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1 Timothy 5:23
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23 Drink [hudropoteo] no longer [meketi] water, [hudropoteo] but [alla] use [chraomai] a little [oligos] wine [oinos] for [dia] thy [sou] stomach's sake [stomachos] and [kai] thine [sou] often [puknos] infirmities. [astheneia] KJV-Interlinear
23 No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. NASB
We have a brief peek into the life of Timothy. He apparently went full bore into preserving his lifestyle, so that he would not be a target for gossip or accusation, and as such he tried to keep himself as pure as is possible, even to the point of not drinking alcoholic beverages.
This, asceticism, is not the intent of Bible instruction. You purity is in the soul, not in the body or anything that you do in life. Your life habits will grow out of your beliefs, and out of doctrine as you learn it, but the spiritual life is from what you learn, and does not come out of what you do.
By implication, the water in the ancient world was not the purest. One could catch all kinds of diseases or illnesses from drinking only water.
And so Paul tells Timothy, and you and me, that we need to use some common sense when taking medicinal treatments for our various ailments.
A little wine (medicine or treatment) is not a sin, but is in fact good for you. However, wine here is used in the sense of medicinal treatment, and not for social consumption. Jesus drank wine in social settings, for meals and so forth.
Only when you drink too much, do you cross the line of drunkenness and sin.
Likewise, Timothy does not pray for the cure for his stomach ailments. He takes something that is readily available for his ailment. And so too, we have the principle for seeking medical help when we are in need of it.
Some folks think that they can pray and receive some kind of miracle cure for whatever it is that they have. However, God has already answered those prayers by providing many of the medical solutions that are available today. We have modern medicines, hospitals, doctors galore, professional help, resources for intervention, and more. So do not ignore the many things that are already available.
How does this broader principle apply here? Paul told Timothy to use whatever is necessary for his ‘often infirmities,’ ‘puknos astheneia.’ This is a plural reference to all sorts of human ailments of the mind and body (mental and physical), which includes but is not limited to disease, infirmities, sickness, weakness and so forth. And these apply to both the mental and the physical. Any kind of ailment you can think of, is covered here.
And since we know that wine in small doses is not the cure for most ailments, then we should understand that the wine reference is used only as an example. There were medicines and treatments back then, and so too we are no different except that we just have more options today.
For those who ignore their options for help, then that is a violation of this principle of common sense, and a slap in Gods face, who in effect has provided all of the options that we have.
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