The Cup of Wisdom: Drinking in Creation’s Order - Episode 129

Carey Griffel: Welcome to Genesis Marks the Spot where we raid the ivory tower of biblical theology without ransacking our faith. My name is Carey Griffel and welcome back to the discussion about alcohol and the theme of alcohol in the Bible. In particular, we focus on wine because that is the main form of alcohol that we find in the Bible.

[00:00:33] Now I did a bit of a break last week, and I talked about John Walton's new book. And I thought that it was basically completely disconnected from my conversation on wine and the cup. But it turns out I was actually wrong. I actually think what I talked about last week is going to lead really well into this conversation today.

[00:00:57] But I have a confession to make. I was actually going to skip over the section on wisdom literature in Mark Scarlata's book that I've been using, which is called Wine, Soil and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. And I kind of had thought that my previous conversations had enough about the subject that I didn't need to get into the topic of wisdom literature specifically.

[00:01:24] But then I realized just how much this relates to the work of John Walton and his son. So now I can't skip over it. Sorry not sorry. You're stuck with hearing about wine in wisdom now.

[00:01:39] Here's the amazing thing about biblical theology. At least this is my opinion, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just seeing things I wanna see and I'm seeing it through my own biases, which I definitely am doing that. But I really think that the more we learn about the context of Scripture, the more amazing this interconnectedness is, and the more it brings out truth in different areas and it helps us understand the Bible in context in one area can really help us to move over to a different scholar and really be able to see what they're doing and analyze their material in a way to see if it's actually fitting in with the themes of Scripture and the meta narrative that we see that comes out from the themes.

[00:02:30] And so when I read a biblical theologian, and it seems like what they're saying either fits in with the way that I'm seeing this with other biblical scholars, or it doesn't. And I just bring that out because when it comes to somebody like John Walton or more, especially John Walton's son, you get a really big divide of opinions on those scholars.

[00:02:55] Some people absolutely love their work. Some people don't. And sometimes it's hard to find that middle ground of saying, yes, they're really good over here, but they're less good over there. The way that you have to judge that is within the umbrella of biblical theology in general and the themes of Scripture. And like I said, the point here is that the things that I track with Walton on are things that really align with other scholars in biblical studies, in biblical theology.

[00:03:29] That doesn't mean that he can't have new ideas that will fit in with the whole program of biblical theology and the narrative, because absolutely they do. But the interesting thing about the Walton's new work is that there are some things that seem a little bit out of joint, so we'll be talking about that. But I thought it was really cool how much I saw a parallel in Mark Scarlata's work here in this book with what the Waltons are saying about covenant theology.

[00:04:01] So today we're gonna talk about creation and order and wisdom and wine.

[00:04:08] A really brief review, like with a lot of the series that I accidentally start, we've been going on way more episodes than I ever expected. I thought this might be a trilogy. And here we are at, I don't know what episode number. But if you are just tuning in here, we started this series in episode 1 23, and I talked about wine and how it connects Genesis three and Genesis nine. And how I think it helps us see the removal of the curse of the land. 

[00:04:42] That launched us into episode number 1 24, where we talked about the cup of joy and there was a lot of covenant context to that. And, quite frankly, when I started talking about it on the surface, I thought it wouldn't get too deep and how wrong I was.

[00:05:00] In episode 1 25, I found that it was so relevant to keep talking about the cup of joy that I couldn't yet move on to the cup of wrath, and that was the episode I started bringing you the work of Mark Scarlata.

[00:05:14] Then in episode 1 26, we talked about the cup of wrath finally, and we talked about how the cup of wrath is a symbol of inherited desire, like you really want something, and you're going to get it. And you can either be in covenant with God and get joy and salvation, or you can be disjointed and have your own desires in a different direction from God and inherit that cup of wrath. 

[00:05:43] Then in episode 1 27, I took a slight detour from talking about alcohol and I talked about God's wrath in relation to the gods of the nations.

[00:05:54] Last week, in episode 1 28, I did the review of John Walton's book, and now here we are in episode 1 29, still talking about wine as joyful celebration and how this is going to relate to covenant.

[00:06:10] Again, I really thought that this was going to be kind of a happy go-lucky, almost a typical Christianese kind of a conversation, even though I know that a lot of Christians don't drink alcohol and they don't like alcohol, and some Christians even see alcohol as being sinful.

[00:06:29] But part of how I like to do biblical theology is to track all of these themes in the way that biblical authors use them. So part of the reason I'm still continuing on this theme is because the cup of wine is such a potent image in scripture. It's used a lot. It's used for opposite things, and it is used in the quintessential Christian ritual that we have.

[00:06:56] Some of us take the Lord's table weekly. Some of us take it monthly. Some of us only take it rarely. But it is something that is really embedded in the Christian story, right? And in our Christian perspective and our experience. It is something that connects us, or at least it should connect us to each other as well as to God.

[00:07:18] And I don't know about you, but my experience in most Christian churches is that they really don't talk about this enough. Like they don't explain it enough. Maybe if you're in a new member's class or whatever, they might explain these kinds of things. And some congregations are a little bit more stringent on who partakes and who doesn't than others.

