Nothing can so gloriously fit you to preach as descending fresh from the mount of communion with God to speak with men. None are so able to plead with men as those who have been wrestling with God on their behalf.
C.H. Spurgeon

Integration And Intermarriage

Integration And Intermarriage

December 13, 1990

Dear friends: The following is an article of questionable scholarship which is being circulated on “Christian” BBSs. It is of interest because it is classic bigotry, and my editorial comments [appearing in brackets] are really unnecessary, but I have included them for simple reference. I have not changed anything Mr. Harris has written except a few cases where I have corrected his spelling just to make your reading of the document smoother. *PUBLIC* Msg # 101 Date Posted : 29 Aug 89 21:25:28 From : Bob Harris To : All Subj : Integration And Intermarriage THIS IS PART ONE OF FIVE PARTS. Thank you for your interest in this subject. Though the Bible is very clear that we are to love everyone and preach the Gospel “to every creature,” I believe it’s also very clear on the subject of segregation and maintaining a distinction of the races, and that it frowns on marrying outside one’s race. This is not racism; this is not bigotry. [My father once told me that “if it looks like a duck, and if if quacks like a duck, and if it walks like a duck, and if it swims like a duck, then it must be a duck.” That Mr. Harris claims his essay is neither racism nor bigotry does not mean that it is not so.] This is the word of God. The principle of separation and segregation is THROUGHOUT the Bible. It is a segregationist Book, beginning with Genesis and continuing through Revelation. 1. Adam was segregated from the rest of God’s creation; 2. Eve was segregated from her husband; 3. After the fall, Adam and Eve were segregated from the Garden of Eden; 4. After murdering his brother, Cain was segregated from the rest of humanity; 5. Noah and his family were segregated from the rest of humanity in the ark; 6. After the flood, Noah’s three sons and their families were segregated across the face of the earth FROM EACH OTHER — Shem to Asia, Ham to Africa, and Japheth to EUROPE (this is where the RACES originated); [Who is he kidding? Please read Genesis through chapter ten and observe that the desinations of Noah and his three sons are not specified.] 7. Mankind was scattered abroad and segregated over linguistic lines after the tower of Babel; 8. Abram was segregated from the rest of his kindred; 9. Abram was segregated from Lot; 10. Abram’s son Isaac was segregated from his other son Ishmael; 11. Isaac’s son Jacob was segregated from his other son Esau; 12. Jacob’s son Joseph was segregated from his father and brothers. [I no longer live with my parents. Does that mean that segregation is a doctrine? Of course not!] And THAT’S just from the Book of Genesis. Further we find: 13. Moses was segregated from his kindred to live in Pharaoh’s court; 14. Moses was segregated by God as someone with whom He spoke face- to-face; 15. The children of Israel were segregated from Egypt; 16. The waters of the Red Sea were segregated to allow the Israelites to pass across on dry land; 17. Moses was segregated from the children of Israel for 40 days to receive the Ten Commandments; 18. The children of Israel were commanded to be segregated from the nations around them; 19. The children of Israel were even segregated from other Shemite nations to be a peculiar people to God; 20. The tribe of Levi was segregated from the other tribes of Israel as the “priestly tribe” and the custodians of the word of God; 21. Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, were segregated in the word of God for offering “strange fire” before the Lord; 22. The Nazirite was segregated because of his special vows to the Lord; 23. Miriam was segregated from the camp by leprosy because of speaking against Moses’ authority; 24. Joshua and Caleb were segregated from the rest of the 12 spies for their faithfulness; 25. Benjamin was segregated from the rest of the 12 tribes of Israel for its UNfaithfulness which resulted in a bloody civil war; 26. Ruth was segregated from her kinspeople to follow Naomi and marry Boaz; 27. Rahab the harlot was segregated from HER kinspeople to marry Salmon, and become Boaz’s mother and the great- grandmother of David the king. HOLD IT!!! Did you see Number 27 above? Rahab was a resident of Jericho; she was a Canaanite. SHE WAS A HAMITE!! And she