The Bible and Race Relations (Part Three)

theology
/ By Randall Johnson

Assuming that each of the races find their origin in the way God made Adam, assuming that each displays unique qualities that God sees as good, and assuming that there is no justification for bias against or in favor of one race above another, is it still possible that integration and intermarriage between the races is forbidden by God? A look at Scripture must lead us to say, “It is not.”

Though there were injunctions in the Law of Moses against Israel’s intermarriage with the surrounding nations (Deuteronomy 7:1-5; see Joshua 23:12,13 and Ezra 9:1-4), several considerations may be noted:

The purpose of forbidding racial intermarriage to Israel was a religious, not a racial one (Deuteronomy 7:3,4). God knew the strong influence idolatry had on His people and how easily they might abandon worship of Him.
Before the Law was given Moses married a Cushite woman (Numbers 12). God gave no reprimand. It is likely that she had joined herself to the people of Israel and their God. After the Law had been given, Boaz married Ruth the Moabitesss who became the ancestress of David the king (Ruth 4:13-22). She too, however, had adopted the Lord God of Israel as her God (Ruth 1:16). The law did not apply to converts from other races.
The Law of Moses is not the law of the Church (Romans 7:6; Galatians 3:24,25; Hebrews 8:6-13). We are no longer obligated to the distinctly national laws of Israel. Even if we were, the law would only prohibit marriage between Jews and unconverted Gentiles, not between Gentiles of different races. The religious principle, however, would still stand. A believer is not to marry an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14). But the New Testament never prohibits racial intermarriage between two believers.

We have no right to prohibit what God has not prohibited.

About the Author Randall Johnson

A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.

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