Window on the World: Africa in Amos

The prophet Amos makes an interesting reference to Africa:

Israel, I am the Lord God,
and the Ethiopians
are no less important to me
than you are.
I brought you out of Egypt,
but I also brought
the Philistines from Crete
and the Arameans from Kir.

Amos 9:7 (CEV)

One of the footnotes on this verse states: “The Hebrew text has ‘people of Cush,’ which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.”

Israel is unquestionably important in God’s eyes in relation to his historic covenant with Abraham, but this verse shows that all people groups are important to God.  In this verse we have a written record of God’s concern for the people of Africa more than 2,000 years ago. 

The other day I was looking at a book called “Atlas of Man.” In it are short descriptions of more than 400 distinct people groups from around the world.  They range in size from the millions to the Tasaday of the Philippines which, when the book was published, numbered 25 individuals.  The book states: “They use stone tools, and live mostly in cave dwellings reached by vine ropes, although some have now built wooden platforms and shelters.” Every one of these people groups is important to God and no less important for being small in number. 

For more than ten years I have prayed for the Legenyem people of Indonesia.  I know very little about this people group other than the fact they they live on an isolated island  off the northwest tip of Irian Jaya.  Another thing I know is that these people are special in God’s eyes. 

This week I was reading Nigel Barley’s book “A Plague Of Caterpillars” and he correctly notes that anthropologists study the strange customs of marginalized peoples because when these people disappear, or are absorbed into majority cultures, all humanity has lost a unique perspective on the world.  Every people group’s way of looking at the world can help show us something about ourselves.  Unfortunately, the minority languages and cultures of the world are rapidly disappearing.  The Ethnologue lists 6,912 living languages on the earth at this time.  Some estimates state that in our generation more than half of those languages will disappear.  With them will go countless unique perspectives on the world.  Humanity will be poorer for this loss.