom the winepress. (Incidentally,even the very term winepre$s does

not mean that fermented wine istrampled from the fresh grapes, butjuice.) Tirosh is also used in theofferings of firstfmits in the fol-lowing places: 2 Chronicles 31:4-5,

Nehemiah 10:37-39; 13:5, 12. Tiroshcorresponds closely to our grapejuice and is often called "new" wineby the translators. The word "new"also has reference to being the best,

or the first-fruits.The new wine (more properly

"juice," or must) was that whichcame from the press merely fromthe weight of the grapes before theactual treading out began. This, bynature is the sweetest juice. It isimportant that we underctand thatthe "new wine" or grape juice isthat which is freshly-squeezed out ofthe grape. This was the "first-fnrits," the special offering that wasgiven to the priests. "Must" isdefined as "the juice pressed fromgrapes or other fruit before it has

fermented; new wine." See Websters Dictionary of the AmericanLanguoge, Second College Edition.

The priests were expressly for-bidden to do the service of Yahwehafter drinking wine or alcoholicdrinks (Leviticus 10:11).

The injunction against using wineor strong drink contextually followsthe passage where Nadab and Abihuoffered strange fire before Yahweh-and died. The systematic Biblestudent will immediately be impres-

sed by the eontextual relationship.

Yahweh dernandsour respect.

If these two eldest sons of Aaronhad been imbibing before doing theservice to Yahweh, and had indis-creetly used strange fire to light theincense on the altar before Yahweh,then Yahweh's instant judgment wasindeed righteous.

To approach Yahweh, one mustbe filled with awe, fear, and respect.This requires a sound mind, such as

is granted upon the reception of theHoly Spirit, 2 Timothy l:'l . Alcoholic beverages dim these senses.

"Who has woe? Who hos sorrow?Who hos eontentions? Who haseomplnining? Who has woundswithout cause? Who has rednessof eyes? TheA that stay long atthe wine; they that go to seek outmixed uine. Look not upon thewine when it ds reL when itsparkles in the cup, when it goes

down smoothl,y: At the lost it biteslike a serpenL And stings like utadder. Your eAes shall beholdstrange thinga, And Aour heartshall utter peraerse things. Yes,

Aoa shall be at he that lies downin the middle of the rcq Or aE hethat lies upon the top of a maslThea haoe struck ilte, Aou shallEaU, and I wu not hurt; Thea haoebeaten rfi€, and I felt it not: Whenshall I awake? I will seek it Aetagain " hooerbs 23:29-i15.

Consequently, w€ must stronglypoint out that no one can approachAlmighty Yahweh in worship while

intoxicated, nor can we drink intox-icating beverages while we standbefore Him to reconfirm and remember His covenant. That wouldbe an affront to the Most High, asthough we offered Him a toast onthe anniversary of the death of HisSon.

Ttris freshly-squee?Ed juice ismentioned as blood in places such asJeremiah 25:3G33. "Therefore pro-phesy against them all theseuords, and saA to them, Yahwehtoill roar from on high, ond utterhis ooiee hom his holy habitation;he will gioe a shout, aE they thattread the 0rapes, againet all theinhabitants of the earth. A noiseshall eome eaen to the end of theearth; for Yahweh has a eontro-aersA with the nations; he willenter into iudgment with all flesh:as for the wicked he will gioethem to the stmrd, saAs Yahweh.

"fn this manner saAs Yahweh ofhosts, BeholL eoil shall go forthfrom nation to nation, and a greattempest shall be raised up fromthe utmost parts of the earth. Andthe killed of Yahueh shall be atthat daa from one end of theearth: theA shall not be lamented,neither gathered nor buried; theyshall be dmg upon the face of thegroutil"

Joel 3:13 is speaking of the sametime and reads that the (vintage)harvesi is ripe and to get down intothe winepreE&

Isaiah is very clear in speaking ofthis time in chapter 63. The one

who treads the grapes is none otherthan Yahshua! (Note Isaiah62:LL-12, "...BeholL Aoar salaa-tion eomeE..."-Yahshua! The

meaning of the name is, Yahweh is

Salvation.) He that comes fromEdom (red) wittr dyed garrnents fromBozrah (Hebrew- vintage) in gloriousapparel, mighty t0 save. Isaiah 63:2

asks why He has red apparel andgarrnents as one who treads thewinepress. Nctice the answer, "fhaoe trodden the winepreEtalone. . . and their LIFDBLOOD issprinkled upon my garments, and Ihave stained all mA raiment."

