Was Adam a black or a white man?
The Bible does not tell us what Adam’s skin color was, so the answer is “we don’t know.” If you look at people who live in the Middle East today (where many believe the Garden of Eden was…see Genesis 2:8-14), the vast majority are neither black nor white; they have a “light to dark complexion.” But we have no proof that Adam was of the same skin color, so it is best not to speculate. The fact is the Bible NEVER tells us the exact color of anyone’s skin (whether by creation, as in the case of Adam, or by birth). Some have speculated that the Shulamite woman in the Song of Solomon was black because she said, “I am DARK, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.” But this can be challenged by the next verse which says, “Do not look upon me, because I am DARK, because THE SUN HAS TANNED ME.” The obvious conclusion is that she was “dark” because “she worked in the sun.”
It is obvious that at some point in time the various races (i.e. people with the same physical traits, including skin color) came into being. At the time of creation Adam and Eve were of “one race” and it would seem that this “race” continued for quite a while. We don’t want to delve too deeply into the “biology” connected with this subject, but it would seem that in time the “gene pool became weaker” which resulted in “genetic diversity.” Many believe that the “black race” comes from the descendants of Noah’s son Ham for after the flood Ham’s son, Cush, and his descendants, settled in what is modern-day Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia (see Genesis 10:6-20). In Genesis 11:1-9 we have the story of the “Tower of Babel” where “the whole earth had one language and one speech” (verse 1) yet God “confused their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (verse 7). Verse 8 goes on to say that “the LORD scatted them abroad from there over the face of all the earth.” This, I believe, was done so that the “different races” would become “separate nations” that shared the same lands, language, culture, and skin color.
But we must emphasize that even though God had certain reasons in doing this, it does NOT mean one race was superior to another race. Scripture is very emphatic in teaching us that God does NOT favor one race above another. Acts 10:34-35 speaks to this, “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God SHOWS NO PARTIALITY. But IN EVERY NATION whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” All men (and women) are precious to God and were indeed “created equal in His sight.” The Apostle Paul bore witness to this in Athens, Greece when he said: “God, who made the world and everything in it…He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from ONE BLOOD EVERY NATION OF MEN to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, in hope that THEY MIGHT GROPE FOR HIM AND FIND HIM, though He is not far from each one of us; for IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING” (Acts 17:28). Oh, that men today would realize this precious truth! For then they would see and acknowledge that we are all equal as far as God is concerned, with the SAME BLOOD coursing through our veins and with the SAME NEED to “seek the Lord, in hope they might grope for Him and find Him.” Paul’s desire was for a soul (whether he has black, brown, white, red or yellow skin) to “seek the Lord and find Him,” for in doing so he will become “a new creation in Christ” where “old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new” (see 2nd Corinthians 5:17). Then, and only then, will racial tensions and discrimination come to its true and final end, for the moment we are born again into God’s spiritual family (see John 1:12-13 with 3:1-8) we will have the capacity to truly “love one another” (1st John 3:14).
My prayer, in closing, would be for all our readers, no matter what your color of skin is, to see the truth outlined in the scripture references above and that you would desire to “seek the Lord and find Him.” I can assure you that if you do seek Him, you will find that He is also “seeking you.” I would encourage you to read the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10 where we see that “he sought to see who Jesus was” (verse 3) and that very day he learned that Jesus was “seeking him” so He could save his precious soul. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man has come TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST” (verses 9-10). (460.5) (DO)