”No longer be drinking water, but rather wine a little be using because of the stomach and your frequent strengthlessnesses.”
-Paul jumps here from directives regarding leadership in the church to very specific personal exhortation for Timothy regarding his health. Or lack thereof. In fact, this verse is so far out of the context of what Paul has been saying throughout this letter. Timothy apparently, in sport-terms, was a bit injury-prone. He had some physical issues which challenged his effectiveness and even availability in ministry. Would these have contributed to some of his timidity (to which Paul alludes in 2Timothy 1.7)?
-Clearly, Paul knows Timothy very well, and he cares about Timothy. Timothy was more important than the program - and he felt this from Paul. He knew Paul cared about him. And Paul takes time out from his lengthy tome on church leadership to inject a word of advice for Timothy re his health.
-Apparently, Timothy dealt with some stomach issues. And it was related to water intake. It is hard to imagine that water in and of itself would pose any kind of health challenge to any normal healthy person. Assuming the water is clean. That is no longer an assumption one can make in most parts of the world. Water almost everywhere needs to be purified, or you and I and all God’s people will likewise have “issues”. Now it is not unheard of for locals to build up tolerances to some of the impurities found in their water, such that a visitor could drink the same water which causes no problems for the locals but which would give that visitor some “issues”. It is possible that Timothy was having issues with the drinking water there in Ephesus, and wine would have been a safe alternative for him. It is common advice for travelers in our day to not drink anything but what comes in bottled form.
-It is also possible that there was something else in play, and Dr. Paul was prescribing a little wine in a medicinal sense. The word is oinos - no grape juice here. Paul is definitely talking about an alcoholic beverage. Abuse of oinos leads to drunkenness (cf Luke 7.33-34, Ephesians 5.18, 1Peter 4.3). Wine - as in fermented grape juice - was an integral part of Jewish culture. It was enjoyed in homes and during feasts and festivals and at weddings. It was abstained from temporarily as part of the Nazirite tradition (cf Numbers 6.1-4, 10, 20). There are traditions that try to make a case for this word referring to unfermented grape juice, but this writer believes that position is influenced more by cultural tradition (or family history or even personal taste) than on an honest consideration of the word as used throughout Scripture. What we don’t have here from Paul is a green light for consuming mass quantities of alcohol. Paul is telling Timothy to use a little wine. How much is a little? A glass at dinner? Once a week? Every night? Is there a broader health case to be made here for the masses to observe a modest intake of wine? Quite possibly. But we all must beware the slippery slope. A little here, and a little there, and if you’re not careful, before you know it you have more serious issues. You can be abusing and addicted to a dangerous substance. A danger to yourself as well as to those around you. And now you've come to NEED a program. There is no arguing against that. Some understandably conclude it is best not to mess around with it at all. Wisdom could suggest that. One thing we don’t have here is any blanket prohibition against drinking wine. Is it possible that there was a prevailing culture of abstinence within the Christian church at that time? Yes, although that is uncertain. Is it possible that Paul here is simply granting Timothy an exception? Yes. But it is equally possible that it was Timothy who had chosen to be abstaining from wine (a la the rite of the Nazirite), and Paul here is telling him to stop refraining from it altogether, because, for Timothy at least, there was some health benefit to be gained by drinking a little wine. Not prohibition, but permission. Though not permissiveness, either. Moderation. Liberty, but not license.
-Moderation - in all things. Knowing when to say when (or no) - AND the demonstrated ability to do so. Self-control (a fruit of the Spirit!). Maturity. It is approaching things in a way that keeps first things first and anything else from usurping primary devotion and affection away from the Lord. Certainly, that applies to many things. So many things to which we can give our hearts and for which we can go overboard. Loving and enjoying the thing created - to the minimization of our love for and enjoyment of the Lord. We desire these things more than Him - that’s the greater danger here. For those things which can tend to grab too much of our heart - along with our time and attention - to do just that. Distraction. So, moderation in all things - it helps prevent distraction, the kind of spiritual waywardness which can become a form of idolatry. Spiritual adultery. Ezekiel calls it prostitution. Any time we are aware of an area of weakness - and even when we don’t think we are weak in that area - we need to keep a constant vigilant watch on our souls and do whatever we can (or need to do) in order to make sure that a little wine (or anything else) doesn’t ever become anything more than that.
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