In-Depth Bible Study Notes for Acts 8:26-40
Read Acts 8:26. One commentary I read on this verse says there is some question as to if this should read "the angel of the Lord", which is believed to have the same meaning as the Holy Spirit. So whether an angel spoke to Philip or the Spirit spoke to him is unclear, but the message was obviously from God. { Show map from "The Macmillan Bible Atlas" by Aharoni & Avi-Yonah, map 241 }
Read Acts 8:27-28. "So he started out" - notice how Philip obeys God without question, without knowing anything of what is going to happen next! He is a true man of faith and one we should all want to emulate.
To understand the incredible richness of this story, we need to understand a little bit of the history of the time. First off, in the New Testament, the term "Ethiopia" corresponded to the kingdom of Nubia or Kush, in the upper Nile (Sudan) region. To be a bit more specific, this man probably came from the kingdom of Meroe, whose capital was near the 6th cataract on the Nile. { Show map from "National Geographic, November 1990"} As we can see, this man traveled a long way to Jerusalem. His journey would have taken weeks, if not months, even by combination of chariot and boat. The kingdom of Meroe flourished for about a thousand years from 650 BC to AD 350. The word "Candace" is not a name like Gail or Lisa, but rather a title given to the queen mothers of Meroe. Interestingly it is believed that the queens of Meroe were the ones primarily responsible for the secular duties of the court, the kings being too important to bother with such things.
The man held a position of great honor, of that of treasurer, and here he is called an eunuch. Now whether he was physically a eunuch is uncertain (though I tend to believe he was, because of the passage he was studying as we will discuss later) since in oriental culture this term was used for high officials.
The passage here says he had gone to Jerusalem to worship. This implies that he honors the One True God. If he is physically an eunuch, the Old Testament laws prohibits him from joining in with worship. Read Deuteronomy 23:1. It is possible, however, that he held on to the promised blessings given in Isaiah to eunuchs and foreigners as a sign he would not be excluded from God's grace. Read Isaiah 56:4-7. So even if the Ethiopian is not a full-fledged convert to Judaism, he is clearly what one would call a Gentile God-fearer. As a side note, I found it extremely interesting that someone who lives so far away from Judea could know so much about Judaism, but then I remembered that by this time we know there are Jewish communities in Alexandria { Show map again from National Geographic } so it makes sense to assume that Jewish people continued to migrate south and that as a royal official he would have come in contact with Jews and learned about Yahweh and the Old Testament that way. He must have been highly educated to not only be able to read, but to also read in Aramaic, which is the language the Old Testament would have been written in.
One article I read online suggested that there was far more to his reasoning for leaving his homeland and taking this difficult journey than simply to visit the temple. As a royal treasurer, I doubt he could simply take off months of a time for personal reasons. At about this time, historians believe, Herod Agrippa the First was installed as the independent king of Judea. It makes sense, therefore, that the kingdom of Meroe would send a representative to congratulate the new king of Judea, for political reasons. As this man not only spoke and read Aramaic, but was also probably known to honor Jewish religion, he was probably the logical person to send (if he didn't in fact volunteer; to be able to visit the temple at Jerusalem, the center of all Judaism, would have been a once in a life-time achievement.)
Read Acts 8:29. Here the Bible makes it clear that it is the Spirit, not an angel, who speaks to Philip. I would be interested to know if Philip heard an actual voice or if he simply felt a strong impression in his own spirit that this was what he was supposed to do. { Ask the group if they had ever had ever felt a strong impression put upon them that they were supposed to do something and how they felt, later, if they disobeyed. Some times the Spirit does speak in an audible voice, sometimes with impressions.}
Read Acts 8:30-31. In my little bit of digging online I've discovered that entire sermons have been based on this short passage. I'm not going to try to reproduce those sermons, but rather summarize what other people have focused in on here. One pastor zoomed in on Philip's boldness and that we should all try to emulate him in sharing the gospel to friends and strangers alike: Perhaps for Philip, with his gift of evangelism, it was easy for him to run up to a stranger's chariot (a chariot of someone of obviously high rank) and speak to the official, but I think I'd need a lot of pushing and prodding from the Spirit before I would be that bold! I have a hard enough time sharing the gospel with friends, not to say strangers! But God clearly calls us to be bold, like Philip here.
Another writer focused in on the fact that the eunuch was so obviously seeking God by spending his time reading the Old Testament, specifically the prophet Isaiah. He didn't fully understand what he was reading, but something in his spirit responded to Isaiah's words and he knew he wanted something more. Application: are we spending time in the Word? Even when we don't fully understand it, are we thirsty to learn more about God?
