Africans In the Bible
In His redemption plan God included Africans even in the Old Testament. Joseph’s wife Asenath was an Egyptian and she bore him Ephraim and Manasseh. That means these Jews had African blood in them. Ebed-Melech is notable for rescuing the prophet Jeremiah from the cistern into which he had been cast to his death by King Zedekiah. He was an African from Cyrene in Libya. Simone of Cyrene was an African who helped Jesus carry His cross to Golgotha. The gospel writer John Mark who wrote the book of Mark was also from Cyrene. Lastly, the Prophet Zephaniah was from Africa.
What did Jesus look like?
I believe there was a time when ancient Egypt was ruled by black African Pharaohs. That was the time when the children of Israel were enslaved to Egypt. These Pharaohs who oppressed and abused the Israelites were punished by God for ill-treating His people. How did God punish them? By allowing Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon to conquer the black Egyptians and settling his own Assyrians. These are historical facts that can be verified in secular history books as well as biblically in the following passages: Psalm 78 v 51, Jeremiah 46 v 8-9 and Ezekiel 29 v 19-20. Ham was the father of the black people and wherever the bible refers to Cush/Kush or Ethiopia it is talking about black territory or African people.
In Matthew 2 v 13-23 the bible tells us Joseph fled to Egypt with his family because Herod wanted Jesus dead. Jesus was born approximately 1600 years after the Exodus period. Moses was a Jew born in Egypt and brought up by the Egyptians. But these were Arab Egyptians of Assyrian and Babylonian descent not the Bantu, African Egyptians who had enslaved Israel for nearly four hundred years. Since Joseph and Mary were middle eastern, it stands to reason that they would have blended in with the rest of Egypt. It is also quite noteworthy that Moses was mistaken for an Egyptian in Exodus 2 v 19. That means Moses was definitely not white contrary to how he is depicted in most Hollywood movies. Fast forward to the night of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas in the garden of Gethsemane. The Roman soldiers did not know Jesus and Judas had tipped them off that the one he was going to greet with a kiss was their target man. Why is this important? Because it hints to us that Jesus was an average person with no special distinguishing features from everybody else. If he was a black African there would have been no need of a kiss to alert the Romans that this was the trouble causer. Similarly, if he was very tall or very short the soldiers would have identified Him easily.
Centuries of artistic depiction have made the image of Jesus recognizable worldwide: flowing hair, long robes, regal posture. Biblical scholar Joan E. Taylor, a professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London, argues that this image of Jesus misrepresents history and bears a closer resemblance to Greco-Roman gods. The real-life Jesus, she says, likely had the short hair, trim beard and humble attire of Jewish philosophers of his time and place — the first century C.E. in the Roman province of Judea.
She describes Jesus as physically unassuming, with average looks and height, and features that — as a first-century Jew in Judea — would have been most similar to his ethnic group’s closest 21st-century parallel: contemporary Iraqi Jews. She even brings in archaeological evidence — skeletons and clothing from the period.
Second century Jewish men are said to have looked very similar to modern Iraqi men (see picture above)
Arguments that say He was black.
Those who have used the scriptures to advance the idea that Jesus was black frequently quote Revelation 1 v 14 and 15 to do so. The verses say the following:
“14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters”.
According to some bible scholars, none of the verses is to be taken literally. I agree with this latter view myself. The description is metaphorical unless you want to believe that Jesus was actually as white as wool or as white as snow. The use of snow is clearly a reinforcer of the point that the writer is making, and he is describing the color or complexion of Jesus. While it is a fact that black people’s hair approximates to a texture and consistency of wool, what the text is talking about is color not texture. This latter interpretation is the inevitable conclusion reached when translating word for word the original Greek in which the New Testament was written into English. Therefore, scholars seem to suggest that the best interpretation fits in with the idea that Jesus looked differently after His resurrection than He did before. This is attested by the fact that on two occasions; John 10 v 14 and John 21 v 4 –5 the disciples could not recognize Him. Furthermore, His feet are described as “bronze glowing in a furnace”. Once again if a literal translation of this is made then it means He looked like a white yellowish glowing person. No human being fits that kind of description. My conclusion is that the resurrected Christ was transformed in His physical appearance (color wise) which explains why His disciples could not recognize Him instantly. I have stated what I believe He did not look like and hinted at what He possibly could have looked like using the scriptures to stake my claim and I believe my arguments are cogent and strong.
Rich Tapestry Of A Faith
Finally, Christianity is such a rich tapestry of a faith that embraces a multiplicity of ethnicities. The Roman Empire was positively influenced by the middle east instead of the Roman empire using Christianity to subjugate the middle east and other people of various ethnicities. Christianity embraces all colors and genders. It recognizes women as equals with men whereas other religions place women as being subordinate to men.
The answer to white Jesus is not black Jesus because both are historically inaccurate. The false idea of Christianity being a white man’s religion dates as far back as the slavery days in America’s Ante bellum south. This was a time when enslavers produced a slave bible which had whole passages edited and removed to hide the fact that God actually favored the emancipation of slaves.
Frederick Douglas former slave turned activist
It was during this time that a former slave, turned abolitionist called Frederick Douglas said the following:
“Between the Christianity of this land and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference. So wide that to receive the one as good, pure and holy is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable and impartial Christianity of Christ. I therefore hate the corrupt, slave holding, women whipping, cradle plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one for calling the religion of the land Christianity.”
Thus, even when slavery was at its peak, Douglas could separate between the so called white man’s religion and the real religion of Christ. What can we learn from this? Never judge a religion by its abuse. Christianity is not the same as who Jesus Christ is.
For more on Ancient Negroid Egyptian Pharaohs see Doctor Nathaniel Jeanson's book titled Traced
Also Doctor Cheikh Anta Diop's The Origin Of The African and Precolonial Black Africa
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