Question:
The races of black, yellow and red……when did God create them? Ham who wasn’t black, so how could the race of Ham be black if he intermarried with a black? Wouldn’t that be a diluted race?
Answer:
God obviously delights in variety and beauty. Why is our sky a beautiful blue, but the sky on the moon black? Because God created this planet to be inhabited, and He wanted us to enjoy the beautiful colors here. Isaiah 45:18 says, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, HE FORMED IT TO BE INHABITED: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” We are told by man that it is our atmosphere that takes the blue wave length of light and makes our sky look blue to us here. Is God’s favorite color blue? If so, then why did He make the grass and leaves on the trees green? What about the clouds? Why did He make them white? Why did He make the bark on the trees brown? Why did He make the dirt brown? Why did He make the sunset red and orange? Why did He make the leaves turn yellow, orange and red before they fall off of the trees in the fall? Why did God make the rainbow a variety of colors all in one? Why is the foundation of the heavenly city New Jerusalem not going to be gray cement, but a dazzling array of a variety of gems? Revelation 21:18-21 says, “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” The answer to all of the above? God loves beauty, and a variety of colors.
The same holds true of mankind which He created. From the two people which He created, He programmed into their genes an infinite variety of possibilities and colors. Some conceptions between two people would produce blond hair; others brunette; and others red. Is there one color that is right, pure, and not diluted, and all the others wrong? Was it God’s will to have only one color hair on people? Do you know what color that would then have to then be? Revelation 1:13,14 says, “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. HIS HEAD AND HIS HAIRS WERE WHITE LIKE WOOL, AS WHITE AS SNOW; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.” It would have to be white — as white as snow.
But what do many people do when their hair starts to change color? They start dying it. Millions of people do not want gray, silver, or white hair, so they keep coloring it blonde, brunette, red, or a combination somewhere in between those colors.
It is part of the curse that we are blonde, brunette, or red-haired? Did God really want all people upon earth to have white hair all of their lives? Was that His perfect will? The darker a person’s hair is, is he/she more under the curse than a lighter-haired person? If that is the case, then brunettes are more under the curse than are red-heads. And that would make blondes more spiritual than any other people upon the face of the earth, other than their elders, of course, whose hair has turned silver or white.
That is not the case at all. The Bible never condemns young people for having colored hair (other than white). Proverbs 20:29 says, “The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.” Hair color does not make a person more or less spiritual. It states the fact that the glory of the young man is his strength, and the beauty of the old man is his gray hair. The Bible does not compare their hair there, but totally different attributes that differ with age.
The whole point is, “Why do people associate the color of the skin with the curse placed upon Ham and his descendants?” You did not specifically ask that question, but it is appropriate to answer it at this point, because that is why many people do question skin color in relation to Ham. Why are we not consistent with all of our “color differences” in the body?
Are dark brown eyes part of the curse? Are light blue eyes more spiritual than dark brown? Are hazel eyes more spiritual than just green or just brown? Are any traits in the body that are “darker” (than what Adam and Eve had) automatically part of the curse? Where does it say in the Bible that the color of the skin was darkened on people as part of the curse? It never does say that.
If that was the case, then European people would be more spiritual than the Jews, because the Jews tend to be darker than the Germans. Remember what Hitler thought? He considered the Jews to be “less than pure” when compared to the lighter and fairer complexions of the Germans. So what was his idea? To kill all other people (darker than they, the Germans) and produce a “pure” race (of lighter and fairer complected people).
It is surprising how many Christians actually think that darker-skinned people are all under the curse of Ham, and are really less spiritual and less blessed of God than are fairer-skinned people. That attitude is not from God.
So back to your question, “The races of black, yellow and red……when did God create them?” He “created” those varieties of colors when He created Adam and Eve. That is when He “created” them.
