Opus 2019-170: The Great White Hope, part 3 of 3

Just for fun I thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at the uses of choice colors in the Bible.  There was a song we used to sing in Sunday School before it became politically incorrect.

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

So you can see that kids who went to Sunday School were taught at an early age that skin color was not the issue.

First let’s look at red.  I found it was used 53 times in the Bible.  Most of them referred to the Red Sea.  The first time it was used it talked about Esau being born with a red, hairy arm.  That is the closest I could find to race.

There was one place that is of interest.

(Isa 1:18 KJV) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Notice that the comparison of good and bad is not between white and black but white and scarlet, a shade of red. 

One thing that is noticeable about the uses of colors in the Old Testament.  They are used in reference to the medical observations regarding leprosy. 

(Lev 13:30 KJV) Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

Again there is no mention of race.

White occurs most frequently in Leviticus and Revelation.  In Leviticus it usually is used on medical diagnosis of leprosy.  In Revelation it is most common used in regard to clothing.

Black is usually used to describe things you would expect to be black.  One point of interest is in Song of Solomon where the person of affection is described as black.

Interesting but not something to base national policy on.

So my general conclusion is that skin color is of no importance in the Bible and should not be for followers of Jesus.  Thus I reject the idea of white privilege just as I reject black power.  I reject Black Lives Matter if it implies that other lives don’t.  We should also understand that there is not shame or guilt in skin color.  The big difference is that some need to worry about sun burn more than others.

homo unius libri