The Roots of WARSKYL, 8

Continued from "The Roots of WARSKYL, 7"

At one point, Randall has appealed to the fact that God commanded the destruction of the Canaanites & forbade intermarriage with them as proof that God's purpose was to preserve Israel's racial purity. Here's the passage in question:

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. (Deu 7:3-4)

Randall reads this and sees a ban on genetic pollution. But the mixed offspring of the Israelite and his Canaanite wife are not mentioned.

The concern is that the wife will turn the husband away from serving the Lord of the covenant. This will, of course result in a family unfaithful to God, but I don't see anything genetic in the passage. Randall does.

Whose interpretation is correct? Well, it seems to me that if the passage is concerned with preserving genetic purity, then all intermarriage with other nations would always bring negative sanctions. God's Law would have to be consistent in this matter.

Thus, if we find instances of God's approval (implicit or explicit) upon other races integrating into Israel, then we must conclude that reading racial purity into Deuteronomy 7 is an error. Let's begin with Moses, the man through whom the Law came to Israel.

At one point, Moses' brother & sister challenged his authority because they did not like his interracial marriage.

And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. (Num 12:1)

This would have been the perfect time for God to make clear His proscription of racial mixing. Instead, He vindicated Moses and became angry with those who opposed him.

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.(Num 12:9-10)

Ethiopians, like Egyptians were Hamites (descendants of Noah's son, Ham) -- a bloodline distinct from that of the Hebrew Shem-ites. Nonetheless, we find a specific provision in the Law to accept Egyptians into Israel on an equal footing with native-born Israelites.

[T]hou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the LORD in their third generation.(Deu 23:7-8)

The Egyptians' genes obviously did not change in three generations. It seems that the three-generation rule guaranteed that the conversion of an Egyptian was genuine, in that it required that he train his children and grandchildren also to follow the covenant.

The point is that to receive those of Egyptian descent into the congregation of the LORD not only gave them equal access to the Tabernacle/Temple, but also equal access to the pool of marriageable Israelites.

Of course, Moses' day was not the first to see intermarriage between Israelites and other races. One of Israel's most prominent tribes came from mixed parentage.

I'm referring to Joseph, who married an Egyptian woman.

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. (Gen 41:45)

And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Gen 41:50-52)

The half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were among the most numerous and mighty of Israel, although they were racially mixed (Ham-ite and Shem-ite) at the source. If this interracial union were a violation of God's will, then it would be logical that Jacob, Joseph's father, should disown the half-breed offspring. Instead, we find this:

And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. (Gen 48:3-5)

Not only does Jacob accept these mixed-race boys as his own, but, as God's patriarchal representative, he pronounces a mighty blessing upon Joseph's seed (See Genesis 49:24-26).

Now, lets look at Joseph's brother, Judah. It seems that he married a Canaanite woman who bore him three sons.

And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. (Gen 38:1-5)

God killed two of the sons because of their wickedness (an ethical, not a genetic trait, because the third son -- Shelah -- was not so slain). Moreover, if Judah's line were tainted by Shelah's Canaanite genes, you would expect God to require that Judah disinherit him.

Instead, you see the descendants of Shelah receiving an inheritance along with the rest of Judah's tribe when they entered the Promised Land.

And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites . . . . (Num 26:20)

And while I'm thinking about the Canaanites, I should mention Rahab of Jericho. Since she was evidently prominent enough to be known by the king (Joshua 2:3), I would guess that she was a temple prostitute, and served an ambassadorial function in that visitors to the city would pay their respects to the city's god by visiting her.

In spite of the depths of her participation in the depraved religion & culture of Canaan, God's grace touched her life, and she entered into covenant with the Hebrew spies. Joshua honored that covenant.

And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Jos 6:25)

You do not see God rebuking Joshua for this, as He rebuked him for making peace with the deceptive Gibeonites, who did not submit to the Lord of the covenant. In fact, later in Scripture God commends this Canaanite woman's faith:

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. (Heb 11:30-31)

In fact, this Canaanite woman married an Israelite and became part of the blood-line of the Messiah (Matthew 1:5). Yes, Jesus was born of mixed racial stock. Matthew Henry comments on the genealogy of Matthew 1:

There are four women, and but four, named in this genealogy; two of them were originally strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, Rachab a Canaanitess, and a harlot besides, and Ruth the Moabitess; for in Jesus Christ there is neither Greek, nor Jew; those that are strangers and foreigners are welcome, in Christ, to the citizenship of the saints.

That brings us to the New Testament. As I have mentioned previously, the churches that Paul founded represented a mix of Jew and Gentile Christians. Now, did God command that these racially disparate elements remain separate and unmixed?

First, let's notice that Paul's right-hand man, his son-in-the-faith was of mixed racial stock:

Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek. (Act 16:1)

Timothy was half Jewish (Shem-ite) and half Greek (Japheth-ite through Javan). It seems odd that, if Paul wanted to send a message of racial purity to the churches, he would choose someone of mixed race as his protege.

Timothy helped Paul found the church at Corinth, which was also racially mixed (Acts 18:8). Later, in his first epistle to that church, Paul addresses the subject of marriage.

This would present the prime opportunity to tell these folks not to intermingle, racially. He does not do that, however. In fact, he does the opposite.

In addressing the question of whom a widow might marry, Paul says,

. . . she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. (1Co 7:39)

The ONLY restriction that Paul places on choosing a marriage partner is that he be in the Lord, that is to say, another believer in Christ.

Well, this post has grown much larger than is probably good for weekday reading. I'll close here and pick it up another time.