How perfectly plain and clear!Freshly pressed juiee is the biblicalsymbol for blood We find this factto be consistently supported through-out the tsible.

We know that this is the Mes-

siah, for Revelation 19:11-13 showsthat His vesture or garments aredipped or stained in blood, evidentlyreferring back to Isaiah 63. Verse15 says that, " . . . He treads thewinepress of the fiereene$ of thewrath of Yahweh, the Almighfu."

Blood From the lVinepress

Speaking of this same time, weread that the angel came out of theTemple (Revelation 14:1F20), cryingto Yahshua, ".,.Send forth Aoursickle, and reap; . . . for the haroestof the earth is ripe." Verse 18 tellsof another angel coming out fromthe altar saying, "...Send forthAoar sharp sicklc, and gather theelusters of the oine of the earth;for her grapeE are fullA ripe."Verse 19 reads, "And the angel easthis sickle into the earth andgathered the ointage of the earth,and cast it into the winepress, thegreat winepregs, of the wrath ofElohim." Verse 20 reads, "And thewinepreEs waE trodden outside theeifu, and TIIERE CAI{D OWBLOOD FROT{ THD VINEPRESS,eaen to the bridles of the horses,a,E far oE a thousand sir hundredfurlongE." Here again is theindication that blood is likened tothe juice flowing directly out of thewinepress; freshly pressed juice thatis unfermented.

lVine-As a Symbol

From the following velses inRevelation, the word translat€dwine reflects the giddy or euphoricfeeling from consuming alcoholicbeverage. In the case of the greatwhore, her disciples are drunk fromspiritual fornication with her. "Andthere came one of the Eeaen angelsthat had the Eeoen bowh andspoke with rne, saying, Come here,I will show Aoa the judgment ofthe great harlot that sits on manA

waters; with whom the kinga of theearth eommitted fornication, andthey that dwell in the earth taeremade drunken with the VINE ofher fornication," Revelation l7:L-2.See also Revelation 18:3 for asimilar passage. "For by the WINDof the wrath of her fornieation allthe nations have fallen; and thekings of the earth committed forni-cation with her, and the merchantsof the earth became rich by thepower of her wantonne$s."

Please also see Revelation 14:8,

Psalm 60:3.

In the following passage, thesense of wine is that Yahweh's cupholds iudgment that shall be pouredout upon this sinful world. "Healso shall drink of the wine of thewrath of Yahueh, which is pre-pared unmlred in the eup of hisutger; and he ehall b tormentedwith fire and brimetone in thepresenee of the holA wtgeh, ond inthe presence of the lrtnb," Revela-

tion 14:10. "And out of his mouthproceeds a sharp sword that withit he should strike the nations:and he shall rule them with a rodof iron: and he treads thewinepreEE of the fiereeneEE of thewrath of Yahweh, the AlnightA,"Revelation 19:15. "Flee out of themiddle of BabAlon" and Eaae eaerAmon his life; be not cut off in heriniqaita: for it ie the time ofYahweh's oengeutce; he will ren-der to her a recompenEe. Babylonhu been a golden cup in Yahweh's

hand that made all the earthdrunken: the nations haoe drunkof her wine; therefore the nationsare mad" Jeremiah 51:&7. Pleasealso read Revelation 16:19.

The effect of wine is also con-trasted with the influence of theHoly Spirit in Ephesians 5:18.

"And be not drwtken with wine, inwhich is riot, but be filled with theSpirit." The prohibition againstbeing drunken with wine is un-mistakable.

But, IN TIID TETTPLD AI,TD

TABERI{ACLE SENVICE WINEWAS NEVDR DRINK BYANIYOND. Recall Leviticus 10:8-11.

Wine therefore in the animal sacri-ficial system represented the HolySpirit, not blood. It was alwaysPOURED OUT OVER the sacrificialblood. Dr. A Fxlersheim comments:"Every meat-offering (meal-offering)was accompanied by a drink-offeringor wine, which was poured at thebase of the altar." The Temple, ItsMinistry and Service, page 110-111.

