 Bottom |
Burning Coal |
Biblical Black History
(Genesis 10:6-12) The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
Black History Month is upon us, and I have been asked to add my thoughts. And so here are my thoughts: Cush, a son of Ham, is the father of Nimrod who is responsible for the establishment of civilization in the cradle of civilization. Racial history makes Ham out to be black. Are we to assume that Noah had three sons by one mother and the three are three different races? Is it not interesting that Israel sits in the meeting place of three continents with three distinct races, but the inhabitants of the Middle East do not appear to be distinctly any one, but rather a mix of the three. Or is this the fountainhead from which three distinct races flow, as a part of the emanation of Babel.
“for history is written by the victors and framed according to the prejudices and bias existing on their side.” (former Confederate Senator George Graham Vest, from Missouri. 1891).
“History is written by the victors” is a sentiment widely spoken by various thinkers throughout the ages. It is particular popular among the losers, such as Vest above, or Hermann Göring during the Nuremberg trials. The Bible, as we know it, is written by the children of Israel, or in some cases, such as Luke, by close friends of the children of Israel. In itself, it is not shaded to favor any race in particular, even if Old Testament providence favors Israel. Most racial characterization in the Bible is added by later interpreters.
Therein lies the rub. Interpretation of Biblical history is filtered through the dominant strain of Christianity, European, and here in America, Northern European Reformed Christianity. Very few paintings of Christ Jesus depict someone who appears to be Middle Eastern. Theology, too, has been filtered through a Greco-Roman framework. The result is that many people think of Christianity as a White religion. It is not. The biography of Malcolm X records his shock when he realizes that Islam is not a Black religion. I only wish that he had been able to see Christianity, dating back to the time of the first apostles, is still alive and vibrant in India, and in Africa. He abandoned his Christian roots because of the un-Christian attitudes of White Christians.
(Exodus 12:37-38) Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.
Have you ever noticed this: when Israel leaves Egypt, a “mixed multitude” comes with them. The NET Bible includes this footnote: “The ‘mixed multitude’… refers to a great ‘swarm’… of folk who joined the Israelites, people who were impressed by the defeat of Egypt, who came to faith, or who just wanted to escape Egypt (maybe slaves or descendants of the Hyksos).” Not everyone who is Israel is racially, or ethnically Israel. Egypt is in Africa, not Europe. Just sayin'…
(Zechariah 14:16) Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Jerusalem is holy ground for three great religions: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It looks eastward to Asia, southward to Africa, and north to Europe. Racially the region is extremely mixed. Trading routes have stretched from the Middle East throughout the Mediterranean , east along the Silk Road and south along the East coast of Africa. Conquering armies have arrived from all three directions.
Jesus Christ is neither Black nor White. He is Black, and he is White, and he is Asian. Following Christ means that our history is a celebration of the work of God in the Ethiopians who flocked to Christ, the Greeks and Romans who bowed the knee, Thomas's apostolic church in India. All share equally and without reserve in Jesus Christ. For those who think that one drop of Black blood makes a person Black, well then Jesus is Black. Praise the Lord.