The Ethiopians

[zhilan]

I was curious if any of you have had any contact with Ethiopian Orthodox. I learned recently that they tend to follow the OT laws in their practice of Christianity such as dietary laws, circumsision, worship practices, etc.

[Yusuphhai]

Ha. I just know most Ethiopian christians belong to Oriental Orthodox but not Greek Orthodox.

And about 20,000 Ethiopian Jewish immigrated to Israel in 60-70th last century. This is a picture thread about them and their offsprings.

http://zanmei.net/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=51312&highlight=%D3%CC%CC%AB%C8%CB%2B%BA%DA%2B%B0%AE%C3%D6%F7%EC%B6%F9

Isaiah(和合本)49:12 看哪，这些从远方来；这些从北方、从西方来；这些从秦（原文是希尼）国来。
(NRSV)49:12 Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.

[Wags]

Yes, I have had contact with a lot of Ethopians - used to live there. :)

Ethiopians have a long history of being closely linked to the nation of Israel. Moses married an Ethiopian. And the last king of Ethiopia claimed the title "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" becuase he was said to be a descendant of Solomon via a union with the Queen of Sheba.

Used to be that the only time you saw pigs being kept was at the Swedish mission. As a general rule Ethopians do not eat unclean meat (and they used to make jokes about the communist that took over the country - saying "even the donkeys aren't safe".) They also kept Shabbat until the 4th century when the catholics "converted" them. In many of their languages Saturday is still referrred to as "sabbath".

Most are coptic christians, but it is something of a hodge podge religion - with a lot of influences of Judasim.

And then of course there are the Ethiopian Jews - that is a whole other story. You can read about some of the messianic outreach to them here. (http://www.jewishvoice.org/Magazine/1.php?v=40&i=4)

[zhilan]

They are Oriental Orthodox, not Eastern Orthodox. But yeah, from my understanding of what I read, a lot of them still do worship on Saturday or they worship on both days. Also, they still have circumcision and follow a lot of the other rules. Personally, I think they are on the right track. ;)

Wags, that's really cool, when / how did you live there? From what I've heard it seems like an amazing place.

[Wags]

I lived there when I was a kid in the 70's, then my parents went back in the 80's when I was in college and ran a relief organization during the height of the (mostly communist caused) famine. My folks are headed back over on a medical mission in a couple of months.

My brother-in-law does messianc outreaches there, and I have other relatives that used to live there too that frequently return.

I have often said that if the country was ever politcally stable again I would move back there in a heart beat - although I'm not sure that my hubby would be up for that much of an adventure.