The atoning blood was the animalblood that was shed, Leviticus 17:11.

Now, the Messiah's blood has takenits place. Therefore, the sacrificialemblems under the ceremonial lawcorroborate our findings.

There is, in Revelation 17:6, averce that has been questioned as

not being in complete harmony with' the symbol of blood, best represented

by grape juice. It reads as follows:"And I Eaw the uoman drunkenwith the blood of the saints, and

Yahweh's cup is thecup of His

righteous iudgrnent

tDith the blood of the martyrs ofYahshua..." The question arises,can blood in this instance be

constmed as meaning an intoxicant?Jeremiah 46:10 contains almost

the same thought where "...thesword shall deoour and be satiatedand ehall drink its fiA of theirblood. . . ." We have the expression"dmnk with 1rcwer," wherein ismeant the insatiable desire to havemore. Alfred Barnes (in BarnesNotes) quotes Professor Stuart, "Thephrueology is derioed from thebarbarow etutom (still extantamony manA pagan natione) ofdrinking the blood of the enemiesslain in the wry of reoenge. Theeffect of drinking blood is said toexasperate, and to intoxieate withpassion ond a desire of reoenge."

The meaning of the reference isthat the persecuting power had shed

the blood of the saints; and that inits fury, it had, as it were, drunkthe blood of the slain, and become,

by drinking that blood, even moreintoxicated and infuriated. The

saints were killed first, and themartyrc who had refused to yield, inspite of peruecution and torture,were also killed, and the saints atthe end of the age will follow them,making the pagan woman Babyloneven more vicious. Note the actionsof the Nazis during the Holocaust,as an example.

Now let us turn to Isaiah 49:26

where we read, "And I will feedthem that oppress Aou with theirown flcsh and they shall be

drunken with their own bl,ood oE

with gweet tDine . . . " Here then isthe answer! The Hebrew word for"sweet wine" is uis, which we have

seen always means "juice" that isunfermented. Yet it is said tomake someone dmnken. CompareActs chapter 2. The Apostles were

said to be dmnk on gleukos (juice),

most likely they were mocked because they used pure juice for thePassover Memorial.

lVine Used in Offerings

When referring to the sacrificial

offerings to Yahweh, however, wefind another word being employedfor the beverage; namely, yayinYayin most frequently means fer-mented wine, as we have seen. Thiswe determine from such citations as

Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:13; Num-bers 15:5, 7, 10; ?3:14; 1 Samuel l:24;10:3; Hosea 9:4, where the Hebrewterm yayin is used. We know thatthis is intoxicating wine, for thatbecomes clear in the accounts ofNoah (C'enesis 9:2U24) and tot(Crenesis 19:32-35), and such places as

Proverbs 20:1. Yayin, the fermentedwine, was used as a drink offeringto Yahweh. Ttrese offerings werepoured out on the altar, according toExodus 29:N-42; Exodus 30:9; Leviti-cus 23:13, 18, 37-38; Numbers6:1&17; Numbers 15:*24; Numbers?8 and 29. This practice contrastsremarkably with pagan religiouscustoms as in Baal worship and theworship of Bacchus, worshiped indrunken orgy as Zeus the eternalboy.

Drink OfferingsNever Consumed

After settling in Palestine, drinkofferings were presented along withmost of the other sacrificial offerings(Numbers 15:2-5, 8-10). These werepoured out on the altar of burntofferings, never on the altar ofincense. Drink offerings were notconsumed by the priests, for theywere strongly forbidden to drinkstrong drink while officiating inworship getrices. "I)rink no winenor strong drink, Aou, or Aour tonttoith aob when Aou go into thetent of meeting, that Aoa die not:it shall be a etatute foreoerthroughout Aoar generatione: mdthat Aou maA make n distinetionbetueen the holU ond the commofi,and betueen the wtclcan and theelcan; and that Aou maA terch thechildren of lerrcl all the etatuteewhich Yahueh hu epoken to thembA Mote&" (Leviticus 10:$11)Notice the durabiliff of that com-mandment.

