Monday, August 6, 2018

Revelation Of African Presence In The Bible

By Karen Parker


The word of God is meant for everyone in the world. This includes Africans who appear to have gods of their own, unique to every tribe. Preaching to Africans about God and considering their history of suffering makes one question the African presence in the bible. This would be a good point to begin because it gives them a chance to associate with the biblical teaching.

The Garden of Eden in the New Testament is the genesis of humanity. This is where man was placed upon creation. Genesis places the location of this garden as somewhere in the middle of a system of four rivers. The rivers mentioned are Asshur, Havilah and Cush. These rivers are found in present day Ethiopia. Considering that remains of the earliest man have been found in Ethiopia, there is likelihood that this was the Garden of Eden.

Biblical patriarchs are shown to have married or sired children with women of African descent. This afforded credence to the central place of Africans in biblical history. Sarah allowed Abraham to have a child with Hagar when her womb was barren. It signifies an element of rescue. Hagar was a Hermitic slave. This leaves Africans occupying a special place in the history of salvation.

The book of Psalms chapter 68 also features a prophecy about where a king shall arise from. The chapter says that he shall rise from Egypt. The chapter further states that Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand to the Lord. This could be in reference to the role played by Egypt in saving Jesus when Herod wanted to execute him. Ethiopia stretching her hand signifies the arrival of the wise men, one of who was from Ethiopia.

The mention of Egypt is rampant in the old and new testaments. Though she is referred to as an oppressor, Egypt is significant because of the story of Joseph and salvation by Moses. It is also in Egypt that Moses would rescue Israelis after the 7 calamities sent by God. Today, Egypt is used to refer to a state of bondage.

The introduction of African in the New Testament is when Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to avoid death of Jesus through Herod. They do this at the direction of an angel from God. If Jesus had died, salvation would have been impossible to achieve. This is significant because Africa comes to the rescue of Israelis.

Cyrene features in the history of Roman Empire because it produced oil, wool and corn. History has it that Cyrene was in Africa. This name is common because of Simon, a passerby who helped Jesus with his cross on the way to Golgotha. Considering that Rome traded with Cyrene and the people were known to be long distance marathoners, Simon definitely came from Africa.

There are disciples who went all the way to Africa to preach the gospel. Stephen is one of these apostles. As captured in Acts chapter 13 verses 1 and 2, the good news got to Africa as soon as Jesus resurrected. These vivid connections and many more reveal the central place that Africa holds in biblical story of salvation.




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