The Bible is so very clear that God is totally against racism! Some people are confused and have even judged and condemned people who have married someone of a different race. They have told these couples that they are in sin and need to repent.
Genesis 3:20 reads, “And Adam called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” It is clear that all of humanity trace their ancestry back to Adam and Eve.
Genesis 11 explains how God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel to force them to scatter. They were of one language and were using their common language and race to rebel against God. God has always used persecution and judgment to get people’s attention so they will obey him. These people were supposed to serve God and multiply on the face of the earth. Now they were forced to travel to new areas to populate the earth.
Acts 17:26, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” Even the secular scientists recognize that all races are one blood. Noah and all men are direct descendants of Adam.
Adam’s name in Hebrew means “to show blood in the face, red, ruddy, rosy, a human being.” It has nothing to do with being white. The skin color of Adam and Eve is pure conjecture, although it could be closer to medium brown since Adam’s DNA had to contain information from a multitude of skin tones.
After God scattered the people from the Tower of Babel, the genetic makeup of individuals was isolated into geographic areas, consequently groups of people lost the ability to produce children of certain shades, because the information for those colors were not present now in their population group.
GOD DOES NOT FORBID OR CONDEMN “interracial” marriage. The concept of “races” is entirely a man-made idea. From the beginning with Adam and Eve, there was only one race of humans from a biological point of view. Genesis chapter one tells us that God created everything “after it’s kind.” This cannot mean that God wanted the different human races to marry within their own race because there was only one race in the garden. So man is meant to marry within the human race, not have sex with animals, etc. Men were meant to marry women and not each other, as this was the way God made them to populate the earth.
There is only one type of marriage that is forbidden in the Bible and that is a marriage between a believer and a nonbeliever. 2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
This was the same commandment God gave to the Israelites. They were not to marry people who did not serve the same God. Read Exodus 34:11-16 and Deuteronomy 13:23. The Hebrews were forbidden to marry Canaanites and other pagan people. This was not because of race, because the Hebrews, Amorites and Canaanites etc., were racially similar. It was because those people served other gods/idols. It had nothing to do with race or color of skin.
Hannah Pape, author of “CHRISTIAN OPPOSITION TO INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE IS STILL A PROBLEM” stated, “As people of faith, our blood should boil when we hear people try to say our God is for marriage segregation, because the God of the Bible is one who celebrates diversity and interracial marriage. Perhaps one of my favorite examples is that of Boaz and Ruth. Ruth came from a pagan Moabite culture, whereas Boaz came from the tribe of Judah. Prior to their union, Ruth was married to a son of Naomi, also from the tribe of Judah. The story of Boaz and Ruth is a beautiful picture of how God led them to one another after the loss of Ruth’s husband, and how cultural differences can be celebrated. Ruth, a Moabite woman, is one of only five women listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There are other examples. Consider Moses and Zipporah, Esther and King Ahasuerus, or Joseph and Asenath. All these were marriages God ordained and blessed.”
Joseph married an Egyptian and Esther married a Persian/Iranian.
“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.” Numbers 12:1 ESV
“And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.” Numbers 12:1 KJV
Numbers 12:1 is the only passage in the Old Testament where Moses’ wife is identified as a “Cushite.” Throughout the Pentateuch, Moses’ wife is identified as Zipporah, a Midianite woman and the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. Exodus 2:21; 3:1
Miriam became very upset that Moses married a black woman, a Cushite/Midianite. Miriam reacted like a racist and got angry and rebuked Moses. It seems that God was not happy with Miriam’s response, and judged Miriam with leprosy. If anything, God frowns upon people that are racists. Miriam was angry because Moses had married a non-Israelite.
In closing, let us never condemn people who marry someone from another race. God celebrates this diversity, for this is what heaven will be like. All people from all nations living in harmony and unity, since we all came from Adam and Eve whom God created.
Blessings, Jonathan Hansen
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