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Reading Acts 8:26-40, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch, who could not understand the Scriptures until someone showed him. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Philip encountered an Ethiopian eunuch who didn't understand the scriptures, but he wanted to. This is not just a great evangelism story, but it's also a lesson to us to help one another in the Word of God, when we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Visit our website at www .utt .com.
Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Acts, still in chapter 8. And we come to the famous story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, beginning in verse 26. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south, to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
And the spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me?
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of scripture that he was reading was this, Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water, what prevents me from being baptized?
And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through, he preached the gospel to all the towns, until he came to Caesarea. This is that beloved story of evangelism that we have here in Acts chapter 8, the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.
We come back to verse 26, Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Now whenever we see this title given in the New Testament, an angel of the Lord, we're talking about any angel of God, not the angel of the Lord that is referred to in the Old Testament, which many scholars would argue is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ.
Anytime Jesus speaks to someone in the New Testament, it's going to address him as, or refer to him rather, as the Christ. But here we have a reference to an angel of the Lord, which we have seen before.
Back in Acts chapter 5, when the high priest arrested the apostles and put them in public prison, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out in the evening. So that was in Acts chapter 5, verse 19.
So we've seen an angel of the Lord come to the ministry of the saints earlier here in the book of Acts. And here we have that happen as well. God has sent an angel to Philip to tell him exactly where to go.
And this is to the benefit of this Ethiopian eunuch for he is going to hear the gospel and believe. So an angel said to Philip, rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Remember that Philip is the only other deacon that we have mentioned doing evangelistic ministry. Stephen was the other one. We read about him in chapters 6 and 7. He was executed at the end of chapter 7.
And now we're reading about Philip who proclaimed Christ in Samaria. The apostles came to Samaria, performed many signs and wonders and preached the gospel there as well. And now Philip has gone on from there to this area of Gaza, which is a desert place.
And he arose and went, verse 27. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her treasure. Well, first of all, let's talk about what a eunuch is.
What is a eunuch? That's not a term that's used very often, especially in our Western culture. But I think we have a pretty good idea of what a eunuch is. It is a man who has been castrated. Now, a eunuch is either a eunuch by birth or he was made a eunuch, meaning that this could be a man who was born without genitals or testicles.
And so, therefore, he's a eunuch by birth. He can't reproduce. He can't have a family, probably doesn't have much of lust or sexual desire of any kind. Or he's a man who was made a eunuch. He was born just like any other boy was born, but somewhere in there was castrated.
And the reason why this was done to the man is so that he would—more often than not, it's so that he would become some sort of servant or official to royalty. That's not always the reason why a person became a eunuch, but that was generally the reason why someone was made a eunuch.
They might be put in charge of a king's harem, for example. We see that in the book of Esther, that there was a eunuch who was over the maidens that were being selected to be brought before the king. So he could decide who his next wife was going to be.
There was a eunuch that was in charge of that. This was a man who did not have genitals, and so therefore he had no desire for these women. He wasn't going to pleasure himself with them. Rather, he was caring for them for the purpose of being able to present them before the king.
The other reason why a person is made a eunuch is not necessarily to suppress a sexual desire, but also a desire that they would have a family. So a eunuch can't get married and have children since he's been castrated.
So he has no self-interest. His desire is entirely to please the one whom he serves. That would be the broad function of a eunuch. And here in this particular case, we have a eunuch who is from Ethiopia, the country in Africa or the region that would have been in Africa.
He was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all of her treasure. Now, Candace is actually not very specific. We don't know what queen this would have been, except understanding the time period in which this interaction was taking place.
Candace was the name of every Ethiopian queen, so it doesn't help out at all to know who Candace was. It's kind of like you call the king of Egypt Pharaoh. Well, that's the case with the queen of the Ethiopians.
She was Candace, and this particular eunuch was in charge of all her treasure. So as a eunuch, this was his devotion to Candace. It was to take care of her possessions of her treasury, the wealth that she had.
And it says here he had come to Jerusalem to worship. So the Ethiopian had come to Jerusalem not to advance the treasury that he was placed in charge of as an official in Candace's court. He had come with personal interest.
