by
Richard Nickels |
Black
Africans have a unique proclivity toward accepting the seventh-day Sabbath.
Historically, Ethiopia, and many other parts of black Africa have been bastions
of Sabbatarianism. Their isolation, for centuries,
from the corrupting influence of Rome has allowed Africans to maintain much spiritual
independence. Today, Christianity in general, and Sabbath-keeping in
particular, is exploding in sub-Saharan Africa.
Charles E. Bradford, author of Sabbath Roots: The African Connection,
brings to light many surprising historical facts. Those of us who have been
schooled in European civilization may be shocked to realize the existence and
widespread nature of unvarnished Christianity in black Africa, for centuries.
About 340 million Africans profess Christianity. According to reliable estimates,
Africa has the world's largest concentration of Sabbath-keepers, some 20 million
people, of which only about three million are Seventh Day Adventists. The
Sabbath is natural to black Africans. God is doing a work in Africa!
Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is a nation defined throughout its existence
by its fidelity to the seventh-day Sabbath. Today, the numbers of
Sabbath-keepers are exploding in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Gabon, Congo, and
elsewhere. Why? Because of the work of missionaries in the
1800s? No! The Sabbath is thriving in Africa because the Sabbath roots
of Africa run deep, both in Scripture, and historical practice.
Psalm 68, the Pentecost Psalm,
we read, "Princes
shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God,"
verse 31. And, she has, and is, responding to the Almighty. "When Israel was a child, then I loved
him, and called My son out of Egypt,"
Hosea 11:1. "From
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed,
shall bring Mine offering, Zephaniah 3:10. (Zephaniah may have been
of African descent, because he was the son of Cushi,
a code name for a descendant of Cush, son of Ham.) "Also the sons of the stranger . . .
every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it,
and taketh hold of My
covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in
My house of prayer," Isaiah 56:6-7.
African-American preachers have
long emphasized the importance of Ethiopia in the plan and purpose of God. For
them, the Abyssinian Church is the Church in the Wilderness through which God
had maintained for Himself a witness down through the centuries. Egypt is
mentioned in Scripture 611 times; Ethiopia 20 times. Egypt figures prominently
in the plan and purpose of God, Isaiah 19:24-25. Ethiopia and Egypt are representative of the entire African continent. For the
Ashanti (Akan) of Ghana, Saturday has been the traditional holy day, a day of
worship of God. Among the Yorubas of Nigeria, the seventh
day of the week has been a day when no work, no marriage, no festivities,
should be performed. There is no record at any time in the history of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church that they have officially given up the Sabbath. Another group
of Ethiopians, the Falasha, or "Black
Jews," hold to a form of Old Testament religion that was dominant in Solomon's
days.
There is a natural
God-consciousness among Africans, both in Africa and in the "diaspora,"
or dispersed. With its theme of deliverance from slavery, justice, and righteousness,
the Old Testament looms large in African thinking. Modern white, liberal, theology
is foreign to the black mind, which usually take the
Bible literally, and religious beliefs seriously. One does not go to Africa
only to preach the Gospel; he goes to learn about the Almighty.
What is the origin of the races? While some aspects may be
shrouded in mystery, Bradford argues for a monogenetic (single source, single
place) origin of mankind and the races, in Africa. Assyria in Mesopotamia, understood
to be a northeast extension of Africa, is called in the Bible, "the Land
of Nimrod [son of Cush],". In the "Table of
Nations" of Genesis 10, Ham's progeny are given more space than any of the
other sons of Noah. Of Ham's four sons, Mizraim went
to Egypt, Cush to Ethiopia, Phut to Libya, and Canaan
to Palestine. Whatever the origin of the racial differences of mankind,
Bradford argues for their common origin, and common access to Yahweh's
covenant, Genesis 9:8-19. The Sabbath is the great common denominator of that
covenant. No one is excluded.
The so-called "curse of
Ham" of Genesis 9:20-27 was not on Ham, but Canaan. The startling
occurrence of Hebrew words in West African languages, especially in Yoruba, is
evidence that covenant people descended from Ham have long permeated the
African continent. Far from being pariahs from God, the Eternal has a heart for
the African people: "Blessed
be Egypt
My people,
and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance,"
Isaiah 19:25.
Sabbath Roots gives much fascinating information about the history of the
Church of Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba was from Ethiopia, and bore a son from
King Solomon.[1]
Falashas continued the Old Testament religion. In
Acts 8:26-40, we are given the account of the introduction of Christianity to
Ethiopia, with the conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer (eunuch) by Philip.
The treasurer returned to Candace's court, and as a result, Ethiopia became the
first Christian nation. The influence of Ethiopia on the rest of Africa was
enormous. Ethiopia has been the model nation of Africa for 2,000 or more years.
The Bible uses the name, Ethiopia, to mean all of sub-Sahara Africa.
While Europeans (and especially
Romans) have continually been uncomfortable with Jewish things, Africans are
typically pro-Jewish. That is why we see the Europeans abandoning the Sabbath
for Sunday, while many Africans continued to revere the Sabbath. Europeans
adopted pagan Greece as their cultural model, while Africans leaned toward
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Although European history is steeped in portraying
Africa as the deep black hole of humanity, Africa actually became a model for
the rest of the world, albeit not always known to be so.
