What does the Bible have to say about prejudice? What messages of love does God have for all the people and cultures He created? What opportunities does a diverse church of today have in a society still troubled by racism?
The two-week Fearfully and Wonderfully Made daily devotional—based on passages from the NKJV Modern Life Study Bible—will guide you through a series of Biblical excerpts focused on confronting ethnic prejudice. You'll walk through both the Old and New Testaments, discovering a tapestry of cultural connections throughout the historical richness of Scripture and learn about God's promises of love to those who face discrimination and prejudice. From the call of Abraham to the Samaritan woman at the well, find out how the God of Israel has shown himself to be the God of all tribes and nations.
Today’s reading is drawn from Song of Solomon 5:10; 1:5-6.
The marriage celebrated in the Song of Solomon appears to have been a match between two members of different ethnic groups. The groom, presumably Solomon, is described as “white and ruddy” (Song 5:10), while the bride is “dark” like the black tents of Kedar (Song 1:5).
Marriages across ethnic and racial lines were not uncommon in the ancient world (for example, Num. 12:1; Ruth 1:4; 1 Kin. 11:1), and the Bible never condemns or prohibits interracial unions. The ancient Israelites were forbidden to marry Canaanites, Ammonites, or Moabites (Deut. 7:1–4; 23:3), but these prohibitions were not based on ethnicity but on religious, moral, and political considerations.
God created all the diverse peoples of the earth. Differences in background and appearance that can be hard for some people to accept are a creation of God Himself. And His love extends to all, so it is unsurprising that His Word includes a celebration of marriage between two people of different ethnicities.
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