Dialogue in sarcasm was not the way of Jesus either. Sarcasm is the way of one who really has nothing constructive to say. You seem to need a little wine, my brother. Whoops, I am obviously needing a little myself…but just a little. btw…and on an unrelated note…Why do so many faithful Christians have such a legalistic attitude about “a little wine”?

OK, seriously…The saying given by Paul to Timothy about “not drinking water exclusively, but using a little wine for the sake of upset stomach and frequent ailments” is imbedded inside exhortation on both sides about the sins of others. The key to this saying about “water most of the time, but also a little wine” will be found in the context of laying on of hands and the sins of others. Read all of 1 Tim 5:17-24.

Here you go…Water (John 7:38) and laying on of hands (Heb 6:2) are a representation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire (John 3:16). A little wine is a representation of the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (John 3:3)…i.e. salvation. A little wine is a reference to the blood of Jesus.

Paul is saying to Timothy that he must discern, when ministering within the church, those whose overt sin may indicate their unrepentant heart, like Simon the magician in Acts 8. These are not worthy of a blessing that Christ reseves only for those whom the Father has seated at His (Father’s) right hand in Him (Christ). Paul counsels Timothy that the unrepentent are sick and are in need of healing in Christ…the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…the cross…the blood…”a little wine for sickness”. Paul is saying to Timothy that he must know, when ministering to members of the church, when he is ministering to a false convert who is in need of repentance, for their sin is not yet covered by the blood.

Paul is saying to Timothy that most of the time when ministering to the saints they will “drink water”–i.e. the baptism of the Holy Spirit ministered by the laying on of hands–but that sometimes he will need to discern when a little wine is needed–i.e. the baptism is repentence for the forgiveness of sins. Paul finishes by saying that it is by the goodness or evil in their deeds, which will be “quite evident”, that he will know if a sinner is desperately in need of a little wine–i.e. the saving blood of Christ.

God bless you richly my brothers.

steve

I agree, wine won’t help much for diarrhea, hence the reason why I said it might have been a preventative measure, not a cure. I found the following quote on wikipedia which is also interesting:

“Even before the establishment of the germ theory of disease, traditional practices eschewed water in favor of beer, wine and tea. In the camel caravans that crossed Central Asia along the Silk Road, the explorer Owen Lattimore noted “The reason we drank so much tea was because of the bad water. Water alone, unboiled, is never drunk.”

Nerves or stress is a common cause for an upset stomach. How much stress must young Timothy been under with such a calling as his in a culture of Jews and Gentiles bent on their destruction? A little wine acts as a depressant upon the human nervous system.

That being said, one can only speculate about the cause of Timothy’s upset stomach. The bible is silent on cause. Paul only says Timothy has bouts of stomach ailment and prescribes wine for medicinal relief.

My personal thought (again, purely personal but not without merit) is that the dirty water theory misses the mark. Dirty water would cause diarea and a little wine would serve no purpose for this ailment, which require significant rehydrration via water consumption. I think the dirty water theory may be a more palatable speculation for church traditions that abstain from alcohol consumption. “Drink a little wine to calm the nerves? Why, how corrupt. Paul would never suggest such a thing.” Or would he?

God bless you both.

Stephen
P.S. If my reply is upsetting at all, have a little wine.

What I mean by really dirty water is like brown muddy yucky water. Water with bacteria in it can be completely clear but still harmful when consumed because the water is contaminated, not necessarily physically dirty. Putting wine into dirty muddy water won’t do much no. But wine in clear water that could have bacteria in it, is a different scenario.

I don’t think the problem lay with really dirty water. Nobody would consider drinking obviously dirty water. For example, when my wife and I moved to Taiwan, we were told to not drink the tap water because it would make you sick. The water wasn’t dirty at face value, there were no visible impurities, obvious odors etc. If nobody told us the water would make us sick, we probably would have drunk it. The advice to only drink wine and not water would not be good advice either since we all know that alcohol is a diuretic causing accelerated dehydration. In the hot desert climate, dehydration is the last thing you want.

Let’s say the water was really dirty and caused him to be sick then what sense would it make to say that instead of drinking only water he should use a LITTLE wine?
If the water was dirty and made people sick then he should have said something like:
“Drink no longer water, but instead drink wine only.”

Drinking dirty water + a little wine wouldn’t have changed much cause he would still have drunk a lot of dirty water.

Eric