[00:07:41] So I'm not trying to say that we don't take it seriously, but I am saying we don't talk about it enough. And I am trying to encourage you to read Scripture with these themes in mind because one question I do get from time to time is what is the big deal with biblical theology? Like it seems like a whole lot of knowledge and a whole lot of information. And what good does it do for me?

[00:08:07] And here I am, I'm like, look, you believe in your Scriptures. You believe this is the word of God. You believe it's communicating something important to you. So therefore you should take that and look at how that actually feeds into this narrative that is really core to being Christian. What does it mean to sit at the table of the Lord? Why is that a thing? Why is it a big deal? Why do we do it? What does it mean and how does that impact my life?

[00:08:39] And of course, we can go into the topic of whether or not we have the real presence in the elements. And oh, maybe it's just symbolic and all of these kinds of arguments, feels like that's missing the point. Like you're trying to talk about some sort of scientific reality here. As we like to say, the Bible is not a science book, and our faith is not based on science, or at least it shouldn't be.

[00:09:06] That doesn't mean science doesn't speak into our faith, but we don't have faith simply because of some true reality out there. We have faith because God is our Savior. Right? That is a relationship. So then you're like, oh, well now you're talking about it's a relationship and it's not a religion.

[00:09:29] And I'm like, well, look, it's both right? You don't have a relationship and religion split in the ancient world. So we need to be seeing how that is and how it plays out in Scripture because that feeds into our Christian life and the meaning there. The Lord's table is not something that is just legalistically done or it shouldn't be, hopefully.

[00:09:54] And it's not something that doesn't have meaning to it and depth. If you say it's just a symbol and it's just for remembrance, well even then you're saying something very deep and important there. Why does it matter that we remember? Why does it matter that we partake together? And how does that relate to our relationship with God?

[00:10:18] These are all important questions, and like I said, I don't see on a weekly basis, even a yearly basis that many churches that I have experienced really understand this and tackle it in a head on way, especially from a scriptural perspective.

[00:10:37] So anyway, like I said, today, I have some things to draw out from what we call the wisdom literature. I will have at least one more episode about wine. Maybe only one more. We'll see how it goes. I can't ever promise things like that because who knows? I do know I have one more that we're going to get into next week that will really jump deeply into the New Testament.

[00:11:02] But before I get into the wisdom literature, in order to connect that with what Walton is saying about creation, I'm going to need to describe what he's saying about creation and order.

[00:11:14] Quite honestly, I said so much last week that I don't remember how much I even explained in this mode. Now, if you are familiar with John Walton and his work, he has previously talked about a functional creation in Genesis one and how the ancient world saw creation, not in a materialistic way, but in a functional way. Something existed if it had a function. Now he's kind of shifted, but it's not a big change. It's just kind of a shift of emphasis where he realized that function isn't the fundamental thing and really it's God's order that is the fundamental thing. 

[00:11:56] And I really like his shift here. I think he's right that it's better explaining what we see and it's more applicable, and it really enters into that discussion of the purposes of God in creation, which is something I love to think about myself. Like why did God create? Why does the Bible start at Genesis one and not Genesis three? What does that mean for us and our theology? Because I think it should mean a lot.

[00:12:27] Now, I'm not here to gossip and to get into the differences between John Walton and John Walton's son, because frankly I don't really care. I am interested in the ideas that they're bringing out and whether or not those have validity. That's what I care about. And I will say some of them do and some of them don't.

[00:12:49] And that's kind of the way it is with everyone. So personally I don't really have a big thing to tackle in this relationship and what's going on there because we're adults and we are capable of analyzing the information no matter who it came from. Plus the fact that, you know, not all of you listening even care even a little bit. Like this is like some weird theological scholarly drama and hubbub that your average person's like, who cares? I don't even know who these people are. And you know, fair enough. Maybe that's where we should kind of all be in the situation.

[00:13:31] But anyway, later on I will bring out points of disagreements. So don't take what I'm saying today as like this blanket approval of everything that John Walton and J Harvey Walton are doing, because it's not. I just wanna start with where I can absolutely and obviously agree. And I think that some of this work is really, hitting points that we need to hit and that we need to see, especially as Protestant or evangelical people.

[00:14:05] Now, when I bring up the idea of covenant theology, I am not at all talking about the dispensationalist type, where we're gonna hang charts on the wall and we're gonna chart the end times and all of that kind of thing. That is not what we're doing. We are still in the realm of biblical theology, which means that what we're doing is trying to understand covenant from an ancient mindset. Not a modern one.

[00:14:33] And there is a difference. There is a big difference. Like have you ever been to a Bible study where the teacher asked, "What is a covenant?" And somebody in the students raised their hand and said, " A covenant is a contract." Well, that's kind of true. I mean, it's an agreement between parties and there's things that are written out that seem like stipulations.

[00:15:01] it's like, okay, yes, a covenant is similar to a contract, but it's really an ancient treaty. And an ancient treaty is not the same as like a contract you're going to sign to buy your house. They're just different things.

[00:15:17] And we will talk much more about that later. But for now, I just want to highlight that there are differences and some of the Walton's work is highlighting this idea that an ancient covenant is less about exact rules and law keeping and more about this relationship and covenant agreement between parties.

