Dear Kerugma Friend,
We, at Kerugma Productions, are excited about the picture shown above. (Please accept our apologies for the copyright signs on the picture. We do not want the photo to circulate before it is published.) It was taken while we were doing an experiment at a wine estate for the book which we are working on, called, What Wine did Jesus Make and Why? Before explaining this picture to you, we will first give information regarding the two free DVDs we are making available weekly.
Two free DVDs every Week
Initially we intended sending out two free DVDs only for the first three weeks during the first lockdown. When the lockdown was extended, we felt the Lord was leading us to continue editing and sending out the free DVDs, which we continued doing untill now. However, as we were seeking the Lord’s will in this, it became clear that we should stop doing it at this stage. Therefore the week ending Sunday 15 August 2021 will be the last time we distribute free DVDs. But it will not be the last time that DVDs of this nature will be available.
Neil Olwagen of the Christian Community Ministry in Stanford recently started with a new series of 7 messages about the letters from Jesus Christ to the 7 churches in Revelation 2 & 3. The first two we have already sent out as free DVDs. God willing we plan to film and edit the rest of the series as well as an English DVD that will be made available. This will not necessarily be weekly, but whenever we have a video ready. It is therefore not the last time that you will receive free DVDs from us! (There are now many DVDs on the “Kerugma Productions” YouTube channel which you can watch at any time.).
The Lord arranged Neil and our paths to cross before the lockdown, after which we produced DVDs of two of his messages. When the lockdown was announced, we realised that the Lord wanted us to set up the cameras in his lounge for him to film himself, so that there could be messages for the church during the three weeks. What followed is a wonderful story of what took place in the midst of a pandemic.
There is a wonderful history connected to the filming of each person with whom we have produced DVDs through the years. DVDs which are of course available on our website at www.kerugma.org
We had not previously made our products available free of charge, but during Covid, with no in-person church services allowed, this happened spontaneously. As a ministry living by faith we trusted the Lord to move in the hearts of his children, who would benefit from these DVDs, to contribute towards the costs involved in producing the DVDs.
When we say that we are living by faith, it means that we never know in the beginning of the month if we will have enough to cover everything for that month. We thank the Lord for everyone who has supported us financially every month through the years in obedience to the Lord. It is however a fact that what we usually receive every month is just a small percentage of our monthly expenses. We ask that you please pray with us that the Lord will give us more people that will support this ministry on a monthly basis.
Should Kerugma make all our DVDs freely available on YouTube?
Since making our DVDs available on the “Kerugma Productions’” YouTube channel, we have received some interesting reactions. In our next newsletter we can talk more about that, but one general comment is that people would like us to have all Kerugma’s DVDs on Youtube to be made available, free of charge. We are praying about that new challenge. Thank you for praying that the Lord will show us what His will is for us concerning this.
If you type in “Kerugma Productions” on Youtube (you will be on the Kerugma Channel). Click on the “Subscribe” button. You will not receive anything for doing that, but it will help us in the sense that our position on Youtube will improve and more people will then discover our DVDs.
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The “Eye” in the above picture
Since we announced some time ago that I was working on a book about What Wine did Jesus Make and Why? we have received enquiries regarding it. The lockdown has hampered our progress with everything, including the book. But it was also good, because I had to get more clarity regarding certain issues. One of those being the translation from the original Hebrew of Proberbs 23:31. The NKJV translates it as follows:
Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly.
During lockdown we had time to do a few experiments. Experiments from which we learned a great deal about ancient wine making techniques. It is of course very different from the techniques involved in producing the wines of today. The problem for me was that the translation of Proverbs 23:31 in all the Bibles that I could lay my hands on, made no sense at all. In Hebrew we find the word “eye” (ayin) in that verse, but also in two verses before and one following that one. In those verses we read:
Verse 26: My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes (ayin) observe my ways ...
Verse 29: Who has redness of eyes? (ayin)?
Verse 33: Your eyes (ayin) will see strange things.
The same word ayin appears also in verse 31, but each and every Bible translates it in a way that means everything except “eye”. Nowhere could I find a Bible that translates the word ayin in Proverbs 23:31 as “eye”. Different translations just omitted the word. And the rest of the translation of the verse was equally unclear. What was it that Solomon said?
These questions compelled us to go to the nearby wine estate of the Dreyer family, Raka Wines, to hear if they could help us to press grapes and to allow fermentation to take place as was done in Biblical times. The farm manager, Pieter, and his brother, the winemaker, Josef, were immediately ready to help us. What an experience it was!
