|
July - August 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel
Sabbath Roots -- The African Connection
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 Equals Sabbath-Keeping
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.
Racial Origins: One Source, One Place
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.
Church of Ethiopia
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. 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.
Conflict With Islam
Islam arose 600 years after Christ due to the failure of
western European Christiandom 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.
Black African Openness to God
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.
A King with Ten Sons
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!"
My African Friends
My first exposure to African Sabbath-keepers came
shortly after I began Giving & Sharing in
1978. Through my book, History of the Seventh Day Church
of God, I became acquainted with Sabbath-keepers in
Nigeria and Kenya. Over the years, we have sent them
many Bibles, concordances, books, and articles. One
African elder, John I. Ajalli, began to contribute Bible
Study articles, which we reprinted and sent to our
mailing list. See two of John's excellent articles,
Study No. 100, "I Believe in Jesus Christ,
What's it all about?" and 102,
"Worship Not the Beast With
666," on the www.giveshare.org
BibleStudy website.
Although I never met him, John and I became spiritual
brothers through frequent correspondence. His untimely
death around the late 1980s temporarily halted our
relationship, which I hope to renew in the Kingdom of
God.
I will never forget the episode in which the Ajalli
family endangered their freedom to worship God on the
Sabbath day. As related by Mrs. Ajalli, she was in her
garden hoeing weeds one day, when a group of snake
worshippers were passing by. They were shouting and
worshipping a snake (which was their "god"). The snake
was allowed to go where it willed, and the worshippers
followed chanting and singing. The serpent strayed from
the road into the Ajalli garden, and Mrs. Ajalli warned
the pagans that if they didn't get their snake out of
her garden, they would be sorry. They refused to listen
to her, so she killed the snake with her hoe. Well,
this "sacrilegious" act caused a great uproar in the
community, because she had killed their god. The local
chieftan made it rough on the Ajalli family, and it was
thereafter difficult to conduct Sabbath services in
their compound.
John Ajalli and his wife had courage and faith. While
many Nigerians begged for money, and we suspected that
some sold the free Bibles we sent them, John was
different. He once wrote that he appreciated the Bibles
and literature we sent him, but if we couldn't or
wouldn't do so, he and other Africans would still
continue the work of God. John was a trustworthy servant
of the Almighty.
Two Nigerians have visited our home. The first, James
Obi, is a short, effervescent man, with a sparkling
personality. He worked for Shell Oil Company in Nigeria,
a leading oil producer. He visited us once for the Feast
of Unleavened Bread, and delivered interesting Bible
Studies. James introduced me to Nigerian Christian
music, which I like very much. When I was helping James
unload his luggage, I noticed a fishy smell. He had
brought some dried fish on a stick. He coaxed me into
eating some of it with him. First, he made a kind of
paste with some dried greens he called "bitter leaves."
Then, we dipped the fish in the bitter leaf paste. It
tasted, well, unique! We assured him that we did not eat
pork, but he persisted in asking us, meal after meal, if
there was any pork in the food, as he did not eat it
either. We thoroughly enjoyed James' brief visit.
Another Nigerian, Christian Nwakafor, stayed at our home
for a while, when we lived in Washington State. He had a
different personality than James, was shy and
reserved. Christian came from Ibo country, the "bush"
portion of eastern Nigeria. The Ibos are most receptive
to Christianity, and elders have told me that anyone who
is a polygamist is not allowed in their Church. As he
was not accustomed to indoor plumbing, I had to
literally get into the shower with Christian to show him
how to use it. Christian was a fine young man.
Nigerians Proclaim Sabbaths
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.
TSS
July - August 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel
|