Debunking Popular BHI Passages
Today, by God’s grace, we will debunk some of the most popular passages used by the Black Hebrew Israelite cult.
(1) HOSEA 1:10-11 (KJV)
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. 11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
BHI INTERPRETATION:
Supposedly, from this passage BHI claim the following:
- The Israelites will lose their identity
- Be sent to the U.S. as slaves from Africa
- Then be awoken to their true identity as Israelites, i.e., “God’s people”
QUESTIONS:
- Where did God tell the Jews they were not His people? The declaration must be in that same place God called them not His people. It cannot be in a different place. Therefore, the United States of America cannot be the place were Israelites are called, “God’s people” after not being His people because the Israelites were not rejected as God’s people in the U.S., exiled, and brought back.
- Where does the passage say that God’s people- the Israelites, will lose the knowledge of their national identity (i.e., “forget that they are Jews”)? Neither declaration (either the negative one or the positive one) has anything to do with the knowledge the Israelites posses concerning their national identity, language, and ancestry. Just because God rejected them and threatened divorce through the prophet Hosea doesn’t mean they would forget their language or identity as Jews. If a husband divorces his wife, does that mean she will forget who her parents are?
ACTUAL EXPLANATION:
“The reunion between Israel and Judah was partially realized when the people returned from the Babylonian exile. No longer was there a division of the two nations. Then, however, they were unable to choose their head of government. They were under governors appointed by the Persian court and never attained true autonomy then, nor at any time before the dispersion following the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In fact, not until May 1948 was it possible to speak of a truly autonomous, undivided nation of Israel.” – Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Therefore, the church is waiting for the full repentance of Israel in the land of Israel and the acceptance of God declaring them His people.
(2) REVELATION 13:9-10 (KJV)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
BHI INTERPRETATION:
Supposedly, from this passage BHI claim the following:
- The Israelites will violently take over the world
- Enslave all the nations
- Especially the so-called “white people” because they are Edomites
QUESTIONS:
- Where does the passage say that all non-Israelites will be made captives or killed by the sword? The passage does not include the all-inclusive phrase of all peoples found various times in Revelation, “every nation, tribe, tongues, etc.”- therefore, it is only referring to the specific people and nations at that time who are taking captives and using the sword for violence against God’s people.
- Where does the passage say that the so-called white people are Edomites or that a skin color should be used to know who is going into captivity or will be killed when Jesus returns? No where in the passage or in the book of Revelation is the word “Edomite” found. Likewise, the book of Revelation does not single out any particular color of people that will be cursed, the curse will come on any who do the actual evil actions (regardless of national identity or skin color).
- Can the BHI reconcile the variant in the KJV with the actual quote from Jeremiah 15:2 that has the Israelites being the object of the curse? Therefore, if the KJV is wrong and the other versions, such as the NIV, NET, etc., are right- it actually has nothing to do with bad people being cursed, but good people being predestined for tribulation.
Jeremiah 15:1-5 (KJV), “1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. 3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. 4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?”
ACTUAL EXPLANATION:
“Because captivity and sword are God’s ordained route to victory for his saints, they must practice endurance. Perseverance is a major theme in Revelation (12:17; 14:12; 16:15; 17:14; 21:7–8; 22:7, 10, 12, 14; see also “overcoming” in the seven letters, chs. 2-3, and chart)..” – ESV Study Bible Notes. Therefore, all Christians should trust God and be prepared to suffer and be overcomers no matter what trials and troubles we face.
(3) OBADIAH 1:1-4 (KJV)
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
BHI INTERPRETATION:
Supposedly, from this passage BHI claim the following:
- The U.S. is Edom because they have an eagle for their national bird
- The U.S. has pride
- The U.S. went to the moon
QUESTIONS:
- If the current nation of Edom wasn’t being spoken too by the prophet, then what was the point of God calling out Edom at the time of Obadiah? Obviously, God is speaking about the Edomite people alive at that time because He goes on to say in Obadiah 1:19 (KJV), “And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead”— thus the lands and people spoken about in Obadiah are to be taken literal so that Israel will know that God has their back and will punish their evil neighbors who didn’t help them during the Assyrian captivity.
- If Edom is the U.S. just at a different time period, then why doesn’t God use Edom as a figurative nation as He did with Sodom and Egypt in Revelation 11:8 referring to Israel/Jerusalem? Edom is never mentioned in the New Testament as a reference to another nation, no one is ever called an Edomite as a curse— furthermore, the entire concept of the nation of Edom being the so-called white people is entirely missing.
