RACISM & THE BIBLE - NYOBS 64.18

RACISM & THE BIBLE

First Word

·         A Racist is someone who makes a distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on Race, Color, Descent, Nationality or Ethnic Origin. - (United Nations Definition)

·         In the 40’s I lived in Atlanta in a white neighborhood called Capital View Manor just across from Joy Land, a colored section separated by I-85. – I was small and could bend over and walk through the storm sewers under the I-85 expressway into Joy Land which was a wonderland of backyard vegetable gardens, trees, tire swings, junk, old cars, dogs, goats and ponies. - I guess I knew that I was the only white kid there, but it just didn’t seem to matter to me and it sure didn’t matter to them. -  We had so much fun; I would take toys to swap and completely lose track of time.

·         My Dad and I were in the Sears & Roebuck automotive department getting tires for our car when I spotted two water fountains; one said WHITE and the other said COLORED.  I went and tried out the colored water fountain, but to my surprise, it looked and tasted the same as the white water.  I told my Dad of my discovery and he said “it’s silly isn’t it”.

·         My Dad had a Paint and Body Shop in a colored section of town and as a kid I worked there.  One day I went to get some lunch at the diner and they refused to serve me.  I told my Dad and he said “sometimes stuff like that just happens” and he took me to the Gas station up the street where we got chips and crackers out of a machine.

·         In the 50’s growing up, I still knew nothing about racism, it would not be untill I got to high school when someone called me a “JEW.”  I responded that “I wish I was a Jew, that Jesus was a Jew”.  – I thought everybody would want to be a Jew. -  I just didn’t get it.

·         My Grandparents as well as my Mom and Dad were all Sunday school teachers in the Baptist Church, so I was not exposed to profanity, drugs or alcohol, let alone racism.

·         In the 60’s I took my family camping at the Stone Mountain campground. -  As an adult I had already heard of the fear, hurt and hatred that the KKK was spewing in the name of Christianity. - The KKK held a rally on the mountain and burned a cross. – I felt violated; it made me physically sick as I feared for the safety of my small family.

·         Today in 2016, I certainly know that racism exist, but I have NEVER LIVED WITH FEAR, day in and day out, when little by little, one’s soul is killed with Bigotry, the “disease of ignorance”.  – When you judge people, you have no time to love them. - It seems to me that racism has to be learned.  Nobody is born a racist, somebody has to teach them to HATE.

I say all of this to emphasize that I am writing this

from the OUTSIDE trying to look INSIDE.

I have a Dream

·         Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was a Baptist Minister and CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST who helped organize the 1963 “March on Washington” where he delivered his famous “I HAVE A DREAM” speech. – His notoriety came from his role in the Advancement of Civil Rights using “NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE” based on his Christian beliefs to advance the civil rights of African-Americans. - He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

·         He helped found the SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference which harnessed the power of the Black Churches to conduct nonviolent protest for civil rights reform.

·         HATE assassinated Dr. King April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee.  - After his death he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977) and the Congressional Gold Medal (2004).

Affirmative Action

·         Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

·         John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th president on January 20, 1961. - He verbally supported RACIAL INTEGRATION and CIVIL RIGHTS and during the 1960 campaign he communicated with Coretta Scott King, wife of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who had been jailed while trying to integrate a department store lunch counter.

·         During his first year in office Kennedy appointed many blacks to office including his appointment of civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall to the Federal Bench. 

·         Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925 March 6, 1961, which required government contractors to take AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, to ensure that applicants employed are interviewed, hired and treated without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.  This established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.

·         HATE assassinated President Kennedy November 22, 1963 while traveling in a Presidential motorcade through downtown Dallas Texas. (Perhaps this was  only a coincidence)

Civil Rights Movement

·         When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother; when you teach that because of his COLOR he is less than fully human. When you teach that his beliefs or the policies he pursues, or you teach those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens, but as ENEMIES.

·          We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of all.  We must admit in ourselves that our own children’s future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others.  We must recognize that this short life can neither be enabled nor enriched by HATRED or revenge. Robert F. Kennedy

·         Robert F. Kennedy was appointed Attorney General after the successful election of his brother John Kennedy as President. - His tenure included the crusade against organized crime; the Mafia and is best known for his advocacy for the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

·         He supported desegregation busing, integration of all public facilities, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and anti-poverty social programs to increase education, offer opportunities for employment, and provide health care for African Americans - Kennedy was involved in securing the release of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. from a jail in Atlanta.

·          HATE assassinated Robert F. Kennedy June 5, 1968 in a hotel kitchen after being told it was a short cut to the press room. - (Perhaps this too is just a coincidence)

White Supremacy

·         Wikipedia was my first “go to source” and I was amazed to find that racism was more than the color of a person’s skin, it’s also a POLITICAL MOVEMENT to control the Democratic & Republican Parties; I’m not making this up.

·         White supremacy or white supremacism has typically opposed immigrants, people of color, Native Americans and Jews. – White Supremacy is a racist ideology centered upon the belief that white people are superior in certain characteristics, traits, and attributes to people of other racial backgrounds and therefore white people should RULE non-white people economically, socially and POLITICALLY.

·         In the United States the cause of the outbreak of the Civil War was the desire to uphold white supremacy which is cited as a cause for “State Secession” and the formation of the “Confederate States of America”. – I can now see why the confederate flag is so hated.