married a Shemite!! Interracial marriage!! Proof POSITIVE that I’m a racist, right? [You said it, Mr. Harris. Have you wasked your hands after the weekly cross burning?] Problem is, she FORSOOK her race (the Hamitic Canaanites) and became a JEW through marriage and proselytization–and a worshipper of the LORD. She no longer identified with her race; she identified with her HUSBAND’S race. She was SEGREGATED from her own race of people. Not the same thing as interracial marriage between whites and blacks today; there’s no segregation about what goes on today; it’s clearly race-MIXING. [As ludicrous as this is, this is in conflict with what was said before relative to Ham going to Africa. Canaan’s geography just isn’t that way.] 28. Achan was segregated from his nation, from his tribe, from his family, and singled out as the one who committed sin in the camp; 29. Saul was segregated from his nation and his tribe to be Israel’s first king; 30. Saul was segregated from God for disobedience; 31. David was segregated from Saul and his own family as God’s choice over the rejected Saul to be king of Israel; 32. David was segregated and alienated from his own son Absalom in a bloody rebellion; 33. The nation was finally united in its greatest moments as a kingdom under David’s son Solomon, but later Judah was SEGREGATED from his brethren when Solomon apostasized; 34. Daniel and his three friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — betcha didn’t even know their HEBREW names!) were segregated from their nation and their families to live in a foreign land and in a foreign court; 35. Esther was segregated from her people to become the queen of Persia; [Talk about a one note tune! Let’s say that I looked throughout the Bible and found how many times the word “change” was used. Could I then write an essay claiming that the Bible proves the concept of evolution?] 36. Bethlehem was segregated from big cities to become the birthplace of the Saviour; 37. Mary was segregated from all other Hebrew women to give birth to the Saviour; 38. John the Baptist was segregated from his family to prepare the way for the Saviour; 39. The Lord Jesus–as He was growing up–was segregated from

His unbelieving brethren; [Actually, this isn’t true. If we believe that Jesus spent His early years in Egypt, we know that many Egyptians did not place faith in Yahweh. Thus, Jesus was brought into the presence of unbelievers. Also, there is new scholarship to suggest that Jesus may have travelled “the Silk Road” into India during his formative years (12-30).] 40. Peter, James, and John were segregated from the other disciples to accompany the Lord on the mount of Transfiguration; 41. The 120 gathered in the Upper Room were segregated to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; 42. Peter was segregated from the rest of the disciples to preach the Pentecost sermon; 43. Ananias and Sapphira were segregated from the congregation through death because of their deception; 44. Six men were segregated from the rest of their brethren to be deacons in the Jerusalem church; 45. Stephen was segregated from the rest to be martyred for preaching the word of God; 46. Paul and Barnabas were segregated from the rest of the congregation at Antioch BY THE HOLY GHOST to be sent abroad to preach the Gospel; 47. Peter was segregated to deliver the Gospel to the Gentiles (but he didn’t MARRY any of them!!); [Should Peter have been a bigamist? Mark 1:30 establishes this clearly.] 48. Paul was segregated from his mother’s womb and called to preach by the grace of God; 49. Christians are supposed to be segregated from the world; [According to whom? Matthew 24:14 tells us to preach the Gospels to all nations, not to separate ourselves from them. Imagine, if the early Christians had NOT spread the Gospels, Christianity would have died!] 50. The wheat will forever be segregated from the chaff at the final judgment, when the lost are cast into the lake of fire and the just shall dwell forever in the presence of God. I just listed 50 instances of SEGREGATION in the Bible, but you all say the RACES should be MIXED. Yeah, right. [Yes, but we don’t say it quite that way. We simply say that “all men are created equal” – using the term men loosely to included women, hence all human beings.] (By the way, I got the above just by reading my good ol’ King James Bible. Not a single “commentary” was consulted. You

really don’t need commentaries if you obey II Timothy 2:15.)