He had come to Jerusalem to worship. He might have been in that region for another purpose. He could have been there because he was overseeing some sort of trade or something like that on behalf of Candace.
But his reason for being in Jerusalem in particular was to go there to worship and was returning seated in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. So this man was likely someone who feared the Israelite God, and he wanted to go to Jerusalem to worship that God.
But he didn't know or understand Christ. So he wasn't a Christian. He wasn't yet a convert. And here he is in his chariot reading the prophet Isaiah. And this is who the Lord is sending, Philip II, to help him understand the prophet Isaiah.
Now, it's quite interesting that he was reading Isaiah because we read in Isaiah 56, verse 3. Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from his people.
And let not the eunuchs say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, Who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name Better than sons and daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. That's a glorious thing for a eunuch to read. Somebody who was never going to have a family of his own. He was never going to have sons and daughters of his own.
Here the Lord is promising to eunuchs something better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. So this eunuch was probably reading Isaiah drawn by a passage such as that.
The Lord is promising something even to those who do not have heirs on earth. But we will be fellow heirs of an eternal kingdom that God is going to grant us. And so maybe the eunuch is reading Isaiah because he's wanting to know more about How do I receive this promise of God that he would promise even to eunuchs?
I can't have anything of my own. I'm constantly serving someone else of royalty. So what about this promise that God is giving to eunuchs? How would I acquire such a treasure? This man who was in charge of the treasure of the queen of the Ethiopians.
So he's reading the prophet Isaiah. Verse 29, the spirit said to Philip, go over and join this chariot. Now, it's no longer an angel that's speaking to Philip, but the very spirit of God himself is saying to Philip, go over and join this chariot.
This is not some sort of premonition that he had in his mind or this thought where he's going. Is God telling me to go over to that guy? This is the voice of God that is speaking to Philip. It is unmistakable what he's being told to do.
So verse 30, Philip ran to him. Of course, because when the spirit of God is telling you to go do something, you do it post haste. And you do it quickly. Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet.
He can hear the words. Philip knows right away exactly what it is the Ethiopian is reading. And he says to the Ethiopian, do you understand what you are reading? What a great question. What a great opening question.
That's very pastoral of Philip to come to somebody reading their Bible, essentially, and saying, do you understand what it is that you are reading? I'm going to help you understand it. I'm going to give you the sense the way that we read it in the book of Ezra.
You had those those teachers and those scribes in Israel who were reading the book of the law to Israel and giving the sense. And so that's what Philip wants to do. He wants to help the Ethiopian understand what it is that he is reading.
Verse 31. And the Ethiopian said to him, how can I unless someone guides me? That's a very humble response from the Ethiopian. He's not sitting there going, yeah, I got this. Don't worry about this. He wants to know what this means, but he can't make heads or tails out of it.
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now, the passage of Scripture that he was reading was this. Like a sheep, he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent. So he opens not his mouth in his humiliation.
Justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation for his life is taken away from the earth. Well, we know from Scripture that what the Ethiopian was reading was from Isaiah 53 verses seven and eight.
Now, if you go to Isaiah 53 in your Bible, it's going to look a little different than Acts 8 verses 32 and 33. So here's what we read in Isaiah 53, starting in verse seven. He was oppressed and he was afflicted.
Yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent. So he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
It's not quite what we read there in verse 33, but that's because what we read in Acts 8 is taken from the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the Old Testament. What we read when we go in our Bibles to Isaiah 53 verses seven and eight, we're reading the text that has been translated from the original Hebrew or from the most original Hebrew that we have.
So that's why whenever you see Old Testament references in the New Testament, they look a little bit different than if you were to actually go to the Old Testament and read that reference. Because the New Testament is referencing the Septuagint or the Greek version of the Old Testament.
But this is nevertheless from Isaiah 53. And what a perfect passage for the Ethiopian eunuch to be reading that Philip would be able to explain this to him and tell him the gospel of Christ. For we get to verse 10.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt. He shall see his offering. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand out of the anguish of his soul.
