The Black Presence in the Bible
Identity is very important
More secure in my spiritual when it affirms my identity & I find my roots Biblically
Black people have had our identity stolen
Spiritually:
Gal 3:26-28. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Col 3:10-11. [We] have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Jesus’ story begins with His genealogy
Phil 3:4-5. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:
5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee.
This is important for Evangelism – especially to men
1 Peter 3:15. Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.
We must be able to respond to these questions & criticism of Christianity:
“The Bible is a White man’s book”
No! The Bible is a book of Color
It is difficult to find Caucasians in the scripture
“The King James’ Version of the Bible was tampered with”
· King James authorized an English translation in 1611
· Ethiopian Bible was translated into Ge’ez in the 4th century
There are no substantial differences in the translations
“The Bible has been used by racist to support their positions”
Gal 1:6-8
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be cursed.
“Islam is the natural religion of the Black man”
Elijah Muhammed wrote in “Message to the Black Man in America”
“Do not tell us that you have unity and peace in the white race’s religion called Christianity… Many of you sing, “Give me that old time religion.” Islam is that “old time religion.”
1. Jesus was born 570 years before Mohammed
2. Blacks were Christians 600 years before they were Muslims
A Black man was one of the first Christian converts & missionaries – Acts 8:26-39
Blacks were leaders of the Church Acts 13:1-3
Lamin Sanneh, Assistant Professor at Harvard University, in his book “West African Christianity,” documents that Christianity reached West Africa prior to West Africans coming to America as slaves. He also states that the role of missionaries “has too often been exaggerated.”
3. Blacks in Africa were studying the Bible & building churches before Mohammed was ever born
The Judeo-Christian Bible is older than the Qur’an. The Qur’an borrows from the Bible.
4. Islam has a racist history of enslaving Blacks
The Arab Muslims were the first nations to target Blacks for slavery. In Islamic law, it is illegal for a true Muslim to hold another Muslim in slavery. W.E.B. DuBois stated that many Blacks converted to Islam in order to receive favorable treatment in Arab-Muslim ruled countries.
If you reject Christianity because of the history of racism in its institutions
You must reject Islam for its historic racism as well
Does the Bible teach that Black people, descendants of Ham, are cursed?
Gen 9:25. "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren."
Shem
Cush (Ethiopians, Sudanese)
Mizraim(Egyptians)
Noah Ham Put(Cyrenians, Libyans)
Canaan(Hivittes, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, etc.)
Japheth
Ham was the ancestor of Black & African peoples all over the world
How did Ham become Black? The Premise is Wrong!
That assumes that people were White to begin with
Medical & genetic research confirms that for Noah to have a dark son,
Noah had color
The first peoples were peoples of color – Biblically & scientifically
Man was made from the dirt – Gen 2:7
· Adam: man
· Adama: ground, soil, earth
· Adom: red
· Edom: proper name for red
o Gen 25:30. Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew,
for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom.
“The Search for Adam & Eve” – Newsweek, January 11, 1988
Eve is not the “milk-skinned beauty in Renaissance art.”
“The scientists’ Eve was more likely a dark-haired, black-skinned woman.”
The African ancestry of the human race is now generally accepted as a fact by scientist, anthropologist and scholars.
Look again at the locations of the Rivers flowing out of the Garden of Eden:
Gen 2:10-14
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. NASU
Cush & Havilah were sons of Ham
Gen 10:6-7
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
“If Black is the root, then so is the fruit!”
The first empire builder was a Cushite
Gen 10:6-12
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord." 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
(Mesopotamia)
Most Bible characters are Semitic, dusky, olive-skinned children of Shem
The descendants of Ham had much more interaction with the Israelites (Semites) than did the descendants of Japheth (from whom white people are descended).