Could we then use wine as thesymbol of Messiah's blood and takeit into our bodies at that sacredtime each year when we draw nearto Yahweh? Wine was part of thesacrificial system of Yahweh. Thisoffering of meal and wine is notsymbolic of Yahshua's blood, butrather these constitute a thankoffering for material blessings. Wemust remember that wine waspoured out at the base of the altarover the blood of the animal sacri-fices, so the two could not have thesame meaning symbolically (Num-bers L5:4-12; 28:71.

The Apostle Paul wrote that hewas poured out like a drink offeringupon the sacrifice in public serviceto which faith had led them, and hewas glad to do this (Philippians2:17). He also wrote to Timothyshortly before his death that he wasready to be poured out like a drinkoffering (2 Timothy 4:6). He waswilling to sacrifice his whole being,expending his spirit, for the cause ofMessiah.

Melchizedek and His Feast

To prove that wine is acceptableat the Memorial Supper, occasionallyone hears from misguided people

who misinterpret the symbols of thefeast prepared by Melchizedek whenAbraham returned from the battleof the kinp (C,enesis 14:17-20).

These people feel that the emblemsof this feast typified the MemorialSupper of the New Testament era.They wish to show that Abrahamdid not participate in animal sacri-fices, and that the one who wasMelchizedek (and who later becameYahshua), gave a type of theMemorial Supper to Abraham ratherthan offering a sacrifice. But, cansuch reasoning sta nd the test ofscrutiny?

The Hebrew word for bread inGenesis 14:18 is lechem (Strong'sConcordance #3899). It is NOT theword matzah, plural matzoth(Strong's Concordance #4ffi2) thatmeans, unleavened bread. Had

10

Wine fs consurnedat festiae

celebrations.

Almighty Yahweh wished for us tounderstand that it was the type ofthe Memorial Supper, He WOULDLOGICALLY HAVE USED THETERM FOR UNLEAVENEDBREAD so that there would havebeen no mistake. The term lechemalso represents food of various kinds,and the meaning of the Aramaicberm lechem is "feast."

Now let us look at the seconditem that is noted-wine. TheHebrew word is yayin (Strong'sConcordance #3196) and it generallymeans fermented wine from whichintoxication results. This is thebeverage of rejoicing, consumed at ajoyous occasion. Such was thesituation of Genesis 14, when a greatvictory had been won. Consequent-ly, it now becomes very candid thatthis feast Melchizedek brought outto Abraham was for the purpose ofeelebrating a momentous oietoryover a superior-sized enemy arrny.It was a victory celebration, a festaloceasion.

There is nothing at all to causethe student to associate this joyousvictory celebration with the aolcmncommemoration of Yahweh'e Pu*ooer. When we remember thesacrifice of our Redeemer, Yahshuathe Messiah, upon the tree ofCalvary each y@r, it must be withthe same solemnity enjoined byLeviticus 10:&11. Wine is thebeverage that is dmnk during ajoyous celebration (such as a

wedding, John 2, or the Feast ofTabernacles, Deuteronomy L4:26),

but the beverage in the cup at theMessiah's Memorial Supper is meantto symbolizn a death, His lifebloodpoured out for our sins. It is a most

solemn occasion t0 remember ananniversary of someone's death (ayahrunit, a year gone by). this typebears the same symhlism as theoffering of Cain and Abel, Crenesis 4.

We see then that the incident ofC'enesis 14:17-20 in fact proves onceagain that we must take un-fermented grape juice as the symbolof the Messiah's shed blood and notfermented wine, so we can be' clearof mind to comprehend the tmemeaning concerning what the Mes-siah's death means for us.

Preserving Grape JuiceSeveral authorities attest to the

practicality of keeping grape juicefrom late summer until the springPassover season. McClintock &Strong's (vol. 10, page 1014) con-tends the "new wine" of Acts 2:13 tohave been applied, just as mustumwas by the Romans, as juice thathad been preserved for about a yearin an unfermented state.

Many reliable encyclopedias statethat it was possible t0 preseruegrape juice from the late summeruntil Passover. The Living BibleEncyclopedia in Story and Pic-tures, (vol. 16, page 2089) states:"trfeant for preseroing grape iuicewere well known: Cato. DD AGRICWTIIRA, CXX hu this reeipe:'If Aoa wieh to haoe mtut (grapejuice) all Aear, put grape juice inut anphora ond eeal the eork withpiteh sink it in a fishWnd After30 days take it oul It will begrape juice for a whoh yeat.'"