He shall see and be satisfied. That's what we read going on in Isaiah 53. This is, as John MacArthur has called it, the gospel according to God. So there is a book that John MacArthur wrote that was called the gospel according to God.
And it was basically explaining the gospel according to Isaiah 53. This is the word of the Lord. And it is God giving the gospel before Jesus comes as a fulfillment of these prophetic words. The Ethiopian eunuch is reading them.
He doesn't understand them. Here's the question that he posits to Philip. About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this? About himself or about someone else? And we know that this is talking about Jesus Christ.
Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. Now what that infers is that it wasn't only this scripture that Philip referenced. He probably referenced other parts of Isaiah he would have known the eunuch would have been reading.
And there were other passages, other prophets that he drew from as well to show the eunuch that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That he is the one who has come in fulfillment of these passages as the lamb that was led to the slaughter.
As the sacrifice who would be the propitiation for our sins. Satisfying the wrath of God so that all who believe in Jesus will not perish in God's judgment. But will instead have everlasting life. And then those promises that we read in Isaiah chapter 56.
I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. That very promise that is there even for eunuchs in Isaiah 56 is given in Jesus Christ.
To those who have faith in Jesus. Now verse 36 and as they were going along the road they came to some water and the eunuch said. See here is water what prevents me from being baptized. Because surely what Philip had shared with the eunuch is that.
We must not only understand the word of God and apply it but we must obey it. And one of those instructions that has come from Christ himself is that we are to be baptized. So the eunuch wants to be baptized.
He wants to show I have been buried with Christ in my sins. I have been risen again to new life. And he commanded the chariot to stop and they both went down into the water. Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away. And the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. This is very similar to the story we see in 2nd Kings chapter 2.
When Elijah was carried away. Of course he was taken up into heaven. But Elisha was left there watching Elijah being carried away. And he also went away rejoicing. So there's kind of some parallels here between the way that Luke talks about this story in Acts chapter 8.
And what we read in 2nd Kings 2 .11. As Elisha's response to seeing Elijah taken up and was seen no more. Elijah was taken up to heaven. Philip was just taken to another location. Philip found himself at Azotus.
And as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. So the Lord still had work for Philip to do. But we've seen before how God will just transport somebody from one place to another.
Jesus according to the gospel of John when he came to his disciples in the boat walking on the water. He got in the boat with them. And the wind stopped and immediately the boat was on the other side of the shore.
So he just transported the boat to the other side. The apostles didn't even have to row to get it there. So likewise here God has lifted up Philip and deposited him in another location. So that he might continue to proclaim the gospel.
We have been commanded not only to read the word of God but to understand it. And it can be difficult to understand. God has given us his spirit that we can understand it. It is through the Holy Spirit of God that we understand spiritual things.
According to what we read in 1st Corinthians 2. Some of us are babes in the faith and we need more help than others. Romans 15 verses 1 and 2 says that those of us who are mature have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak.
And not to please ourselves but to please our neighbor for his good to build him up. So if you understand the word of God you have an obligation to explain the word of God to another. That they may be matured growing in a knowledge of God.
And seeing him more fully according to his word and therefore growing in sanctification. And that benefits the entire church. When everybody is growing in sanctification the whole church benefits. So we must be patient with one another and teaching the word of God to each other.
So that we may grow in the knowledge of these things that we read about in his word. It takes some help. I've been helped over the years. I got some help last week when I went to the Truth Matters conference.
And so we must help one another in understanding the word of God and how to communicate it to each other. For it's by this word that we see God and are changed in Christ likeness. Let's conclude with prayer.
Heavenly Father we thank you for the gospel that was proclaimed to us. We have heard it and we have believed it and so we have been saved. But we must be sanctified and so we grow in this sanctification according to your word.
And may we help one another in this process as well. Explaining the Bible to one another. That those who do not know the gospel may know it and believe. And those who do know the gospel may grow in the knowledge of it all the more.
May we see your glory according to what we have in your word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books and more visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.
Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word when we understand the text.