What Is Ethiopia In The Bible?

Ethiopia In The Bible

The history of Ethiopia and its relationship to the Bible goes as far back as the writing of the Bible itself. Ethiopia is first mentioned in the Bible after God planted the Garden of Eden. The Bible states that one of the four rivers that flowed from Eden was called the Kihon. The same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

Genesis chapter 2 verse 13, so biblically speaking, we see that Ethiopia is as old as the creation of the earth. Ethiopia is mentioned 37 times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament, where the Apostle Philip baptizes an Ethiopian eunuch who was a servant of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. 

Though the Ethiopian eunuch knew little of Jesus Christ at that moment, the knowledge of the one true God of Israel had been introduced into Ethiopia going as far back into antiquity as to the reign of King Solomon and to his visitor, the Queen of Sheba. It is believed that the Queen of Sheba Makita, being her name, lived in the 10th century BC.

In modern-day Yemen, the queen ruled over parts of Ethiopia, such as oxen and portions of southern Arabia and Sevilla. Because of her ties to the Sabaeans, she has been given the Queen of Sheba and the queen of oxen, the capital of Ethiopia.

The queen is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible and the Old Testament. Her story is found in the first Kings chapter 10 and the second chronicles chapter 9.

In the New Testament, Christ himself refers to her as the queen of the south in Matthew chapter 12 verse 42 and again in Luke chapter 11 verse 31. finally, the most detailed account of the Queen of Sheba is found in the Ethiopian holy book, the Kebra Nagast. 

From the text of the Kebra Nagast, Queen Makita visited King Solomon to test his wisdom and see for herself the riches and magnificence of his kingdom. She came with many gifts for Solomon and a great company of camels and servants. When the queen finally arrived in Jerusalem, she was amazed by the wisdom of Solomon. 

Now Solomon was a lover of women, and the King desired the queen and seduced Makita during her stay. Ultimately a son would be born from a relationship between Solomon and Sheba, and the worship of the one true God will be brought back to Ethiopia on the queen’s return from Jerusalem. for previously, the queen of Sheba and her people worshipped the Sun Moon and stars and even the serpent. 

As the legend unfolds, the Queen of Sheba gave birth to Solomon’s son and named him Menelik. When melon came of age, he too traveled to Jerusalem searching for King Solomon. His own father, Solomon, greeted him with joy and sent Levites to go back with metallic so that the worship of the one true God would be established in Ethiopia. 

Unfortunately, many of the nobles of Israel were saddened that they wouldn’t have to leave Jerusalem in the temple that housed the Ark of the Covenant. So Azariah, the son of Zadok, the priest, made a replica of the ark in exchange it for the true ark which was in the Holy of Holies. as events transpired, the Ark of the Covenant ended up in Ethiopia and is believed to reside there to this very day in the holy city of Aksum in the Church of st. Mary of Zion.

Returning to the Bible, we see that Ethiopia is included in the writings of the prophets and is also found in the Psalms of King David. For example, the Prophet Jeremiah was released from his imprisonment and Amari Pitt through the efforts of an Ethiopian eunuch named Abed Malik. 

See Jeremiah chapter 38, the Lord speaking through Prophet Amos said, are you not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me children of Israel. Amos chapter 9 verse 7 and most famously Ethiopia is mentioned in Psalms chapter 68 verse 31 where it states that Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God. This Old Testament prophecy concerning Ethiopia was partially fulfilled during the birth of Jesus Christ. for tradition holds that one of the three wise men they came to visit and pay homage to the infant Christ was a king of Ethiopia. 

The eunuch first made the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia by Queen Candace. Still, it would be during the reign of King Azana, a couple of centuries afterwards, that Christianity would take hold. King Azana, who ruled from 320 to 356, was the first African King who became Christian. He made Christianity the official religion of his Empire.

Though the Ethiopian King Azana adopted Christianity, the credit for bringing the faith of Jesus to the kingdom of Aksum goes to Saint frumenty as’ an SERO Phoenician Greek-born. Tier frumenty has traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, where he appealed to have a bishop appointed a missionary priest sent forth 2x soon afterwards, he was appointed bishop and established the Church in Ethiopia and converted many local people, including the King. 

Throughout a couple of centuries, Christian Ethiopia relatively flourished, but by the 8th century, the Aqsa my kingdom had lost its holdings in southern Arabia. Because of the aggressive Muslims who occupied the Ethiopian coast due to the hostilities against the Muslims, Cristiano Theo Pia became isolated from the rest of the world due to being cut off from other Christian nations. The auxin wide Empire had no other choice than to establish ties with Islam. 

However, even though the Ethiopian King Armagh granted Muslim refugees asylum in Ethiopia and even after Muhammad himself told his followers to maintain a positive relationship with Ethiopia, the Muslims still attempted to eliminate Christianity and Ethiopia from the face of the earth. The decline of auxin was followed by a new dynasty known as the Zog way.

The Zog way period lasted from about eleven-thirty seven to twelve 70 AD. The best known of the Zog way rulers was King Lalibela, who famously carved a network of churches out of solid rock.

Well, early Bella’s life is legendary. When Lalibela was an infant, a swarm of bees hovered above his crib as the story went. Upon seeing this spectacle, his mother took it to signify that her son would grow up to be a great man. Thus, he was named Lalibela, which means the bees recognized the sovereignty.

In his youth, Lalibela spent time in Jerusalem. On his return to Ethiopia, he was inspired to recreate Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land in the Ethiopian town of Roja altogether. King Lalibela excavated 11 rock-hewn monolithic churches. These churches were so fascinating that the area was renamed Lalibela in his honor after the King’s death.

After the reign of La Bella, the saga dynasty began to decline. Rulership of Ethiopia was restored to the Solomonic dynasty, which traces its descent from the union of Solomon and Sheba tradition states that the Solomonic Kings searched all the way back from the 10th century BC all the way to the 20th century AD. the last King of Ethiopia was Emperor Haile Selassie the first who was crowned King of Kings of Ethiopia on November 2nd in 1930 ethoxy drew st. George and Addis Ababa.

Before his coronation, Selassie held the title of Rastafari, and his King would also be known as the Lion of Judah. Through the writings of a Jamaican political activist Marcus Garvey, many blacks in Jamaica saw the crowning of a Black King in the East to be none other than the second coming of Jesus Christ.

However, in 1974 Ethiopia experienced a revolution, and a Marxist regime called the derg arrested Selassie on September 12th. On August 28th, 1975, it was reported that Selassie died on August 27th due to complications of a prostate operation after the Soviet government fell in 1991. 

Salah seized bones were found in 1992. In 2000, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church held a funeral for the deceased Emperor. To this day, most Rastafarians do not accept Selassie’s death but believe that his majesty simply disappeared. 

Conclusion: From the Garden of Eden to the Queen of Sheba and even up to modern times, Ethiopia is a sign in the seal of biblical persons, places and kingdoms. The rich culture of Christian and Jewish heritage and its many legends have made Ethiopia a mystical land, with the queen of Sheba accepting the God of Israel and King Ana establishing Christianity. The prophecy that Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth their hands into God has indeed been fulfilled.

FAQ About Ethiopia In The Bible