France was the “only African team” in the recent World Cup final, according to Kenya’s Deputy President, William Ruto – literally half the French team had African origins! Is their success an indicator of Africa rising, or merely an expression of the challenges many Africans in the West face in reaching the highest levels in anything except sport?
Where It All Began
Revive Israel supported a recent event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the political capital of Africa and home to the African Union Headquarters and UN Economic Commission for Africa – and the likely home country of the Biblical Queen of Sheba and base of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.
The aim of the Africa-Israeli Restitution Forum was to address root causes of some of Africa’s problems. The core concept was that the sins of Egypt against the Jewish people (Ex 1:8-14) have never been repented of by Africa collectively, bringing a curse – ultimately over not only Egypt but also all Africa by extension, just as Achan’s sin brought a curse on all Israel (Joshua 7:20). These curses of Egypt, slavery, despotic leadership and child murder, have therefore been afflicted upon Africa, hence a long history of slavery, often tyrannical leadership and high infant mortality.
Curses Turned to Blessing
The broad African representation in the forum repented on behalf of their Egyptian precursors, asking forgiveness of the Jews present, and seeking to align themselves with Israel. There was also deep reconciliation between Ethiopians and Ethiopian Jews, as well as forgiveness towards the white race for the sins of colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism and slavery of the black race. Also present were tall and dark-skinned Jews of the South Sudan/West Ethiopia Neur tribe (Isaiah 18:7), whom God touched deeply.
Several interesting events took place around the same time:
- During the forum, a peace treaty was signed between warring tribal factions who have killed tens of thousands in nearby South Sudan, including many Neur. (See here).
- The day we left Ethiopia, an event was held for over 120 members of the Ethiopian parliament, strongly encouraging them to move their embassy to Jerusalem.
- Newly elected Christian President of Ethiopia and Nobel Peace Prize contender, Abiy Ahmed (see here), normalised relations with neighbouring Eritrea, after decades of bitter warring and the deaths of tens of thousands. (See here).
Beginning in Egypt
So, are there any Biblical indicators of a new dawn for Africa? There is a Biblical pattern of Israel entering Egypt in time of difficulty: Abraham in time of famine, along with Jacob and Joseph; Yeshua, Mary and Joseph were political refugees, and in the future it seems that Yeshua will enter Egypt in time of difficulty (Is 19:1) and as part of his strategy for reclaiming planet earth (Rev 1:7), en route to Israel. This Biblical pattern is encapsulated in Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son”.
So why Egypt? In Isaiah 19:25, Egypt receives an extraordinary title from God: “Egypt My people”. Why? We need to look back to Genesis! The firstborn son of Abraham was Ishmael, son of an Egyptian mother and husband of an Egyptian wife. God told him that he would be the father of “a great nation” (Gen 17:20) – note NOT “nations”, and given his ethnicity and proximity, this is surely Egypt! In Biblical culture, the lead and protecting role of the elder brother is very important – therefore the elder brother according to the flesh should physically protect and bless the younger, Isaac – son of the promise.
A New Africa
Psalm 68:31 was a guiding Scripture for the Africa-Israeli Restitution Forum:
“Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God”.
Just as the remnant of Egypt is entering a new alignment with the remnant of Israel, so Ethiopia is called to lead Africa in blessing Israel, releasing an end-time wave of blessing across the continent. Could it be that we are about to see reversal from slavery, corruption and dictatorship, a revival overflow from Africa? Could a continent that spent centuries serving other nations now rise up to become first among equals? Let us pray together for Africa to be released into the fullness of her destiny in the Lord!
This article originally appeared on Revive Israel, October 31, 2018, and reposted with permission.