Chapter 18

There is no biblical reference to the color of Jesus’ skin. No one in the Bible is primarily identified or characterized by their skin color.  It should be a reminder that the human race is one. We are all God’s children. What is important to God is not the color of the skin but the content of the soul.

Cush was one of the four sons of Ham, and the grandson of Noah. He traveled and settled in what is now known as Africa. Moses’s wife Zipporah was thought to be a Cushite.

Hagar who was Egyptian, took her son Ishmael and ran away from the household of Abraham. An angel appeared before them in a desert with no water and no hope, and directed them to a well where they found plenty of water to drink. Ishmael grew up to be an archer, and he later settled in Mecca.

The Cochin Jews initially went to India as merchants during the reign of King Solomon. Many settled in what is now Kerala state where they had a synagogue and a thriving community. After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, many Cochins migrated there, in part because of the difficult economic situation in India.

Cain murdered his brother Abel because he was enraged that God did not accept his offering, but welcomed that of Abel.  The Lord asked for Abel, and Cain responded “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” He showed no remorse, and he turned his back to God. His only fear was that others might take vengeance on him. God in his kindness put a mark on Cain so that no one would attack him. However, there are consequences for his crime of murder. He would forever live in isolation as a fugitive and a wanderer without a purpose.

“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” John 4:7-10.