Ways to Identify Children of Ham in the Bible:
Note: the name ‘Africa’ is not in the Bible
Ethiopia in the Bible does not refer to the modern nation of Ethiopia, but to the land south of Egypt, and in part of Asia
1. Names and adjectives:
Biblical names are descriptive
· Cush (Hebrew) – black
· Ethiopia (Greek) – dark faced
· Kedar – dark
· Phinehas – the Nubian (Ex 6:25; Num 25:11; Judg 20:28)
Personal names became People names became Place names:
· Canaan (person), Canaanites (people), Canaan (place)
· Cush (person), Cushite (peoples), Cushan (place)
· Tahpanhes: “Palace of the Nubian” – Jer 43:7
Adjectives:
· Moses’ wife is called “a Cushite woman” – Num 12:1
· The Ethiopian Eunuch – Acts 8:27
· Simeon the Prophet is called “Niger” (dark complexioned) – Acts 13:1
2. Look at the Family Tree:
Identify Black through their ancestors – Cush, Put, Sheba, etc.
· Bathsheba – daughter of Sheba 2 Sam 11:3
· Prophet Zephaniah’s father was named “Cushi” – Zeph 1:1
3. Locations / Maps
Identify the lands where a people lived or were born
· Simon a Cyrenian (carried the cross of Christ) – Mark 15:21
· Lucius of Cyrene – Acts 13:1
4. Bible Aids, i.e., Dictionary, Concordance, Handbook, Commentary, Atlas
5. Historical, Cultural, Archeological & Scientific References
Books
Most Bible characters are Semitic – dusky, olive-skinned children of Shem. The dark-skinned descendants of Ham are found in the scriptures from Genesis to Revelations, and had much more interaction with the Israelites (Semites) than did the descendants of Japheth (the ancestral father of the Caucasians).
It’s clear that the Bible recognizes the Ethiopian or Cushite as Black
Jer 13:23
Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? NLT
Egypt is clearly identified as descendants of Ham
Ps 78:50-51
He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the plague, 51 And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Ps 105:23
Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.
Ps 105:26-27
He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They performed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.
Ps 106:21-22
They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, awesome things by the Red Sea.
Blacks in The Old Testament
Gen 10:6-12 Nimrod, the first empire builder
Gen 16:1 Hagar, of Egypt
Gen 23 4 The sons of Heth, the grandsons of Ham
Gen 23:10 Ephron, the Hitite
Gen 38 Shua & Tamar, Canaanites
Gen 41:45 Asenath, Joseph’s wife
Ex 3:1 Jethro, priest of Midian & Moses’ father-in-law
Ex 12:38 A Mixed Multitude came out of Egypt
Num 10:28 Hobab, Moses’ in-law
Num 12:1 Zipporah, Moses’ wife
Josh 2:1 Rahab
Judg 3:8 King Cushan-Rishathaim of Mesopotamia
Judg 8:31 Gideon’s concubine, from Shechem
2 Sam 11:3 Bathsheba & Uriah
2 Sam 18:21 The Cushite messenger
1 Kings 3:1, 7:8 King Solomon marries the daughter of Pharaoh
1 Kings 10:1-10 The Queen of Sheba
1 Kings 14:25 Shishak, king of Egypt
1 Kings 16:31-33 Jezebel of Sidon, wife of King Ahab
2 Kings 19:9: Is 37:9 King Tirhakan of Ethiopian
2 Chron 14:9-15; 16:8 Zerah of Ethiopia
Sol 1:5-6 The Shulamite
Jer 36:14 Jehudi
Jer 38:7-13 Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian saves the prophet, Jeremiah
Zeph 1:1 Zephaniah, the prophet, the son of Cushi
Blacks in The New Testament
Matt 1:3-6 Tamar, Rahab & Bathsheba
Matt 2:1-12 The Wise Men
Matt 10:4; Mark 3:8 The Disciple Simon, the Canaanite
Matt 15:21-28 The Canaanite woman with the demonized daughter
Matt 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26 Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross
Acts 2:10-12 Proselytes to Judaism
Acts 8:26-39 The Ethiopian Eunuch
Acts 11:20 Disciples from Cyrene
Acts 13:1 Simeon the Niger & Lucius of Cyrene
Acts 18:24 Apollos
Rom 16:13 Rufus