Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come ye, buy and eat, yea come, buy wine and milk without silver (Isa. 55:1). And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down must, and the hills shall flow with milk (Joel 3:18; Amos 9:13-14). And joy is taken away from Carmel, and in the vineyards there shall be no singing; wine shall not be trodden in the wine-press, I have made their shouting to cease (Isa. 16:10; Jer. 48:32-33). By "Carmel" is signified the spiritual church, because vineyards were there. [2] Howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the must; for it is cut off from your mouth; howl, O ye vine dressers (Joel 1:5, 10-11). Nearly the same words occur in Hosea 9:2-3; Zephaniah 1:13; Lamentations 2:11-12; Micah 6:15; Amos 5:11; Isaiah 24:6-7, 9, 11. He washeth his garments in wine and his covering in the blood of grapes; his eyes are red from wine (Gen. 49:11-12). These things are concerning the Lord; "wine" signifies Divine truth. This is the reason why the Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord, in which the bread signifies the Lord as to the Divine good, and the wine the Lord as to the Divine truth, and with the recipients the bread signifies holy good, and the wine, holy truth, from the Lord; therefore He said:

I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine, until the day when I shall drink it with you in My Father's kingdom (Matt. 16:29; Luke 22:18). Because "bread and wine" had this signification, therefore, also:

Melchizedek, going to meet Abram, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God, and he blessed Abram (Gen. 14:18-19). [3] Similar is the signification of the meal-offering and drink-offering, in the sacrifices, concerning which see Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:12, 13, 18, 19; Numbers 15:2-15; 28:6, 7, 18, to the end; 29:1-7, and the following verses. The meal offering was of fine flour of wheat, and was therefore instead of bread, and the drink-offering was of wine. From which it may appear what is signified by these words of the Lord:

Neither do men put new wine into old bottles, but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved (Matt. 9:17; Luke 5:37). "New wine" is the Divine truth of the New Testament, thus of the new church, and "old wine" is the Divine truth of the Old Testament, thus of the old church. Similar is the signification of these words of the Lord at the marriage in Cana of Galilee:

Every man at first setteth forth good wine, and when men have had enough, the worse; thou hast kept the good wine until now (John 2:1-10). [4] The like is also signified by "wine" in the Lord's parable of the man that was wounded by robbers, that:

The Samaritan poured oil and wine into his wounds (Luke 10:33-34). For by him that was "wounded by robbers," are meant they who are spiritually wounded by the Jews by evils and falsities, to whom the Samaritan gave assistance "by pouring in oil and wine" into his wounds, that is, by teaching good and truth, and, so far as he was able, by healing. Holy truth is also signified by "must" and "wine" in other parts of the Word (as in Isaiah 1:21, 22; 25:6; 36:17; Hosea 7:4, 5, 14; 14:6-8; Amos 2:8; Zechariah 9:15, 17; Psalms 104:14, 15). Hence it is that "a vineyard," in the Word, signifies a church that is in truths from the Lord. [5] That "wine" signifies holy truth, may also appear from its opposite sense, in which it signifies truth falsified and profaned; as in these passages:

Whoredom, and wine, and must, occupy the heart. Their wine has failed, they have committed whoredom continually (Hos. 4:11, 17-18). "Whoredom" signifies the falsification of truth, as do "wine and must" here. In the hand of Jehovah is a cup, and He hath mixed it with wine; He hath filled it with mixture, and poureth it out, and the dregs of it all the wicked of the earth suck out and drink (Ps. 75:8). Babylon is a cup of gold in the hand of Jehovah that maketh all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore they are insane (Jer. 2:7). Babylon hath fallen, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the anger of her whoredom. If anyone adore the beast, he shall drink of the wine of the anger of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of the anger of God (Rev. 14:8-10). Babylon hath made all nations drink of the wine of her whoredom (Rev. 18:3). Great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fury of the anger of God (Rev. 16:19). The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her whoredom (Rev. 17:1-2). [6] By the wine which Belshazzar, king of Babylon, and his magnates, and wives, and concubines, drank out of the vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, and at the same time:

They praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone (Dan. 5:2-4). Nothing else is meant than the holy truth of the Word and of the church profaned. Wherefore the writing then appeared upon the wall, and the king was slain that night (verses 25, 30). "Wine" signifies truth falsified also in Isaiah 5:11, 12, 21, 22; 28:1, 3, 7; 29:9; 56:11, 12; Jeremiah 13:12; 23:9, 10. The same is signified by the drink-offering which they offered to idols (Isaiah 65:11; 57:6; Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19; Ezekiel 20:28; Deuteronomy 32:38). That "wine" signifies holy truth, and, in the opposite sense, truth profaned, is from correspondence; for the angels, who perceive all things spiritually, understand nothing else, when man reads "wine" in the Word; such a correspondence is there between the natural thoughts of men and the spiritual thoughts of angels. It is similar with the wine in the Holy Supper, and hence it is, that introduction into heaven is effected by the Holy Supper (n. 224, at the end).