Do Black Lives Matter To God

Black Characters of Purpose in Scripture

Jefferson D. Edwards

• Publisher: Uriel Press
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9780999332610
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Political and religious leaders—past and present—have shaped the thinking of society to see blacks and people of color as inferior. As a result, cultural, social, political and religious groups devalued the importance of blacks. This negative mindset has existed for centuries in the Western hemisphere and has escalated to even higher levels today.

Do Black Lives Matter to God? takes us on a historical journey through the Bible to illuminate how God sees black people and people of color. This book challenges all educators who have disparaged and ignored the exceptionalism and existence of blacks in the Bible as a way to justify their oppressive beliefs.

Through Do Black Lives Matter to God? you will understand how black lives in scripture became a catalyst for the evolution of all lives. When all people can live the reality of Jesus’ commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you, ” we can truly live a life—black or other—that is reflective of Christ. Please visit jeffedwards.org.

PART I

Introduction

This book is a presentation of the thread of black characters in Scripture that added to the overall purpose of God’s revelation of Himself to man, and His ultimate redemption of man through Christ Jesus our Lord. Blacks were very much a part of God’s revelation of Himself to man, contrary to the lack of inclusion of black people in most of the study of characters in the Bible, and most of the commentaries and publications.

In the Western Hemisphere racism not only permeated our educational systems and society, but it also penetrated our religious systems and unfortunately still does today. It has been said many times that the most segregated time in the United States is on Sunday morning between the hours of 9 AM and 11 AM when Whites go to their church, Blacks go to their church, Hispanics go to their church, Asians go to their church, and on and on.

The religious institutions have not helped the matter: major Christian colleges up through the 1980’s did not allow black students to attend their colleges or forbade marriages between black and white students. Even in the modern day Charismatic circles, who were some of the first churches who allowed their congregations to become integrated, these mindsets still prevail. Though integration of many of these congregations was allowed, many of those churches were still reluctant to allow blacks to have places of leadership or decision-making responsibilities. They also still were against any inter-marrying of the different races, and also kept perpetuating the myth that black people were under some curse of Ham.

In this book, I hope to show some of the many black characters in Scripture. Some of these black characters, scholars are aware of, but they have discounted their contributions to the purposes of God in Scripture, and in redemption.

Most of my sources and references will be from the Scriptures and scriptural helps. Other references will only be used to substantiate what I have discovered through my scriptural study and research, over many years of ministry.

Chapter 1

The Origin of the Black Race (Or People of Color)

Ancient Ethiopia (Cush) was the cradle of the Black race or dark-skinned people.

“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:10–15).

One of the first regions or lands that are mentioned in Scripture is the “…land of Ethiopia,” or the lands of Cush. This was not just some incidental nation or land. This land had significant importance in the Bible, and the people of this land had even more of a significant role in relation to God manifesting Himself to man.

Before we can study more specifically Ethiopia or Cush, we must first trace his lineage in Scripture that begins with his father Ham, the son of Noah.

“And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan (notice it was a curse on Canaan, and not on Ham, and there was nothing generational about that curse, and it was not from God, but from Noah who just woke from his wine); a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died” (Genesis 9:18–29).

“Ham means hot or dark, colored, swarthy. He was the youngest son of Noah and father of Canaan and founder of many peoples (see Genesis 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18, 22; Psalm 78:51).”¹ “The Hebrew word for Ham means “hot” and is surely prophetic of the climates that have created the blackness of skin of the Negro and the dark complexions of other peoples from the same stock. Egypt is called the land of Ham (Psalm 105:23) and the Egyptian word for “Ham” is “Kem,” meaning black and warm. From Ham, we have the Egyptians, Africans, Babylonians, Philistines, Canaanites”² and Mongolians (most slanted-eyed people).

“The indignation of Noah found expression in the thrice repeated curse upon Canaan, one of Ham’s sons (Genesis 9:25–27). Ham himself suffered in failing to receive the blessing pronounced on his brothers, Shem and Japheth. The peoples polluted by Ham’s sin (Genesis 10:15–19) inhabited the land later promised to Abraham’s seed; thus the curse of servitude was fulfilled in Joshua’s conquest of the Canaanites when he made them hewers of wood and drawers of water (Joshua 9:23, 27).”³ As stated earlier, there was nothing generational about Noah’s curse, for he was not God.

“And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raaham, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Seba and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city” (Genesis 10:6–12).

The following is a brief overview of the four sons of Ham:

“Cush means Black or Ethiopia. He is the eldest son of Ham and founder of a tribal family (Genesis 10:6-8; 1 Chronicles 1:8-10. Cush is also the name of the land where the Cushites dwelt (Isaiah 11:11; 18:1). Cushite is translated Ethiopian.”⁴

“Mizraim means Tribulations. He is the 2^nd son of Ham and father of Ludim whose descendants were found in Egypt (Genesis 10:6, 13; 1 Chronicles 1:8-11).”⁵

“Phut or Put means Brow or Extension. He is the 3^rd son of Ham (Genesis 10:6; I Chronicles 1:8), whose dwelling was in Lybia (Ezekiel 27:10) and whose descendants became hired servants of the Syrians (Nahum 3:9).”⁶

Canaan means Lowland or Trader. He is the youngest son of Ham (Genesis 9:18-27; 1 Chronicles 1:8, 13). He is the founder of the families of the Canaanites (Genesis 10:18). Canaan is also the name of the country in which they dwelt (Genesis 11:31).⁷

1 Lockyer, Herbert. All the Men of the Bible, p. 134.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid., p. 86.

5 Ibid., p. 244.

6 Ibid., p. 278.

7 Ibid., p. 83.

Chapter 2

Cush: “Ethiopia”

“Cush was the firstborn of Ham; his sons were Havilah, Seba, Sabtah, Raamah, Sebtechah and Nimrod. When Jehovah confounded their language at Babylon, Cush gathered his family and moved south into Africa. He settled in northeast Africa, near his brother Mizraim (Egypt).

Cush established an em...

Table of contents

• Table of Contents
• Part I
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• PART II
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• About The Author
• Bibliography
• Suggested Reading