[00:15:43] And you might think that's the same thing. Where's the difference? Well, we'll get into the difference later. I'm just saying that there is one, and that it matters when we go into the narrative of Genesis three and ask, did Adam get kicked out of the garden simply because he broke a rule, or is there more going on there?

[00:16:06] The Waltons are saying that there is a lot more that's going on there. And so this idea of creation order is one that leads up to covenant. Covenant with Yahweh in particular, of course, because he is the Creator God.

[00:16:23] The core of J Harvey Walton's dissertation is that Genesis one through 11, although he focuses on Genesis two to four, but he says that this whole primeval narrative is one that is subverting ancient near Eastern ideas of order. And this is an idea that I absolutely am so excited that he brought this out.

[00:16:47] This description of the primeval history makes a lot more sense to me and seems to fit the whole narrative of Scripture far better than most Protestant formulations of what's going on in the garden. Now, again, I have problems with what he says about some of the things, but the idea of the subversion of the ancient Near Eastern narratives of order makes all the sense in the world to me.

[00:17:16] If you've read any of this ancient literature and you see the ways that pagan nations are describing the order that is brought about by into humanity, you have things like agriculture is given by the gods to create human order. Cities are given by the gods to create order. Kingship is given by the gods to create order. You have all of these things that are supposedly the things that create order. And Genesis is saying, no, no, no, you guys, those are not the things that provide ultimate order.

[00:17:53] Now, they're good things. We like agriculture. We like the cycles of the moon to help us keep the calendars. We like cities. We might even like kingship.

[00:18:05] But if you notice in the book of Genesis, all of those things are created by people. They're not given down from heaven by God to man, which is what you have in these other ancient stories. So it's not like you don't have these things that are good for creation and order and human flourishing, but ultimately what it all leads up to is relationship and presence and covenant with Yahweh.

[00:18:34] Okay, so then we get back into our subject with wine and we've talked at great length about wine and covenant and relationship there and how it is a very descriptive picture of relationship, right? Like you have people who drink together and they form covenants and they form agreements and they form relationships.

[00:18:57] But you also have the same thing going on in the tabernacle and the temple and other alter sacrifices. People are sharing their food with God in a kind of relationship that is evident in the same way that they share a relationship with each other. This isn't about God needing food, but it is about God participating with us on our level.

[00:19:24] Okay, so order is provided by God. It is provided in relationship to him through these different ways that we have it, right? We have God speaking to Abraham directly. We have God speaking to Moses. We have the high priest, and we have the whole thing with the tabernacle and sacrifices there.

[00:19:46] All of these things are ways that people are interacting with God, and the purpose of them is for God to be present with the people.

[00:19:56] Okay, so that's Walton and creation and order. Now let's move over into the topic of wisdom and its relationship with wine.

[00:20:06] Now order or covenant or any of these other words that we might bring into the conversation according to what I've just been talking about, those are different words than wisdom. So to some degree I'm kind of stepping out on a limb and connecting the two things together. But at the same time, I think they're very connected as we'll see with like Lady Wisdom in the book of Proverbs.

[00:20:32] Mark Scarlata in his book, Wine, Soil and Salvation in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, talks about a distinction between biblical wisdom and humanistic or philosophical wisdom. Philosophical wisdom is like you might have a picture of the old guys sitting around in a circle and they're just talking about things and coming up with philosophical ideas, right? That might be our picture in our heads. 

[00:21:01] Biblical wisdom, on the other hand, is more embodied. It is about the ritual and relationship and experience with God in history. And that's why both Judaism and Christianity are very historically oriented faiths. Christianity is all about evidence and actual historical happenings. And those things matter because that's how wisdom is being worked out and developed in the world.

[00:21:33] Scarlata says quote, "Wisdom focuses mainly on empirical observation of the world within the framework of God's established order. It seeks to promote the good life, human flourishing, and ways in which one can live in the world in pursuit of those things. Since biblical wisdom literature tends to avoid the Mosaic Commandments, references to priestly or cultic material, and the divine promises to the patriarchs, some have argued that it does not contain what might be considered traditional Israelite theology.

[00:22:11] " Wisdom has often been described as universal and open to influence from other cultures, and hence, it is less concerned with allegiance to one God and to law than it is with living a good life based on wise choices. While it is true that biblical wisdom shares much in common with other ancient wisdom texts, it is equally important to distinguish how Israelite wisdom takes up certain topics such as wine to determine what the authors are saying within the wider biblical corpus.

[00:22:44] " The authors of the wisdom sayings were not unaware of the Pentateuch or the prophetic texts on wine, but their approach is notably more practical instruction for day-to-day living and how one might enjoy the blessings of God's gift without destroying oneself, one's neighbor, or the land. To heed the proverbs on how to drink wine appropriately is to understand that humanity is located within a world that is governed and ordered by God's wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, which teaches one how to consume wine and how to enjoy the fruit of the vine as a blessing that comes from God." End quote. 

[00:23:27] So I trust you can see how I'm connecting what Scarlata is saying here to what John Walton was saying. Wisdom is about living in the ordered creation that God has given us.

[00:23:40] Scarlata also says, quote, " Another important point about the proverbs is that they consistently point to how one can live in the best way possible rather than simply being moralistic. When the sages discuss wine, there is no moral judgment attached to drinking. Instead, they are concerned with how one honors and fears God through one's choices.