There are others as well:

  1. Segregation of animals (Gen. 6,7; Lev. 11).
  2. Segregation of materials (Deut. 22:11).
  3. Segregation of the Hebrew nation from others (Neh. 13: 20-28).
  4. Segregation of nations from each other (Gen. 11; Deut. 32:8).
  5. Segregation of Israelites (Ex. 3:10).
  6. Segregation of Christians (II Cor. 6:14-17).
  7. Segregation of plants and vegetables (Deut. 22:9).
  8. Segregation of workers (Deut. 22:11).

Other considerations: (1) An EXPLICIT PROHIBITION against intermarrying other races is found in Neh. 13:23-27. Here the context is a LINGUISTIC-CULTURAL difference (v. 24), not a religious difference. Confusion and culture shock is the theme here–something which STILL exists as a potential in any black-white race mix. [Excuse me, but aren’t we all Americans here? WASPs should be educated in the black experience so that the “culture shock” need not be. However, if “confusion is the theme here,” I see Mr. Harris’ point.] Reference is made to Solomon’s tragic example in I Kings 11: 1-8. (2) Esau’s intermarriages to the Hittite women living nearby “were a grief of mind” to his parents, Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 26:35). The Hittites were Hamites (Genesis 10:15). This BEFORE the Law was given. To patch things up with his parents, Esau polygamized with his uncle Ishmael’s daughter (his first cousin, Genesis 28:9). (3) Also, after Sarah’s death, Abraham charged his servant to travel to his father’s homeland to select a bride for his son Isaac from among his kinspeople–“…thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell” (Genesis 24:3). Once again, this was hundreds of years BEFORE the Law was given. (4) An eschatological consideration: In the “last days,” when “perilous times shall come,” “men shall be…without natural affection” (II Timothy 3:1-3). Going outside one’s own race to look for a spouse who has NOTHING in common with your upbringing, customs, life-style, background, is a fulfillment of this prophecy. Common sense will tell you that the “natural” thing to do is marry someone from your own people. Why would you even CONSIDER someone of a totally

different race? [Love maybe? But Mr. Harris is the only one I know to have intepreted Timothy in this way.] To stay within the bounds of your race for a lifetime companion is NOT “marital racism,” as the moderator of this echo has foolishly charged. It’s Biblical common sense. In fact, I know MANY black men. [Are some of Mr. Harris’ best friends black? Read on.] Of those who have discussed this matter with me, ALL of them acknowledge a SEXUAL ATTRACTION for white women. And it goes both ways. [What does?] There is NOTHING AT ALL spiritual or natural about a white person wanting to marry a black person. It is SEXUAL. When trying to justify interracial marriages, one of the participants of this echo–who said he is black–proceeded to BRAG about his many GIRLFRIENDS of all races. What’s so Biblical or spiritual about that? You see, it’s a SEXUAL thing. It’s “without natural affection.” And, as such, it’s a sign of the “last days.” [Oh, Lawdy Lawd! And I suppose the earthquake which was supposed to have taken place recently (and didn’t) is a sign as well?] (5) Another eschatological consideration: Race-mixing contributes to the one-world government over which the Antichrist will rule in the Tribulation. In one silly post, the moderator of this echo said that racism is what’s wrong with this world. He was wrong. SIN is what’s wrong with this world. And we are not called to make the world a better place. The Bible says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). [Note that Mr. Harris has used no logic to suppose his contention that “race-mixing contributes to the one-world government” statement.] The Lord Jesus Christ, when discussing His second coming, described the world He would return to as one “as it was in the days of Lot” (Luke 17:28). How WAS it in the days of Lot? Well, Lot is first mentioned in Genesis 11:27, the same chapter “from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Gen. 11:9). It is GOD who segregated the races–so that, in Acts 17:26, we see Him establishing THE BOUNDS OF THEIR HABITATION. (I’ll get back