And finally, another writer focused on the eunuch's attitude of humility and teachability. He could easily have been insulted by Philip's question: "Do you understand what you are reading?" After all he was a man of high standing and Philip (undoubtedly dusty from his walking & running) most likely looked something of a poor vagabond, not someone worth of association. But the eunuch admits his lack of understanding and is open to receive teaching. Understanding the Bible takes diligent study and a teachable spirit. Actually reading it is a start, but there is so much more involved. I find it extremely ironic that the American church today, one of the most highly educated churches of all time, with all the Bible resources available to us, is probably one of the most Biblical ignorant since the dark ages.
But what passage was the eunuch actually studying? Read Acts 8:32-35. As a personal note, one of the reasons why I think this man may have been a physical eunuch (and not just a royal official) is because of what he was studying here. This passage in Isaiah speaks of the Messiah dying without descendants, something which was considered a great tragedy in that culture. To not to be able to have children, through no fault of your own, but rather at the hands of others, may have caused great emotional pain to this man. He, too, may have felt humiliated and deprived of justice, because of what was done to him against his will. I know, just personal supposition, but one can't help but wonder.
Philip uses this opportunity to share Christ with this man, using this particular passage as the starting point. When you share with someone, you start with where they are spiritually and work with that. My sense is that this man was knowledgeable in the Old Testament and Philip would have shared other verses to confirm what he was saying about Jesus. Philip was ready, he knew his Old Testament, and the Spirit worked in him to bring those verses to life. (Remember, there was no New Testament yet - only the Old Testament and the spoken testimonies of the apostles and other believers.)
Read Acts 8:36-37. Depending on your Bible, you may not have verse 37 included. That is because verse 37 is found only in later manuscripts, not in all versions. Verse 37 reads "Philip said, "if you believe with all your heart, you may". The eunuch answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." I think that the omission of this verse doesn't really damage the power or meaning of the story. The fact that the eunuch wanted to be water baptized is a clear indication that he has accepted Christ in his heart and wants to make an outward show of it, through baptism.
How differently this man responds from the Sanhedrin at Stephen's trial! Those men were probably as knowledgeable or more so than the eunuch, they are presented Scripture as a strong basis to convict them of their sin, Stephen shares with and in the power of the Holy Spirit, yet their response is to stone the messenger! This Gentile, this physically imperfect man denied access to Jewish worship because of human grounds, has such a soft, tender heart for God that he recognizes very quickly the truth of Philip's words and comes to Christ.
I think that Philip would have probably presented a very Biblical strong case not only to win this man to Christ, but also to prepare him to pass on this same teaching onto others, later. Remember, he was returning home to a culture where he would probably be the only believer for quite some time and all he would have to live on was what he learned from Philip, from this short teaching.
Read Acts 8:38-39. There is a lot going on here in this short passage. First off, it helps support how important water baptism is to the Christian walk. It is a physical act demonstrating a change of heart. However, note that there is NO MENTION of Philip laying hands on the eunuch and praying for him to receive the Holy Spirit! No mention of the Ethiopian speaking in tongues, no mention of other physical manifestations beyond the man going home rejoicing. They come out of the water and the Holy Spirit teleports Philip away! As the Ethiopian was going home to a culture in which he would probably be the only Christian, is seems to support the belief that no second baptism of the Holy Spirit is required in order to be a fully empowered follower of Christ. If such was necessary, I don't understand why God would take the man's mentor away, before he was prepared to survive alone spiritually. (Something to think about, anyway.)
Why did the Lord take Philip away so dramatically? I think that is pretty obvious - as a witness to the eunuch that the decision he had made was the right one and that what he had learned from Philip was true. He would now have a strong witness (confirmed by his chariot driver) to share with his people.
Read Acts 8:40. Azotus is the New Testament name of the Philistine city Ashdod in the Old Testament. { Show map from "The Macmillan Bible Atlas" by Aharoni & Avi-Yonah, map 241 } The account leaves Philip in Caesarea at this time; it is 20 years later until we hear from him again, and he is still located in the same place. Read Acts 21:8. When we study the story of Cornelius the Centurion in Acts 10, we'll learn more about what the city of Caesarea was like.
The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch demonstrates an important truth about God's love: it is available for all. He does not discriminate on any human grounds such as ethnicity or physical handicaps.
Blessings!
Sources
Aharoni & Avi-Yohan. The Macmillan Bible Atlas.
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version.
Editors. National Geographic November, 1990.
Written by Gail_Sanders
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