This document discusses the history and ideology of Hebrew Israelism and its application for liberating Black people in America. It poses questions about identity, culture, and history prior to the slave trade. It discusses how the curses described in Deuteronomy 28 explain the plight of Black people in America, both during slavery and modern times. It also references archaeological and historical evidence of Hebrew Israelite presence in West Africa, their migration routes, and their theophoric names recorded during the slave trade. The document asserts that the ideology is supported by biblical texts and references scholars who have studied African Jewish communities.

1. What is the history of Hebrew Israelite
ideology and it’s application for
liberating “Black” people in America?
By Divine Prospect

2. Some questions to pose
• What is your identity?
• What is your indigenous culture?
• What is your ancestral historical continuity?
• What lifestyle did your ancestors practice prior to it’s interruption by the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade?
• Is “Colored, “African-American”, “Afro-American”, “Black”, etc. a nationality?
• Why did Christianity mostly benefit the slave master more so than it did the slave in America?
• Is there a ancient text that prophesized about our historical plight in America?
• Is there a solution to our current adverse condition as “Black” people in America?

3. The curses of Deuteronomy 28 explain the
plight of “Black” people in America
Deuteronomy 28:15 "But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I
charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16 "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17
"Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18 "Cursed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground, the increase of your
herd and the young of your flock. 19 "Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20 "The LORD will send upon you
curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because
you have forsaken Me. 22 "The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with
blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish. 25 “The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way
against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 “Your carcasses will be
food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 28 “The LORD will smite you with madness and
with blindness and with bewilderment of heart; 29 and you will grope at noon, as the blind man gropes in darkness, and you will not prosper in your ways;
but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. 30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build
a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit. 41 “You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours,
for they will go into captivity. 43 “The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you will go down lower and lower. 44 “He shall
lend to you, but you will not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you will be the tail. 47 “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad
heart, for the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness,
and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 “The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar,
from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance who will have no
respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. 56 “The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the
ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 58 “If you are not careful to
observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, 59 then the LORD will bring
extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses. 64 “Moreover, the LORD will
scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or
your fathers have not known. 65 “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the LORD
will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. 66 “So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day,
and shall have no assurance of your life. 67 “In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were
morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. 68 “The LORD will bring you back to Egypt*
in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female
slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
*land of slavery/house of bondage (Exodus 13:3, 14, 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6, 6:12, 7:8, 8:14, 13:10)

4. Examples of curses during slavery in America
• Lynchings/Whippings/Beatings/Castration i.e. dread of life
• Raping of Women
• Children taken from parents and placed into slavery
• Forced to work on plantations (i.e. also build houses and vineyards)
• Sickness/Ailments/Diseases from lack of care and burdensome labor
• Robbed of culture, language, customs, history
• Destitution
• Dependency on Slave Master
• Insurrection and revolt suppression caused flight
• Lack of education

5. Examples of curses in modern day times
• Black on Black crime
• Poverty
• Foreigners setting up businesses in our communities becoming prosperous
• Drugs/Guns/Violence/Media misrepresentation
• Single parent homes (Welfare promotes this)
• Loss of land and home ownership (gentrification)
• Low quality Education
• Increase in disease afflictions (i.e. AIDS, Cancer, Heart Disease, etc.)
• Dependency on Governmental services and privileges
• Police brutality
• Lack of employment

6. The Prophets confirming the Hebrew
Israelites exile and loss of heritage
Jeremiah 16:13 'So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you
nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.‘
Jeremiah 17:4 You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve
your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
Jeremiah 24:9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the Earth for their hurt, to
be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
Jeremiah 44:14 So there will be no refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the
land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return
and live; for none will return except a few refugees.'“
Ezekiel 6:8 “ ‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among
the lands and nations. 9 Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will
remember me—how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and
by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done
and for all their detestable practices. 10 And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain
to bring this calamity on them.

7. What did the Ancient Hebrew Israelites look
like in phenotypical artifacts?
Source: The Lachish Relief
Date: 701 BCELocation: Lachish in Judea