·         The denial of Social and Political Freedom continued into the mid-20th century resulting in the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT aided by Dr. King’s “NONVIOLENT CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE”

Ku Klux Klan

·         The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), or simply "The Klan", is the name of THREE distinct past and present movements in the United States that advocate using VIOLENCE against African American leaders, claiming Blacks descended from Apes and the White man is a creation of God.  They opposed Jews and Catholics and the Catholic Church in general.

·         First Klan originated in Pulaski Tennessee 1865-1870 during the Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War; the number in membership is unknown,

·         Second Klan formed in Atlanta Georgia in 1915-1944 adopted the white costume with hoods and added cross burnings; and at its height the membership was 6 million.

·         Third Klan emerged as small local unconnected groups in 1946 to the present opposing the Civil Rights movement, but with a dwindling membership with its peak of some 8,000.

·         All three movements have called for the "PURIFICATION" of American society, they focused on opposition to the Civil Rights Movement often using VIOLENCE, MURDER and TERRORISM to suppress the activists.

·         The Ku Klux Klan was one of a number of SECRET, oath-bound organizations which used public violence and terrorism against black people and their allies as a form of intimidation.  This included the burning of the Southern Cross in their yard.  The Klan burned houses, attacked and killed black people, leaving their bodies on the public roads as warnings.

·         Lifting the Klan mask revealed a chaotic multitude of anti-black vigilante groups, disgruntled poor white farmers, wartime guerrilla bands, displaced Democratic politicians, illegal whiskey distillers, coercive moral reformers, sadists, rapists, white workmen fearful of black competition, employers trying to enforce labor discipline, common thieves, neighbors with decades-old grudges, and even a few freedmen and white Republicans who allied with Democratic whites or had criminal agendas of their own.

·         Members of the KKK claim the banner of Protestant Christianity and swear to uphold Christian morality; but virtually every Christian denomination has officially DENOUNCED the KKK. . It is classified as a HATE GROUP by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center

·         The City of Charleston, South Carolina passed a resolution in 1999 declaring the Klan to be a TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. – Wikipedia -

KKK Politics

·         Politics - Many Southerners believed that blacks were voting in the Republican Party because they were being hoodwinked by the “Loyal Leagues” which were a group of men’s clubs established during the Civil War to promote and mobilize blacks to “register to vote” in the Republican Party. - Klan intimidation led to the suppression of the Republican vote.  - In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic Party.

·         Klan violence worked to SUPPRESS BLACK VOTING; and campaign seasons were deadly. More than 2,000 persons were killed, wounded and otherwise injured in Louisiana within a few weeks prior to the Presidential election of November 1868.

·         To that end the KKK worked to curb the education, economic advancement and VOTING RIGHTS of blacks as well as their right to keep and bear arms - They drove successful black farmers off their land, and it was reported that in an 18 month period ending in June 1867 in North and South Carolina, there were 197 murders and 548 cases of assault.

·         Ulysses S. Grant used the army to build the Republican Party in the South which was based on black voters – Southern White supporters were called “Scalawags” and White Northern supporters were called “Carpetbaggers”.  Nevertheless Republicans gained majorities and African Americans were elected to Congress and to high state office. – Wikipedia -

Black Panther Party

·         The Black Panther Party's core practice was to have ARMED citizens' patrols to monitor the behavior of police officers and to challenge police brutality. - From the beginning, the Black Panther Party's focus on militancy came with a reputation for violence.

·         Carrying weapons openly and making threats against police officers, with chants like "The Revolution has come, it's time to pick up the gun. Off the pigs!" helped create the Panthers' reputation as a VIOLENCE ORGANIZATION.

·         Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover said they were "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country”; the party is a Black Nationalist HATE Group

·         To the Black Panthers credit, I have found that they created survival programs which included free services such as clothing distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics, lessons on self-defense and first aid, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease - The most famous of their programs was the Free Breakfast for Children Program – They also provided transportation to upstate PRISONS for family members of INMATES. - Wikipedia -

Incarceration

·         According to the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, African Americans constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million of the population incarcerated, and have nearly six times the incarceration rate of whites. 

·         A 2013 study confirmed that black men were much more likely to be arrested and incarcerated than white men. - 1 in 3 black males will go to prison in their lifetime.

·         The Lifetime chances of going to prison for Black males are 32.2% and for Latino males, 17.2%, but only 5.9% for White males.

·         Commentaries indicate that the Government discriminates against the “Institution of Marriage” by providing increased financial assistance programs to SINGLE parents over those that are MARRIED, which further divides the family, black or white.

·         Black males are incarcerated more NOT because of something in their DNA, but because of the lack of Male role models in the home which leads to poor choices on the streets.

More Hate Groups

·         I don’t want to leave anybody out.  There is so much HATE going around and not just based on skin color, but on religion, nationality and sexual preference.

·         More Hate Groups – Anti-Immigrant – Anti-LGBT – Anti-Muslim – Black Separatist – Christian Identity – Holocaust Denial - Neo-Nazi - Neo Confederate – Racist Skinheads – Racist Music – Radical Traditional Catholicism – White Nationalist -

·         LISTEN when you think of Racism, you automatically think of White people hating Black people and since White people treated them so badly and could not be trusted, the Black people started hating the White people. – NOW EVERYBODY HATES EVERYBODY -

Jew’s Racism

·         Aryanism (White Supremacy) developed as a racial ideology of Nazism based upon the conception of the Aryan race or Germanic peoples as being a Master Race - The term has also been used more restrictively, to mean simply Germanic or Norther European peoples.