If the whitish dust and otherpollutants on the grapes are careful-ly removed by thorough washing, thepossibility of fermentation is sharply

reduced, for this coating on the fmitcontains the natural yeast sporesfrom the atmosphere that willhasten the decomposition of thejuice. It is later extracted andbecomes the modern commercialproduct-cream of tartar.

Note the allegory here! Wouldnot baptism-a cleansing-wash thepeople of Yahweh of leaven? Thenthey would be preserved from sinand Yahweh's judgment-a blessingindeed!

lVine Continues to FermentIt should be pointed out that

ferment€d wine is never stable. Itwill eventually break down evenfurther into a vinegar, so thatmaking grape juice into wine is noguarantee that it will be preservedforeoer as a wine. Science andexperience tells us that there is avery fine line between wine andvinegar. Eventually all wine willturn to vinegar. Note carefully thefollowing quotes: "The art of winemaking is, compared with the manufacture

of beer or spirits, both in principle and inpracticre a relatively simple operation.

The must, as the .*rr* juice of thegrape is termed, is now exposed to theproeess of fermentation, which consists

essentially in the conversion of the sugar ofthe must into alcohol and various subsidiaryproducts. The fermenting operations inwinemaking differ radically from those

obtaining in the case of beer or of spirits inthat (if we except certain special cases) no

yeast is added from without. Fermentationis induced spontaneously by the yeast ellswhich are always pr€Bent in large numbers inthe grape itself. Ttre result is that-ascompared with beer or spirits-the fermenta-tion at first is relatively slow, but it rapidlyincreases in intensity and continues untilpractically the whole of the sugar is

converted. In the case of the production ofcertain sweet wines (such as the sweet

Sauternes, Port and Tokay) the fermentationonly proceeds up to a certain extent. It theneither stope naturally, on'ing to the fact thatthe yeast cells will not work rapidly in a

liquid containing mone than a certainpercentage of alcuhol, or it is stopped

artlflelalltt either by the addition of spirit or

' 11

by other means whidr will be referred tobelow. As the charac'ter of a wine depends toa considerable extent on the naturc of theyeast (see Fermentation), many attempts have

been made of late years tc improve thecharacter of inferior wines b1' adding to theunfermented must a purc culture of yeastderived from a superior wine. If purc yeastis added in this manner in relatively largequantities, it will tend to predominate,

inasmuch as the number of yeast cells derivedfrom the grapes is at the commenement offermentation relatively small. In this way,by making pure culturcs derived from some

of the finest French and Crerman wines it has

been possible to lend something of theircharacter to the inferior growths ol forinstane, California and Australia.

As the wine matures the mct notieablefeature in the first instane is the reductionin the acidity, which is mainly due to adepmition of tartar, and the disappearane oftannin and colouring matter, due to finingand the action of o)rygen . . . For instane, a

wine which under favourable conditionswould seem full and sound may appear harshor rough, merely owing to the fact that itcontains a small quantity of suspended taftar,the latter causing temporary hyper-acidity

and apparent'greenness.'

The softening effect of age is due to thedeposition of a part of the tartar togetherwith a part of the tannin and some of thecolouring matter. The meehanism of thedevelopment of the secrndary bouquetappearc to be dependent firstly on purelychemical processes, principally that of oxida-

tion, and secondly on the life activity ofeertain miero-organisme. L. Pasteur filledglass tubes entirely with new wine and thensealed them up. It was found that wine so

treated remained unchanged in taste and

flavour for yeam. On the other hand, he

filled some other tubes partly with wine, theremaihing spae being occupi,rd by air. Inthis case the wine gradually matured and

aoquired the properties which were associated

with LS". lVortmann e)Bmined a number ofold wines and found that ln all oases inwhtch the wlne uos sfiA h g@d conditlonor of flne eharmter a cmaW number ollioing orgonhmc (YEAST CELUI, etc.)

WERE STILL PRESENT. He also found

that in the case of old wines which had

FRANKLY DETERIORATED, THE PRE$

ENCE OF MICROORGANISMS COULD

NOT BE DEIESIED.

