Luke next featured other important events in the expansion of the church and the ministry of another important witness. Philip took the gospel into Samaria and then indirectly to Ethiopia, one of the more remote parts of the earth (cf. 1:8). The account of Philip's ministry in this chapter has several connections with chapters 6 and 7. Philip, like Stephen, was a member of the Seven (6:5). The persecution begun in chapters 6 and 7 continues in chapter 8, and the church continued to feel Saul's antagonism.
Luke recorded this incident to show the method and direction of the church's expansion to God-fearing Gentiles who were attracted to Judaism at this time. This man had visited Jerusalem to worship, was studying the Old Testament, and was open to instruction by a Jew. Therefore he was much more sympathetic to the Christians' gospel than the average Gentile. This man was the first full-fledged Gentile that Luke recorded being evangelized in Acts.
"The admirably-told story of the Ethiopian is probably in Philip's own words, passed on to the author when he and Paul were entertained in the evangelist's house at Caesarea, twenty years later (xxi. 8). As a piece of narrative it ranks with the stories of the Lord's own personal work (e.g. John iii and iv)."366
8:26 God's messenger (an angel? cf. 5:19) directed Philip to go south to a road that ran from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip did not return to Jerusalem with Peter and John. Whenever Luke introduced "an angel of the Lord"(Gr. angelos kyriou) into his narrative he desired to stress God's special presence and activity (Luke 1:11; 2:9; Acts 12:7, 23; cf. Acts 7:30, 35, 38; 10:3, 7, 22; 11:13; 12:11; 27:23).367The Lord's direction was evidently strong because Philip had been involved in evangelizing multitudes successfully (v. 6). Now God definitely told him to leave that fruitful ministry to go elsewhere.
Luke did not say exactly where Philip was when he received this direction, but he was probably somewhere in Samaria or in Caesarea, where we find him later (v. 40; 21:8).
"The church did not simply stumble upon' the idea of evangelizing the Gentiles; it did so in accordance with God's deliberate purpose."368
Luke added for the benefit of Theophilus (1:1), who was evidently not familiar with the geography of Palestine, that this was desert territory. The word "desert"can modify either "road"or "Gaza."
"The old town was referred to as Desert Gaza', and this is probably meant here rather than a desert road, which properly begins only at Gaza on the way to Egypt."369
To get from Jerusalem to Gaza a traveler such as this eunuch would normally route himself west through the hill country of Judah, the Shephelah (foothills), and down to the coastal plain. There he would finally turn south onto the international coastal highway that ran along the Mediterranean Sea connecting Damascus and Egypt. Only as it left Gaza, the southeasternmost city in Palestine, did the road pass through desert. This is in the modern Gaza Strip.
The Ethiopian's spiritual condition when Philip met him was as arid as the desert. However when the two men parted the eunuch had experienced the refreshing effects of having been washed by the Water of Life.
8:27-28 We can see Philip's yieldedness to the Spirit's control in his obedience. On the road he met the man who was evidently in charge of the Ethiopian treasury (cf. Isa. 56:3-8; Ps. 68:31). The name "Ethiopia"at this time described a kingdom located between modern Egypt and the Sudan (i.e., Nubia). It lay between the first Nile cataract at Aswan and the modern city of Khartoum.
"When told that a man was Ethiopian, people of the ancient Mediterranean world would assume that he was black, for this is the way that Ethiopians are described by Herodotus and others."370
Candace was the dynastic title of the queen mother who at this time served as the head of the government in Ethiopia. Her personal name was evidently Amanitare (25-41 A.D.).371The king of Ethiopia did not involve himself in the routine operations of his country since his people regarded him as the child of the sun.
It was not uncommon for men in high Near Eastern government positions to be castrated. This prevented their impregnating royal women and then making claims on the throne. However the word "eunuch"(Gr. eunouchos) appears often in the Septuagint (e.g., of Potiphar, Gen. 39:1) and in other Greek writings describing a high military or political figure.372This eunuch may, therefore, not have been emasculated but simply a high official. This seems probable since Luke repeatedly referred to him as a eunuch (vv. 27, 34, 36, 38, 39).373
This official had made a pilgrimage to worship Yahweh. Somehow he had heard of Him and had come to reverence Him. On the trip home (to the capitol city of Meroe) in his "covered wagon"374he was reading the Septuagint translation of Isaiah's prophecy (i.e., Isa. 53:7-9; cf. Isa. 56:3-8).
"The chariot would have been in fact an ox-drawn wagon and would not have moved at much more than a walking pace, so that it would cause no difficulty for Philip to run alongside it and call out to the occupant."375
It was unusual for a non-Jew to possess a personal copy of the Old Testament.376Perhaps he was able to do so because of his high government position, or perhaps he had only a part of Isaiah's prophecy that he had copied. In any case his great interest in the Jews' religion is obvious.
