Phillip in Gaza with the Ethiopian [16 verses]
After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News. As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of His descendants? For His life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” [“You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
Acts 8:25-40
We will move on now to the segment related to Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. That is not to say that we have covered everything else in the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts. There are some higher level aspects we need to address still but we will look at those after we have covered this last segment of the chapter. I have collected all the questions so far from those who sent their questions to me. Ponder these questions as you consider the text before us and ask your own questions. In the first instance, questions related to the passage above. Secondly, questions related to the overall structure in this chapter, the content of the sequence of pericopes (segments) and thoughts as to why Luke chose to include these particular segments. Is it just a pot pourri of unrelated things or is there something which unifies them?
- Phillip himself had the Holy Spirit (proven by the miracles) why was Peter and John needed to call on the Holy Spirit for the people of Samaria? (Andre)
- Why do Peter and John come after Simon and then leave before Simon leaves? (Gillian)
- Why is it that Peter and John are often together (and James)? Is there a reason for that? (Gillian)
- Why do they stop in many Samaritan villages when Jews don’t like Samaritans? (Gillian)
- What is the background story for this eunuch, how come an Ethiopian went to Jerusalem to worship (as he is not a Jew)? (Andre)
- Why was an Ethiopian reading the book of Isaiah? (Cynthia)
- Did other people have the Jewish books and not just the Jews themselves? (Cynthia)
- Does Acts 8:39-40 mean Phillip literally gets teleported via the Holy Spirit? (Andre)
- What is meant by “the Holy Spirit said to Philip”? It seems those words mean that the Holy Spirit spoke like a human being to Philip. Is that right? (David)
- What is a eunuch? (Dewi)
- Why did the Ethiopian asked to be baptised when he saw the water? Did he know about baptism already? How? (David)
- Does God snatch other people away like he did to Philip? What does that mean? I don’t understand it. (Ron)
- Where is Azotus Ian? (I looked for it in the atlas but I couldn’t find it. I want to see how far Philip went when he disappeared.)
- Just a question on baptism: l noticed that the Eunuch asked to be baptised. I gather from this and other instances that baptism wasn’t something that the Christian church or even Jesus invented but was already familiar to Jews and surrounding cultures. Is that correct or am I just jumping to a conclusion? Kev
Don’t excuse a self-absorbed concentration on what makes you happy at the expense of the trial designed to make you Holy.
Bonny Nystrom
The Lord is in the process of building us so His blessings don’t kill us.
Bill Johnston
Today Christians spend more money on dog food than missions.
Leonard Ravenhill
We talk of the second coming, while half the world has never heard of the first.
Oswald J. Smith
I couldn’t say that my church is alive and I wouldn’t want to call it dead. I guess it’s just walking in its sleep!
A church member