Obadiah Holmes was born in 1606 in Reddish, England. King James I was on the throne of England. During Obadiah’s teen years, King James’ second son, Charles 1st, had assumed the throne and appointed a man named William Laud to be the Archbishop of Canterbury. Persecution began for various groups called “Dissenters.” Among this group of renegades were certain Puritans and of course those awful Ana-Baptists. The prefix “ana” simply means “re” or “do again.” The Baptist didn’t accept infant baptism and wouldn’t allow their newborns to have this ritual administered. They took the baptism examples in the Bible as their basis of baptism. These “dissenters” would not follow the prescribed doctrines of the Church of England, making them a target by Archbishop Laud who wished power to be in the hands of the hierarchy of the Church.
Obadiah was a brilliant man attending Oxford for a time. He would marry Catherine Hyde in 1630. The couple would ultimately have nine children and forty-two grandchildren. Each of them had Bible names as a constant reminder to live faithfully for Christ. In 1638, to escape persecution, Obadiah put his family on a ship headed to America. The voyage would take six weeks. The Holmes had a three-year-old son, Jonathan, that made the long trip with them. Jonathan would soon die in America.
They settled in Salem, Massachusetts. The reception was cold for the family. His family, four generations later, would write their family history telling how he was excommunicated from the church at Salem and driven from Massachusetts by religious persecution. His desire to live as the Bible and his conscience directed was a constant irritant to the authorities of Salem. The authorities had given the preacher orders to “desist, neither ordain officers, nor to baptize, nor to break bread together, nor yet to meet upon the first day of the week.” Obadiah, Catherine, and the children would move to Rhode Island to escape the persecution. But two events happened in 1651. The first was when two of Obadiah’s friends had been arrested for preaching. He ventured back into Massachusetts seeking to speak in their defense. The court appearance was in Boston. He was approached by a rowdy man as he attempted to testify for his friends who cursed him and then struck him in the face. His response, “The curse of God goes with thee.” The second event of that year was when Obadiah again went back into Massachusetts. This time a sickly, old gentleman had asked for Obadiah to come see him before he died. The preacher went to the sick man’s home and had the audacity to conduct a worship service in the private home of this frail, failing brother in Christ. Obadiah along with two others were arrested. They had two choices, pay a fine of 30 pounds or be beaten with a “three-corded whip.” Obadiah’s whole net worth would have been less than 130 pounds if you included the simple home and livestock so, the only choice was the whip. He was tied to a whipping post and the order was given to begin the beating. One, two, three … the horse whip popped across his back. That would continue 27 more times. 30 lashes with a whip for simply holding a private service in a private home for a sick old man. As the beating, injuries, and cursing continued, he didn’t cry out or make an anguishing sound. His response when it was over? Bleeding but unbowed, he said to the magistrates, “You have beaten me as with roses.” He counted it a privilege to suffer for the sake of Christ. Each time I think about Obadiah Holmes and his suffering, I can’t help but think of Paul’s words to the people of Philippi. “For unto you it is given I the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).