8. Archaeological evidence of cranial
phenotypes of the Ancient Israelites

9. Jews of Bilad Al-Sudan
“Jews of the Bilad al-Sudan describes West African Jewish communities who were connected to known
Jewish communities from the Middle East, North Africa, or Spain and Portugal. Various historical records
attest to their presence at one time in the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires, then called the Bilad as-
Sudan from the Arabic meaning Land of the Blacks. Jews from Spain, Portugal, and Morocco in later years
also formed communities off the coast of Senegal and on the Islands of Cape Verde. These communities
continued to exist for hundreds of years but have since disappeared due to changing social conditions,
migration, and the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade.
Africa, in the broader sense, is clearly indicated where mention is made of the Ten Tribes having
been driven into exile by the Assyrians and having journeyed into Africa. Connected with this is the
idea that the river Sambation is in Africa. The Arabs, who also know the legend of the Beni Musa ("Sons of
Moses"), agree with the Jews in placing their land in Africa. Records of the Jewish history of Mali can still
be found in the Kati Andalusi library.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_of_Bilad_el-Sudan (2014)

10. Some Historians who document the Hebrew
Israelite presence in West Africa while visiting
• Eldad HaDani (9th Century CE)
• Muhammed Al-Idrisi (12th Century CE)
• Ibn Khaldun (12th Century CE)
• Mahmud Kati (17th Century CE)
• Abderrahman ben Abdallah es-Sadi (18th Century CE)
• Leo Africanus (18th Century CE)
• Mungo Park (18th Century CE)
• Robert Sutherland Rattray (19th Century CE)
• George E. Lichtblau (20th Century CE)

11. Dr. Yosef ben Yochannan on the Hebrew
Israelite lineage of Americans
“The African Jews, as all other Romanized-African of this era, were caught in a rebellion in Cyrene
(Cyrenaica) during 115 C.E. against Roman imperialism and colonialism. This rebellion also marked the
beginning of a mass Jewish migration southward into Soudan (Sudan or West Africa) along the way of
the city Aer (Air) and into the countries of Futa Jalon and Senegal (Sene-Gambia) which lie below the
curve of the Niger River's most northern reaches, where the City of Tumbut (Timbuktu, Timbuctoo,
etc.), Melle (Mali) presently stands." (African Origins of the Major Western Religions, 1970, p. 76).
Dr. Ben goes on to relate that Israelite immigrants from northern and eastern Africa merged with
indigenous groups in western Africa to become the Fulani of Futa Jalon, Bornu, Kamen, and Lake Chad.
They also formed the parent-stock of groups such as the Ashanti, the Hausa, the B'nai Ephraim and the
Bavumbu (Mavumbu or Ma-yomba). All of these groups suffered tremendous population decreases during
the years the Trans-Atlantic slave trade was in operation, others were completely eliminated. Thus,
every so-called African American has Israelite ancestry in their family tree whether he or she knows it
or not. Even in the very crucible of slavery the descendants of West African Hebrew captives in America
struggled to keep their heritages from being obliterated by forced assimilation and acculturation. Their
distinctive traditions became submerged in Christianity but always remained a part of the oral tradition
via the so-called Negro Spirituals which praise the memory of ancestors…
Source: http://israelitishworldwide.blogspot.com/2014/03/there-are-plenty-of-jewish-roots-in_26.html

12. African Origins of the Major “Western Religions” pgs 76-77

13. Hebrew Israelite migration routes from Israel
to West Africa to America

14. Trans-Atlantic Slave trade

15. Hebrew Israelite theophory recorded in the
Transatlantic slave ship records
Theophory refers to the practice of embedding the name of a god or a deity in, usually, a proper name.
Ex. Eliyah (Yah is my God), Yahusha (Yah is Salvation), Michael (Who is like EL?)

16. Were “Blacks” acknowledged as Israelites
here in America?
LOCATION: Marker is on median at junction of Layne st (Country rd 695) and W 3rd street
(US 460 and 15) in Farmville, VA 23901

17. Book references on this subject matter

21. What is the ISSAJ?
“The International Society for the Study of African Jewry (ISSAJ) is a community of scholars
and students engaged in the study of African Jewry and its diverse cultures, historical
environments, religious beliefs and practices. The objectives of ISSAJ are to facilitate
scholarly collaboration, research and discussion and to disseminate research findings
through regular conferences and newsletters.
The ISSAJ members are an international and interdisciplinary community of scholars and
students in African Studies, Jewish Studies, Ethnology, Social Anthropology, Modern History,
History of Religions, and History of Ideas. However, the International Committee cordially
invites all academics or students interested in the scholarly investigation of the diversity of
African Judaism, whatever their discipline, to participate.”
Source: http://issaj.com/

23. References regarding the works of ISSAJ
Proceedings of the 2010 ISSAJ International
Conference SOAS, University of London
CONFERENCES
http://issaj.com/342-2/
Look up the Abstracts for the conferences of 2010, 2012, 2015 to
get a summary of the discussions regarding the Hebrew Israelite
communities in Africa
PUBLICATIONS
http://issaj.com/publications/
Check out the publications in relation to the adherents
of this community of scholars

