BLESSING IN THE CLUSTER 

 Ancient Refrigerators 

From a message by a Curious Questioner--

>CQ> Subject: Re: WAS THE WINE OF THE L

>CQ> If it wasn't alcoholic, then how did they keep the grape juice fresh?
First, the word "wine" (as in the original subject line) is -not- found in any of the Bible accounts of the Lord's supper. What they had was a "cup" with "the -fruit- of the vine". It is a lot easier to keep a CLUSTER of grapes fresh underwater, than to keep "grape juice" fresh. Luke provides us with some additional information that Matthew, Mark and Paul (in 1Corinthians) don't mention. The Cup is mentioned -before- Jesus blessed and brake the bread:

"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and -divide- it among yourselves:" (Lk.22:17)

He then apparently took the bread, blessed and brake it while the cup was being passed from one to the other with each taking some grapes. Jesus then gave each a piece of the bread, speaking the things he said. Mean while the cup had been passed back to him:

"This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is -shed- for you"; He squeezed the remaining grapes to -shed- "the pure blood of the grape" (Deut.32:14p;) and he said, Drink -ye- all of it. They all then, of course, would have had grape stains on their hands, even Judas! (It was after Pilate -washed- his hands, claiming to be innocent of the blood, that Judas went out and hanged himself.)

Alcoholic wine from grape juice CORRUPTED by leavened fermentation is -not- a fit symbol of the precious incorruptible blood of Christ.

(See later messages for NonRefrigeration food preservation methods.)
>CQ> Without refrigeration!
Refrigeration WAS in use as far back as the early Greeks and Romans. Of course they didn't have fancy electric refrigerator/freezers like some have today, but they had natural methods of refrigeration:
"Until the advent of modern technology, natural -ice- was the only means of refrigeration. Ice acts as an efficient refrigerant because the temperature of melting ice remains at 0C(32F) until it is entirely melted. It absorbs heat from warmer surroundings, thereby cooling them while not itself becoming warmer until completely melted. Since the time of the Greeks and Romans, -snow- and -ice- were harvested in winter and stored in insulated pits for later use." (--"refrigeration", Grolier encyclopedia)
Mount Hermon in Israel is usually SNOW capped throughout the year. Underground springs fed from melting snow can be quite FRIGID, and the Jordan river is fed by such springs. My brother and I went scuba diving in an Indiana(USA) limestone quarry that had been flooded when a shaft exposed an underground spring. (Water transfers heat about 25 times faster than air, especially flowing water:) We were only -shivering- at the bottom of that shaft for a few seconds watching the needle on my wrist thermometer about to go below 38F when we both, face to face, pointed with the "GO UP" hand sign! :)

(-6 Please see Winter Fruit next. Thanks. :)


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