to Acts 17:26 later.) It is GOD who complained in Gen. 11:6, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language.” God did NOT condone “integration.” In fact, He is quite SEGREGATIONIST in Genesis 11. So, I make this blanket statement to you: If you’re NOT a segregationist, you’re NOT a godly person. If you are an INTEGRATIONIST, when the Bible is very SEGREGATIONIST, then you’re not a Bible-believer. [This is a “blanket statement”? I submit that it is a sheet statement: one with a pointy head and two holed for eyes!] During the Tribulation, the Antichrist will rule over a one-world government consisting of a one-world monetary system (Rev. 18), a one-world religion (Rev. 17), and populated by a “one-world people” (“Behold, the people is ONE”), ALL of whom must receive the MARK OF THE BEAST on their bodies (Rev. 13:16,17). PLEASE NOTE Rev. 13:16, where people are “free and bond”–SLAVERY will be reinstated as an INSTITUTION in the Tribulation. It’s coming! So, if you’re black, and you’ve rejected the word of God, then enjoy your “civil rights” while they last. Things aren’t going to get better for you–they’re going to get worse–a LOT worse. The only way you can escape the slavery that’s coming is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ…NOW!! (II Cor. 6:2). [But if John was cryptically writing about the Rome of his own day, then all this so-called segregationist prophecy is nonsense.] And, by the way, what about that “mark of the beast”? What does it LOOK like? Rev. 13:2: “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard….” A leopard has marks on its skin, doesn’t it? What color are they? BLACK! [But where the marks are not? Isn’t the leopard – dare I say it – white?] (6) Back to the “one-world-ism” of Genesis 11. God hated it THEN, and He hates it NOW. It was NOT done away with by the Law, or by the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither were these things: (a) Men sweat for a living NOW (Gen. 3). This teaching was not abrogated at the first coming of Christ and common sense and general observance would confirm the teaching regardless of a man’s theological position. (b) Men go back to dust at death NOW (Gen. 3). This was not “fulfilled” or “done away with” at Christ’s first coming in any sense for anyone. (c) Women bear children in pain NOW (Gen. 3). [Actually, anesthesea has been around for a while. Also, we had our four children via the LaMaze method, and I hate to speak for my wife, but three of the four seemed to pass extremely well without need of drugs at all.] (d) Capital punishment is in effect NOW (Gen. 9), and the greatest Christian who ever lived gave his hearty and unqualified approval to the decree (Acts 25:11). [Capital punishment is the premeditated killing of another human being. Mr. Harris, you figure it out.] (e) Beasts, in general, still fear man today (Gen. 9). (f) Shemites, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are promised spiritual and physical blessings. Spiritual blessings are promised in Genesis 9, but these continue to the present age (starting more than 90 years after the birth of Christ, at the completion of the New Testament canon), for EVERY WRITER IN BOTH TESTAMENTS IS A SHEMITE! (Rom. 3:1,2). [Not really. The statement explains the advantage of being a Jew. Jews penned Scripture, but Paul also told us that Jesus is for Jew and Gentile and said nothing about them not marrying each other or going to church together. No kidding. Read it yourself!] (g) Over 50% of the prophecies in the Old Testament still await a future fulfillment (Amos 9; Mal. 4; Isa. 11,63,65,66; Joel 2; etc.). [This statement makes no point.] (h) And so, the racial prophecies of Gen. 9 are still in effect today. [“Racial prophecies”? I still think Mr. Harris is one of the members of the Invisible Empire.] (7) Now, I’d like to deal with two verses that are the most often MISQUOTED by those who try to justify integration and interracial marriage from the Bible. Seems like every man who takes the side of race-mixing as a Christian duty cites Acts 17:26 as a “proof text” for his “Christian” conviction. Acts 17:26 is quoted again and again to show that SEGREGATION is “un-Christian.” The text reads as follows: “And hath made of ONE BLOOD all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the EARTH, and hath determined the times before appointed, and THE BOUNDS OF THEIR HABITATION….” Every man who relies on that verse to justify integration STOPS at the word “EARTH,” dissecting the verse shamefully and rejecting Alford’s correct Greek reading, found in the King James AV1611, where it says “BLOOD.” In order that the gullible masses might believe the Bible condoned making all NATIONS “ONE,” the word “blood” was carefully knocked out of the Greek text in the RSV, ASV, NIV, and the New English Bible. (The AV is much more accurate from the standpoint of science, as the