·         Nuremberg Laws were introduced in 1935 by Hitler which prohibited "Aryans" from having sexual relations or marriages with JEWS, Gypsies, NEGROES or their bastard offspring. 

·         Semitic peoples (the Jews) came to be seen as a foreign presence within Aryan societies, and were often pointed to as the cause of conversion and destruction of social order and values leading to culture and civilization's downfall.

·         Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany and its collaborators came up with the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question” and killed about six million Jews plus countless Jehovah's Witnesses, Homosexuals and Freemasons as well as the MENTALLY and PHYSICALLY disabled.

·         Extermination camps were where the Jews were herded naked into what they were told was showers for delousing, but were actually gas chambers.

·         Concentration camps were designed as Extermination through labor where the Jews were herded into ghetto labor camps where they were put to work and many thousands died from maltreatment, disease, starvation, and exhaustion.

·         Holocaust Denial Groups have formed to DENY the genocide of the Jews in the Holocaust during World War II ever took place.  - Their claims imply, or openly state, that the Holocaust is an exaggeration and/or a hoax arising out of a deliberate “JEWISH CONSPIRACY” to advance the interest of Jews at the expense of other people, claiming that the Jews were only deported; not exterminated. - Wikipedia -

Bible Hate Groups

·         Let’s take a look at the JEWS and the SAMARITANS – When we think of RACISM the first thing that comes to mind is the HATE that some white people have for black people.  But that was just not the case with the Samaritans and the Jews, they both were descendants of the Hebrew nation of Israel; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. – Here’s the background;

• The Assyrians conquered Samaria and hauled off most of the healthy young able bodied JEWS, leaving the destitute, old and those in failing health to cultivate the land, and then they colonized it with people from Mesopotamia who then intermarried with the Israelites that had been left. – God had forbidden marriage outside of the Jewish Hebrew Nation.
• Josephus; the Jewish historian referred to them as Jewish Apostates. – An apostate was someone who had abandoned their faith and principals which they had first believed in; i.e.; INTERMARRIAGE. – NYOBS 23.26 – SEGREGATION -– NYOBS 22.03 – JOSEPHUS
• Although the Samaritans shared much in common theologically with the Jews, they were rejected and isolated and the Jews had nothing to do with them. - A Jew would take “the long way around” just to not travel through Samaria.
• We have all heard the story of “The Good Samaritan” and the emphasis was on GOOD, because of the shocking thought of a “Good Samaritan” was just the opposite of what they were considered – they were the “No Good”, Dirty, Rotten,  Low Down, Scumbag, Sinners of the earth.-  NYOBS 32.28 – GOOD SAMARITAN REVISITED
• LISTEN…. Because the Jews HATED the Samaritans and treated them so badly, the Samaritans returned the HATE and had nothing to do with the Jews. – There you have it in a nutshell; HATE causes divisions and divisions breed more hate.  - SATAN WINS -

2 Kings 17:5-6 – The Assyrians deported the Samaritan Jews.

5 The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years.

6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

NIV

Matt 10:5-6 – Do not go to any town of the Samaritans.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel NIV

John 4:6-9 – Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) NIV

God & Racism

• Is God a Racist? – Sure He is, He Himself made the different races in Babylon and then scattered them all over the world. – Maybe He did, and maybe He didn’t - Let’s look and see.
• The descendants of Noah began to spread abroad, but stopped in the plain of Shinar (summer) and decided this was a good place to settle and build a city.
• God had commanded man to increase in number and to FILL the earth – However they wanted to settle down in ONE place and stay together and make a name for themselves.  To establish their “importance” in the sight of man and God. - The tower was a token of their oneness of purpose, but also a symbol of defiance of God. -- NYOBS 18.10 – TOWER OF BABEL -
• In their arrogant and proud way they thought they could get themselves to heaven with a tower. – There were seven major gods. – The Babylonian national god was called Marduk – But just to be sure they had all their bases covered, they also worshiped Ea; the god of wisdom, spells and incantations, - Sin; the moon god, - Shamash; the sun god and god of justice, - Ishtar the goddess of love and war, - Adad; the god of wind storm and flood and of course there was Murduk’s son Nabu who was the scribe and herald of the gods.
• Note:  They had deliberately excluded the God of Noah, which Abraham would reinstate.
• God REJECTED their nation and their efforts; they deserved death, but God in His mercy only confused their language. - They were incapacitated, leaving off the building of the tower and the city because they could no longer communicate with each other.
• They dispersed according to their language and resettled in far off countries to fill the earth as God had originally commanded them. – This language was not gibberish, but was the sudden and immediate institution of the MULTIPLICITY of the languages of the world.
• While this is used by HATE groups to legitimize their bigotry, scripture is clear that the people were scattered according to their LANGUAGE, not according to their RACE.

Gen 1:28 – Commanded to fill the earth.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. NIV

Gen 11:1-2 – Spread abroad, but stopped in Shinar

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

2 Men moved eastward, and found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

Gen 11:4 – Let’s not be scattered but make a name for ourselves

4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

Gen 11:8-9 – God scattered them according to their language

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why it was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the LANGUAGE of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. NIV

Jesus & Racism

·         Was Jesus a Racist? – A Canaanite woman came to Jesus to heal her daughter who was demon possessed.  Jesus DISCRIMINATES and rejects the Syrophoenician woman saying that He only cares about the Israelites; then further INSULTS her by calling her a DOG.

·         It was only after she groveled, begged and even compared her own self to a dog that her daughter was healed.

