Influential Black People in the Bible - Oneness Embraced Book Excerpt Reading by Tony Evans, 5

[Music] one of the reasons to learn about the black presence in the bible is to give black people a divinely oriented sense of pride and to inform white people about how blacks have contributed to god's kingdom program in history let me read from my book one is embraced on influential blacks in the bible the sons of ham noah's son ham had four sons cush misream put and kanan kush was the progenitor of the ethiopian people this is validated by the fact the names cush and ethiopia are used interchangeably in scripture genesis 2 13 10 6. misram was the progenitor of the egyptian people who are understood in scripture to have been a hermitic people and thus african psalm 78 51 psalm 103 23 26 and 27. also psalm 106 verses 21 and 22 put with the progenitor of libya and canaan was the progenitor of the canaanites one of the most problematic foes of god's chosen people the israelites nimrod of particular importance is the powerful old testament figure nimrod the descendant of cush who ruled in the land of shinar genesis 10 8 to 10 and 11 2. nimrod eventually became the father of two of the greatest empires in the bible and in world history assyria and babylonia he was the first great leader of a world civilization genesis 10 11-12 he led all the people on earth and served as earth's protector nimrod's presence and accomplishments confirmed the unique and early leadership role black people played in world history the tribe of ephraim hemetic people were crucial to the program of god throughout old testament biblical history joseph's wife an egyptian woman genesis 41 verse 45 and verses 50 to 52 was the mother of manasseh and ephraim who later became leaders of jewish tribes in fact the tribe of ephraim produced one of the greatest leaders israel ever had moses's successor joshua numbers 13 8 and first chronicles 7 22-27 this jewish african link is very strong in scripture the prophet amos said are you not as the sons of ethiopia to me o sons of israel declares the lord amos 9 7 caleb caleb was the son of jeff nye the canninzite the canninzites were a part of the canaanite tribes genesis 15 19 and descendants of ham caleb also came from the tribe of judah joshua 14 6 and 14. judah the progenitor of the tribe father twin sons by tamar a hermitic woman genesis 38 caleb joined with joshua as one of the two spies who went to explore canaan and brought back a positive report to enter the land and take possession of it as god had declared numbers 13 to 14. jethro jethro moses father-in-law from whom moses received the greatest single piece of advice regarding national leadership ministry organization political strategy and personal planning exodus 18 13-27 that was ever recorded was a kinite judges 116 part of the canaanite tribes genesis 15 19 who descended from ham at that time the kinites had settled in the land of midian another interesting observation regarding jethro is that he is identified as the priest of midian exodus 3 1. since he was a priest yet he was not a levite and the aaronic priesthood had not yet been established the question is what kind of priesthood could this have been the only other priesthood within the framework of scripture to which jethro could have belonged was the priesthood of melchizedek genesis 14 18. this is significant because christ was a priest after the order of melchizedek hebrews 7 17. this means that the priest jethro who was of african descent may have been indicative of pre-aaronic priesthood such as that of melchizedek which foreshadowed the priestly role of both christ and the church this then is another basis for recognizing the strategic role africans played in the biblical saga that continues today because all christians are related to jethro and his priesthood as part of the royal priesthood david king david is known not only as a man after god's own heart first samuel 13 14 but as one of the greatest kings in israel's history david's great-grandmother was a canaanite rahab who is also listed in the hall of faith hebrews 11 31. david's grandmother was ruth a moabite from a people who were canaanites as well david one of the heroes of the faith hailed from mixed jewish and hemetic ancestry and stands as a leader of whom blacks can be proud to call their own solomon solomon was david's son with bathsheba a hemetic woman bathsheba literally means the daughter of sheba the table of nations identifies sheba in the line of ham making sheba a descendant of an african nation genesis 10 7 the song of solomon describes solomon's features as tanned and handsome better than 10 000 others his head is purist gold and he has wavy raven hair song of solomon chapter 5 verses 10 to 11. solomon was not only the wisest man to rule a nation but he also brought about the greatest extension of israel's reach as a kingdom first kings 3 3-14 solomon's great-great-grandmother great-grandmother and mother gave him roots within the black race and placed him as an example of black achievement zephaniah underscoring the fact that black people are an integral part of god's revelatory process in both the proclamation and recording of divine revelation is the prophet zephaniah the old testament states that zephaniah was of hemetic origin he was from the lineage of cush zephaniah 1 1. and he prophesied god's judgment on judah and her enemies for their rebellion against god and their gross idolatry yet he proclaimed the grace of god would save a remnant and restore blessing to the people people of african descent can take pride in god's prophet zephaniah one of the biblical authors as their forefather blacks in the lineage of christ deserving of our greatest attention is the lineage of christ who is the heart and soul of the christian faith over and over again the prophets prophesied that messiah would come from the seed of david as we've already seen the davidic line finds a number of black people within it of the five women mentioned in matthew's genealogy matthew 1 1-16 four are of hemetic descent tamar rahab bathsheba and ruth the point here is not that jesus was black to assert such as some black theologians and religious leaders do is to fall into the exclusionist perspective of many whites who would make jesus an anglo-european blue-eyed blonde who had very little relevance to people of color it would also fail to respect the distinct heritage of christ rather jesus was matizo a person of mixed ancestry it blesses me to know that jesus had black in his blood because that destroys any perception of black inferiority once and for all in christ we find perfect man and sinless savior this knowledge frees blacks from an inferiority complex and at the same time it frees whites from a superiority myth in christ we all have our heritage black people as all other people can find a place of historical cultural and racial identity in him as savior of all mankind he can relate to all people in every situation in him any person from any background can find comfort understanding direction and affinity as long as he is revealed as the son of god a designation that transcends every culture black people as all other people can find a place of historical cultural and racial identity in him the savior of all mankind he can relate to all people in every situation in him any person from any background can find comfort understanding direction and affinity as long as he is revered as the son of god a designation that transcends every culture and race and one to which all nations of people must pay homage even when we leave the pages of the new testament era we run into african people of faith who had a profound influence upon the expansion of christianity i hope this excites you about learning more about your biblical history if you are of black or african descent but i also hope it inspires whites to a broader view and appreciation of all that has been contributed by black people in the glory of god the writing of scripture and the person of our savior you can find more in our book oneness embraced [Music] you

Channel: Tony Evans

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Length: 11min 57sec (717 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 08 2021