THE BLACK PRESENCE IN THE BIBLE PART 1
WHY STUDY THIS TOPIC? To understand the progression of thoughts, attitude, and behavior. Behavior does not simply happen; it is a result of one’s attitude, which is impacted by the thoughts that enter into a person’s psyche. From where we obtain our thoughts is very important. The only place we find complete truth is the Word of God. To insure that your thoughts are consistent with the Lord we must examine the Word of God. Our search begins with Genesis the tenth chapter, known as the "Table of Nations". After the flood there were eight individuals on the face of the earth, Noah, his three sons; Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their respective wives. The names of these young men indicate their skin complexion. Ham translates black or dark, Shem, dusty, and Japheth, light. Our focus will be on Ham as we seek an understanding of the “Black Presence in the Bible”.
Ham was the father of four sons, Cush, Mizriam, Phut, and Canaan. Cush’s son Nimrod was one of the first leaders recorded in scripture. (Genesis 10:10, Genesis 11:9) He was described as “a mighty hunter before the Lord”. He oversaw the building of the Tower of Babel, a project that was of such magnitude it gained God’s attention. Consider for a moment the various skills that were necessary to build such a tower; engineering, architecture, mathematics, pulleys, gears, and much more. Besides the ability to organize and direct the multitude he needed to accomplish this goal he also had to possess an understanding of the skills needed to build. His followers included the sons and grandsons of Noah. He led Shem’s children, Japheth’s children, as well as Ham’s.
God was impressed with their ability, but not their goal to make a name for themselves. (Genesis 11: 4-8) He went down and both confounded their language and scattered them over the face of the earth Shem went to Syria and surrounding areas, Japheth went north to Europe, while Ham traveled into Africa and the adjacent territory. Cush traveled to Ethiopia, Mizriam traveled to Egypt, P hut traveled to Libya, and Canaan traveled to Palestine. This is how civilization developed. The skills Nimrod acquired from his father and grandfather were put to use. Pyramids were erected in Ethiopia and Egypt as part of the establishment of two great civilizations. Ham became the father of civilization as he ruled the earth for the first two thousand years.
Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Thursday, March 22nd 2018 at 4:53AM
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