24. Biblical Accuracy of Hebrew Israelite ideology
Deuteronomy 6:1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD
your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going
over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep
all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your
days may be prolonged. 3 “O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with
you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you…
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish
but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or
stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of
these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20
“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not
enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 15:24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

25. Excerpt from the epistle of Peter to James
from the Clementine Homilies
“For some from among the Gentiles have rejected my legal preaching, attaching themselves
to certain lawless and trifling preaching of the man who is my enemy. And these things some
have attempted while I am still alive, to transform my words by certain various
interpretations, in order to the dissolution of the law; as though I also myself were of such a
mind, but did not freely proclaim it, which God forbid! For such a thing were to act in
opposition to the law of God which was spoken by Moses, and was borne witness to by our
Lord in respect of its eternal continuance; for thus he spoke: “The heavens and the earth
shall pass away, but one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” And this He has
said, that all things might come to pass. But these men, professing, I know not how, to know
my mind, undertake to explain my words, which they have heard of me, more intelligently
than I who spoke them, telling their catechumens that this is my meaning, which indeed I
never thought of.”

26. Historical Messianics kept Torah because they
were Hebrew Israelites not Gentiles
The Ebionites and Nazarenes
Iraneus’s Account:
(Adversus Haereses Book I, Chapter 26)
“Those who are called Ebionites agree that the world was made by God; but their opinions with respect to the Lord
are similar to those of Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to Matthew only…they practice
circumcision, persevere in the observance of those customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in their
style of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of God.”
Hippolythus’s Account:
(Refut. Omn. Haer. vii. 34)
“They live conformably to the customs of the Jews, alleging that they are justified according to the Law, and that
Jesus was justified by fulfilling the Law. And therefore it was that the Savior was the Christ of God, since not one of
the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely.
Eusebius’s account:
(History of the Church ch. XXVII.: The Heresy of the Ebionites)
The ancients quite properly called these men Ebionites…In their opinion the observance of the ceremonial law was
altogether necessary. These men, moreover, thought that it was necessary to reject all the epistles of the apostle
[i.e., Paul]…and they used only the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews and made small account of the rest.
The Sabbath and the rest of the discipline of the Jews they observed…

27. Continued…
It is especially difficult to distinguish the Nazarenes from the Ebionites. Jerome obtained the Gospel according to the
Hebrews (which, at one time regarded as canonical, was later classed among the Apocrypha) directly from the
Nazarenes, yet he ascribed it not only to them but also to the Ebionites ("Comm. in Matt." xii. 13). This gospel was
written in Aramaic, not in Hebrew, but it was read exclusively by those born as Jews.
The Nazarenes, then, recognized Jesus, though it appears from occasional references to them that they considered
the Mosaic law binding only for those born within Judaism, while the Ebionites considered this law binding for all men
(Hippolytus, "Comm. in Jes." i. 12). The Nazarenes therefore rejected Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Some
accordingly declared even that the Nazarenes were Jews…and that they read the Gospel of Peter; fragments of this
Gospel of Peter have been preserved (Preuschen, l.c. p. 13). Aside from these references, Theodoret, however,
makes the mistake of confounding the Nazarenes and Ebionites; he is the last one of the Church Fathers to refer to
the Nazarenes, who probably were absorbed in the course of the fifth century partly by Judaism and partly by
Christianity.
Source: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11393-nazarenes
Acts 24:5 “For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews
throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

28. Are some who profess to be Jews really the
descendants of the Biblical Israelites?
Revelation 2:9b …I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not…

29. Why do we struggle from learning the truth?
Because we suffer from an “Identity Crisis”
Identity cannot be found in religion
It must be discovered through culture
Religion masks historical origins and
blurs the lines of ethnic differentiation

30. How can Hebrew Israelite ideology liberate
“Black” people in America?
It allows us to re-establish our culture in order to implement autonomy
Culture
Broadly, social heritage of a group (organized community or society). It is a pattern of responses
discovered, developed, or invented during the group's history of handling problems which arise
from interactions among its members, and between them and their environment. These responses
are considered the correct way to perceive, feel, think, and act, and are passed on to the new
members through immersion and teaching. Culture determines what is acceptable or unacceptable,
important or unimportant, right or wrong, workable or unworkable. It encompasses all learned and
shared, explicit or tacit, assumptions, beliefs, knowledge, norms, and values, as well as attitudes,
behavior, dress, and language.
Autonomy
freedom from external control or influence
the right of an organization, country, or region to be independent and govern itself