It is frequently assumed that a wine isnecessarily good because it is old, and thatthe quality of a wine incrcases indefinitelywith age. firis is, however, a VERYMISTAKEN IDEA. Ttrene is a period in thelife history of every wine at which it attainsits maximum of quality. lhis period as a

rule is short, and it then oommenes ,to go

baek' or deteriorate. Ttre age at which awine is at its best is by no means so great as

is popularly supposed." EncyclopedieBritannica Eleventh Fxlition, Volume XXVII,"'Wine," pages 718-719.

Therefore, the argument thatgrape juice had to be made intowine to preserre it from latesummer to early spring is untenable,for the wine itself could conceivablybecome vinegar if no precautionswere taken to preserve it.

Water in the Cup?

Therefore, since the beverage inthe cup must appear to be identicalto blood, it could not be water, orsome other beverage, &s a fewgroups believe. It must be a deriva-tive of rd grapes. A very smallminority in churchianity has mis-taken an awkward translation in theKing James text to indicate thatsipping water for the emblem of theMessiah's blood is permissible.

The verge is found in John 4:46.Now go back to the original texts asclosely as we can return to them inboth Greek and Aramaic (which aresupported by modern translations),and the problem evaporates. Watercould not be the beverage in the cupbecause it does not have the appear-ance of blood. The emblem symbol-

izes blood, and clear water certainlydoes not resemble rd blood. Nor isthere any proof that a miracle suchas Yahshua performed in John ztakes place when water is used inthe memorial seryicrs hen thewater was pourd out of the largevessels it had already become wine,proving the miracle. Such proof isnot forthcoming among those few"Christian" groups which use water.

Symbolism and AllegoryWhenever we read articles on the

subject of using wine or grape juicefor the symbol of the Messiah's bloodat the Memorial Supper, the article,without fail, sets forth a great dealof allegory to prove a point. Manyof these allegories are merelydesigned to play upon a person'semotions to persuade the reader tofollow a certain line of reasoning.Most of these allegorical inferencesare not scriptural but merely theideas of men.

We must reject these farfetchedallegorical arguments. We alsocould have here set forth manyadditional allegories in this articleto support reasons why we shoulduse unfermented grape juice, butthey would have served no goodpurpose because they are merelyideas of 'men.

Furtherrnore, w€ have consideredthe allegorical arguments in favor ofwine and usually these same argu-ments can actually be used to provethat the beverage consumed at theMemorial Supper should be unfer-mented grape juice. Thus we havefocused our presentation strictly toutilize the symblism of the Bible.

Water coulci notbe the beaerage

in the cup.

L2

However, it remains an established fact that we are prohibitedfrom using leavened bread for bothYahweh's Passover Memorial andthe Feast of Unleavened Bread.But, those who claim that the actionof wine making removes the leavenare in error as the accompanyingEncyclopedia Britannica articleproves. Nevertheless, the action ofleaven is also terminated by thebaking process in bread making,although we are prohibited fromusing bread made with leaven.

The true picture of the Passoversymbols therefore emerges clearly.Although undoubtedly some yeastspores do cling naturally to thegrain and flour, their action isterminated by baking unleavenedbread aB Boon ar the mixture iscompleted. Exactly the same istrue of grapes. Any yeast sporesthat attach themselves to the grapeswhich are washed and prepared tomake juice to preserue are im-mobilized by heating or cooling.Therefore, the presenration of grapejuice to use for the Passover symbolwill yreld the pure blood of thegrape. Note that the taodic@nsprovided a perfect environment (lukewarm) for leaven to work, Revela-tion 3:1S16.

So also is the case with the TnreWorshiper. After his own personalwashing (baptism), he must be careful to destroy any leavening agentfrom the outside by heating with thefire of the Word (Malachi 3:1-6) witha rejection of anything unscriptural.Therefore, the Tr:ue Worshiper willbe preserved unleavened.

