The Orthodox Church celebrates Easter this Sunday. In Ethiopia, Easter is celebrated more than Christmas and the New Year. It celebrates the reason why Jesus came.
Ethiopia has been a Christian nation since approximately 325 A.D., proclaimed as such by King Ezana, though many would claim Christianity in Ethiopia goes back much further. They cite Acts, Chapter 8, where Phillip baptizes the Ethiopian. The Ethiopian in question was actually an Ambassador of the Queen of Ethiopia. He was returning from Jerusalem, having worshiped there over Passover. Phillip found him in Gaza studying the prophecies of Isaiah which predict the coming of Jesus the Messiah. I shall come back to this point later.
Ethiopian legends speak of Joseph taking the Holy family to Ethiopia, which at the very least encompassed southeastern Egypt, if not all of it at one time. Furthermore, the Axumite Empire (what Ethiopia was called at that time, then later known as Abyssinia as well as Ethiopia) covered most of East Africa, including the Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya and the Saudi Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopian legends speak of Jesus and his Ethiopian playmates while growing up as a boy. They may very well be true as the Bible does not go into detail about their stay in Africa, nor did the writers deem it necessary to go into every last detail in order to present the more important message of Jesus and salvation.
It is said the Lost Ark of the Covenant was carried to Ethiopia after the downfall of King Manasseh, one of the most corrupt kings in the history of Israel. According to the prophesies of Zephaniah and Isaiah in the end times, the Ethiopians are going to deliver the ark to the new temple to be built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the Messiah to sit on during the millennial reign. These are seen as end time prophesies today.
The aforementioned ambassador was studying Isaiah and wasn’t sure of its meaning. It is believed that he went to Jerusalem not just to celebrate Passover, being a Falasha Jew, but also on a mission from the Queen of Ethiopia: this Jesus that they had heard about – was He the prophesied Messiah and was it time to return the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat to Jerusalem for Him to sit on and reign? Is this the time that Isaiah prophesied, or did it mean something else? When Phillip explained the passages, the pieces fell into place. He was baptized and took the good news back to Axum (Ethiopia).
Therefore, Christianity has a long history in Ethiopia, more so than Western Europe. It is a meaningful faith to the Ethiopians with indigenous roots, long before colonization of the rest of Africa. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter with a reverence and enthusiasm unparalleled in other parts of the world. As to the eventual construction of the Temple and the return of the Lost Ark to the Holy of Holies in it, let us say that time-table is in the Mind of God alone. Abba Naroud in Axum has as much said that it is not so much the power of the Ark of the Covenant they place emphasis on, but on the power of the one true God, Who at one time manifested His voice and presence through it. It is the resurrection power of the Name of Jesus that gives it and Christianity its significance. It resurrects all who accept Him from their sin to live a new born again life in and through Him. I wish all those Orthodox brothers and sisters in Ethiopia and elsewhere around the world a happy Easter Resurrection Sunday celebration!
