Was Jesus black?

An interesting theory is going around that Jesus was black. I think this is part of the black pride movement. While blacks have the right to be proud of themselves as a people, and demonstrate their unique contributions to society, is this theory in line with biblical history?

I just had an interesting contact from a reader, who believed this theory. During the discussion, I was given the source of this story, so I looked it up.

The basic proposal was that Judah, son of Israel, had an affair with Tamar, a Canaanite woman, who gave birth to 2 boys, who were the ancestors of Jesus.

Step 1. Look at what the Bible says. I skipped a few verses that were not relevant. One can read all of Genesis 38. It will not change the interpretation

Gen 38:2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name [was] Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

*** Judah marries a Canaanite woman named Shuah.

*** Shuah is NOT Tamar, and it never says they are related.

Gen 38:3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

Gen 38:6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name [was] Tamar.

*** Tamar was his daughter in law, wife of his first son, Er. It never says Tamar was a Canaanite. Other races or nationalities are named when mentioning one of those people. Otherwise, the person is Hebrew.

Gen 38:7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

Gen 38:11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren [did]. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

Gen 38:12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

Gen 38:13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

Gen 38:14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which [is] by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

Gen 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought her [to be] an harlot; because she had covered her face.

Gen 38:16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

Gen 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she [is] with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

Gen 38:25 When she [was] brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these [are, am] I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose [are] these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

Gen 38:26 And Judah acknowledged [them], and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

Gen 38:27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins [were] in her womb.

***The two boys that were born were Perez and Zarah. Perez was an ancestor of Jesus. He was Jewish, not Canaanite.

Step 2. Remember, Jesus was not formed from a human male father. It was a virgin birth. The Y chromosome came from God. So, it does not matter what relatives the earth parents, Joseph and Mary, had. It did not involve Jesus.

The only way Jesus could be physically related to a Canaanite was if ALL the grandmothers, great grandmothers, etc, not fathers, that were related to Mary were listed, and they were found to be Canaanite. But this is not true.

But then, so what? Canaanites were not black. Remember, God had forbidden the Israelites to marry outside their nation. This had nothing to do with racism. It had to do with righteous seed that would precede and pave the way for the Messiah. At that time, ONLY the Israelites were considered sanctified for this purpose, and were the only ones who possessed God’s laws and commandments. They were to be separate, and apart from the rest of the world, not blending in with pagan nations.

Step 3. Black Africans appear to be of Nubian descent, not Canaanite. Ancient Nubians (Cushites) had the black skin, while other descendants of Ham seemed to have more copper tones.

Noah had cursed Canaan, son of Ham, because he was mocked as naked. Gen 9:20-27 explains the three-fold division of the race for its spiritual dimensions.

Noah had 3 sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Shem would be the line through whom the Messiah would come, not Ham, and Japheth would find blessing in union with the line (and the seed, ultimately the Messiah) of Shem. Any man who was a physical descendent of a Canaanite would be disqualified as Messiah.

Gen 10:6-20 gives the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim (Egypt), and Phut, and Canaan, and their descendants. None of these would be qualified to be messianic lineage, since none were from the seed of Shem.

Nubia was another name for the ancient kingdom of Cush, sons of Ham, son of Noah. So any Nubian would also be disqualified as an ancestor for the Messiah.

http://www.angelfire.com/oh/AncientKnowledge/NUBIA.html

Jesus was NOT a descendant of Cush (son of Ham, who was son of Noah), since that lineage was not qualified. The ancestors of Jesus are listed in Matthew and Luke. He was a descendant of Shem, son of Noah. It is a completely different blood line. Also, God followed the lineage of the fathers, not the mothers, to set apart the “seed” that would precede the Messiah. Mothers have no seed.

Therefore, the Messiah could never come from a Canaanite.

Step 4. Why would I say that Black Africans are from Cush, and not Canaan?

I have collected some pictures of ancient and modern peoples. See who looks really black and who does not.

Ancient Canaanites below- note the copper color

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Egyptians below

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Jordanian women (Moabites) – they look almost white

Turks below – sons of Ham – look white

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Palestinians – living in America now-below- copper color

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Below – in order, from left to right – Syrian, Nubian, Libyan, Egyptian –ancient (notice that the Nubian and Egyptian, both descendants of Ham are darker, and that the Nubian is black.)

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Nubians – modern

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Step 5. Neither male nor female ancestor matters anyhow. Jesus is the son of God, not man. He was to be one of his brethren, the Jews, according to 4000 years of prophecy. He was not to be other any of nation except Israel. Mary had to have a pure Hebrew lineage, to be qualified as a mother for the Messiah. If she had been of any other race, God would have had to pick another woman.

Step 6. Addressing other racial issues. Also notice, in the next graph, that even the Moabites were Semites (Shemites).

“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the congregation of the Lord FOREVER”. (Deuteronomy 23:3)

Ruth, the “Moabite” ancestor of Jesus, was also qualified, racially. Evaluation of the ancient Hebrew text, and biblical history, demonstrates that she was an Israelite living in Moab, after Israel’s conquest of Moab. The real Moabites had been destroyed. So even she had to be Jewish. Her future husband, Boaz, was her kinsman redeemer, so they were related.

***Reference http://www.cryaloud.com/book_story_ruth_moabite_levirate_law_marriage.htm

God said that NO ONE with gentile mixing could be accepted as Messiah.

So, in conclusion, if Jesus had been a descendant of a Canaanite, or any Nubian (black), he would not have been the Messiah.

People !!!!!

It does not matter about race or skin color. Get past this. He is the Messiah. He is here for everyone. Your race does not matter. God made everyone.

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Note:

This entire idea that Jesus was black comes from 2 mis- statements from scripture

That hair of Jesus was “like wool” and that man was made from “top soil” which is black, so the original man was black, and Jesus would have to be like him. This is foolish.

1. As to the argument that Jesus’ hair was like wool, the bible actually says….

Rev 1:14 His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;

It is talking about his hair being “white as snow, and white as wool.”

It is very clear that this has nothing to do with skin color, but the color of the hair.

2. It NEVER said Adam was made of BLACK TOP SOIL……..just that it was just DUST. .and dust is not black

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.