31. Summary and Conclusion

32. Who were the first Gentiles according to the
Bible?
Genesis 10:1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were
born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of
Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and
Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone
according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

33. What is the origin of the “Black Church”
in America?
It began with the conversion of slaves to their Slave Master’s religion
“We had the bes’ mistress an master in the worl’ and they was Christian fo’ks and
they taught us to be Christianlike too. Ev’y Sunday mornin’ ol’ master would have all
us niggers to the house while he would sing an pray an read de Bible to us all. Ol’
master taught us not to be bad; he taught us to be good; he tol’ us to never steal nor
to tell false tales an not to do anythin’ that was bad. He said: Yo’ will reap what yo’
sow, that you sow it single an’ reap double. I learnt that when I was a little chile an I
ain’t fo’got it yet. When I got grown I went de Baptist way. God called my pa to
preach an ol’ master let him preach in de kitchen an in the back yard under th’ trees.
On preachin’ day ol’ master took his whole family an all th’ slaves to church wid him.”
- MILLIE EVANS, enslaved in North Carolina

34. Slave experiences with Slave Masters who
practiced Western Christianity
“…To my horror and the astonishment of those with me, my poor sister made her appearance,
weeping bitterly, and followed by her inhuman master who was polluting the air of that clear
Sabbath morning with the most horrid imprecations and threatenings, and at the same time
flourishing a large raw-hide. Very soon his bottled wrath burst forth, and the blows, aimed with all
his strength, descended upon the unprotected head, shoulders and back of the helpless woman until
she was literally cut to pieces. She writhed in his powerful grasp, while shriek after shriek cried
away in heart-rending moanings; and yet the inhuman demon continued to beat her, though her
pleading cries had ceased, until obliged to desist from the exhaustion of his own strength.…I finally
passed on, with a clinched fist and contracted brow, to the church and rung the bell, I think rather
furiously, to notify the inhabitants of Bath that it was time to assemble for the worship of that God
who has declared himself to be “no respecter of persons.” With my own heart beating wildly with
indignation and sorrow, the kind reader may imagine my feelings when I saw the smooth-faced
hypocrite the inhuman slave-whipper, enter the church, pass quietly on to his accustomed seat, and
then meekly bow his hypocritical face on the damask cushion in the reverent acknowledgment of
that religion which teaches its adherents “to do unto others as they would be done by,” just as if
nothing unusual had happened on that Sabbath morning. Can anyone wonder that I, and other slaves,
often doubted the sincerity of every white man’s religion? Can it be a matter of astonishment that
slaves often feel that there is no just God for the poor African? Nay, verily; and were it not for the
comforting and sustaining influence that these poor, illiterate and suffering creatures feel as coming
from an unearthly source, they would in their ignorance all become infidels…”
- Austin Steward, Twenty-two years a slave, and forty years a Freeman, 1857

35. For further reading…
“In a collection of essays, Masters and Slaves in the House of the Lord:
Race and Religion in the American South, the focus is on the slave
communities’ adaptation of Christianity.”
Source: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/372/slavery-and-religion-in-the-antebellum-south

36. Who was the Godfather of the Pentecostal
movement among “Blacks” in America?
Charles F. Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham
was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of Pentecostalism. It was Parham
who associated glossolalia with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, a theological connection crucial to the
emergence of Pentecostalism as a distinct movement. Parham was the first preacher to articulate
Pentecostalism's distinctive doctrine of evidential tongues, and to expand the movement.
During 1906 Parham began working on a number of fronts. In Houston, Parham's ministry included
conducting a Bible school around 1906. Several African Americans were influenced heavily by Parham's
ministry there, including William J. Seymour. Both Parham and Seymour preached to Houston's African
Americans, and Parham had planned to send Seymour out to preach to the black communities throughout
Texas. In 1906 however, Charles Parham sent, with funds, a black woman, Lucy Farrow, (a cook at his
Houston school, who had received "the Spirit's Baptism" and felt "a burden for Los Angeles"), to Los
Angeles, California, and a few months later sent Seymour, with funds from the school, to join Farrow in
the work in Los Angeles, California;. Seymour's work in Los Angeles would eventually develop into the
Azusa Street Revival, which is considered by many as the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement.
Seymour requested and received a license as a minister of Parham's Apostolic Faith Movement, and he
initially considered his work in Los Angeles under Parham's authority. However, Seymour soon broke with
Parham over his harsh criticism of the emotional worship at Asuza Street and the intermingling of whites
and blacks in the services. This, and his support of British Israelism, has often led people to consider him
as a racist…
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Fox_Parham#Apostolic_Faith_Movement