New Wine 101 – Script

Opening Verses
2 “The God who made the earth, the God who forms it to establish it, Yahweh is His name, says this:
3 Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:2-3

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Have you heard there are 4 Feast Days on Yahweh’s Calendar that are called First Fruits?

There is the
First Fruits of Barley
First Fruits of Wheat which is Shavuot or, as some may know it as Pentecost.
First Fruits of New Wine
& First Fruits of New Oil

In this teaching, we will highlight the Feast of New Wine, although you will see all these feast days are very connected in scripture.

What is the Feast of New Wine?

To learn about New Wine, we will start with the archeological fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls reading from the Temple Scroll –
You shall beginning from the day when you bring the new grain offering to YHWH, the bread of the First Fruits, seven weeks, seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh Sabbath. You are to count fifty days, then sacrifice new wine as a drink offering….
…Then the whole people, great and small, may begin to drink of the new wine and to eat grapes from the vines, whether ripe or unripe, for on this day they will make atonement for the wine…
…So the children of Israel are to rejoice before YHWH, this being an eternal statute, from generation after generation, wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice this day in the festival of new wine to pour out a fermented drink offering, New Wine, upon the altar of YHWH, an annual rite. (Temple Scroll – 11Q19-20 cols.19-21)

The Temple Scroll reveals that just as The first fruits of Wheat or Shavuot (Pentecost) is 50 days from the First Fruits of Barley, New Wine is also 50 days or 7 Shabbats count from Shavuot. (Pentecost)

You may be wondering, although we find mention of New Wine in these scroll fragments, is it found in other places in scripture? Yes, we find evidence of New Wine throughout the Torah, Prophets, and other writings. So let’s go through them together.

Even though the first mention is not a direct tie to the observance of the feast day of New Wine, it is noteworthy to mention the first reference of this phrase. Also, this mention occurs in the blessing Isaac bestows upon Jacob, who was later to be called Israel. Reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible-

“May God give to you — from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land an abundance of grain and new wine.” (Genesis 27:28 HCSB)

Next, in Numbers 13:17-24, when Moses sends the spies to Canaan, we have a reference to the time of year in context to the first ripe grapes.
Reading verses 19 & 20 from the scriptures Bible;

19 “and whether the land they dwell in is good or evil, whether the cities they inhabit are in camps or strongholds,
20 and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are forests there or not. And you shall be strong, and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first-fruits of grapes.” (Numbers 13:19&20 TS2009)

Staying within the book of Numbers, we find another reference to New Wine in chapter 18, verses 11-13, also reading from the scriptures Bible;
11 This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Yisra’ĕl. I have given them to you, and your sons and daughters with you, as a law forever. Everyone who is clean in your house eats it.
12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine and the grain – their first-fruits which they give to יהוה – I have given them to you.
13 The first-fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to יהוה, are yours. Everyone who is clean in your house eats it. (Numbers 18:11-13 TS2009)

So the first-fruits were given to the priesthood and their sons and daughters, all who are clean to eat of the first fruits of wine, all which Yahweh has given to you.

We also see a connection to the temple scrolls description of these first fruits mentioned in the book of Nehemiah. In chapter 10, verse 35 states from the KJV
“And to bring the first-fruits of our ground, and the first-fruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the LORD:” (Nehemiah 10:35 KJVA)

and in verse 37

“And that we should bring the first-fruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.” (Nehemiah 10:37 KJVA)

In fact, 9 verses reference this idea of new wine throughout the book of Nehemiah. So it seems that once you start looking for the evidence of a New Wine feast, it starts to show up in many scriptures you may have read for years without notice.

Another mention of New Wine can be found in Deuteronomy chapter 11, starting in verse 13 we read from the Christian Standard Bible,
13 “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul,
14 I will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil.” (Deuteronomy 11:13&14 HCSB)

In this passage from Deuteronomy, we see how this feast is laid out and observed in the physical earthly realm, and we also see how it is echoed in Joel Chapter 2 in a futuristic spiritual fulfillment to come, specifically in verses 23 & 24, reading from the Christian Standard Bible;

23 Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, because He gives you the autumn rain for your vindication. He sends showers for you, both autumn and spring rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and new oil. (Joel 2:21-32 HCSB)

And lastly, in Jeremiah 31 from the Septuagint, we read starting in verse 8;

8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the Passover: and [the people] shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither …

Jumping to verse 12,

12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Tsion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, [even] to a land of wheat, and wine, and oil, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more. (Jeremiah 31:8&12 LXX Septuagint)

How do we know when to observe the Feast of New Wine?

So now we will look at when to observe this day known as New Wine. Our starting point will be from the First Fruits of Wheat or Shavuot; we need to count 50 days according to the Temple Scroll from there to determine our day for New Wine. For this, let’s take a look at the calendar.
[Bring up Zadokite Calendar structure]
There are many calendars people look to; we follow the Zadokite Calendar that uses biblical references, The Dead Sea Scrolls, Jubilees, and Enoch, tying these all together. Look for a future video for more explanation.
You can download a copy of this template from our website—the link will be in the description below.

Here we have Shavuot now count 7 Shabbats, and that following day will be the 50th day in the 5th Month on the 3rd day after the weekly Shabbat. This is the biblical day for the First Fruits of New Wine.

What can observing New Wine look like today?

The Temple Scroll gives us direction as to when and what to do, “…begin to drink the new wine and to eat grapes from the vines, whether ripe or unripe…” and”…the children of Israel are to rejoice before YHWH, this being an eternal statute, from generation after generation, wherever they dwell. They shall rejoice this day in the festival of new wine…”

Simple observance is to gather together where you are, drink of the New Wine and eat of the new grapes of the harvest, and rejoice and praise Yahweh for His goodness and provision in our lives. Take time to gather together and praise Him for His faithfulness and lift up His blessings in prayer. Enjoy the fruit of His vine and the fellowship of others.

For Contemplation (fruit for thought…)

Matthew 9:17
17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.

What Yeshua is conveying in this parable is that the old skin or your old sinful ways cannot contain the inheritance and blessings to come. But through repentance and belief, the old is thrown off and He provides a new skin ready to handle the covenantal blessings He wants to pour into us.

New wine needs a new wineskin because new wine takes time to ferment and mature. Putting the wine in a new wineskin allows the fermentation process the room that is necessary for expansion. This feast is about offering Yahweh the new harvest and celebrating what has been given while throwing off the old that is stiff and immovable and adopting a new skin before the blessings of New Wine can be poured inside.

We leave you with a few questions for contemplation.

First,
What does Yahweh want to show you during this season of New Wine?

Have you replaced the old wine skin with the new so you have the capacity to receive the blessings of New Wine?

Finally, the First Fruits of New Wine was a statue set from generation to generation, so how are you going to walk in his feast day this year?

Proverbs 3:9-10 TS2009
9 Esteem יהוה with your goods, And with the first-fruits of all your increase;
10 Then your storehouses shall be filled with plenty, And your vats overflow with new wine.