"In those days the world was full of people who were weary of the many gods and the loose morals of the nations. They came to Judaism and there they found the one God and the austere moral standards which gave life meaning. If they accepted Judaism and were circumcised and took the Law upon themselves they were called proselytes; if they did not go that length but continued to attend the Jewish synagogues and to read the Jewish scriptures they were called God-fearers. So this Ethiopian must have been one of these searchers who came to rest in Judaism either as a proselyte or a God-fearer."377
"Some of the God-fearers were only one step from becoming converts [to Judaism], while others just added the Jewish God to their pantheon. So long as they showed some kind of sympathy with the Jewish religion they were considered God-fearers."378
8:29-31 Philip felt compelled by the Holy Spirit's leading to approach the wagon (cf. v. 26). The Spirit's leading is essential in evangelism; He sometimes directs us to people whom He has prepared to trust in Jesus Christ.
Possibly this important official was part of a caravan that was heading to Africa, and Philip joined it temporarily.379Evidently the eunuch's vehicle was either standing still or moving slowly down the road. Luke's comment that Philip ran up to the wagon may reflect the evangelist's willing compliance or simply the fact that he needed to run to catch up with it. There were probably other people besides Philip who were walking beside the various vehicles in this caravan. As he approached, Philip heard the Ethiopian reading aloud. This was the common method of reading in ancient times due to the difficulty of deciphering sentences with no spaces between words and no punctuation marks.380Philip recognized what the Ethiopian was reading and struck up a conversation with him. The official was having difficulty understanding what he read so he invited Philip into his wagon to see if he could get some help.
8:32-35 Philip responded to the eunuch's perplexity by explaining how Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant.
". . . there is no evidence that anyone in pre-Christian Judaism ever thought of the Messiah in terms of a Suffering Servant."381
Most of the Jews regarded Isaiah 52:13-53:12 as referring to their nation or to the Gentile nations. Jesus quoted Isaiah 53 as finding fulfillment in His passion (Luke 22:37). Philip followed Jesus' interpretation and from this passage proceeded to preach Jesus to the eunuch.
This is an excellent example of the Spirit of God using the Word of God through a man of God to bring salvation to the elect of God (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23-25).
8:36-38 The road on which this conversation took place crossed several stream beds that empty water from the higher elevations into the Mediterranean Sea during the wetter months. Even though the land generally was desert, water was not entirely absent at some times of the year. The Ethiopian may have already known about water baptism since he had an interest in Judaism. The Jews required water baptism of Gentile converts. Philip may have instructed him further on the importance of baptism (cf. 2:38; 8:12). In any case the official was eager to submit to it. The Jews did not baptize physical eunuchs and take them in as proselytes of Judaism (Deut. 23:1). If he was a physical eunuch, perhaps this is why the official asked if there was some reason he could not undergo baptism as a Christian.
Obviously there was enough water for Philip to immerse the Ethiopian, the normal method of baptism in Judaism and early Christianity. Some interpreters have argued, however, that the two men may have stood in the water while Philip poured water over or sprinkled the Ethiopian. This is a possibility but, I believe, it is improbable. The normal meaning of the Greek word baptizo(to baptize) is to immerse, and this was the common custom. The Ethiopian official testified to his faith in Jesus as the Messiah by submitting to water baptism (cf. 2:38; 8:12).
8:39-40 The Holy Spirit directed Philip to the eunuch (v. 29), and He led him away from him (v. 39). Luke stressed the Spirit's leadership in this evangelism of the first Gentile convert in Acts (Matt. 16:18). God had prepared both Philip (v. 29) and the eunuch (v. 30) for their especially important conversation.
Luke described the Lord's leading of Philip away from the eunuch very dramatically. Perhaps the Spirit jerked Philip out of the wagon physically (cf. 1 Kings 18:12; 2 Kings 2:16).382More likely, I think, this description reflects the Lord's immediate direction to another place where He wanted Phillip to serve next.
"Philip's behavior in this incident is reminiscent of that of Elijah, following impulses which he recognizes as divine prompting, appearing in unexpected places, and disappearing equally unexpectedly. It has also often been noted that there are curious correspondences between Zeph. 2-3 and this passage--among other similarities Gaza, Ethiopia and Azotus are mentioned in both."383
"There is a contrast between Simon Magus and this Ethiopian treasurer which recalls the contrast between Gehazi and the stranger Naaman who was baptized in the Jordan."384
The eunuch rejoiced in his new faith (cf. 2:46-47; 8:8; 16:34). Presumably he returned home and became one of the earliest Gentile witnesses and missionaries in Africa. This is what happened according to early Christian tradition.
Philip proceeded up the coast north, probably along the international highway, to Azotus (Ashdod) and farther on to Caesarea. He preached the gospel in all the intermediate cities. About 20 years later we find him living in Caesarea (21:8). In the Roman world the average distance that people would travel in one day on land was about 20 miles.385
Philip was the first Jewish Christian in Acts to evangelize a Gentile who lived at what the first readers of this book regarded as the uttermost part of the earth (cf. 1:8).
"The conviction that the Ethiopians lived at the ends of the earth is well documented in ancient literature."386
The very first Christians were Jews (2:1-8:4). Then Samaritans became Christians (8:5-25). Now a Gentile who was a Jewish proselyte or near-proselyte entered the church. Probably all these converts thought of themselves now as simply religious Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Only later did they learn that what God was doing was not just creating a group of believers in Jesus within Judaism but a whole new entity, namely the Christian church (cf. Eph. 2-3).