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From the grapes that were offloaded at the cellar, Pieter put some in a basin. Marina kicked off her shoes and treaded the grapes as was done in antiquity. Pieter poured the ‘must’ (as they call the juice) through a bunch of treaded stems that he took from the basin, into a bucket. This was how they filtered the ‘must’ in antiquity in Israel.
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We were amazed to see how effective the stems were in filtering the ‘must’, because the juice that was poured into the bucket was quite clear of grape skins and stems. Then Pieter added the same amount of water to the pressed grapes, as the amount of ‘must’ that was drained into the bucket. This Marina treaded again, which Pieter also drained with the stems and poured it into a second bucket.
The first bucket’s ‘must’ is the so called “royal wine” (Esther 1:7) or first grade wine that was made in antiquity. This is what was called in John 2:10 the “good wine” that was served, mixed with four parts of water, at the beginning of the seven day marriage feast. The ‘must’ in the second bucket is the second grade wine known as posca and described in John 2:10 as the “inferior wine” or wine of “inferior quality”. This second grade wine, mixed with three parts of water, is the wine that was served during the rest of the feast, once the “first grade wine, served on the first day, was finished.
Marina and I then went to Raka daily, to film the two buckets of fermenting ‘must’ for a few minutes each day, to see if we could learn anything from it. On the seventh day when we lifted the cloths, we were astonished, as it looked as if the bucket had suddenly become alive. It’s contents looked us straight in the eye! And we could not believe our eyes! What you see on the picture above are the eyes with which the ‘must’ “looked” at us. I believe this is what Solomon referred to when he wrote:
Do not look at the wine when it has turned red, when it is giving it’s eye in the reservoir and is being drawn off carefully. (Own literal translation).
Right in the beginning, when the ‘must’ was filtered through the stems, it had a pinkish red colour. Since then we could not really see the colour, as it was covered with a layer of fermenting foam. But now we could see the ‘must’ again through these “eyes”. It now had a deep red colour and on top of that there were these bubbles that looked like human eyes. It was almost too good to be true! The discovery of these “eyes” was a huge breakthrough because it helped us to understand more fully about winemaking in antiquity and what Solomon was referring to. We knew that the ‘must’ had to ferment untill it had to be drawn off carefully into earthen jars, amphorae and wineskins. All the little pieces that were not filtered out were now at the bottom and at a specific stage the ‘must’ had to be separated from these dregs. If this did not happen at the right time, the ‘lees’ would spoil the taste and smell of the ‘must’ (Ref. Jeremiah 48:11-12). Now we learned that when the ‘must’ gave this “eye”, it was time to separate the ‘must’ from the ‘lees’. It had to be done carefully to prevent the sediment from mixing with the ‘must’ again. After this, fermentation continues, until it is fermented “dry”. In antiquity, during the few days that it was drawn off until it was finally fermented “dry”, they called it “new wine” (Matthew 9:17).
I just want to make it clear that this wine smelled and tasted awful. I put my finger in the ‘must’ and tasted a drop of it and it felt like a snake had bitten me on my tongue. Pieter Dreyer did the same and said, “Yuk, this ‘must’ tastes awful!” Even the following day that bad taste was still in my mouth. Then I understood what Solomon meant by saying in the next verse: “At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper” (Proverbs 23:32). In stark contrast to today’s red wine with its up to 15% alcohol content, this first grade wine only contained 6% alcohol. However, in antiquity it was not drunk undiluted, but was diluted with three to four parts of water. The wine, or rather the alcohol in the water, served to disinfect their water. In the same way municipalities these days purify our drinking water by adding chlorine to the water. In antiquity they also added sweeteners like honey and other things to improve the taste of the water, that they called “wine” (yayin or oinos).
We hope this will give you a little foretaste of what is to come to inspire you to pray for us regarding this work. We believe it will lead people into a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jesus Who changed water into wine, knowing that the wine prophetically pointed towards “something” that the wedding guests would not understand at that time. He revealed His glory that day by creating wine which pointed to His blood that He would shed on the cross, to purchase people for His Father.
The Lord Jesus paid the price for each of us with His blood. Do you believe in Him?
In His Name,
Naas and Marina le Roux
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Kerugma Productions is a faith venture that spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ by means of high quality media productions. As a faith venture Kerugma Productions depends financially only on the Lord that called this ministry into life. Through the years He provided for Kerugma through the free will offerings of those that benefited spiritually from Kerugma’s DVDs (Galatians 6:6). Hence Kerugma is supported by the prayers and donations of the viewers of our DVDs. If the Lord leads you to support this ministry financially, you are welcome to use the “Donate” button on our website (www.kerugma.org) or to email us for the banking details of Kerugma Productions.
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