·         Now this is a great case showing that the Bible and even Jesus Christ supports RACISM.

·         Racism is what we want to see, but this was a teaching moment not only for the Disciples but for the crowds gathered around. – This woman was a mixture of a number of races and therefore she was a true “Gentile” or “Greek”. (Non- Jews were referred to as a Gentile or Greek.)

·         At first Jesus was silent; this is important as He was waiting to see what the Disciples would do. They responded to this annoying “Gentile” with a rebuke to send her away empty handed. – Knowing their thoughts and her faith, He joined in with a teaching moment.

·         Jesus spoke truth when He told her He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, God’s chosen people; this was actually fulfilling prophecy, but then He went on to insult her inferring she was a dog which was the term for anyone that was not a Jew. – I can just imagine this INSULT got everyone’s close attention and a hush came over the crowd.

·         His shocking statement would have made most of us turn away with disgust thinking “He can’t talk to me like that”. – However, she saw that it was impossible for her to come to the Messiah through the door of the “Covenant”, she was NOT a part of the family, so she knocked on another door, the door of compassion and mercy.  She humbled herself and addressed Him as LORD and “The Son of David”; she recognized and confessed that He was the coming King in the line of David; the Messiah. - We must all see ourselves as dogs to understand God’s mercy on us. – Her prayer was quiet and short; “Lord Help Me”.

·         THIS IS IMPORTANT; she recognized that as a Gentile, she had no claim on Jesus, but she persists and humbly just asks for His help. – Guess what; she got it and in the process as a bonus, her faith was enlarged. This teaching moment has now forced her and everyone listening to understand just who Jesus is, He has JUST REVEALED that He is the Messiah.

·         I might just note here, that everyone who ever came to Jesus got what they came for.  – When answers to prayers are deferred, God is teaching us to pray even more.

Matthew 15:22-28 – Jesus calls the Canaanite woman a DOG
²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, SON OF DAVID; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.”
²³ But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”
²⁴  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
²⁵  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “LORD, HELP ME.”
²⁶  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the DOGS.”
²⁷  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the DOGS eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
²⁸  Then Jesus answered her, “O WOMAN, GREAT IS YOUR FAITH! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

(ESV)

Slavery

·         White Supremacist point to Slaves in the Bible to uphold their views on Racism and slavery.

·         The Bible was not written to reform society from the outside, but to reform man on the inside.  Reforming the soul through love, mercy and grace changes the way a man thinks and acts. – A person who has experienced the love of Christ will be gracious to others.

·         We don’t make laws to regulate something that is good, we regulate things that are bad. - Divorce existed because of the hard hearts of men and God regulated it. - Slavery was a way of life thousands of years before God’s special people Israel came about. The Mosaic Law just regulated it; not condoned it.

·         The Hebrews Laws which did not condone harsh labor practices discouraged neighboring races from settling with the Hebrews. – Laws on slavery exposed and limited sin.

·         If there is no law against slavery then it is not a sin; it’s when the law is given that it becomes a sin. – God passed the laws giving rights to the slaves because He cared for them.

·         During Biblical Times slavery was based on economics and social status; even professional people sold themselves into slavery.  Slavery also came as a result of warfare, not abduction based on race or the color of a person’s skin.

·         The Bible shows that often in many nations, there were hard times for people and slavery was prevalent. When it came to Israel, God wanted the Hebrews to be treated differently and made laws to set them apart with dignity, respect and give them HOPE.

·         When a Hebrew had crushing debts and could not pay his bills, he of his own FREE WILL would sell everything and then sell himself as well as his children as a slave or servant, essentially “getting a loan” to pay off his debts.  He would serve six years and go free the seventh. – Today we would call this bankruptcy, but without the help of the Federal Government. – This would insure that his family would not die of starvation or exposure.

·         He and his family would be clothed, fed, and given housing while he was given “On the Job Training” at his skills. – This was better than college with no loans.  All his debts were covered during his employment. - A BONDSERVANT in addition to that would get paid minimum wage. – He would only work six days and enjoy the Sabbath day as a day of rest. – He would not do the work of a slave, but that of a hired worker and the master was encourage to PAMPER him like a son.

·         God hates slavery; and Christianity has fought to end slavery. - NYOBS 61.18 - SLAVERY

·         In the 19^th Century, man stealing was practiced in Africa by “Slave Hunters” who sold slaves to “Slave Traders” who brought them to America to work on farms and plantations. – God says these “Man Stealers” should be KILLED along with the PEOPLE that bought them.

·         In 1861, Slavery was the main issue of the Civil War in America, the North against the South. – Four years of intense combat left around 700,000 soldiers dead. – Slavery was abolished in America and is now completely illegal in every developed nation throughout the free world.

1 Timothy 1:10 – Slave Trading is contrary to Sound Doctrine
¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for SLAVE TRADERS and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine(NIV2011)

Jeremiah 34:8-9 - No one should enslave a Jew, his brother
⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them,
⁹ that everyone should SET FREE his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. (ESV)

Exodus 21:16 – If you kidnap someone you shall be put to death
¹⁶ Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 23:15-16 – Escaped foreign slaves set free
¹⁵ You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.
¹⁶ He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him. (NASB)

Exodus 23:12 – Work your slaves only six days
¹²  Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female SERVANT and the stranger may be refreshed.

