Abraham’s Descendants – Many Nations

As I read Romans 4, I allowed the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of the scriptures to me, a particular concept became very clear.

We live in the time of Abraham’s full inheritance that of being a father of many nations.

Romans 4:13-25

13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.

15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

18 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!”

19 And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

21 He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

22 And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.

23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded

24 for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

In Romans 4:13, you can see that it states, ‘God promised Abraham and his descendants the whole earth.’ This not only has spiritual implications for when Christ returns, but physical manifestations now, as well.

From v.13, you can also see that God recorded His promise to Abraham and come at the end of time, the fullness of this truth will be revealed.

I remember watching a video teaching that many of the original Hebrews were black and that the African Americans today are descendants of the original Hebrews/Israelites. After watching this video, I felt as if I had discovered some hidden truth. I also had many questions, which were lurking in my mind, answered. I ensured that I went to the bible to confirm all that I learned, and it did.

Rabbi Ralph Messer teaching that the original Jews are black

The Black Nation

For a long time, people have been saying that many great men or their children, in the bible, were black. I have wondered about my heritage, about the Jamaican people. Why? In Jamaica, we have the most churches per square mile. In my young mind, I thought there must be something to this.

I also looked at certain situations and concluded that the Jamaican people were not only different but especially blessed. One year, we had a hurricane to the east of the island. When Jamaicans realized that this storm would almost cut the island in half from eats to west, bringing certain devastation, they began to pray. I looked at the weather maps afterwards, and saw how the trajectory of that storm changed.

It was almost as if it hit a wall and had to divert to the north; eventually causing great damage to Haiti.

So, my curiosity lead me to some discoveries about who were some of the black people in the bible.

Black people in the Bible

• Cush – Ham the son of Noah, had a son named Cush, which means “black” in Hebrew. Ham’s second son inherited his land in Africa.
  • Genesis 10:6-20 – descendants of Ham located in North Africa, Central Africa and in parts of southern Asia.
  • Psalm 105:23 – “land of Ham” in Egypt
  • Psalm 78:51 – “tents of Ham” with Egypt.
• Nimrod – Son of Cush (whose name means “black”), founded a civilization in Mesopotamia. A mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. – Genesis 10:8-9
• Hagar – She was an Egyptian servant who gave birth to Abraham’s first son Ishmael. –  Genesis 16:15 (NLT)
• Ishmael’s Egyptian wife and sons (Kedar). The Kedarites are mentioned many times in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Nehemiah, and the word kedar means “blackness.”
• Gershom and Eliezer – Moses sons; he married an Ethiopian woman, Zipporah. She was a Midianite; who were black people. Jethro her father, also called Reuel, was an African. He was the priest of Midian. – Exodus 2:16, 22; 3:1; 18:1, 4;
• Phinehas – He was the grandson of Aaron and a high priest. His name is Egyptian and means the Nubian or the Dark-skinned One. – Exodus 6:25.
• Solomon – King David’s son, whose mother was Bathsheba.
  • I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. – Songs of Solomon 1:5
  • Both King David and Solomon had African wives. Soloman had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
• Manasseh and Ephraim – Joseph’s sons; he married an Egyptian woman, Asenath. Daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis). – Genesis 41:45, 51, 52; 46:20
•  Bilhah and Zilpah – Wives of Jacob, servants of Rachel and Leah were from from African tribes. The children of these women would also be black.
  • Bilhah’s sons – Dan, Naptali,
  • Zilpah’s sons – Gad, Asher
• Simon of Cyrene – He helped Jesus carry his cross to Golgotha. Cyrene is an ancient Greek city on the North African coast. – Matthew 27: 32

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · Denise N. Fyffe