Islam arose 600 years after Christ due to the failure of western
European Christendom to live up to, and spread, the true Gospel message.
Muhammad and his cohorts sought to reclaim the faith of Abraham, which Europeans
had abandoned. Islam nearly defeated Europe, and severely endangered Ethiopia.
Yet when Islam swept North Africa and the Middle East, Moslems created a shield
for Africa from the corrupting influence of the Roman Church. The Ethiopian
Church continued independent for centuries, until at last the Jesuits
encroached under the guise of helping Ethiopia resist Moslem invaders. More of
this story is given in Michael Geddes' book, The Church History of Ethiopia,
available as a 148-page reprint for $12.50 from the BSA. The battle between Islam
and Sabbath-keepers continues today in Nigeria, where the northern part of the
country and the central government are dominated by Moslems, and the eastern
and southern portions are predominately Christian.
Charles Bradford takes us on a fascinating tour of Africa,
visiting Sabbath-keepers from coast to coast, and sharing tidbits of their
remarkable history. Today, Sabbath-keeping is so prevalent in Africa, that in some places, like the Kisii
District of Kenya, the government cannot hold elections on Saturdays. Sabbath Roots is
truly a remarkable and inspiring history.
It has often been said that
Africans twist and distort Christianity, so that when western missionaries
leave, the jungle grows back quickly. Sometimes, this has been the case.
However, people are generally the same, regardless of the color of their skin.
At least Africans did not change the Sabbath to Sunday, and create the
Inquisition and Albigensian Crusades against those
who believed the Bible. Catholic Europeans did this and more to distort the
Gospel. There has long been an openness to God in
black Africa. In their honest zeal, Africans often put western civilization to
shame.
An illustration of the African mind's skill to put the Bible text
into a format uniquely African is given by this story told by a young African
lad. The purpose is to illustrate how the original Sabbath was changed by the
European ecclesiastical establishment. It is a story Africans, and anybody, can
relate to.
"Once upon a time, there
was a great king who had ten sons. Then one day, the king decided to go on a
journey. He called his ten sons before him. He also called for the Prime
Minister. He embraced each of his sons, one by one, saying 'Oh, my son.' The
king then turned to the Prime Minister and said, 'While I am away, take care of
my sons.'
"Soon after the king was
gone, the Prime Minister called the sons and lined them up before him for
inspection. When he came to son number four, the Prime Minister said, 'You do
not look like a royal son.' He took him out of the lineup and sent the boy into
the fields to work with the slaves. Then the Prime Minister took his own son
and put him in the place of the king"s son.
"But the king came back one
day, and called the Prime Minister to give an account of how he had taken care
of his sons. The Prime Minister said, 'O king live forever. I have done as you
have commanded.' He told the king that his sons were well.
"Then the king said, 'Bring
in my sons.' As he had done at the first, he embraced them all until he came to
the fourth son. Then he said, 'You are not my son. You must be an imposter.'
The king turned to the Prime Minister and said, 'Who is this?'
"The Prime Minister replied,
'Your Majesty, your son did not look like a royal son, and so I removed him
from the lineup and put my son in his place.'
"'Who gave you permission to do that?' the king demanded. The
Prime Minister was speechless. 'But where is my son?'
"The Prime Minister responded,
'He is in the fields, Your Majesty, working with the slaves.' This made the
king very angry. He banished the Prime Minister and his son from the realm and
restored his own son to his proper place in the lineup."
When the story is over, the
usual response from the African audience is, "Tell us, what is the meaning of the story?" The lad would answer:
"The king is God, and the ten sons are the Ten Commandments. The fourth commandment
is the commandment that says 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The
Prime Minister is the church, the one He left in charge of the commandments.
But the church changed God's day of rest and put another day in its place, a
day it chose. But the King is coming back!"
Africans may be low on funds, but they tend to be high with
fervent energy. My friends, the Nigerian Sabbath-keepers, are my kind of people.
I have been amazed at how zealous many of them are for God's Truth. Sure, there
are impostors and charlatans there, as in other parts of the world. But, there
are also zealous, dedicated workers who faithfully persevere, in spite of the
financial difficulties and hardships of living in a Moslem-dominated country
that is hostile to Christianity.
How the Nigerian Church of God keeps
the festivals puts many American Sabbath-keepers to shame. Even during the
spring festivals, they have hours of daily Bible Studies each day of the Feast,
recreational activities, evangelistic meetings, and festive meals. They plan
long in advance, and every festival has some time devoted to proclaiming God's
Sabbaths to others. We are called to be servants of others, not spiritual
hermits and isolationists. Our faith should result in action, a life well
lived, not just a creed of belief. May true believers everywhere exhibit these
zealous characteristics.
Sabbath Roots by Charles E. Bradford, is not
just a book for black people, but for all of God's children. We all have, or
should have, Sabbath
Roots in Africa.
Sabbath Roots: The African Connection, by Charles E. Bradford. Ministerial Association of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1999, 234 pp. Available from: Bible Sabbath Association, 802 N.W. 21st Ave. Battleground, WA 98604, $15 plus $2 postage.