Wineskin in the Smoke!

“Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.” – Psalm 119:83 NASB

This is a weird looking phrase. “Wineskin in the smoke.” What does it really mean? What’s a wineskin? 

In the days we call Bible times, they had two primary ways to carry liquids around. They didn’t have plastic jugs and bags like we do today. They used clay jars and leather bags. Remember,  leather is made of cows or pigs skins. 

One main similarity in leather bags and clay jars is that they hay to be cured, literally cooked. Jars were placed inside a hot oven, directly over the heat source, which dried and solidified the clay, making it much harder to crack and break.  It also helped the jar hold its shape. Cooking the clay ensured that the clay didn’t absorb any of the liquid that was placed in it. 

Leather bags,  wineskins, received a slightly different style of cooking. Rather than a closed heat source, they were placed over something resembling today’s open grill. A few inches further from the heat source, but most or all of the smoke from this fire was funneled to come in direct contact with this skin. I can imagine the fire was big and hot which made for a lot of smoke. 

Like the clay jars, this ensured that the leather didn’t absorb any of the juice or liquid placed inside the bag. 

God brings trials and testings into our lives to grow us and mold us and teach us. 

“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.”  – Philippians 4:11 NASB

Bryce Reynolds,  a man I grew up knowing and who has passed on to glory already, would quote this verse from his old King James Bible he loved so much, and he told my dad (his pastor) “I’m sure glad Paul had to learn it, cause I did too.”

God is always teaching us, preparing us for His plans for us.  It’s not always fun. Sometimes, it feels like God is cooking us. It gets hot and there’s pressure and pain in places we didn’t know about, I’m not necessarily talking about physical pain here. It could be emotional, spiritual, circumstantial (where God brings situations and circumstances that seem to be unbeneficial to us).

The main reason for this testing God brings us is talked about in the second half of the verse “…, I do not forget Your statutes.” So I’ll finish up with a couple questions to think about. 

Do we pass God’s testing? Do we remain faithful to God in His Bible when times get tough, or do we throw it all away and scream “it’s too hard”? Do we wait patiently, allowing God to teach us, purge us, grow us, finish us, purify us? Or do we try to jump out of the pillar of smoke and pray for an easier way?