Dt.32: 7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee
8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance…..
Acts 17: 26 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;
“And hath made of one blood”. All the families of men descended from one origin, or stock however different their complexion, features, language, colour etc. maybe. All men originate from one common parent. And that is exactly what the word ‘blood’ is often used to denote in scriptures, that is race, stock, kindred.
So the above scripture completely proves that all the human families are descended from the same ancestor; consequently, all the variety of complexion, etc., is not to be traced to some other causes other than that they were originally different races created.
Prophet Malachi lend his voice to this when he said…
Mal 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother….”
So Paul in Acts 17, was emphatically declaring to the Greeks that he regarded them all as brethren; that, although he was a Jew, he was not bound and enslaved to any narrow and myopic notions or prejudices in reference to other beings. This is the stand of the redeemed in Christ all over the world today, irrespective of religion, Nation, tribe, culture or even political inclination so called. We are first of all from one stock.
If we understand this and relate to it, then we cannot be killing one another in any manner, no matter what, knowing that he or she is your brother of the same Father. Those who have not identified with this view are only prodigal in their minds, which has led to the different bias and animosities we see every day amongst men even in Churches that have become too ethnical in nature, being congregated only with one tribe and culture.
It therefore follows also, that no one nation on the Earth today or individual can claim any pre-eminence over others in virtue of birth or blood. All men are equal in this regard. And the whole human family, however they may differ in complexion, customs, and laws, are to be regarded and treated as brethren. This is the mind of Christ.
Again, it shows that no one part of the race has a right to enslave or oppress any other part, on account of difference of, colour or language. No one has the right also, just because he finds his fellow guilty of a skin which is not of the same colour with his own, therefore he must be killed or victimized in any form in the place of work.
When the word says “For to dwell”, It simply means to cultivate and till the earth. This again was the original command in Gen. 1:28; and God, by his providence, has so ordered it that the descendants of this one family on the Earth have found their way to wherever they are right now as nations in all the world, properly fitted for the climatic conditions of those regions that the Father has placed them.
Therefore, interfering with the sovereign, right, wealth and boundaries of other nations is a violation of the mandate and wisdom of God among nations.
This is what it means “And hath determined”. Meaning all boundaries of nations are fixed or properly marked out. The Greek word used here normally applies to a field, designated by a boundary. It means therefore, that God hath marked out, or designated in His purpose, the future and existing abodes of nations and those living in them.
It is evident also that the scripture took care of the account of the dispersion and migration of nations when it made reference to “The times before appointed”. Meaning that God had, in His plan, fixed the times when each country should be settled; the time of the location, the rise, the prosperity, and the rise and fall of each nation on the Earth.
The world is one blood because we are from one source. Racism and its vices are the product of the fallen race of ignorance.
Wisdom from the above.
(1.) That men’s times had been before appointed.
(2.) That it was done in wisdom by the Father. Meaning therefore, that the different continents and islands had not, been settled by chance, but by a wise rule, and in accordance with his arrangement and design.
(1.) That the revolutions and changes of nations are under the direction of infinite wisdom of the Almighty.
(2.) That men should not be restless and dissatisfied with the place where God has located them because it is not in any ones power to choose his birth place.
(3.) That God has given sufficient limits to all, so that it is not needful to invade others.
(4.) That wars of conquest must be seen to be evil. If God has given to men their various places of abode, and we have no right to disturb those abodes, or to attempt to displace them through the act of violence..
It is left for those with expansionist tendencies to accept the ultimate plan, purposes and providence of God in nature amongst men, for a peaceful coexistence on planet Earth. As the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, His ultimate goal.
(C) 2015 – Dr. David O. Ogaga