Does God care about beer?
Is it even worth discussing as Christian men?
Beer could be a stand-in for any detail of our life—does God care about these little things and how we use them?
How can we order everything we do to him?
Keep this idea in mind as we explore beer in relation to faith in these reflections.
The beer we drink is a barley-based, moderately alcoholic drink, flavored with hops, filtered, and served in bottles and cans.
In the ancient world, however, it was a porridge-like drink made from barley and other grains with fruit used for flavor and yeast added naturally.
It was consumed communally out of a tub with straws.
Although the drink originated in Mesopotamia, not far from Israel, you generally won’t find the word “beer” in the Bible.
Why is that?
You will find something called “strong drink” in our Bible translations, used for the Hebrew shekar, related to the Sumerian word for beer, sikaru.
There were no distilled liquors in the ancient world, so the word clearly refers to beer.
The Hebrews did, in fact, make a porridge-like drink, often made at home by soaking loaves of barley bread in water (see Ecclesiastes 11:1).
Not only this, the Lord actually instructed Israel to offer shekar to him in sacrifice.
The book of Numbers describes how pouring out beer enters into Israel’s daily offerings to God:
It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to the LORD.
Its drink offering shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb; in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD.
The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; like the cereal offering of the morning, and like its drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD” (Numbers 28:6-8).
The purpose of this sacrifice was to give up and offer good things to God to show how he was more important than them, calling Israel to love him above all else.
The Bible also recognizes the role of alcohol as a blessing from God.
Food and drink ultimately come from him as a gift to strengthen us and even to make us happy: “Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart” (Psalm 104:14-15).
Beer, due to its nourishing quality, was seen to promote health: “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress” (Proverbs 31:6).
We all know, however, that too much of a good thing hurts us.
The Bible, therefore, warns us against drinking too much wine and beer.
The prophet Isaiah, for instance, warns, “Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink” (Isaiah 5:22).
And Proverbs tells us something that we all know— that drinking too much causes severe problems: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1).
Both because it’s good and because it can be used to excess, the Bible also speaks of giving it up as a sacrifice.
We see this in God’s command for the priests to abstain from alcohol before entering the tabernacle and also in the Nazarite vow, such as the one taken by John the Baptist (Leviticus 10:9 and Luke 1:15).
God also said he punished Israel by not allowing them to drink wine or beer during their forty years of wandering in the desert (Deuteronomy 29:6).
Either way, whether in celebration or abstinence, the Bible shows us how beer should be used in ways that honor God and to promote our health.
In response to these lesser-known facts about the history of beer and its presence in the Bible, give thanks to God today for the gift of beer that gladdens our hearts.