The other, unasked question that probably should be asked is, “When did God allow those colors to come out, flourish, and multiply?” That answer is “With the dispersion at the Tower of Babel.” Genesis 11:1-9 says, “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”
Those people were dispersed, of course, according to the language that God allowed them to speak and understand. God, in His wisdom, gave certain languages to certain people. He wanted certain people together, and those were the ones to whom He gave the same language. Remember, this does not mean that some languages are “cursed languages” and others are not. If that was the case, then how could God have given the Old Testament in Hebrew, the New Testament in Greek, and do a world wide mission work mainly from English-speaking people today? Why would He not consistently use the “one approved language,” and curse the others? Yes, Zephaniah 3:9 says, “For then will I turn to the people a PURE LANGUAGE, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.” You will notice that the context calls it a “pure language,” because, finally, everyone will be able to understand and serve the Lord with the same language “with one consent.”
When God gave certain languages to certain groups of people, he obviously did so by design. As those people were forced of necessity to associate with certain people (because they were the only ones with whom they could communicate) they then married within that small group, and their dominant colors and traits then came out. And those traits probably multiplied very rapidly when marrying others with the same dominant colors and traits.
Think of a family that you have seen with children that all have very distinctive features. Because of it, people quickly guess that they are of a certain family because of those distinctions. Maybe they have a very distinctively-shaped jaw, or a very distinctively- shaped nose, or very distinctive lips, or maybe it is something about the eyes that sets them off as a family.
Now suppose that you change that families’ language so that they cannot communicate with anyone else upon earth. You send them off to a region where they are alone, and they are forced to intermarry. Now, wait for several generations, and go visit them. What will you find? You will find a whole group of people that, although you can tell them apart, have very distinguishing features that lets you know in a moment that they all belong to the same group. They all have that same basic jaw shape. They all have that same basic nose. They all have that same basic complexion. They all have those same-shaped eyes, etc.
That is exactly what we see amongst the different races of the world. Is it just the color of the skin that sets off the Japanese from the Americans? No. The shape of their eyes is different. Is it just the skin color that sets off the African from the European? No. The European’s nose and lips will probably be thinner and smaller than the African’s. What about the Jew compared to the American Indian? Not only will their skin color not be the same, but the Jew’s cheek bones will probably not be as high as the Indian’s, nor will their eyes have the same shape and slant.
So the real question is not “when” did God create all of these colors and features, because He did so when He made Adam and Eve. In their genes they had all of these possible varieties. The real question is, “when” did God allow those colors to come out, flourish, and multiply? That answer is “Immediately following the Tower of Babel.”
God had purpose and design in giving people who spoke different languages very distinctive features. For one thing, it has kept them basically apart for all of these centuries now (yes, different races do intermarry today, but it is still not the normal practice). Man could have learned the languages of other nations, eventually, and could have been all one, big, rebellious family against God again — just like at the Tower of Babel. But when God separated them by language, He also allowed other features to quickly come out that would help to keep them apart. I do not think that the different skin colors and features have anything to do with some being more cursed than others. I think it has everything to do with God’s desire to keep the people’s of the earth somewhat separate from each other. Because God knows that when the earth gets all together, they will end up rebelling against Him.
That is exactly what is going to happen in the end time. There is going to be a “one world church,” a “one world government,” and a “one world philosophy” — all against God. It is going to be a world-united church against the one true way of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is going to be a world-united government that will stand up against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It will be a world-united philosophy that true Christians are “bad, narrow-minded, and the true problem upon earth.”
The different races are intermarrying more and more today, but through the differences in language and distinctive features, God has kept them basically apart until their final day of worldwide union and rebellion against Him.
You asked “Ham who wasn’t black, so how could the race of Ham be black if he intermarried with a black? Wouldn’t that be a diluted race?”
As I mentioned earlier, God had all of the possible colors and features programmed into Adam and Eve’s genes. And as I said, I do not know that the curse upon Ham’s descendants has anything to do with skin color at all. And, as I also said, it would not have been with Ham that the different races started, but with the rebellion at the Tower of Babel.
According to Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, “dilute” means “to diminish the strength, flavor, or brilliance of by admixture.” If you want to talk about a point at which the different races were “diluted,” then you are going to have to look at some point AFTER the Tower of Babel, when someone finally broke out of their group (meaning their group to which God had given a certain language and certain dominant physical characteristics) and intermarried with another group or race. How many years that was after the Tower of Babel, I do not know. But those groups or races would have been “pure” until one of them intermarried with another group or race.