[00:24:07] " Drunkenness is unbecoming, not because it is immoral, but rather because it can lead to immorality and, even worse, to a life of folly. The sages do not view wine as a temptation that should be avoided at all costs. Instead, they consistently make plain the positive and negative effects of wine within the broader scope of living the good life." End quote.

[00:24:36] Now, next time we will get into a distinction between John the Baptist and Jesus because John the Baptist abstained from wine and Jesus did not. We really need to pay attention to these little details and say, well, what is the difference? Does John the Baptist not drinking wine suggest to us that there's something wrong with wine? That it is immoral and that it prevents us from doing something? Or is there another message we should take from that? 

[00:25:10] When you look at the wisdom literature in general, just it's broad scope, just like Mark Scarlata says, it is about living a good life, not just about morality. And sometimes we take that idea of wisdom and morality a little bit too far as Christians, right?

[00:25:31] If something might lead to something bad, sometimes we have a tendency to say, well, let's just completely avoid that then, and then we don't have to worry about the problem. Well, the question is, is that wisdom or is that just staying in a state of immaturity?

[00:25:54] Now? I can't judge that for you, and I'm not sure anybody else can either. But I can tell you in my own experience that there are many things in my life that I have thought that I was being so wise in by not participating over here and not doing that and doing this instead. I thought I was being wise.

[00:26:17] And eventually it turns out that no, I was just avoiding growing up. I was avoiding maturity. I was avoiding wisdom. Now, of course, wisdom also means that there are times and seasons when you do want to avoid things. I'm not gonna let my 9-year-old go and drive the car. But the fact that driving is dangerous doesn't mean that I shouldn't let my teenagers drive.

[00:26:47] So the question I would put on the table for you regarding wisdom and alcohol and anything else that you're dealing with, honestly. Are you genuinely not partaking and avoiding things because you're sure that this is the right thing? Or are you using that as an excuse to continue in an immature lifestyle?

[00:27:11] I've had experiences in many things that go way beyond alcohol partaking that actually fit this whole model, realizing that in fact, I was being self-righteous which actually prevented my growth. So reading about wisdom literature just makes me think about how we sometimes think that we are being wise when really we're just avoiding wisdom. We're avoiding the very need to even make a proper discerning decision.

[00:27:44] Proverbs nine is a great place to go to to look at this idea of wine and wisdom. Proverbs nine is of course about lady wisdom herself.

[00:27:56] Regarding this passage, Scarlata says, quote, " To follow wisdom is not some tedious unpalatable practice like begrudgingly partaking in bland, tasteless food. Instead, we are told that wisdom has slaughtered her animals. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table. The extent of the preparations speak of a sumptious feast that includes the delight of mixed wine. We recall the wine in the ancient world was sometimes mixed with honey, spices, or potent herbs. The significance is that Lady wisdom goes to great lengths to offer a king's banquet for those who are simple and lacking in sense. She sends out her female servants to invite the least in society because anyone can choose to come and dine at her table.

[00:28:51] " Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity and live and walk in the way of insight. 

[00:29:01] " The invitation to feast on wisdom's bread and wine becomes a symbol for growing in maturity, walking uprightly, and living according to insight." End quote.

[00:29:15] And again, an interesting aspect here is how much the Bible is a polemic against common wisdom of the day.

[00:29:23] Scarlata says quote, " Living according to wisdom is not like the drunken banquets of the gentiles so often portrayed by the biblical authors. Instead, wisdom is like the good enjoyment of the bounty given by God from the earth, which is to be celebrated with others around the table." End quote. 

[00:29:46] Now this idea about wisdom and maturity, I mean, that's pretty obvious to us when we think of somebody who's wise. They are not young. They are more advanced in years. They've had experience in the world and they've learned hard lessons, right? What's interesting is you go back to the garden story, right? You have the two trees in the garden. You have the tree of life. You have the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I've always thought it kind of seems like that should be the tree of wisdom, right?

[00:30:21] Why don't they call it the tree of wisdom? Of course, the idea of knowledge of good and evil is elsewhere, like in the book of Deuteronomy, connected to maturity and growth. So there is this idea where we have the growth and maturity and you know, wisdom comes along with that. I don't know why the biblical author calls it the Tree of Knowledge instead of the Tree of Wisdom.

[00:30:49] Surely there's really good reasons for that. And maybe because you don't wanna put any kind of a bad light on the idea of wisdom and how you're not supposed to take wisdom. Of course, we're supposed to have wisdom. I dunno, it's an interesting, strange question. I have a lot of thoughts about it. Probably should leave those for another day.

[00:31:09] But already what we have in this context of wine and the partaking of wine in regards to wisdom is that it's not bad. We're supposed to enjoy ourselves. Wisdom is supposed to provide us a good life. Now that's not a prosperity gospel because we also have the knowledge that wisdom comes with a lot of learning and suffering sometimes doesn't it? Comes with the idea that we need to be discerning, and if we're gonna be discerning, that means that there's negative things around us that might harm us.

