Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

[Music]

one of the reasons to learn about

the black presence in the bible is to

give

black people a divinely

oriented sense of pride and

to inform white people

about how blacks have contributed

to god’s kingdom program in history

let me read from my book one is embraced

on influential blacks in the bible

the sons of ham noah’s

son ham had four sons cush

misream put and kanan

kush was the progenitor of the ethiopian

people this is validated by the fact

the names cush and ethiopia are used

interchangeably in scripture

genesis 2 13 10

6. misram was the progenitor of the

egyptian people who are understood in

scripture to have been a hermitic

people and thus african psalm 78 51

psalm 103 23 26 and 27.

also psalm 106 verses 21 and 22

put with the progenitor of libya

and canaan was the progenitor of the

canaanites one of the most problematic

foes of god’s

chosen people the israelites nimrod

of particular importance is the powerful

old testament figure nimrod

the descendant of cush who ruled in the

land of shinar

genesis 10 8 to 10 and 11

2. nimrod eventually became the father

of two of the greatest empires in the

bible

and in world history assyria and

babylonia

he was the first great leader of a world

civilization genesis 10 11-12

he led all the people on earth and

served as

earth’s protector nimrod’s presence and

accomplishments confirmed the unique and

early leadership role

black people played in world history

the tribe of ephraim hemetic people

were crucial to the program of god

throughout old testament biblical

history

joseph’s wife an egyptian woman genesis

41

verse 45 and verses 50 to 52

was the mother of manasseh and ephraim

who later became

leaders of jewish tribes in fact the

tribe of ephraim produced one of the

greatest

leaders israel ever had moses’s

successor joshua

numbers 13 8 and first chronicles 7

22-27

this jewish african link is very strong

in scripture

the prophet amos said are you not as the

sons of

ethiopia to me o sons of israel declares

the lord

amos 9 7 caleb

caleb was the son of jeff nye

the canninzite the canninzites

were a part of the canaanite tribes

genesis 15

19 and descendants of ham

caleb also came from the tribe of judah

joshua 14

6 and 14. judah the progenitor of the

tribe father twin

sons by tamar a hermitic woman

genesis 38 caleb joined with joshua as

one of the two spies who went to explore

canaan

and brought back a positive report to

enter the land and take possession of it

as god had declared numbers 13 to 14.

jethro jethro moses father-in-law from

whom moses received the greatest single

piece

of advice regarding national leadership

ministry

organization political strategy and

personal planning

exodus 18 13-27

that was ever recorded was a kinite

judges 116 part of the canaanite tribes

genesis 15 19 who descended from ham

at that time the kinites had settled in

the land of midian

another interesting observation

regarding jethro

is that he is identified as the priest

of midian exodus

3 1. since he was a priest yet he was

not a levite

and the aaronic priesthood had not yet

been established

the question is what kind of priesthood

could this have been the only other

priesthood within the framework of

scripture

to which jethro could have belonged was

the priesthood of melchizedek

genesis 14 18. this is significant

because christ was a priest

after the order of melchizedek hebrews 7

17. this means that the priest jethro

who was of african descent may have been

indicative

of pre-aaronic priesthood such as that

of melchizedek

which foreshadowed the priestly role of

both christ

and the church this then is another

basis for recognizing the strategic

role africans played in the biblical

saga

that continues today because all

christians are related to jethro and his

priesthood

as part of the royal priesthood

david king david is known not only as a

man after god’s own heart

first samuel 13 14 but as one of the

greatest kings in israel’s history

david’s great-grandmother was a

canaanite rahab

who is also listed in the hall of faith

hebrews 11 31.

david’s grandmother was ruth a moabite

from a people who were canaanites as

well

david one of the heroes of the faith

hailed

from mixed jewish and hemetic ancestry

and stands as a leader of whom blacks

can be proud to call their own

solomon solomon was david’s son with

bathsheba

a hemetic woman bathsheba literally

means

the daughter of sheba the table of

nations

identifies sheba in the line of ham

making sheba

a descendant of an african nation

genesis 10 7 the song of solomon

describes solomon’s features

as tanned and handsome better than 10

000

others his head is purist gold

and he has wavy raven hair

song of solomon chapter 5 verses 10 to

11.

solomon was not only the wisest man to

rule a nation

but he also brought about the greatest

extension

of israel’s reach as a kingdom first

kings 3

3-14 solomon’s great-great-grandmother

great-grandmother and mother gave him

roots

within the black race and placed him as

an example

of black achievement zephaniah

underscoring the fact that black people

are an integral part of god’s revelatory

process

in both the proclamation and recording

of divine revelation

is the prophet zephaniah the old

testament states that zephaniah was of

hemetic

origin he was from the lineage of cush

zephaniah 1

1. and he prophesied god’s judgment

on judah and her enemies for their

rebellion against god

and their gross idolatry yet he

proclaimed the grace of god would save a

remnant and restore blessing

to the people people of african descent

can take pride in god’s prophet

zephaniah

one of the biblical authors as their

forefather

blacks in the lineage of christ

deserving of our greatest attention

is the lineage of christ who is the

heart and soul of the christian

faith over and over again the prophets

prophesied that messiah would come

from the seed of david as we’ve already

seen

the davidic line finds a number of black

people within it

of the five women mentioned in matthew’s

genealogy

matthew 1 1-16 four are of hemetic

descent

tamar rahab bathsheba and ruth

the point here is not that jesus was

black to assert

such as some black theologians and

religious leaders do

is to fall into the exclusionist

perspective of many whites

who would make jesus an anglo-european

blue-eyed blonde

who had very little relevance to people

of color

it would also fail to respect the

distinct heritage of christ

rather jesus was matizo

a person of mixed ancestry it blesses me

to know that jesus had black in his

blood

because that destroys any perception of

black inferiority once and for all

in christ we find perfect man and

sinless savior

this knowledge frees blacks from an

inferiority complex

and at the same time it frees whites

from a superiority

myth in christ we all have our heritage

black people as all other people can

find a

place of historical cultural and racial

identity in him

as savior of all mankind he can relate

to all people in every situation

in him any person from any background

can find comfort

understanding direction and affinity as

long as he is revealed

as the son of god a designation that

transcends

every culture black people as all other

people can find a place of historical

cultural

and racial identity in him the savior of

all mankind he can relate to all people

in every situation in him any person

from any background can find comfort

understanding direction and affinity

as long as he is revered as the son of

god a designation that transcends every

culture and race

and one to which all nations of people

must pay homage

even when we leave the pages of the new

testament era

we run into african people of faith who

had a profound

influence upon the expansion of

christianity

i hope this excites you about learning

more

about your biblical history if you are

of black

or african descent but i also hope it

inspires whites to a broader view and

appreciation

of all that has been contributed by

black people

in the glory of god the writing of

scripture

and the person of our savior you can

find more in our book

oneness embraced

[Music]

you