The Cup of BlessingIdentified

Paul refers to the cup as the "cupof blessing," 1 Corinthians 10:16. InIsaiah 65:8 we read that the newwine- tirosh. the juice-contains ablessing! "fn this monner saAsYahweh, As the new wine ie foundin the cluster, and one swqDestroy it noL for a blcseing is init Eo roill I do for mA seroants'aakeq that I maA not destroy them

all" This is never said in the Bibleof Uayin wine. See Judges 9:13,where the Hebrew term is Tirosh.(See the above discussion of thisterm.) Now relate Isaiah 65:8 andthe word "blessing" to 1 Corinthians10:16. Do you see the relationship?Notice carefully the last part ofIsaiah 65:8. Protection is promisedto those who drink the juice ofblessing, and thereby reconfirm theircovenant.

A Very Dogmatie SeriptureAccording to Leviticus 10:g, a

priest wa"s not t0 use wine (yayin)or strong drink (shekar) when goingto the meeting tent of the congrega-tion. "Drink no wine nor strongdrink, Aoq or Aour Eont with Aouwhen Aou go into the tent ofmeeting, that Aou die not: it shallbe a statute foreoer throughoutAour generation&" Yahshua was aleader in the activities in the syna-gogue (Luke 4:162L), and was oftencalled Rabbi or Teacher (John 1:88,49; 3:2, 26; Mark 10:51). He taughtthat the Tnre Worshipers would notonly worship in Jerusalem (John4:21), but in Spirit and Tluth.

When we partake of theMemorial emblems each year, we arestanding in the very presence ofYahweh through communion withHim, as did Abraham in Crenesis 15.

Also, we are His spiritual Temple,1 Corinthians 3:1G17, 1 Peter 2:l-7.When we are engaged in a religious

1. A cup or drink was not usedin the Old Testament Passover;therefore, fermented wine cannotbe proven there.

2. The drink offering consistedof yayin (alcoholic) and thisbeverage was never consumed bythe priests. It was poured outover the blood as an offering toYahweh.

3. Both wine and grape juiceneed special attention to be preserved. Wine can easily turn tovinegar, which is unacceptable foruse as a symbol of the Messiah'sblood.

4. Nowhere in the New Testa-ment do we find the cup tocontain wine, or any strongdrink.

5. The cup does contain the"fruit of the vine," which onemust concede is grape juice.Wine is a secondary product.

6. The priests were not allowedto drink wine or strong drinkwhen in close communion withYahweh.

'l . Fermented wine is used inthe Bible as a symbol of thewrath, judgment and punishmentof Almighty Yahweh upon sinfulnations.

obsenance such as the MemorialSupper, we art therefore prohibited 8. Blood is throughout thefrom using fermented wine or strong Scriptures represented as thatdrink! There can be no compro. which flows directly from themise by the True lf,orshiper on grapes when they are trampledthie eignificant, important point! out in the winepress.IVine was not meant to be drunhin the Temple, the llouee of 9. Grape juice is the symbol ofYahweh. blood rather than wine and is

Summarv fil'#Jffl throughout the sacred

Ttre following are some of themain reasons ellucidated in this 10. If the bread is unleavenedarticle to explain why the Assem- (unfermentcd), should not the cupblies of Yahweh finds grape juice to be also? the answer must be yes.be the biblically aeceptable symbolof Yahshua's blood. tr

13

[InderstandingWmp$sstrtrx

ffsErrmf fre{r*

the Significaneeof Baptism

E orn of us is immersed, into thesauing Name of Yahshua the Messiahushen u)e enter into the Assernbliesof Yahuteh and the bond of Yah-u)eh's coaenant. Do Aou fully graspthe significance of the doctrine ofbaptism os it is taught in the SacredScriptures ?

WOrn in and, request this re-cently reprinted article, "Baptism,Burial Into Life." It is an infor-matiue study of this important doc-trine. Don't delay. You,r copA is freeof charge for the asking. Write:

Assemblies of YahwehP.O. Box C

Bethel, PA 19507

-Lr*^lrlio "f Q)"h""h

Commentary

on

Galatians

lr)'Jiroll ( ). \lt'r't'r

Tirc author applies the Gunkelrnethod of Sitz im Leben to the in-terpretation of Paul's controaer-sinl epistle to the Galntianq andhe arriues at a unique conclusionthat utill seriously challenge the

fundarnental ideas of the religiousworld,.

n, rnore information on hous

Aou rnau obtain this reuealinguolume and our rnanA other publi-cations, utrite to:

Assemblies of YahwehP.O. Box C

Bethel, PA 19507

rt'