[00:31:45] I can't remember which episode it was in, but I did mention a verse in Proverbs that talked about how kings weren't supposed to drink wine. I didn't stop and talk about that passage at the time. But it's a little bit weird, isn't it? Like if wine is an okay thing to drink, then why shouldn't Kings have it? Is Proverbs giving some sort of blanket statement that, Hey, everybody else can have wine, but kings can't? Or is it about something else?

[00:32:16] Let me go ahead and read this section from Mark Scarlata. He says, quote, " Another warning concerning wine can be found in the final chapter of Proverbs in a set of instructions given by the unknown King Le who conveys the teachings of his mother. She urges her son not to be distracted or weakened by women or wine so that he may rule with justice and defend the rights of the poor.

[00:32:45] " Once again, we find a warning of the possible consequences of drinking too much wine, but here it is not violence that is the concern. Of a primary importance is the sober rule of a righteous king who will uphold justice." End quote. 

[00:33:04] I just wanted to point out that we definitely have the concept of order and justice and righteousness here. That of course connects to creation. It connects to the cup of wrath, all of these things. 

[00:33:18] Proverbs 31, 4 through seven says, quote, " It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire strong drink or else they will drink and forget what has been decreed and will pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to one who is perishing and wine to those in bitter distress. Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more." End quote. 

[00:33:48] It's kind of a strange passage, honestly. Is this saying that kings should not drink wine, but that poor people can? Well, I don't think we can say that because there's a contrast here between the king who is supposed to give justice and provide order for the land and the poor people, or the ones suffering who this says they should be drinking wine in order to forget their troubles.

[00:34:15] It's kinda weird, isn't it? Like it's not saying, Hey, king, don't drink wine and provide justice so that nobody has to suffer. It's actually saying there is a benefit or a grace here in the wine for people who are suffering so that they can forget their troubles from time to time. But a king's not supposed to do that because a king is supposed to be the one who is providing order so that there is less suffering in the land.

[00:34:45] Scarlata says about this passage, quote, "What appears to be a call to abstinence by the mother is really an appeal to remain solely focused on the task of administering justice in the kingdom with a clear mind. In this instance, wine is connected to memory, judgment, and clarity of thought. For a king to rule justly, he cannot be drunk with wine. Instead, the mother argues wine and strong drink are for those who need to drown their sorrows and forget the miseries of life. This command offers a taste of sarcasm in the queen's instruction as she commends to her son upright living, rather than being like the fools who drink to forget and numb the pains of life." End quote.

[00:35:35] We gotta read this in context of what's going on. This passage in Proverbs is not like God giving a decree to the kings of the world. This is the queen mother instructing her son, the king, of righteous ruling. And she's distinctively portraying what he's supposed to do versus the people he's ruling who might not be in a good state. And I would suppose that the further implication here is that if he is ruling well, he will help to alleviate the suffering of these people.

[00:36:12] Okay, so remember that we've said many times that the Bible does not morally condemn the idea of drinking in general. But of course, we do have many, many places where drunkenness is condemned.

[00:36:28] I don't think I need to go too deeply into these passages. Proverbs 23, verses 29 through 35 has one of these passages. Really interesting image of like the guy sitting there with a mug of wine and he's looking into it and his eye is staring back at him. Kind of creepy. But surely we see that kind of a situation in bars and pubs across the country, and sadly in homes as well.

[00:36:56] And it's interesting because the Bible also seems to be really condemning not just drunkenness, but drinking alone. Because it's supposed to be a communal thing, right? You communally make the wine; you're supposed to communally enjoy it. t work out there that suggests that solitary drinking is far worse for you than social drinking.

[00:37:21] Not to say that social drinking can't do even worse things at times because you have all the peer pressure and you know, dumb kids doing dumb things together. But we're talking about like a situation where you are supposed to have wise people around and you're not just the young college kids out there drinking on the town.

[00:37:43] All right, so let's move on to the book of Ecclesiastes. And this one's interesting because J Harvey Walton gets into a connection between Ecclesiastes and the book of Genesis. And specifically he's talking about the idea of death there because Ecclesiastes gets into this like philosophical meandering thoughts about how life is, not really maybe worthless, but it's just vapor. And we can kind of look at that and try and understand what the ancient person was thinking about in regards to life and death.

[00:38:21] And this is where we can enter into the conversation where typical wisdom and typical answers in the ancient world, don't bring anyone fulfillment. The only way to do that is in covenantal wisdom relationship order with God.

[00:38:41] Ecclesiastes has a king who is searching for how to order his life and how to understand things. He cheers himself with wine and he reminds himself of pleasures that he has had in wisdom, but then he steps back and sees it in a wider picture.

[00:39:01] Scarlata says, quote, " It is important to set the king's observations on wine within the context of the next verse where he claims, ' I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.' To speak of great works is often a way to describe God's creation of the heavens and the earth. But here Koheleth seemingly places his own building projects on a par with the divine. The houses built by the king are likely a reference to his crowning achievement in building his own palace and temple in Jerusalem, reminiscent of Eden and God's original creation. The temple marked the dwelling place of the divine and was the most magnificent building in Jerusalem. Like the tabernacle, which had been constructed and consecrated in the wilderness, the temple represented God's salvation and divine presence on earth with his people.

