The Importance of Research
and Revelation
Rabbi Yehudah "Tochukwu" ben Shomeyr
It’s not
that God can’t use evolution, for God is Omnipotent. It is simply that He
didn’t. I’m not speaking of micro-evolution, or adaptation, this is clearly
evident in creation. For example, how goats who lived on the savannah over time
and generations have adapted their hooves to live on and traverse the
mountains. I am speaking of macro-evolution, where one species literally
evolves or turns into another. My image is that of God’s, not the apes. This is
about as ridiculous as a frog turning in to a prince. All we see is not the
result of a grand explosion, that would be like me detonating a bomb in a junk
yard and fully formed and functional vehicles be the result of that explosion.
I do not look at a watch on someone’s wrist and wonder, “Gee, how many billions
of years did that take to evolve!?” No, I see it and due to its complexity,
function and purpose I see there was a designer and I ask myself, “I wonder who
made that?” Because we are so fearfully and wonderfully made (Psa. 139:14), I
see the intricacy of humans, animals, the ecosystem and the solar system and
think, there is exactitudes and precisions therefore there must be a Grand
Designer and Maker and that could be no ne but Almighty God.
Likewise
with history, I see it through the eyes of a Creator with a Master Plan who
gave us certain promises and prophetic clues on how things are going to unfold.
How He is ultimately behind and has orchestrated major world powers and events
to its ends. With this being said, God has promised a man named Jacob who had
twelve sons who became twelve tribes that they would be so numerous and
uncountable as stars and grains of sand (Gen. 22:17) and yet we can identify
and number the sons of Judah and Levi; which, due to Assyrian exile leaves ten
sons and their descendants “lost.” They could not have just disappeared and or
died out. This would make God a liar and a covenant breaker, which He is not
(Gen. 17:7, Titus 1:2). The only logical conclusion is that they were dispersed
throughout the world. Some knowing who they are regardless of who believes
their claim and others have lost their identity and have assimilated into the
lands, peoples and cultures around them. For these reasons I confidently assert
that the Igbos are Hebrews. For these reasons I know the humanistic, secular
researchers, scientists, anthropologists and archeologists does not know it
all. For these reasons I put little stock in their work that is a result of
their world view which I reject. The evidences lay equally before us both. Do
they have all the answers? Do I? Equally, NO. We both still have unanswered
questions and more findings generate more questions and so there is more
research to be done, but I have something they lack; FAITH and REVELATION which
is like the component that causes concrete to solidify. It is the ribbon which
holds the bundle together. FAITH and REVELATION further backs up the Research. Research without FAITH and REVELATION is like flying a plane
or driving a car on instrumentations alone, without instinct, without “feeling”
the plane or car beneath them.
The Igbos,
being a portion of Gad as well as other Israeli Tribes were a part of the
Assyrian captivity.; vomited out from the land of Israel mostly due to their
idolatry. For a time on and off throughout their history in Nigeria they ended
up deifying their ancestors and worshipping and adopting pagan deities and
worshipping them alongside Chukwu Abiama (The God of Abraham). So European
scholars as well as Igbo scholars who have done extensive research and study on
these “gods” try to discredit or make light of the clear connection between
Israel and Ndi Igbo through Igbo Omenana and the Hebrew Torah; completely
ignoring Biblical and religious history in favor of honing in on the paganistic
idolatry of the people. That is like a blind man examining an elephant’s leg
and thinking it to be some sort of strange tree trunk; failing to see the
bigger picture of the huge palm leaf like ears, its twig like tail and its
serpentine like trunk. That is like trying to interpret a photo by a few puzzle
pieces. Who am I going to trust? The elders who despite oral history has been
consistent or European outsiders looking with a Western eye or Igbo scholars
who wants to win favor in Western Academia? I’m going to go with the Elders and
Scriptures backed by research and evidence.
