Their Longing for Him to Come!

Wolde Tinsae

Hello Dears and welcome to the fast of prophets, one of the seven canonized fasts of our church.

As Christians, we are expected to live with fasts and prayer for, unless we dispel it through such spiritual powers, there is a beast by the doors hungrily roaring to consume us in the soul. We live with an entity called Flesh which always wills to live in unchecked pleasure thereby undermining the heavenly desires of the soul. The check we put for the will of the flesh not to overflow its bank is to fast and pray.

The issue of fasting and prayer is not a fiction which we mortals have created out of the blue. It remains to be a well-founded biblical tradition since the Old Testament and the Lord Christ, who has come to fulfill the Laws and prophets, has re-emphasized its merit by giving to it New Testamental valour through His fasting.

Fathers and mothers of the Old Testament have been using fasting and prayer as a means of addressing their worldly queries such as wars, famine, and drought. Whenever the chosen, such as Mosses, communicated with or received something noble from God the Highest, they had to pray and fast not just for hours or days but for over a month.

They have also fasted to see the coming of the Messiah though they were not distained to see His activities physically. Thanks, we have seen Him; we have lived with Him; we have even eaten and drunk Him.

It is quite important for us to look into our roots to get the blessings and lessons of our devoted parents of the Old Testament. The fast which we annually launch at mid-hidar (Hidar 15/Nov.24) and break on Ethiopian Christmas (Tahesas 29/January 7) is meant to commemorate the fasts of our Old Testamental parents which the held longing for the coming of the Messiah. In leap years, when our 13th month happens to have six days, the feast falls on the 28th of Tahesas.

Why commemoration? Why a fixed set of time for the fast? These are presumably two of the questions that an outsider who is not part of the Christian flock may raise, such questions may even click into the mind of a new member of the flock who has joined the church only recently and thus carries with him a mist to clear. Well, the church has the answer for this:

We need to commemorate because it is due to us to give recognition to the sacrifice our Old Testamental parents have paid to see the   prophesied redemption of the condemned man come true. And, this recognition we give will by no means end in vain. It, in fact, has at least two immediate advantages for a believer. One, it keeps us in touch with our root, our history, our track in the faith. Much has been paid up until we reach the Age of Grace to take the Holy Communion. The fathers and mothers of the past have been derided and physically prosecuted while waiting for the Christ with all their purity.

It suffices to mention the sufferings prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah have underwent in this merciless world hoping only for the rewarding age to come. In a word, the commemoration we hold helps us to visualize our grace in Christ vis-à-vis the Dark Age of condemnation. We will adore the price paid to see such an age of salvation and thus live the life that is worthy of a Christian.

Two, the commemoration is an opportunity for us to partake the blessings of our Old Testamental fathers. Mosses has prayed in the names of patriarchs-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Similarly, it is rewarding for us to remember the prophets and implore God to give as mercy for our transgressions paying attention not to our void Justice but to the pleasant lives of our fathers.

We shall be spared from taking the two testaments, the old and the new, as if they are / were separated by a wall which we are not allowed to break. Such a misunderstanding may force us to leave aside the virtues of the Old Testament in the name of living in a new age. Right here, it is vital to remember that the Lord Christ has come not to derail the Laws and the prophets; He has rather come, as He Himself has explicitly said, to fulfill them for He has become a beacon of fasting and other commitments. Exod.34:28; 1 kings 19:8; Matt. 4:2; Lk. 4:2.

Why a defined period of time? The church has to live in order, not in chaos. So as to maintain such an order, we have fathers who age authorized in the spirit to take care of the flock of the church. St. Paul has explicitly warned us to say no to disorderliness. Thus, if we agree that there has to be a communal fast of us who share a common destiny, be it to commemorate or refer immediate and long term spiritual interests of our flock unto God, we could easily agree that it is sensible for the fathers to come up with a defined set fo time for us all to pray as one flock; with exemption given only to the bed-ridden and to those lactating. In view of this, fathers have decided that the period said above shall be devoted to the fast of the prophets to commemorate their fast of longing for the messiah and, as a result, get their blessings through God.

As we fast, we are expected to deter the flesh form getting not just animal products. We have to also consume fasting foods within a spiritual limit. We, as believers, have no room for excesses because we live amidst millions, if not billions, who have nothing to bite. We need to believe that we are given to give. This is the way to demonstrate our love of God because, as He Himself has said, we couldn’t claim to love the God we do not see physically when we have practically failed to love our likes who are living with us. Let us give and we will be given even more.

Fasts go with mercy and apology. Tune in to any news channel and you hear about war and famine. This is mainly caused by greed and mercilessness. If we age in love, we will be able to see that the world is far richer than we could exploit. We both could eat, drink and live happily unless we are mercilessly greedy and want to see others dying. This fast must not be reduced to just commemoration though the value of the past should always be revered. It must, on top of this, be an opportunity to re-evaluate our course. If we are decision-making powers, let us show even more mercy to others. Let’s listen to and care for each other. If we age part of the rank and file, let us pray for ourselves to see more mercy from our bosses.This will definitely change the world and we may hear more of the good news of development, peaceful co-existence, better life-expectancy, etc. rather than the heart-breaking news of terrorism, war, refugees, dictatorship and other countless evils.

Wish to come even closer to God and reap His in exhaustive blessings through this fast. Amen and see you next time!!!

May God Bless us, Amen.