[00:39:57] " Despite the long list of Koheleth other achievements, we note that his building of houses, temple and his palace, is paralleled with planting vineyards. This was not simply to increase his wine consumption, but rather it likely refers to Koheleth taking up the role of the skilled vintner. In an ancient Israelite agrarian society, material blessing from the Earth was seen as a sign of God's favor, blessing, and salvation. The problem for Koheleth is not the experience of pleasure through work, building, a cquiring a magnificent wine cellar and counting them as gifts from God. The issue is that all he receives from his toil can never be permanently secured. What he gains on this earth is vanity or absurd because all that he acquires will ultimately be left to someone else, as is true for all human beings. A life's possessions could be given to a wise person, but they also could fall into the hands of a fool who might quickly squander them.

[00:41:05] " This theme is later repeated in Ecclesiastes, where Koheleth exhorts the wise to find pleasure in the daily activities of life because striving to discover God's meaning in the world is futile. There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in their toil. This also I saw is from the hand of God, for apart from him, who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 

[00:41:31] " The phrase to eat and drink is likely a general reference to the daily activities of life, including food production and drinking wine. The references to eating, drinking, and toil allude to the early stories of Genesis and humanity's relationship with the soil. We recall the cursing of the ground and expulsion from Eden, which were followed by Lamech's prophecy concerning Noah, that he would bring us relief from our work and from the toil. The relief from toil came through Noah's planting the first vineyard and producing the first wine. Koheleth appears to be appealing to life as God ordained it in the post deluvian world through Noah. Humans continued to work the ground by the toil of their hands. They found relief from their toil through wine. Though the Hebrew word for toil in Genesis differs from the word used in Ecclesiastes, the general sense of anxiety, striving, and exertion is similar. Koheleth is not making a case for hedonism and the unbridled pursuit of pleasure, but rather he commends daily work, wine and enjoyment of the simple things God provides for humanity. End quote.

[00:42:46] Now, one might wonder how it is that, you know, if Walton over here is saying that the purpose of creation and God's order is covenant, well, why doesn't Ecclesiastes hit on that? Well, maybe that is exactly what he's saying though, right? Because he's acknowledging that we are receiving things from God. And this seems to be very different from what ancient Near Eastern literature is saying about order and the gods, right? Because the Gods provide the things like agriculture and rain and kingship and cities and all of these things, and it's those things that kind of matter to the people.

[00:43:30] I mean, I'm not saying that they didn't care about relationships with their deities because I actually think they really did. And I suspect that most of them were doing their best to be faithful people. Maybe they were trying their very best. And a lot of them do seem to have this reverence and love for their deities. Sometimes the gods are seen to be very antagonistic and like we're not really in that much of a lovable situation. But there's a lot of literature that sounds just like the Bible in regards to the people's relationship with their deities. They're trying their best and they're doing what they can to connect with the divine.

[00:44:16] But as I said, we do have ancient near Eastern texts that are non-biblical, where there is that antagonistic idea, like the gods and man don't really have that much of a loving relationship. And the reason that gods give man things like agriculture is to provide themselves food. It's less about the provision of mankind.

[00:44:40] But what we see here in like the book of Ecclesiastes is this idea that, well, we don't understand fully what God's purposes are. We don't understand why we live such short lives, why we have to work so hard. But we understand that that work is not a result of an antagonistic relationship with God, but it's a result of a good relationship with God, and that is something we should enjoy and appreciate, right?

[00:45:12] You see, there's kind of a different nuance there if you shift that view of work being this terrible burden versus being a blessing. I think that's kind of what we can see here in the book of Ecclesiastes when we take that as wisdom for our life. Instead of complaining about our work and saying, oh God, why are you making me suffer so much with doing all of this? We can see that as an actual blessing from God and a provision from him. And that is in relationship. 

[00:45:47] Without the acknowledgement that this is coming from God, what is the alternative? I mean, the alternative is often that we blame God for our sufferings and that we think that God should just get us out of it. Right? Like a good loving God wouldn't make us work. He wouldn't cause all of this suffering. You know, we wouldn't have natural disasters, we wouldn't have death, all of these things.

[00:46:13] But those are human views of this, whereas the Book of Ecclesiastes is trying to provide this story of, yes, we die. Yes, we work. That doesn't say anything negative about our relationship with God or who he is.

[00:46:31] As Mark Scarla says, quote, " Commentators have often argued that Koheleth's call to eat, drink wine, and take pleasure in one's toil is an expression of hopelessness. This pessimistic outlook sees life as nothing more than hard labor under the sun that may be occasionally alleviated by the pleasures of bread, wine, and the produce of the earth.

[00:46:58] " There is, however, a more positive interpretation that may be gleaned from these verses. If the author is reflecting on the early narratives of Genesis, then the grace of God's salvation through Noah, the restoration of the Earth, the establishment of the seasons, and the planting of vineyards are all things to celebrate as gifts from the hand of God. Though admittedly, all of life is ephemeral and passing, humanity also receives pleasures and joys from the earth that allow for families to grow and for communities to prosper and rejoice in celebrations, festivals, weddings, banquets, and worship, which all come from the hand of the divine.

