Page 668 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

TN_06_MacArthur_Bible_June.qxd 8/8/03 15:52 Page 649

JUNE 28
32 In spite of this they still sinned, 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone
And did not believe in His wondrous guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up
32
works. and sit with him. The place in the Scripture
33 Therefore their days He consumed in which he read was this:
futility,
And their years in fear. “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is
silent,
Proverbs 19:27–29
So He opened not His mouth.
27 Cease listening to instruction, my son, 33 In His humiliation His justice was
And you will stray from the words of taken away,
knowledge. And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”
28 A disreputable witness scorns justice,
And the mouth of the wicked devours 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I
iniquity. ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of
35
himself or of some other man?” Then Philip
29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
And beatings for the backs of fools. opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scrip-
36
ture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they
went down the road, they came to some water.
Acts 8:26–40
And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, hinders me from being baptized?”
saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all
road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” your heart, you may.”
This is desert. So he arose and went. And And he answered and said, “I believe that Je-
27
behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great sus Christ is the Son of God.”
authority under Candace the queen of the Ethio- 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand
pians, who had charge of all her treasury, and still. And both Philip and the eunuch went
had come to Jerusalem to worship, was return- down into the water, and he baptized him.
28
ing. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the
Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said to Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that
29
Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on
40
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at
the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you under- Azotus. And passing through, he preached in
stand what you are reading?” all the cities till he came to Caesarea.
DAY 28: How did Philip bring the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch?
Philip,who had been involved with the evangelization of the Samaritans,was told by an angel
of the Lord to go to an undisclosed location along the road that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza
(Acts 8:26). Gaza was one of 5 chief cities of the Philistines. The original city was destroyed in the
first century B.C. and a new city was built near the coast.
There Philip met an Ethiopian eunuch. Ethiopia in those days was a large kingdom located
south of Egypt.A eunuch can refer to one who had been emasculated or generally,to a government
official.It is likely he was both since Luke refers to him as a eunuch and as one who held a position
of authority in the queen’s court—that of treasurer, much like a Minister of Finance or Secretary of
the Treasury. As a physical eunuch, he would have been denied access to the temple (Deut. 23:1)
and the opportunity to become a full proselyte to Judaism.
The eunuch was reading Isaiah (Acts 8:28). He knew the importance of seeking God through
the Scripture. And the verses he was reading were found in Isaiah 53:7,8.The eunuch’s question to
Philip was “of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”(v. 34). His confu-
sion was understandable. Even the Jewish religious experts were divided on the meaning of this
passage. Some believed the slaughtered sheep represented Israel, others thought Isaiah was refer-
ring to himself, and others thought the Messiah was Isaiah’s subject.
Philip preached Jesus to the eunuch, who immediately responded with the wish to be bap-
tized. After the baptism, it says that “the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away” (v. 39). Elijah (1 Kin.
18:12; 2 Kin. 2:16) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 3:12,14; 8:3) were also snatched away in a miraculous fashion.
This was a powerful confirmation to the caravan that Philip was God’s representative.

649