25 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. 26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Phillip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Acts 8:25-28
I recall this story from my youth as a fanciful tale of Philip the Evangelist being whisked about by the Spirit, landing in the chariot of an Ethiopian who happens to be reading in the book of Isaiah. Now up in years, reading the account, I find it a little bit more pedestrian, but still with a strong element of the supernatural. I take it that Philip was in the company of Peter and John, acting as their tour guide through Samaria as the apostles preached the gospel on their way back to Jerusalem.
But serving on this star-studded short-term missions team though a chance of a lifetime, was pale in comparison to the special assignment the Lord had in store for Philip, to begin through him to spread the gospel to the “remotest part of the earth.” So, he sent an angel to enlist Philip, who said, “Get up and go to road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza,” to the southwest. Philip “got up and went.”
This is the simple straightforward obedience the Lord requires. No stopping on the way like Abraham did in Haran to wait until his father died (Genesis 11:31). I could imagine accompanying Peter and John to be pretty exciting. I could see there being a temptation to stick with them until they got back to Jerusalem, then go to Gaza. That was not the mission. In order to intercept this Ethiopian official, he had to leave without hesitation.
So, he goes immediately to the desert road and sees a chariot coming toward him in a cloud of dust, carrying a man in regal garb holding a scroll and reading Isaiah 53:7-8 aloud. This man was teed up for a “gospel conversation” as ever there would be. I’ve found true evangelists are always in the right place at the right time, it seems. Availability plus obedience appears to equate to a much higher hit rate. It is interesting to me that Philip ultimately settled in Caesarea up the coast, raising four godly gifted daughters. Paul stayed with him for over a week on his way to Jerusalem accompanied by Luke (Acts 21:8). This is when Luke picked up the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. No wonder it’s drained of petty details leaving only the action sequences! Therefore, focused evangelism, as opposed to the day-to-day kind we all must be engaged in, may be for just a season.
By way of background, the Ethiopian was not from the area we now call Ethiopia, but from an area south of Egypt called Nubia. He was a powerful figure, possibly emasculated, as the term eunuch could also be taken to refer to his official role. There was no actual “Candace” but a queen he served with the name Candace used generally as the Romans used “Caesar.” The man was a practicing Jew returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem “to worship.” He was perplexed to understand the meaning of a passage in Isaiah, of which he had obtained a copy, no doubt an indicator of his prominence. And here’s an interesting verse that appears to refer to this divine encounter, “Envoys will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.” Psalm 68:31
Seeing the man, Philip ran up to him and asked him an engaging question (notice the lack of hesitation, everyone’s typical problem sharing the gospel), “Do you understand what you’re reading?” This was not condescending but an acknowledgement that the passage was not straightforward. The response was honest, as the official said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip up into the chariot. Coincidentally, the verses he read were about Jesus, and Philip seized on the opportunity using scripture.
Evangelical opportunities set up by a sovereign God should be down the middle of the plate. Jesus is the one who gets assigned the Rich Young Ruler, but we’re not required to move mountains, to reach Richard Dawkins (a famous atheist). We just need to connect the dots. The young ruler walked away perplexed, but this Ethiopian immediately wanted to be baptized! With this act of obedience, Philip’s work was done. We have some true evangelists in my church who are always telling tales of simply sharing the gospel and obtaining an immediate positive response. The formula seems to be availability and obedience, then an engaging question, an appropriate verse or two, and the close.
Philip was available, obedient, immediate, perceptive, winsome, direct, unabashed, and a good listener. Like a true closer in baseball, he only pitched for one inning. In this case, his job was done.
39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:39–40
Leave a Reply