[00:47:45] " Ellen Davis rightly sums up the perspective of Koheleth when she argues, quote, " The message is not simply carpe diem, seize the day. Although this was a popular philosophy in the Hellenistic world with which Koheleth was doubtless familiar, his own advice is related, but more complex, namely, accept the gift. God is the author of life itself and of every possible enjoyment. Therefore, to refuse the pleasure that comes to us is to refuse honor to the God who is giver of all." End quote from Ellen Davis.

[00:48:28] Scarlata continues with, quote, "This is how Koheleth approaches wine. Gratefully receive what is given from the fruit of the vine and rejoice in all the earth yields because it is a gift from the hand of God." End quote.

[00:48:45] Alright, we could go on and talk more about places in wisdom literature that talk about wine and covenant and wisdom and order. All of these things that are wrapped up together. There is such a big picture of joy and community and celebration and discernment in those things because the alternative is, well, it's the opposite.

[00:49:11] It's pain and suffering and drowning your sorrows as opposed to celebrating with people. And like Ellen Davis said, appreciating and receiving the gifts that God gives us.

[00:49:24] All right. I think I will touch on a little bit from the Apocrypha or Deutero canon, whatever you wanna describe these books as. Let's talk about the Book of Sirach. This was a book that was written during the second temple period. It's a book of Jewish wisdom, was probably composed around 180 bc. The book is ascribed to Ben Sira, but the prologue of the book tells us that the sayings were compiled by his grandson. 

[00:49:56] So this was a very Hellenistic time where Greek culture and philosophy was all over the place, and it was pretty natural that Jews in Palestine were wanting to also promote their own wisdom from their own tradition.

[00:50:11] Mark Scarlata says, quote, " Ben Sira encourages the faithful Jew to find true wisdom not in Athens, but in the Hebrew Scriptures where Moses and the prophets offer guidance and teaching that can stand up to any Greek philosophy. With the Hellenization of Jewish culture, it is not surprising that Ben Sira has much to say about wine and its consumption.

[00:50:37] "The Greeks had extensive traditions and writings on wine that were deeply embedded in their culture. Their myths around the origins of wine are varied, but tell of the vine falling from the sky as a gift from the Gods. Euripedes wrote of the Great Power of Dionysis, also known as Bacchus, the god of wine, who gave the drink to humanity to cure their sorrows and relieve their suffering." End quote.

[00:51:06] He goes on to discuss how the Greeks had really elaborate rituals involving wine. They had symposiums, which were times of drinking after a meal, and they had a master of ceremonies who restricted the wine and the ratios of how much wine to water you were having and music and all of these things regarding all of that. So it's interesting just how much ritual is surrounded by eating and drinking just in general, in the Hellenistic world.

[00:51:38] And you read in this book of Sirach about things that are very Jewish, but also there are like these Greek twists. There are ideas of Jews involved in things like a symposium, but just in a Jewish setting. Very interesting.

[00:51:55] Scarlata says, quote, " Wine is like life for Ben Sira, but there is something that is even better. Friendship. Wine and music gladden in the heart, but the love of friends is better than either. In fact, he likens the goodness of friendship to the goodness of aging wine when he writes, do not abandon old friends, for new ones cannot equal them. A new friend is like new wine. When it has aged, you can drink it with pleasure." End quote.

[00:52:28] When we act like partaking of wine is some moral sin, then it's a lot harder to see these beautiful threads of friendship, relationship, covenant and joy.

[00:52:40] And there's still very much an emphasis on temple and sacrifice and ritual. Scarlata says, quote, "The final mention of wine comes in Ben Sira's tribute to the great high priest Simeon II of the Jerusalem temple. The priest is referred to as Simon son of Onaias, who is depicted with glowing praise for his rebuilding of the temple and his performance in making the daily sacrifices. The detailed description likely means that Ben Sira regularly attended the temple rituals and was familiar with the offerings. He describes the final act of the ritual when the high priest held out his hand for the cup and poured a drink offering of the blood of the grape. He poured it out at the foot of the altar, a pleasing odor to the Most High, the King of all. The ritual acts relate to the laws of Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28 through 29 where drink offerings of wine are prescribed. The lengthy panegyric devoted to Simeon II may seem out place in a book of wisdom, but Horsley argues that it was likely that during this period, Ben Sira and all the temple scribes were under the patronage of the temple." End quote.

[00:54:01] Now there is more second Temple literature we could talk about, and maybe we'll get into some of that next time, because a lot of this has to do with the Messianic banquet. And while we already have had plenty, and I mean plenty of information in the Old Testament that kind of points forward to the idea of a Messianic banquet, I would suggest we really still need to be careful not to place later understanding onto earlier understanding. 

[00:54:34] The idea of the Messiah and the expectation of the Messiah is a theme that goes through Scripture from the beginning, like I said, because I think the Bible starts at Genesis one and not Genesis three, but it's also the case that people weren't always thinking in terms of the Messianic age. However, by the time of the second temple, they were thinking about it a lot.

[00:55:03] So there's probably a lot we'll be talking about with that Second Temple literature next week. Some really interesting things to talk about with the Book of Enoch, with the Dead Sea Scrolls, some other things like that. So next week we'll really get into this idea of the Messianic banquet and what that means, because that's really what we should be tracking along with when we see the theme of wine in the New Testament. That doesn't mean that encompasses everything because we do see Jesus talking about the cup that he has at the end.