only similarity between the races is the “blood.” [Oops! I thought we all had eyes, teeth, ears . . .] Their physical characteristics, WHICH DIFFER, originate in the genes and chromosomes.) The most SHOCKING thing about all this was that the context of Acts 17:26 goes on to say that God’s purpose in “setting boundaries” was so men could SEEK THE LORD! (Acts 17:27). Those who “remove the bounds” are HINDERING GOD’S WORK, NOT AIDING IT (Hosea 5:10). The passage, then, cited by these race-mixers, is the very passage which condemns and rebukes them for violating the laws of nature and of God. Small wonder that NONE OF THEM FINISHED THE PASSAGE! [On the contrary, maybe they read the whole Bible. Still, the boundaries of the earth are geographical. One might ask why God gave us the minds to make the tools to overcome geography if He did not internd for us to do so!] Next, consider THIS verse: “There is no respect of persons with God” (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Job 37:24; Eph. 6:9). This Christian maxim, drawn (and quartered) from the Scripture, is a statement so simple that no high school student could possibly (with normal intelligence) read, “There is no respect of RACES with God!” Irrespective of doctrinal, theological, political, and denominational differences among Christian people, no intelligent person (not even an Atheist) would read, “THERE IS NO RESPECT OF RACES WITH GOD,” unless, of course, he were either handicapped without his bifocals, or was trying to WRESTSCRIPTURE TO PROVE A POLITICAL POINT. (a) In ALL the contexts where this verse appears, the issue has nothing to do with race-mixing. There is not a Bible in print (eitherin Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Latin, Arabic, or Greek) that would lead anyone to suppose the passage is justifying race mixing. SOCIAL EQUALITY is not found anywhere, even remotely connected with the expression, in a single instance where the verse is found in the New Testament. [Every knee shall bow?] (b) In the majority of cases, God is talking about equality in the matter of OPPORTUNITY TO BE SAVED AND JUSTIFIED, AND IN ALL CASES He is dealing with spiritual issues; hence, an unregenerate man cannot understand the text, and the men who use this text to prove that integration is “scriptural” are dangerously close to classifying themselves as unregenerate men (I Cor. 2). Simon Peter’s much mis-read statement in Acts 10:34 has to do with God’s willingness to give the message of salvation to any individual IN any nation (Jew or not), who seeks God in truth. In the text of Romans 2:11 the same idea is set forth: divine treatment of individuals within a race, ON A MORAL ISSUE. There are no traces of SOCIAL OR POLITICAL ISSUES IN EITHER CONTEXT where the verse appears. Peter, after his social essons from God (Acts 10:1- 20), did not go to Cornelius and marry his daughter or his sister. HE WENT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO HIM. [Once again, Peter was ALREADY MARRIED.] (c) The point to be observed is whether or not a person is entitled to read RACES in a passage that is dealing with INDIVIDUALS. There are passages in the Bible which deal with races (Gen. 10, Deut. 32, Gen. 15), but God is careful never to make a statement such as, “There is no respect of RACES with God.” This reading is the fictitious fabrication of men who are unable to read high school English. For the gullible public to accept these men as “authorities” on the subject is ridiculous. Such a “proof text” does not occur in a single version of the Bible ever printed; not even the versions printed by the “integrationists.” Consider just a few more: “LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.” That does NOT include buying a new car for your “neighbor” every time you buy one for your family! His “race” has nothing to do with it; you are NOT TO GIVE HIM EVERY PRIVILEGE you give your own family, and to abort the passage to teach this, when a racial issue is being discussed, is the height of absurdity. [I don’t buy new cars for my neighbors, black or white, but I do love them equally. Is someone forcing Mr. Harris to buy cars for people other than himself?] “ALL YE ARE BRETHREN” (Matt. 23:8). Christ is most certainly NOT a “master” of all men, by their own confessional standards. There were no Indians, Mexicans, Irishmen, Italians, Englishmen, Americans, Germans, or Japanese present when the statement was made. [No Italians? Wow! That’s a new one on me! Then, all that fuss about Roman occupation was just as much a