(NKJV)

Deuteronomy 15:12-15 – Hebrew Severance Package
¹² If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall SET HIM FREE.
¹³ When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed.
¹⁴ You shall FURNISH HIM LIBERALLY from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. (NASB)

Inner–Racial Marriage

·         White Supremacist using scripture to justify banning interracial marriage imply that there is just “something immoral” in a mixed marriage, they point to references in the Bible where the Hebrews were forbidden to marry Canaanites as well as people from other pagan nations. – While this is touted as Racism, the fact is; they were “Racially Similar”; so the reason was not based on race, but on the fact that these people worshipped Idols; they had other gods. – READ IT, it’s about paganism not race.

·         We are not to be unequally yoked; what does a believer have in common with a non-believer what has righteousness and lawlessness or light and darkness have in common? – Separate yourself from the non-believer.  NYOBS 23.26 - SEGREGATON

·         Come out – Be separate does not speak of skin color, but of the condition of a person’s “heart - DO NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED with an unbeliever in marriage or in business.

·         I turned down a business “Partnership” with a successful builder because he was a non-believer.  Working for a non-believer and being in partnership with a non-believer are two different things. – He said, “It’s just business”. - He could not wrap his head around being “Unequally yoked”.  I am not un-equally yoked just working FOR a non-believer.

·         Inter-racial couples should expect disapproving glances, snide comments and prejudices.

·         Moses married a Black Woman and Miriam his sister criticized him about the interracial marriage and God heard it and made Miriam leprous, “white as snow”. – It’s in the Book -

Exodus 34:11-16 – Don’t marry the heathen, drive them out
¹¹ Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
¹² Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.
¹³ You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (a carved pole dedicated to a god)
¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice,
¹⁶ and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 7:1-3  - You shall not intermarry with them
¹ When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you,
² and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
³ You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, (ESV)

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 – Don’t be unequally yoked believer/unbeliever
¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? (NKJV)

15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 

2 Cor 6:17 – Separate yourself from the unbeliever

17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.

Numbers 12:1-10 – Moses wife was black – Miriam fussed
¹ Miriam and Aaron SPOKE AGAINST Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite (Black) woman.
² And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.
⁵ And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam forward.

⁹ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed.
¹⁰ When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. (ESV)

The Black Curse

·         FIRST Black Curse - When Cain killed Abel, God placed a mark on Cain which CURSED him and turned him Black, so all Black people are cursed of God. – NYOBS 165.03 - BLACK CURSE

·         If you read the scripture for yourself you will see that God placed a mark on Cain to protect him, not turn him black. - What if Cain was already Black and God turned him White. This is all just conjecture and bigotry to support the dividing wall of White Supremacy.

·         SECOND Black Curse – Noah lay drunk and naked in his tent, when Ham came in and saw him – Something very wrong took place in that tent either by Ham or his son Cannan. - Ham bragged about seeing Noah and his wife naked, Noah CURSED his son Cannan causing his descendants TO SERVE all of mankind.

·         White Supremacist argue that the curse on Ham’s descendants included making them a black people. – The seedy disposition, skin color and curse were all heritable.  This lays the foundation for the belief that heritable social ills are based on skin color – NOTE: While the descendants are black; there is no scripture that supports or even hints of this as being a part of the curse; this must be dismissed as just pure bigotry.

·          This is a divisive attempt by Satan to divide men and promote bigotry and hatred. – Satan did the same thing with the Jews; calling them “Christ Killers” creating hate and anti-Semitism, but it was not the Jews that drove the nails into the hands and feet of Jesus Christ; the actual executioners were the Romans;. – NYOBS – 07.096 – CHRIST KILLERS

Genesis 4:12-16 – God marked Cain to protect him.
¹² When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
¹³ Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
¹⁴ Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
¹⁵ Then the LORD said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the LORD put a MARK on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
¹⁶ Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (ESV)

Gen 9:24-25 – Canaan is cursed to be a servant to his brothers

24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.

25 Then he said: "CURSED be Canaan; a servant of servants He shall be to his brethren."

NKJV

The Races Origin - Rabbit Trail

• Noah had three Sons; Shem, Ham and Japheth.
• Shem, the first born, would be the Godly line of decedents that gave us Abraham, the “Father of Israel” and then eventually through the Line of King David, Jesus Christ the Messiah would come.
• It is believed that Noah’s THREE sons had taken wives from other nations before the flood.

1. Shem is the progenitor of the “Semitic” peoples of the East. (White)
2. Ham’s descendants became the Egyptians, Canaanites and Africans. (Black)
3. Japheth’s descendants are the inhabitants of Asia Minor and the sea people. (Yellow)

Gen 9:18-19 – Noah’s sons - Shem, Ham and Japheth

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. NIV

Time Out

·         As we proceed with Racism in the Bible, I feel a need to take a Helicopter view and look down on the BIGGER plan that God had for the Israelites and what we are calling RACISM in the Bible.

·         Abraham found favor with God because of his Faith and God made a covenant with him to bless him and all his generations to come.

·         Through Abraham God created a “Nation of Priest” who would minister to the rest of the world, but instead they became Prideful and ended up HATING everyone that was not a Jew; (the Gentiles; the Greeks) thereby putting up a dividing wall. – When Pride comes so does strife. Making distinctions is judging. – It’s in the Book -

·         Jesus came and broke down this dividing wall between the Jews and Gentiles, His commandment was quite simple; “To just love one another”, “To love our neighbor as ourselves” -   How can you get racism out of that?

·         There is only one race, “the Human Race”; African, Arabs, Asians, Caucasians, Indians, and Jews are just different ethnicities of the “Human Race” and are all created in the Image of God.

