What do you know about the Black Hebrew Israelites?
Question:
Hi. I hope all is well with you.
Getting straight to the point, I want to get some information on a particular group of Christians who look at themselves as being black Hebrew Israelites. I'm not sure if they actually call themselves that but I've seen others refer to this group as Black Hebrew Israelites or something like that. What's up with these people? Ever heard of them? I've had a few discussions with a person I work with that follows this doctrine and I'm still learning about what he believes. I didn't have to go too far down the road before seeing that his belief was wrong in that he still tries to follow Old Testament laws - abstaining from pork, keeping the Sabbath, keeping his beard, etc. I don't know what all they believe but I'm looking for some information on this group and I want to find out everything they hold in their doctrine. Know any good articles that cover all the basics and mistakes made in their doctrine? I read a few on this site already that contained answers to some of the arguments he was making but I don't think I've seen anything specifically dealing with this denomination. I don't think he's a Messianic Jew, but they seem to share similar beliefs.
From my observations, the main foundational belief this group's false doctrine is based on is that the Old Testament is still in effect. They seem to try and blend the Old Testament and New Testament together by saying we have to follow the whole Bible. In their doctrine, the gospel message isn't about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ - they focus more on 'going to the lost sheep of Israel and saving them from the synagogue of Satan' or something like that. In this, they're saying only black people and Israel will be saved. Where did this group come from? Any additional information you can give me on this group would be helpful and I'd appreciate it.
Thanks a lot. God bless!
Answer:
Actually Black Hebrew Israelites have a variety of beliefs, so without pinning down which sect he belongs to, it would be hard to state what his particular group believes.
Black Hebrew Israelites are more correctly seen as branches of Judaism. There are two groups -- the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations and the Church of God and Saints of Christ -- which function similarly to Messianic Jews, where they attempt to blend Christianity and Judaism. Both of these groups date back to the late 1800s, so they have been around a while.
What ties all these groups together is the belief that they as descendants from various nations in Africa are true Jews -- or in some of the more radical branches, the only surviving true Jews. There are various explanations of how this came to be, such as that they descend from a child born to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, to that they are descendants of Jews who escaped the destruction of Jerusalem by fleeing into Africa. While they claim to be Jewish, they are not accepted by the Jews as brethren because they do not practice the hereditary laws which require a child to have a Jewish mother in order to be considered a natural-born Jew.
The following has some descriptions of the groups.