fraud as this segregationist document is!] This ransacking of the Bible to prove FALSE DOCTRINE has to stop somewhere. The audience addressed is OLD TESTAMENT JEWS BEFORE THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION; THERE ARE NO “CHRISTIANS” PRESENT, for the word “Christian” does not even occur till several years after the ascension of Christ (Acts 11). If you object that the statement is NOT limited to time and locality in its doctrinal application, then what is the doctrinal importance of the statement, “Call no man on earth FATHER,” in the same passage? [If the Word is not for all people of all time, then there is no reason to send out missionaries.] “LOVE, LOVE, LOVE AND MORE LOVE” (I Cor. 13). (a) In the chapter Paul is discussing INDIVIDUAL gifts to the INDIVIDUAL Christian (vs. 1-3). Race-mixing is not a divine manifestation of divine love, given to a Christian as a “gift.” It is the manifestion of HUMANISTIC PHILANTHROPY TO A GROUP! (b) Verse 6, “Love rejoices in truth”–NOT political expediency, or wresting the Scriptures, or mis-reading the Scriptures, or mis-quoting the Scriptures, or misapplying the Scriptures. LOVE REJOICES IN TRUTH. Jesus said, “Thy word is truth.” Again, He said, “He that is of God heareth God’s words. Ye hear them not because ye ARE NOT OF GOD” (see John 17:7; 8). If a man has the Bible love of I Cor. 13, HE ACCEPTS THE BIBLE AS TRUE AND REJOICES IN IT (I Cor. 13:6). [OK, Mr. Harris. The Bible is truth, but its facts are in contradiction.] (c) “LOVE” doesn’t seek to “advance itself” (I Cor. 13:5). (NAACP– the National Association for the ADVANCEMENT of Colored People???) [The phrase “advance itself” does not appear in I Cor. 13:5. Mr. Harris is now misquoting as well as taking Scripture out of context to support his thesis.] (d) “LOVE” doesn’t get offended over such threats as “being discriminated against” (I Cor. 13:7). [Misquotation again.] (e) “LOVE,” as such in this chapter, describes a quality wholly lacking in the attitude of integrationists toward the Bible itself. (8) Now let’s talk about the matter of DISCRIMINATION, another “favorite” word of the race-mixers and integrationists–like “racist,” “prejudiced,” and “bigot.” DOES GOD DISCRIMINATE? Oh, yes! It is a common practice of the Almighty in both Testaments. Examine the Biblical evidence: (a) God discriminates against individuals by choosing certain ones BEFORE birth (Rom. 9:13). (b) God discriminates against individuals by choosing certain ones AFTER birth (Gen. 17:17-21). (c) God discriminates in not making men equal PHYSICALLY (John 9:1-5), SPIRITUALLY (II Peter 2:12), or FINANCIALLY (Prov. 22: 2). (d) God discriminates in choosing special people (Job 1: 6-12). (e) God discriminates in choosing traits of character (Prov. 6:16-19). (f) God discriminates in favoring one nation before another (Jer. 30:11). In the dictionary sense, the word “discrimination” describes a process of value judgment which is not only necessary, but HIGHLY DESIRABLE in a well-balanced person. “Discrimination” is not only Scriptural, it is reasonable. For example, I am not “discriminating” against chocolate milk by ordering white milk. The color has nothing to do with it. Shall we try that again? I SAID, “THE COLOR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.” I just like white milk. Look at an example of extreme discrimination in the case of Shem’s privileges as opposed to Japheth and Ham, and learn immediately how the Hebrew, coming from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (all Shemites), has special privileges NO OTHER RACE EVER HAS HAD OR EVER WILL HAVE. 1. The Shemites have CIVIL RIGHTS promised to no other nation or race (Deut. 14:25,26; 19:2-9; 30:9,10). 2. The Shemites have RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES promised to no other nation or race (Rom. 9:1-5; I Chr. 28:12-19; Deut. 23:1-10). 3. The Shemites have NATIONAL PRIVILEGES promised to no other nation or race (Deut. 28:1-14; Mal. 3:11,12; Isa. 11:9- 12; 2: 1-4). 