·         The New Testament speaks of three groups of people;

1.     The Jews who were born within Jewish families,

2.     The Gentiles  (Greeks) were those that were born outside of Jewish families and

3.     The Church; those who are Re-born through Faith in Jesus Christ which includes both Jews and Gentiles.

·         We are to offer ourselves not as judges, but as instruments for righteousness; to love the diversity of people.

Genesis 1:26-27 – Everyone was created in the Image of God
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (ESV)

John 3:16 – Jesus laid down His life for the world
¹⁶ For God so loved THE WORLD, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV)

Exodus 19:6 – A nation of Priest
⁶ and you shall be to me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Proverbs 13:10 – Pride comes and brings strife
¹⁰ By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom. (NKJV)

James 2:4 – Made distinctions among themselves
⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (ESV)

Ephesians 2:14 – Jesus removed the dividing wall
¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the DIVIDING WALL of hostility(ESV)

Galatians 3:28 – There is no division between Jew or Greek
²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for YOU ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus.

John 13:34 – Commandment – Love one another
³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (NKJV)

James 2:8 - Love your neighbor as yourself
⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 10:17 – God is not partial and cannot be influenced
¹⁷ For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who IS NOT PARTIAL and takes no bribe. (ESV)

Acts 10:34 - God shows no partiality
³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, (ESV)

Romans 2:11 - God shows no partiality.
¹¹ For God shows no partiality. (ESV)

Romans 6:13 – Submit as instruments for Righteousness
¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (ESV)

Reflections

·         I applied for a job as a manager in a BBQ chain in SC; the President himself was impressed with me and had postponed a trip just to interview me.  After over an hour of MUCH discussions of the Bible and some of the Business, he lastly took me into a small room just outside his office loaded with Confederate flags, KKK paraphernalia, framed articles, pictures and demagoguery against blacks; then discussed racism as supported in the Bible.

·         When he saw that I was repulsed, the interview abruptly ended and he left for his trip.

·         Working at a Home Improvement Center, I noticed that the same employees were NOT CHOSEN to be on special project teams headed by “The Good Ole Boys”. 

·         Having been out with the God Ole Boys, I found that I was a damper on their spirits as I would sit in the car while they were in the strip clubs.

·         As time moved on, the Christians somehow seem to find each other in the break room; Black, White and Hispanic forming bonds that still exist for me today.  While we were delighted with the arrangement, this made for divisions in the store. 

·         I have noticed that when Christians are present, the topics discussed and the speech used is altered.  Christian produce a “Seasoning” and a “Light” to those present. – When we separate ourselves into our own little groups, we miss the opportunity to be “SALT” to the others.

Matthew 5:13 – Christians are the Salt of the Earth
¹³ You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. (ESV)

Black Lives Matter

·         The Black lives matter movement is an important movement drawing attention to the racism that hides in the background in our country, but what started as an non-violent awareness movement has been Hi-Jacked and taken over by THUGS with slogans like the Black Panther Party advocating the killing of cops, with slogans like “PIGS IN A BLANKET” – What do we want? – DEAD COPS – When do we want it? – NOW – Open season on Crackers -

·         Then we got Blue Lives Matter, then White Lives Matter making even more divisions then finally somebody said ALL LIVES MATTER which was then criticized as being racist against Black Lives Matter.

·         None of these have the same objective and impact as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who advocated building bridges by working hand and hand, black with white together; to resolve race relations.

·         Banners that divide deepens the conflict which THE WEALTHY benefit from financially.

·         I noticed that Kwanza which is celebrated during the Christmas season divides white folks from black folks; why is that? – Most people have never studied the “Separatism” of Kwanza

·         During the early years starting in 1966, Kwanzaa was meant to be an "oppositional alternative" to Christmas. - A rule of Kwanzaa stated that one "should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or its symbols, values and practice with any other culture." - Kwanzaa was amended in 1997 stating that it is now “A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture”.

·         The Sevenfold path of Blackness became the Bible of the Black Nationalist civil rights movement. -- 1) Think Black -- 2) Talk Black -- 3) Act Black -- 4) Create Black –- 5) Buy Black -- 6) Vote Black -- 7) Live Black --- Banner of SEPARATISM – NYOBS 58.27 – KWANZAA  

Words Matter

·         Words that identify; White lies, Black Sin, White hat, Black hat, Black Balled, Off White, the Black plague, the Black List, White Christmas, Black Sabbath, White as snow, Black as the Ace of Spades, White House, Black Box, White Noise, Black Holes, White Privilege, Black Sheep, Black Friday, Black Belt.

·         As Christians we need to be fully cognitive of the words we use. - Think about the song “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” which is talking about the stain of sin and the blood of Jesus making us white as snow.

Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me “white as snow”
No other fount I know
nothing but the blood of Jesus.

·         While the Bible speaks of every nation of men being of one blood, we move from thinking about the color of blood to the color of skin.

·         What does a black person feel when people all around them are singing that they want to be “white as snow”. – We should be sensitive about the songs that we choose to sing especially since there are so many to choose from. – We cling to the status quo even though we know it is hurtful in nature. -  I am honored that my church is a diverse congregation and for many years have sponsor Black members of our church to be Missionaries to Nigeria.