[00:55:39] What does that mean? Is God pouring out his wrath into that cup for Jesus to take? Lots of stuff to consider there. Hopefully we'll get into that next week, but I want to emphasize that during the second Temple period, there really is this increased anticipation of the day of the Lord, of the Messianic age, of what we might call an eschatological kingdom coming to earth. And for a lot of the Jews, they were thinking in terms of their, you know, their nation, right? The nation of Israel, within the confines of the land.

[00:56:19] We like to take everything out into the bigger picture... as well we kind of should, and I'm not saying we shouldn't. But we have to try and get in the mind of the ancient person and think about the ways that they were thinking of these things. This is why a lot of people at a lot of times have had a difficult time connecting the Old Testament to the New Testament, especially in regards to the Messiah.

[00:56:44] We've talked before about the Son of Man image and what that means and how that does connect with Daniel seven and some other things. Very Messianic image, but it also goes beyond that into the Old Testament, right? So we have these themes that go through Scripture. But we should not presume that every author has the same ideas in mind when they're talking about something or when they're using a term.

[00:57:13] Alright. I know I beat that drum a lot. I say that a lot. Sorry if I repeat myself too much, but we will just end the episode here with a brief reminder about the idea of wisdom and what is the purpose of that. Like, what does that mean? 

[00:57:32] I think pretty obviously wisdom has a lot to do with the concept of discernment and how do we manage that? How do we live lives of discernment if we're not rooted in this ancient text that is our revelation that is given by God? So if you're wondering what is the point of all this information and how do we deal with that? Like why do I need to know all of this?

[00:57:57] Yes, you can live your life and you can do it the hard way. You can learn the hard lessons by making all of the mistakes yourself and learning from that. And we all do that . It's just part of life. But you can learn wisdom from people who have gone before. And that's hard to do if you can't understand what they're saying in their own literature in the way that they're saying it.

[00:58:24] So my suggestion to you is that yes, you can certainly just kinda live your life and go to church and encounter systematic theology and common ideas there, you know, and those tell you about Jesus and they tell you about his coming and they tell you about your need for a relationship with him. All of those things can be found in many, many places, in many contexts. Many ways you can learn about Jesus and who he is and why he came, and it's this myriad structure, like there's not just simply one answer. But I would encourage you to encourage other people, not to just be content with staying there.

[00:59:07] We are meant to grow. We are meant to mature. We're meant to get beyond our levels of, let's be honest, we're all self-righteous in some way. We need to get beyond that. Understand what it means to live in God's world and see ourselves from the perspective of God as well, who is a forgiving God, who understands that we are in this place of hardship often, and he wants to bring us into relationship with him, but he doesn't force us to do that.

[00:59:42] There's a lot of discernment we need in the world. There's a lot of discernment we need in our lives. And I just would encourage you not to mistake self-righteousness for wisdom. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.

[00:59:57] Like I said, I'm not trying to say that, you know, everybody should drink wine and that it's absolutely fine for anybody, any station, because the other thing about discernment is that we are all in different places and that matters, right? Some people should drink and some people shouldn't, and that's fine. There's no one size fits all label to stick on everybody.

[01:00:21] But it's kinda like the idea that if you view wine from the lens of morality and that's it, then you're not gonna understand how wisdom literature is presenting it in how you can incorporate it into your life in a way that produces flourishing without getting into the drunkenness and the bad things about it. That is wisdom. The way of wisdom.

[01:00:44] And so if wine isn't just a moral thing, but it can include things that involve morality, then I would also say that when Walton talks about order and covenant being the point of the early chapters of Genesis, we don't have to toss out the idea that it's also has something to do with sin and salvation.

[01:01:09] It's just that the narrative of sin and salvation is part of the purposes of God. It is not the whole umbrella of the purposes of God. Anyway, talk much more about Genesis one verses Genesis three later.

[01:01:25] I really hope this episode has been helpful and interesting to you.

[01:01:30] But anyway, we'll be moving back into the flood narrative very soon, and I will probably be getting deeply into the concept of baptism.

[01:01:40] So if you guys have any questions about baptism, if there's any particular things you want to make sure that I highlight or talk about, please do let me know. I love having your questions and feedback to frame my discussion here. So you can contact me either through my website at genesis marks the spot.com, or you can find me on Facebook.

[01:02:06] But actually before I end, I want to ask for prayer from you guys. In particular, I'm trying to think of some ideas and direction to go to help people understand the Bible more from a biblical theology perspective. And I have some interesting ideas and opportunities, but I want to do this correctly. I can't really give you a whole lot of information because it's all kind of up in the air right now, but bigger things might be happening, I don't know, and I'm not sure what those will look like.

[01:02:40] So please pray for guidance for me and pray that I will receive God's wisdom in whatever I am supposed to be doing here.

[01:02:49] Really appreciate all of you and thanks for listening. Thanks for supporting me. Thanks especially to those of you who support me financially. Really appreciate you guys, and I hope that whatever is going to be coming down the road will be of benefit and blessing to you. But with that being said, I will wish you all a blessed week and we will see you later.