Key References that Reveal Racial Context
A Survey and sampling of the “R U Woke” sermon series. This list is not comprehensive; only one reference per book in the Old Testament (certain books excluded for lack of racial significance).
1. Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
2. Exodus 15:13, Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.
3. Numbers 3:10, And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
4. Deuteronomy 7:6, For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
5. Joshua 23:7, Have nothing to do with these nations who still are living among you; let not their gods be named by you or used in your oaths; do not be their servants or give them worship.
6. Judges 3:6, And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
7. Ruth 4:8, Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
8. I Samuel 22:18, And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
9. II Samuel 7:16, And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
10. I Kings 11:2, Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
11. II Kings 17:24, And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
12. I Chronicles 1:1, Adam, Seth, Enosh…
13. II Chronicles 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
14. Ezra 9:2, For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands…
15. Nehemiah 9:2, And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
16. Esther 8:17, …And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
17. Psalm 8:4, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
18. Proverbs 5:15, Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
19. Ecclesiastes 3:21, Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
20. Song of Solomon 1:5, I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
21. Isaiah 51:1, Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
22. Jeremiah 24:2, One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
23. Lamentations 1:10, The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
24. Ezekiel 16:3, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.
25. Daniel 9:7, O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel.
26. Hosea 3:1, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
27. Joel 3:17, So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
28. Amos 3:2, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
29. Obadiah 1:10, For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
30. Jonah 1:9, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
31. Micah 4:5, For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
32. Haggai 2:14, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
33. Zechariah 14:21, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
34. Malachi 1:2-3, 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.