·         Language has power – When a politician speaks from a teleprompter, every word has already been weighed for its impact. – Every word in a Commercial. - WORDS MATTER -

Acts 17:26 - We are all made from one blood

²⁶ And He has made from ONE BLOOD every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, (NKJV)  

Bribes, Partiality & Injustice

·         When we show partiality to someone we are exhibiting racism which the Good Book says is a SIN. -  There is to be no prejudging, making distinctions or oppressing someone just because they are foreign. – Hispanics and Blacks should not be charged higher interest rates than White people, nor be held back in promotions within the company.

·         Consider everyone just as important as yourself; don't let public opinion influence how you do business, if you take a bribe, an injustice will surely take place and at some point, you WILL be paid back. – It’s in the Book -

·         Bottom Line; just do what is right; love your neighbor as yourself.

James 2:8-9 – Showing Partiality is Racism, which is sin
⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing SIN and are convicted by the law as transgressors. (ESV)

Acts 10:34 - God shows no partiality
³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows NO PARTIALITY, (ESV)

1 Timothy 5:21 – No prejudging, no partiality
²¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. (ESV)

James 2:1 - Don't let public opinion influence your actions
¹  My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. (MSG)

James 2:4 – You should not make distinctions & judge
⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (ESV)

Acts 10:34-35 – God shows no partiality – Just do what’s right
³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears him and DOES WHAT IS RIGHT is acceptable to him. (ESV)
2 Chronicles 19:7 – No partiality, bribes or injustice with God
⁷ Now then, let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no INJUSTICE with the LORD our God, or PARTIALITY or taking BRIBES.” (ESV)  

Colossians 3:25 - The wrongdoer will be paid back for partiality
²⁵ For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (ESV)

Leviticus 19:33-34 – Treat a foreigner as a “Home Boy”
³³ When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
³⁴ You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (ESV)

Exodus 22:21 – Do not do wrong or oppress a foreigner
²¹ You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. (ESV)

Philippians 2:3 - Consider others as important as yourselves
³ Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. (HCSB)

Mark 12:31 - You shall love your neighbor as yourself
³¹ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself (ESV)

Getting Serious about Racism

·         Not forgiving someone only hurts you more – Jesus was the ultimate example of forgiveness. - He was beaten, tortured & nailed to the cross then asked God to forgive us.

·         We love, because He first loved us, God has told us that we should not call any person common or unclean.

·         If you have feelings and reservations about a group of people that are ethnically different than you, or they are of a different religion or social group, your only solution is just to REPENT. – If God shows no partiality to us, then we should do the same.

·         As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and warning him twice, then HAVE NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH HIM, knowing that such a person is WARPED and SINFUL and is SELF-CONDEMNED. - Those who continue to cause divisions are void of the Holy Spirit. – It’s in the Book -  

Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another
³² Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (ESV)

Colossians 3:12-13 - Forgiving and Bearing with one another
¹² Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (ESV)

1 John 3:15 - Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer
¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. (ESV)
1 John 2:11 - Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness
¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going (ESV)

1 John 4:19-21 - You can’t love God and hates your brother

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.
²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a LIAR; ²¹ whoever loves God must also love his brother. (ESV)

Proverbs 14:21 – You are in sin if you have hate in your heart
²¹ Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. (ESV)

Acts 10:34 – God shows no partiality
³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, (ESV)

1 John 4:19 - We should love because he first loved us
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. (ESV)

Acts 10:28 – We should not call any person common or unclean
²⁸ And he said to them, … God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.(ESV)

Jude 1:19 – If you cause divisions you do not have the Holy Spirit
¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

(ESV)

Galatians 5:19-21 – Those who stir up divisions will go to hell
¹⁹  Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity,
²⁰   strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, DIVISIONS,
²¹  envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. (ESV)

Romans 16:17 – Avoid people who cause divisions
¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; AVOID THEM. (ESV)

Titus 3:10-11 – Warped – Sinful – Self Condemned – Avoid them
¹⁰ As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, HAVE NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH HIM,
¹¹  knowing that such a person is WARPED and SINFUL; he is SELF-CONDEMNED. (ESV)

Prejudice Unaware

·         I killed a snake in my backyard; I don’t know if it was a GOOD snake or a BAD snake; but IT WAS A SNAKE and I have two puppies to protect that don’t know the difference either.  I have never been bitten by a snake, nor know anybody bitten by a snake.  Why was I afraid?

·         Muslims follow the Qur’an which tells them to kill everybody that doesn’t follow Islam.  I have not witnessed firsthand any violence, but then I wonder; IS THAT A SUICIDE BOMBER?

·         Being isolated from virtually all violence, hate and meanness, I get my programming from the Media; mostly TV. – When I see a protest, it seems like its always Black people and they are not just protesting, they are doing property damage, burning stores and looting. – How does destroying a small Black business owner’s store help the Black protest movement?

·         When I hear of shootings it’s mostly about gangs and Black on Black violence. – I heard about a young ARMED Black man that got shot while trying to rob a pizza store and the mama infers that her son is dead because an employee had a gun and should not have.

·         A White Supremacist would say that a Black person’s DNA comes with a Low IQ, mean spirited, shiftlessness, selfishness, and a mentality of entitlement therefore THUG LIFE is just normal. – The black culture’s thinking and reasoning is just lower than white people.

·         In elementary school, Larry, my white classmate was a bully; in his 20’s Thug Life, he was killed while robbing a store. (Larry’s daddy was a Policeman.) - I don’t think it’s about DNA, I think it’s about poor choices because there is a lack of God in people’s lives.

