10:7
Ignoring the main point for a moment, this verse does make the arguments of some odd folk that the wine in the Bible is non-alcoholic rather vacuous. It does also show that arguments for absolutely no alcohol are rather unbiblical. Getting drunk is absolutely wrong, and there is nothing wrong at all with abstaining from alcohol, and can indeed be a very sensible course of action in some circumstances, but we do need to realise that it is not an absolute. And making absolutes out of non-absolutes is a dangerous road to go down, leading to all the problems associated with legalism. However, back to what the passage is actually on about, which is that joy shall be restored to Ephraim. It is worth remembering that Ephraim were the real bad boys.
10:8
“I shall whistle for them ..” This does invoke images of shepherds with sheepdogs. The point is that God will call and they will respond. Jesus said the sheep would recognise His voice and respond to it (John 10:4,5). God will call us in because He has redeemed us. The calling in of the sheep only really happened after the cross, ie after our redemption. And Israel would be numerous. While the Bible often speaks of remnants, we also need to remember that it often speaks of massive numbers. Not all will be saved, but many, many will be.
Ignoring the main point for a moment, this verse does make the arguments of some odd folk that the wine in the Bible is non-alcoholic rather vacuous. It does also show that arguments for absolutely no alcohol are rather unbiblical. Getting drunk is absolutely wrong, and there is nothing wrong at all with abstaining from alcohol, and can indeed be a very sensible course of action in some circumstances, but we do need to realise that it is not an absolute. And making absolutes out of non-absolutes is a dangerous road to go down, leading to all the problems associated with legalism. However, back to what the passage is actually on about, which is that joy shall be restored to Ephraim. It is worth remembering that Ephraim were the real bad boys.
10:8
“I shall whistle for them ..” This does invoke images of shepherds with sheepdogs. The point is that God will call and they will respond. Jesus said the sheep would recognise His voice and respond to it (John 10:4,5). God will call us in because He has redeemed us. The calling in of the sheep only really happened after the cross, ie after our redemption. And Israel would be numerous. While the Bible often speaks of remnants, we also need to remember that it often speaks of massive numbers. Not all will be saved, but many, many will be.
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