"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17: NIV)
During the decades of the Fifties and Sixties, there were various hate groups operating in America spewing out venomous and hateful speech that attempted to portray people of color as somehow inferior to white people. One such group called themselves the White Citizens Council. They had chapters in many places, and I mainly remember the one that operated in Montgomery, Alabama. One day while I was helping some customers in our school supply store, one of these people came in carrying a stack of crudely printed handbills advertising their campaign against "Negroes". He saw me having a friendly conversation with a group of Black teachers, and he pushed his offensive material down in front of them and quickly left before anyone could challenge the ignorant statements on the his handout. Then I found myself apologizing for the behavior of this supposed superior person.
Evolutionists are responsible for much of the misunderstanding and racial prejudice that is in the world. Proponents of this theory reject the Bible account of creation by God Almighty. Their explanations that people have been evolving from lower life forms over a period of millions of years give a place in peoples thinking that some human groups are not as developed as others. This view of humans conveniently compartmentalizes people into racial groups. This has led some Fascist organizations to exploit other people by promoting the idea of a Master or Super Race of people. They promote the idea that the darkest colored people are the lowest form of humans, and people with the least color are the most superior.
The Bible does not divide human beings into races. That idea did not come from God, but is an invention of man that promotes ignorance, fear and distrust among people of different cultural backgrounds. All human beings descend from Noah and his children. Genesis chapter ten gives a very precise record of the beginning of the human family following the Flood. The Bible contains the story of hope and great potential for all humans.
Not long after the Flood, people were living together and all speaking the same language. They began to devise schemes that displeased God. God dispersed people throughout the world by confusing the languages. People were divided up by languages, not the color of their skin. At this time, most of them would most likely have been brown skinned.
The idea that the Bible prohibits a person marrying someone who is of a different color group is far from the truth. The evolutionary idea of racial groups is largely responsible for people thinking that it is dangerous to marry someone who is a different color. God wants his people to live holy and separate lives. This has nothing to do with what color the skin happens to be of the holy people. Holy people can have different color skin, hair color and eyes. The idea that some people are black because of a curse put on Ham is not found in the Bible.
When the descendants of Israel entered the land of Canaan, God commanded that they should avoid intermarriage with people who were then living there because of their practices of idolatry. God knew that the result would be that Israel would adopt the practices of the Canaanite families. This command had nothing to do with the color of their skin. Their skin color was probably all the same.
The New Testament book of Matthew gives the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah. Two names of women in this history belong to people descended from Ham – Rahab and Ruth. The fact that they are mentioned here proves that their marriage to an Israelite was approved by God. God wanted his people to marry believers. God wants Christians to marry other believers who might happen to have different color eyes, hair or skin. The culture of faith is the most important factor in building good families.
There is only one Gospel plan of salvation which is being proclaimed to all people on earth. All human beings belong to the same family. We have all descended from the man Noah who survived the great flood along with his family. The Bible contains the true history of the human family. Every detail is not given, since the Bible primarily deals with man's fallen condition and how man can come back into a blissful saved relationship with God. Jesus commanded: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15b-16 NIV) This message is to be preached without prejudice toward any person. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 KJV)
You are invited to all services of the Cedar Key Church of Christ. Write me with any comments or questions at PO Box 186, Cedar Key, FL 32625 or binkley@bellsouth.net. | 