As you can see, Ham really has very little to do with the “race” question, when dealt with from the Biblical perspective. In fact, the Bible refers to a group of people as being of “Ham,” and their skin is not black at all, but very similar in complexion to the Jews. Psalm 105:23-27 says, “Israel also came into EGYPT; and Jacob sojourned in THE LAND OF HAM. And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They showed his signs among them, and wonders in THE LAND OF HAM.” This passage calls Egypt, “the land of Ham.” The Egyptians are not black-skinned, but just dark-complected. Some of them would be no darker than many Americans. So to say that Ham was black, or that all of his descendants are, is not true at all. So once again, we do not know that black skin has anything at all to do with the curse upon Ham’s descendants.
When it comes to skin color, I think it has more to do with the God-given ability to adapt to certain climates, and those people whom God sent to those places with certain dominant genes, to make it very pronounced. Where were the very dark-skinned people or races found (before man started hauling them out of their settling places, where they had been since the Tower of Babel)? The darkest-skinned people were found nearest the equator — in the hottest climates. Take a world map and find the equator on it. Look at Africa. Right above and below the equator is Nigeria, Zaire, Kenya, etc. What color is the skin of those people? Normally, very, dark. But look up to the top of Africa, and what countries do you see? Libya, Morocco, and Egypt. Those people are, for the most part, just dark-complected, not black. Look down into South Africa. There are so many white people there, that they had been the ruling class for many, many years.
Now follow the equator over to South America. It crosses through Brazil. Are the Brazilian’s black-skinned? No. We would probably say that they are mainly just dark-complected. But in some of the little countries just above Brazil, they do have a good number of black-skinned people. What is the difference? Temperature is the difference. Many of the South American countries have many mountainous regions, which, although they are close to the equator, the higher elevation would keep them cooler than the lower elevations that are near the equator.
What is the whole point? The darkest-skinned people are generally found in the hottest climates. God had, by design, people move to those hot locations (at the dispersing of the Tower of Babel) to whom He had seen fit to receive certain dominant genes that would help them be more comfortable there. Can you imagine a very light-skinned group of people moving to the very hot areas near the equator? What would happen? They would be burnt to a crisp all summer long. Some people burn a little when they first go out in the sun, but then tan, and eventually, can stay outside all day in the hottest sun. Why? Because God allows the skin to turn darker so that it does not burn. But some very light-skinned people can go out in the sun and burn one day, and then peel. They go out again, and the same things happens. They just do not seem to tan and get past that point. God did not send people to those areas which could not adapt to such climates. He sent people there with certain dominant genes who would adapt very well to such hot conditions, and their tendencies of very dark skin would serve them well in such hot, sunny climates. As I said, the further north or south you get away from the equator, the light-skinned people normally are. I cannot see any Biblical proof that black skin is part of the curse upon Ham’s descendants.
In summary, once again, God placed all of the possible skin colors and characteristics into Adam and Eve’s genes. When man multiplied upon the face of the earth after the flood, and became as one, man rebelled against God. To stop that rebellion, God confounded their language so that they could not understand each other. When He broke them down into smaller groups and they then married among themselves, He allowed certain things within their genes to come out in a dominant way. Those dominant things would help them in two ways. First, it would help them to keep to their own group or race, and thus be less apt to get together and rebel against God again. And second, some of those dominant traits would help them be more comfortable in their climates where they settled.
And now, for a little humor on what can be a touchy subject. I worked in a pharmacy when I was in Bible College. One of the pharmacists happened to have black skin. He was very kind to me (he was a pharmacist, and I was a lowly delivery man). One day he said to me, “I cannot figure out why white men call us ‘colored.’” It is the white man that is “colored.” He said, “When you get tanned, you turn brown. When you hold your breath, you turn purple. When you get cold, you turn blue. When you get mad, you turn red. When you get injured, you turn black and blue. When you get sick, you turn green. When you are faint, you turn as white as a sheet.” He continued, “But with us, we are just always black. It is the white man that should be called ‘colored.’” You know what? He was right!