Out of 1 Came Every Nation
Someone once asked me about whether or not the Bible talks about the nation of China.
The Bible neither names country of China nor speaks of the people from that part of the world per se. It can also be further added that the Bible neither attempts to name every single country in existence in the days of the Old Testament writers and the New Testament writers, nor does it list all the nations that came into existence prior to its composition.
Some allow their imaginations grow wild in identifying the “great red dragon” in Revelation 12 with China, or the Chinese Communist Party but this is not what John is writing about. The prophet is speaking about the Devil’s attempt to extinguish the light of the fledgling church in first century. Behind the Christians being persecuted by Rome and even their fellow Jewish countrymen was an intense spiritual warfare to destroy the community of Christ; however, God preserved His people through that great tribulation.
What the Bible teaches is that there are people inhabiting the entire earth. Paul said, “[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 18:26, NASB).
Paul understanding of every nation would have included
all the places within the Roman Empire
and
other nations outside Rome, such as Parthia.
Although Paul would not have had in mind any people living in or migrating to areas like China or the Americas, one would be able to infer from the general principle of Acts 18:26 that people were either living or migrating to these areas.
A tangential question to the one asked above is: Where did all the races come from?
In reality there is no such thing as races of people.
There is only one race.
The color of one’s skin, eyes, or hair is not essential to what makes a person. Life in a specific location may have produce common customs shared by certain groups of people, and while these things can be respected and appreciated, all people are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.
The Bible neither names country of China nor speaks of the people from that part of the world per se. It can also be further added that the Bible neither attempts to name every single country in existence in the days of the Old Testament writers and the New Testament writers, nor does it list all the nations that came into existence prior to its composition.
Some allow their imaginations grow wild in identifying the “great red dragon” in Revelation 12 with China, or the Chinese Communist Party but this is not what John is writing about. The prophet is speaking about the Devil’s attempt to extinguish the light of the fledgling church in first century. Behind the Christians being persecuted by Rome and even their fellow Jewish countrymen was an intense spiritual warfare to destroy the community of Christ; however, God preserved His people through that great tribulation.
What the Bible teaches is that there are people inhabiting the entire earth. Paul said, “[God] made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 18:26, NASB).
Paul understanding of every nation would have included
all the places within the Roman Empire
and
other nations outside Rome, such as Parthia.
Although Paul would not have had in mind any people living in or migrating to areas like China or the Americas, one would be able to infer from the general principle of Acts 18:26 that people were either living or migrating to these areas.
A tangential question to the one asked above is: Where did all the races come from?
In reality there is no such thing as races of people.
There is only one race.
The color of one’s skin, eyes, or hair is not essential to what makes a person. Life in a specific location may have produce common customs shared by certain groups of people, and while these things can be respected and appreciated, all people are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.
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