In the book From Babylon To Timbuktu, the author, Rudolf Windsor, states: “During the period from Pompey to Julius, it has been estimated that over 1 million Jews fled Into Africa fleeing from Roman persecution and slavery.” As I am reading excerpts from The Complete Works of Josephus, the original source of Rudolf Windsors statement, that explains how Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans in 70AD by General Vespasian and his son Titus, I'm discovering that the original source doesn't actually explain where the Israelites, who fled Roman persecution, migrated to. This begs the following question: Where is the most logical region the Jews would have fled to? In order to solve this mystery, you need to go into the best historical source of all mankind, which is Word of God, in order to get a clearer depiction of the possible migration of the ancient Israelites during Roman persecution of Jerusalem in 70AD.
Luke 21:20-21 states:“20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” “21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the MOUNTAINS; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.”
HOLD UP! Wait a minute here… there are mountains all over that region so which mountains are Jesus talking about? Even though their is not hard evidence to where the Jews migrated to, we at least have a clearer picture that the place where they would go to will be surrounded by mountains.
According to my research and hours of studying, through circumstantial evidence, I conclude that the Jews migrated into the northern region of Africa in the Atlas Mountains. Whoa… I know right… who would even consider that the Jews went into Africa fleeing from Roman persecution? If you do the math, there is no way they could have migrated north due to the fear of running into the Romans. They could not have gone east because that was where the Assyrians, Persians & Medes and Babylonians were. Last but not least, they could not have gone south because that was where the Edomites lived, which were also enemies of Israel. The only direction they can migrate to be hidden is west. When you think about it from a biblical standpoint, the Jews always went west when they were in trouble.
Here are a few examples of Jews sojourning in the continent of Africa: Abraham and Sarah went into the land of Egypt in the time of famine that was in the land of Canaan (Genesis 12). Jacob and his twelve sons went into the land of Egypt in the time of famine (Genesis 43, 44, 45, 46, 47). Jeroboam fleeing to Egypt from King Solomon (1 Kgs 11:40, 1 Kgs 12:2-3). Mary and Joseph fleeing into Egypt to protect Jesus from King Herod (Mt. 2:13-14).
One way for a people to hide is to go into a land where the people have the same skin complexion.
Joseph’s brethren didn’t recognize him as a Jew when they came into Egypt for the first time. Genesis 42: 8 states: “And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew NOT him. This shows that there was no physical distinction, in regards to skin color, between the Israelites and the ancient Egyptians.
During the time when pharaoh made a decree to kill all of the first born males of the children of Israel, Moses was hidden in a basket and taken in by the daughter of pharaoh and was raised as an Egyptian. We all know that the ancient Egyptians, prior to the invasion of the Arab conquest of Northern Africa, were dark-skinned. Links to references for you to look at to get an idea of the skin complexion of the ancient Egyptians are below this post.
Exodus 2:9-11 states: 9 “And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child (Moses) away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.” 10 “And the child (Moses) grew, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. 11 “And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.”
We can conclude that Moses was raised as an Egyptian, which were a dark-skinned people, and he knew his heritage as a Jew. One can also say that when the daughter of pharaoh presented Moses to pharaoh, king of Egypt, he didn't even recognize Moses as a Hebrew because they were the same skin color.
Also, Exodus 4:6-7 states: 6 “And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.” 7 “And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.” We all know that the appearance of snow is white. So we now can understand that ancient Israelites are a people of color with a dark-skinned complexion.
Simon Peter was even called “Niger”. Read Acts 13:1. The word Niger in the Greek means black.
Even the Apostle Paul was mistaken for an Egyptian and he was a Hebrew! Read Acts 21:37-40.
Overall biblical history shows that the Israelites always reverted back to going West in times of trouble and hardship because they blended in with the people that were already in the land of Africa. Why wouldn’t it be the same when Jesus told his disciples, “when you see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, flee to the mountains (the Atlas Mountains in North Africa)”? If the skin complexion of the ancient Hebrew Israelites was white, there is no way they could have hid themselves amongst the Hamitic people who lived in Africa. Remember, Ham is the progenitor of the dark races, Mizraim (Egypt) is one of the sons of Ham.
I encourage you to study and show your ownself approved to see what the Holy Spirit is revealing to you in regards to this matter. That’s it! I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post and stay tuned for more!
Click HERE to learn more about the skin complexion of the ancient Egyptians.
Trumpet Hearers