If God speaks Afaan Oromo, why not the ‪#‎BBC‬?

It was at the beginning of the first century A.D. The place was in Jerusalem. About 120 Jewish Disciples of Lord Jesus Christ including His Apostles spoke in the languages of all nations under heaven. It is one of the most startling and liberating facts for every souls who doubt the equality of their languages with that of the others who sometimes intimidate them. Here, the Bible gives divine surety as to the fact that God speaks and understands the languages of each one of us. You can preach, sing and pray in your own language knowing very well that God speaks and understands your language or does not give any preference for any languages.

Go and check, Acts Chapter 2 is one of the places where God, in the Person of the Holy Spirit, spoke in Afaan Oromo among other languages of the Earth. For the political junkies, God does not follow assimilation policies on language. Had God followed assimilation policy, we all would have spoken Hebrew.

In Acts chapter 2 verse 4 through 8, the Bible reads when the Day of the Pentecost fully come:
“4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
7 And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?”

This event happened in Jerusalem. At that time Jerusalem was the most diverse cosmopolitan city in the world. There were residents (immigrants) from every nations on Earth in that city. One may compare it to the city of New York of today. All the peoples of the city from all nations under Heaven came out and heard these Jewish Disciples of Jesus Christ speak in their (the immigrants) own mother tongues. Notice here, the Bible record states that there were “devote men out of every nation under heaven” which obviously includes the Oromo.

In fact, the Oromos have more legitimate argument to make since there is longstanding relationship between the Oromo nation and the Jewish nation. It goes back to the time when the Israelis were slaves in Egypt. At that time, Moses, one of the most celebrated Jewish Leader in history, got married to a Cushite, an Oromo. He later adopted the leadership model of Gadaa System from his father-in-law. It is also important to note that all the names translated as “Ethiopia” in the modern translation of the Bible is written as Cush in the original Hebrew Bible, and the Greek word Ethiopia refers to the same people signifying no contradiction between the two names. Read the Book of Numbers Chapter 11 and the Book of Exodus 18:13-27 for more details.

The other important Chapter on the equality of languages in the Bible is the Book of Revelation Chapter7. In Acts Chapter 2, the Bible gives guidance as to how we should conduct ourselves on the matters of languages while on Earth. In the Book of Revelation, the Bible is talking about what to expect in Heaven before God Himself when we finish our earthly journey. True to His loving nature, as it is on Earth so is it in Heaven. All languages from all around the world are spoken in Heaven and God enjoys the praises of all of them in their respective languages. The relevant part of the Book of Revelation in Chapter 7 verses 9 through 10 reads:

“9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

For all political junkies who deny the existence of nations and nationalities and tribes, take note that they exist in Heaven as well with all their languages duly respected by God as working languages with equal status. My advice, get used to the diversity here so that you will not be strangers in Heaven.

You may ask, why do God needs all these languages as working languages in Heaven? Well, the Book of Revelation in Chapter 5 verse 9 gives the answer to that question as follows:

“9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”

Yes, we all praise God with our own languages in Heaven. Therefore, if you are an Oromo and you don’t sing and worship God in Afaan Oromo here on earth, watch! God expects you to sing and praise Him in Afaan Oromo in Heaven according to the Book of Revelation Chapter5 verse 9.

Going back to the language policy: Equality of languages was, is, and will remain the longstanding language policy of God. Let no man violate this equality among children of God. Clue: All Ethiopian religious institutions should stand for the equality of all languages in Ethiopia, and start conducting their services in the languages of the respective communities.

Accordingly, Afaan Oromo should be the working language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church where Afaan Oromo speakers constitutes about 40% of its congregants. The same holds true for all Ethiopian Evangelical Churches of various denominations, and all Mosques in Oromia. If they all claim to do God’s will and serve Him, then we expect all of them to respect the equality of our languages?

If we all agree on this, what if our religious institutions remind their followers to support Afaan Oromo speakers by petitioning the BBC to start broadcasting in Afaan Oromo? I am sure, God is happy and the people will also be happy. If God speaks Afaan Oromo, why not the #BBC? God Bless you all!!! Sign the petition