- Are all nations described with an eagle considered Edom? Because Babylon is described as an eagle that defeats Edom in Jeremiah 49:22 (KJV), “Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.” And God is said to be like an eagle in Deuteronomy 32:10-12 (KJV Strong’s) 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”
- If the U.S. is Edom, how did God make them “small among the heathen,” when they have the largest economy and military? And how has He brought them down from the moon if the eagle having its nest among the stars refers to the space ship landing on the moon? This is clearly talking about God judging Edom in the time of prophets and making them powerless against the Assyrians and Babylons because even though they were a mountain-dwelling people, God was going to bring them down.
ACTUAL EXPLANATION:
“These verses reiterate the sentence of abasement in the final, climactic line (“I will bring you down”), analyzing its causes in terms of pride and deception, the concomitant of pride. “Pride” (zadon; cf. zed, “proud”) is derived from a verb meaning “to boil up, seethe” (zid; cf. Gen 25:29; Ps 124:5). A cognate noun denotes food that has been boiled (nazid); the root occurs three times in the account of Esau’s squandered birthright. In its literal usage, the root thus describes food or water that boils up under pressure, from which the figurative application of inflated self-exaltation logically follows. The essence of this “pride” is insubordination, rooted in an inordinate self-estimation: the proud man rejects authority, whether from God or man, and arrogates it to himself.
Edom’s pride is grounded in its geographical location “on the heights,” from which it draws its sense of security and self-sufficiency: it can flaunt external control, having the physical resources to evade it. And, indeed, Edom’s natural defenses were imposing. Its main centers of civilization were situated in a narrow ridge of mountainous land southeast of the Dead Sea (cf. v.1). This ridge exceeded a height of 4,000 feet throughout its northern sector, and it rose in places to 5,700 feet in the south. Its height was rendered more inaccessible by the gorges radiating from it toward the Arabah on the west and the desert eastwards. Baly (p. 235) describes travel along this ridge, the route of the ancient King’s Highway: “The road, of course, keeps to the more level ridgeland, but from time to time it approaches the rim and the traveler peers dizzily down into a bizarre world of dark, gigantic cliffs and deep, terrifying gorges. Here is a region altogether apart, forbidding, and inaccessible, the home still of the leopard and such other animals as man in his ferocity has not yet succeeded in destroying” (cf. Num 20:17).
The frontiers of this lofty plateau were formed on the west by the Arabah, to which the land dropped over 4,000 feet within the space of a few miles. The northern border was similarly defended by the deep canyon of the Wadi Zered, and to the south the precipitous walls of the Wadi Hismeh mark the abrupt descent of the tableland to the desert. In addition to these natural fortifications, Edom was strongly defended by a series of Iron Age fortresses, particularly on the eastern frontier where the land descended more gradually to the desert.
Such was Edom’s refuge “in the clefts of the rocks” (behagwe-sela; so Song of Songs 2:14; her 49:16), whose austere environment might well foster thoughts of invulnerability. The term “rocks” (sela) is used of large rock strata; and here it describes the sandstone and granite cliffs Edom drew its security from. “Sela” is also the name of an Edomite settlement captured by Amaziah (c. 800-783, 2 Kings 14:7; cf. NIV mg., “Sela”). It is commonly associated with the subsequent Nabataean capital, Petra, whose name also signifies “rock” (cf. Matt 16:18) an identification now disputed on the basis of excavations at the site. It is in any case preferable to follow NIV in omitting the geographical allusion from the text.
Edom’s sense of security has “deceived” it (nasa; cf. Jer 49:16). Although virtually impregnable to human forces, Edom is still utterly vulnerable before the wisdom and power of God. Edom’s deceived pride has been expressed in the confident question “Who can bring me down?” It is echoed in the unanticipated answer; “I will bring you down” (both from yarad a blunt statement of a single Hebrew word that embodies the heart of the prophecy. All that follows develops and amplifies the reversal of conditions heralded in this message from the Lord (cf. Jer 49:21).” – Expositor’s Bible Commentary.
Therefore, God kept His word to judge Edom and erase them as a nation because of their sins against Israel.
Malachi 1:1-5 (KJV), “1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
4 Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever. 5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.”