So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . . . Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. Genesis 9:1, 18-19 NKJV

The Holy Scriptures teaches us that we, members of the Body of Christ, should value and envision what I call, “culturation.”  “Culturation” is the God-given grace that enables us to give unconditional love and acceptance to others whose race and culture is different from ours. “God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth (Acts 17:26).  It’s about grace not race! Whether a person is black, white, brown, yellow, or red, they are your brother of another mother.

In the above text referenced, we see the beginning of the various “races” that populated the world. Now, the word or concept “race” is not in the Bible. “Race” was invented in the 18^th century to justify African slavery. It is also a concept used by 19^th century evolutionist, e.g., Charles Darwin and others, to justify white racism. The various “races” originated at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, based on the respective descendants of the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

God blessed Noah and his sons and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and populate the whole earth; but instead, they and their descendants settled together in the plains of Shinar (Persian Gulf area) as one people with one language, counter to the plan and purposes of God. “But the Lord came down  . . . and confuse their language so they [could not] understand each other. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth . . . [t]hat is why it was called Babel — because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:5-9), based on language, skin color, supposed racial characteristics, and a recombination of innate genetic factors inherited from Adam, Eve, and Noah.

The early descendants of Noah’s three sons, according to their respective lines of descent, within their nations, spread out over the earth after the flood (Gen. 9:18; 10:32). Noah’s youngest son was Ham. His name means “to be hot, to be black.”  At least thirty nations came out of Ham including Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya, other African nations, and the Canaanite nations. The middle son was Shem. His name means “upright, righteous.” It is believed that twenty-six nations came out of Shem including the Arab nations, Israel, Syria, Iran, etc. And of course, Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior, was a natural descendant of Shem. The first and oldest son was Japheth whose name means” extended and wide, increase.” At least fourteen nations came out of Japheth including the Asian nations, the European nations, the Baltic States, Russia, etc.

According to on Malachi 2:10, we all have one Father and have been created by one God, and of one blood (Acts 17:24). Regardless of skin color or culture difference, we are all brothers of another mother!