·         Just a normal person with NO AGENDA would say that violence, burning, looting and killing is WRONG. - We are born with EVIL thoughts and must be Re-born and reprogramed. When you change the direction of a person’s soul, the heart will follow – It’s in the Book. –

·         LET’S TALK ABOUT ME – When I gas up my car and see three Black guys standing against the wall smoking, I drive to the other side of the service station to gas up. – Why is that? – I have never been physically assaulted by a Black, but for some reason I try to avoid any IMAGINED situation. - Why is that? – When I load groceries in my car and I see a Black man coming toward my car, I lock the doors? – Why is that? – What does a Black man think and feel when he hears “doors lock” as he walks through a parking lot?

·         I am programmed to think Racial even though I DON’T THINK THAT’S WHO I AM. – In the 40’s before air-conditioning, all the windows were left open with just the screen doors latched.  My dad always said that locks were only for “good people” anyway, that bad people will find a way in.

·         Today not only are all our windows closed and doors locked, but we have flood lights, motion detector lights and an alarm system that’s on all night. – Why is that? – Over the years I have made lifelong friendships with Black people, but I am JUST NOW SEEING that I have an invisible prejudice that rears its ugly head when I am around black people that I do not know. - While these thoughts may come and go with good reason, I wish there was no rational for it to even exist. – Life with windows open and a rocking chair on the screen porch is a far better way of life.

John 3:3 – We must be born again
³ Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (ESV)

1 Peter 1:23 – The new life comes from the living Word
²³ For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living WORD of God. (NLT)

Last Thoughts

·         Racism has been a plague on humanity in various forms and various degrees for thousands of years.  The Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s had a feud for years that cost lives; it did not have to be that way. – If you have been subjected to racism, prejudice and discrimination, you can end it by FORGIVING. – A Racist may not deserve forgiveness, but you don’t deserve God’s forgiveness either. - We are to present ourselves to God as having been brought from death into life, and our members are now instruments for righteousness.

·         I was amazed to find in my studies, that some people are just plain EVIL from the womb and that no matter what you try to do for them, they are going treat others as second class, spewing Hate and racism. – They are not interested in trying to understand or reason, but only in expressing their opinion.  We are to be quick to hear and slow to speak – Whoever Hates is walking in darkness.

·         People hi-jack the Bible and cherry pick verses that defend their own racial views.

·         The value of a person comes from the Creator who placed a great value on man, – Black, White, Hispanic, Asian and Mixed-race are all created in His very own image.

·         God does not make distinctions based on physical or social attributers, there is neither Jew nor Gentile; God created everyone with equality and social status; man changes it.

·         We are urged to be reconciled to each other – Love and Compassion should always trump things that cause divisions. - Get serious about the healing of the wounds of racism. - At the judgment there will be a great multitude from every nation, tribe and language standing before His throne, not just White folks. - As Christians, we have an opportunity to be a major force for racial reconciliation.

·         The Story of “the Good Samaritan” shows we should respect people from different regions, nationalities and racial background even if some are thought to be the enemy. – The end of the story brings; help and compassion and Jesus ends by saying “Go and Do likewise”. – NYOBS 32.28 – GOOD SAMARITAN REVISITED

·         The Gospel is for every nation, tribe, language & People - Showing partiality is racism therefore it is SIN. – Everyone who HATES his brother will have no part in the Eternal Life – It’s in the Book -

Psalm 51:5 – We are sinful from conception
⁵ surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (NIV2011)

Psalm 58:3-4 – Wicked estranged in the womb; birth go astray
³ The wicked are estranged (turn aside) from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
⁴ They have venom (speak lies) like the venom of a SERPENT, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, (ESV)

2 Chronicles 36:9 – God saw evil in 8 year old Jehoiachin
⁹ Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was EVIL in the sight of the LORD.

(KJV)

Genesis 1:26 – God made man in His own Image
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

(ESV)  

1 Samuel 16:7 - Do not look on his appearance or stature
⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (ESV)

John 7:24 - Do not judge by appearances
²⁴ Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (ESV)

Galatians 3:28 – Three is neither Jew not Gentile
²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

Philippians 2:3-4 – Count others more significant than yourself
³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (ESV)

Matthew 5:23-24 -  Be reconciled to your brother,
²³  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
²⁴  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

(ESV)

Proverbs 18:2 – A fool does not want to understand
² A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (ESV)

James 1:19 – Be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger
¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; (ESV)

Luke 10:36-37 – Go and do likewise - Have Mercy
³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”
³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” (ESV)

Romans 12:3 – We should not to think of ourselves more highly
³ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (ESV)

Matthew 25:40 - The way you treat others; you treat God
⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (ESV)

Revelation 14:6 – Gospel for every nation, tribe, language, People
⁶ Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an ETERNAL GOSPEL to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every NATION and TRIBE and LANGUAGE and PEOPLE. (ESV)           

Romans 1:16 – I am not ashamed of the Gospel
¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (ESV)

Romans 10:12 – No distinction between anybody
¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. (ESV)

Mark 16:15 - Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel
¹⁵ And he said to them, “Go into all the WORLD and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. (ESV)

Acts 17:26 - Made from one man every nation of mankind
²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, (ESV)

Romans 6:13 – Present yourselves as instruments of life
¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (ESV)

Revelation 7:9-  Every nation, tribes, peoples and languages
⁹ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, STANDING BEFORE THE THRONE and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, (ESV)

I HAVE A DREAM

that my four little children will one day live in a nation

where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,

but by the content of their character. - Dr. Martin Luther King -

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible - Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament - Baker

King James Version Bible – KJV

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted and made gender neutral.  Avoid it.

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney