Are We All One Blood?
I don’t really remember why I was thinking about it, but when I woke up one morning I was thinking about a verse in the Bible. I remembered it saying something about how God created every nation of man from one man.
Interesting, because I had just listened to a podcast the day before with N.T. Wright talking about the question of a literal 6 day creation. I found it interesting that Tom didn’t bring up this verse. This is a pretty important verse, it would seem, that would support this idea of everyone coming from one man. Paul doesn’t necessarily refer to Adam specifically in that verse, but he does say “one man”.
Or does he?
I couldn’t think of where that verse was in the Bible, so I Googled the phrase, and it turned out to be Acts 17:26. Here’s what it says…
“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”
At least that’s how the NIV words it.
When I Googled it, though, I discovered something I did not know before. Many versions of the Bible don’t use the word “man”. They use the word “blood”. For example, in the New King James Version it says…
“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,”
Poh-TAY-toh, Poh-TAH-toh; Toh-MAY-toh, Toh-MAH-toh. Am I right?
Well, as it turns out there’s quite a debate surrounding this. (Oh, really? A debate about something in scripture? Now there’s something new. 😅🙄)
I did a very little reading about one of the perspectives, and what they talked about was this idea that the apostle Paul was all about seeing everyone as equal in the eyes of God and that the point of this verse was to help people see that we are all one, no matter our heritage. This makes sense, because after all, Paul also penned the words…
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” — Galatians 3:28
Interesting. I felt quite enlightened by this.
I know the apostle Paul was one of the most astute rabbis of his day. He was also one of the most progressive thinking rabbis of his day. He was probably also one of the most inwardly transformed, enlightened and “woke” rabbis of his day. Even though he didn’t have the conscious awareness that science has provided modern thinkers, I’m sure even he understood that the poems of Genesis were not to be taken literally. He understood things on a much deeper spiritual level.
This was actually the second time this week I had a revelation that I was interpreting the scriptures too literally, and, as a result, missing the point. It got me thinking, “I wonder what else I might be so certain about that I might actually be wrong about?”
In any case, with the notion of all mankind being one and the possibility that I might be wrong on many things, I sat down to clear my mind and begin my meditation for the day…
As I drifted deeper into my meditation I suddenly had a memory pop into my mind from many many years ago. I was sitting in a car at a red light. I was heading east-bound on Peterson Ave., just east of Lincoln Ave in Chicago, IL. I was about to turn left on Richmond Ave.
I was headed to Saul Triffler’s house.
Saul was an elderly Jewish man who was like a father to me in some respects. Amongst the people in my church congregation, he was known as “the kingdom mechanic”. He worked on everyone’s car in the church. He adopted us as his mechanically inept sons and daughters, and we gladly welcomed him as our go-to problem solver.
He was the sweetest man who ever lived, and he did things that only a father would do. If your car broke down, he personally would come with a tow truck and take it to the shop where he worked, have it fixed, and bring your car back to you. Later, as he got on in years and his wife needed more attention, I would have to go to his house to pick up my car, which is where I found myself in my meditation.
I don’t know exactly why I was remembering Saul in my meditation, but I’m sure it had something to do with this idea of everyone being one, no matter your heritage, skin color, religion, etc.
Saul had come out to our church on probably more than one occasion. We all loved him. He loved us all. We tried to “convert” him, but the idea just seems so silly to me now. He was already one of us and probably had more to teach us about life, love and serving others than we could ever teach him.
It’s been several years now since Saul has passed away. I no longer have that old red Chevy Cavalier that he sold me. I just have great memories of a man who played an important role in my life. When all of my “blood relatives” lived hundreds of miles away, God provided just what I needed.
Perhaps we are all one blood after all.