4. The Shemites have MATERIAL PROMISES never given to any other nation or race (Amos 9:13-15; Zech. 14; Isa. 11:9-12; 2:1-4). [OK, so the Jews of the Old Testament were nationalists. So what?] IS GOD A RESPECTER OF RACES? Oh, yes, He most certainly IS a respecter of RACES, and as the Creator of the races and the ONE responsible and cognizant of their origin, destiny, and history, God has spoken, plainly, flatly, authoritatively, and finally on the matter of segregation and integration. A man who refuses to recognize this may be a PROFESSING CHRISTIAN, he may be a nominal CHURCH-GOER, or a strict observer of RITUAL OR SACRAMENTALISM, but a born-again, Bible-believer, HE MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT!! Let him stick to his Harvard five-foot shelf and keep his unbelieving hands off the Holy Bible. [Since Mr. Harris is passing judgment over the rest of us, isn’t God to pass judgment over Mr. Harris in the same way? I don’t want to play “Bible police,” but I recommend that Mr. Harris read ROMANS 14:13.] (9) Finally, what about this idea of the descendants of Ham being “servants of servants” (Gen. 9:25)? If the descendants of Ham are said to be “servants of servants,” then certainly we should find something in the New Testament about them. We have a whole chapter (Rom. 11) dealing with Japhethites and Shemites. We have whole portions of chapters dealing with Japhethites and Shemites in Revelation 13, I Corinthians 1 and 2, Romans 1–4, and James. Would the God of the Bible be so forgetful as to write a revelation without instructions to the “servant of servants”? Hardly. (a) The Shemites have CIVIL RIGHTS promised to no other nation or race (Deut. 24:7). (b) The mistreatment of servants is forbidden (I Peter 2: 18,19; Deut. 24:14-18; I Tim. 6:1-3). (c) The misconduct of the servant is forbidden (I Peter 2: 18,19; 2:9). (d) The saved man is a slave to Christ, even though free (I Cor. 7:20-23). (e) The slave is free from sin though in chains, if he is saved (I Cor. 7:20-23; Gal. 3:27,28). (f) The slave’s imposition is nowhere done away with in either Testament (I Cor. 7:20-24; Rev. 6:15; I Tim. 6:1-5). (g) The runaway slave is to be returned (Philemon). (h) “Foreigners” are not to be mistreated (Deut. 24:14-18; 10:18-28). (i) Marriage is forbidden with other races (Deut. 20:16-18; Neh. 13:26). –Abraham’s Hamitic relationship ends with a loss of 13 years of fellowship (Gen. 16:1-4,15,16, 17:1-8; Gal. 4:22-30). –Lot’s Hamitic relationship ends in tragedy (Gen. 12: 5-10; 13:10; 19:26). –As Moses’ did (Num. 12:1; 20:1-5). –As David’s did (II Sam. 11:3, HITTITE!). –And Timothy winds up with a confused testimony that makes it necessary for him to be circumcised by the very man who spent three chapters “downing” circumcision (Acts 16:1-4). And if that weren’t enough, common sense would tell any man of any race that he would be happier with his own people in any activity (Prov. 21:16; 27:8). Thank God, some day we children of the King will be in Heaven, where we’ll have a unity in Christ that is sinlessly perfect and acceptable with God (Rev. 21:1-4), and not some race-mixing “integration,” put out by hireling prophets and pseudo-legislators and Bible-denying smart-alecks. We’ll have oneness with God, some day, through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as of a Lamb, “Without blemish and without spot” (I Pet. 1:19). [When observing this in his own day, Mark Twain once wrote: “Down here on earth, people hate each other, and fight each other, and every one of them persecutes the Jew, and yet every one of them loves heaven and wants to get into it. They want to pray together, and fly together, and harp and hosannah together. And even the racist thinks that if he could just get up there, he would take the entire populace to his heart and hug and hug and hug. I wonder sometimes if God invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey!”] Until then, “Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord” (Jer. 38:20). Leave the boundaries where God has put them (Acts 17:26-29), and trust in the God of the Bible, who is the God of revelation and history, who will in His own good time pay back where payment is due. This is something a Bible-denying “Christian” can never submit to, but to those of us who love Him who first loved us, and love His word as the absolute truth that it is, it is a “light yoke,” for He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:3-6; Eph. 6:24). In Christ, Bob Harris P.S. I have also posted on this echo, for your enjoyment and blessing, a 12-part series of comments on Genesis 9, titled “Races.” May God bless you as you study His word to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” [Well, no kidding, this is exactly the way I found the text. Interestingly enough, there is no mention of Africa or Negro in the Bible. I will not spend the time to show how absurd the whole essay is, but I will simply state that I believe that God loves everyone equally and that He is too great a Father to all to be so trivial as Mr. Harris has made Him out to be.] Keith Suggs