Acts 8:26-40

May 12, 2002  

God’s Unexpected Providence

Evangelism – it is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of every person in the pew and, if the truth be told, of every pastor in the pulpit. There is something about sharing our faith that frightens us, be it the rejection which may follow or the difficult questions which may arise. For others it is the perception of committing a social faux pas: addressing such a personal issue as one’s standing before God. For many of us, that which is personal often becomes very private and so we are reticent to speak.

But if the good news of Christ’s death for sinners, of his resurrection so that those sinners will be declared just is the only means by which a person can stand before a holy God, then despite our discomfort we must speak.

Yet, if our starting point is that we must speak, we still might say nothing out of fear of knowing what to say. We worry about the technique, thinking that it is a matter of skill or style that makes the difference.

The problem is not that we lack sufficient training or are deficient in speaking ability. In evangelism, in sharing what we believe, the starting point is not with us, but the God who has commanded us to speak. We must begin by trusting God’s providence in evangelism.

Acts 8 is a tremendous place to see God’s unexpected providence at work. As we grapple with the foundational truth that outreach is empowered by God’s grace and not our own efforts and exertions, then we will be more natural, at ease in speaking about Christ’s work on our behalf.

We’ve already seen God’s hand of providence, his orchestration of all things for his glory in Acts. Since Stephen’s stoning by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, the church was scattered. The Hellenistic Jews fled Jerusalem for the surrounding countryside to avoid arrest and possible death. God’s hand, his “dark providence” is seen in the first persecution of the church as Philip made his way into the hostile territory of Samaria and there saw God’s providence at work. As Philip proclaimed Christ, God poured out his grace, people believed and were accepted as part of the body of Christ.

But providence does not end with Samaria. Jesus had already made it clear that the church was to spread to the very ends of the earth. So where there is a command, there is also empowerment. God the Father not only commands the church to go, he goes before the church by the way of Providence to ensure that the good news is not only heard, but believed.   READ Acts 8:26-40. 

God’s providence is seen in the place, the person, the passage and the provision

God’s providence is seen in the place   26

God’s providential place is not what we may always expect.

Philip had a good thing going in Samaria. Simon the magician is defeated and the entire town is enthralled with the gospel, but God had something else for him... the desert.  Philip was to go from a growing congregation to an unknown and barren area. This is not the way we think it should work. Samaria was responsive to the gospel, the people were enamored with Philip, what is more it was a nice place to live! But God has other ideas.

One the edge of civilization, fifty miles southwest of Jerusalem, at the border of the Sinai desert, sparsely populated – that was where God wanted Philip to go. Luke’s editorial aside makes it clear - “This is a desert place”. What an odd place to go.

The oddity is not just the place, but possibly the time he was to show up there.

In Greek the cardinal point, “south” can also mean “at midday” or “noon” since the sun lies directly south at noon. Either translation is acceptable here and since Philip was already told which road, the direction makes sense.

So if Philip was to travel at high noon, in the heat of the day, he would certainly be on the road less traveled. Philip would prove Noel Coward’s famous dictum that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. God could have moved Philip a bit earlier and avoided the heat and loneliness...but God has reasons that unfold as story move along

God’s providential place is where God is at work

We see here not the early church desperately seeking the right means to convert the most people. The focus is not on numbers, statistics, programs. Rather for Philip the key is availability.

God uses unlikely place to show that in his providence, according to his divine direction, God will work. You might imagine that the place where God has you is nothing but a desert, a hopeless barren wasteland, but God’s unexpected providence works in desert places, too.

God’s providence is seen in the person   27-28

The Ethiopian was a potent person

Along that desert road Philip spots something moving along. Luke gives a detailed description of the individual. He is a man who has it all: power, prestige, privilege. First, he is an Ethiopian.

By referring to this man as an Ethiopian probably means he is from modern Sudan, what was then called the Nubian empire. In that day it referred to the whole region of the upper Nile, approximately from Aswan to Khartoum. This area was not the barren land of famines today, for a powerful kingdom flourished for over a thousand years, from the eighth century before Christ, to the fourth century after his ascension. This remote but advanced culture was considered by the Greeks to be great, but at end of the earth. They coined the term Ethiopia meaning people burned by the sun, in reference to their dark skin.

In the Old Testament, this is the land of Cush from which the Queen of Sheba came in search of Solomon’s wisdom. A link between Israel and this land was established, so it is not unlikely that this man’s interest in Judaism was part of a remnant who maintained ties with the God of Israel.

The second aspect of his potency is his position in that country.

In v27 we are told he was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. Candace is not a name, but a title. Their kings were viewed as incarnations of the sun god and held a primarily ceremonial role, having little to do with common affairs. The real administration of the kingdom was in the hands of powerful queen mothers who had the title of “the Candace,” similar to titles such as Pharaoh or Caesar.

This eunuch was a court official, a dynastos, from which we have the word “dynasty.”

Dynastos can be translated as “prince,” and we find instances of this word applied to God himself. In other words, this Ethiopian eunuch was a VIP, a high official of the royal court of Candace. As the minister of finance, we can deduce that he was highly educated and a person of great moral integrity, because one must be trustworthy to be the head of a treasury. I am sure he was also well-born, powerful, and very rich.

Third, his power is seen in his activity when Philip comes on the scene.

In v28 we are told he is seated in his chariot. Once you set aside the image of Ben Hur’s chariot race, you need to think Conestoga wagon or prairie schooner of the old west. To sit and read while traveling meant he was part of a caravan and he an important person. What is more, he is returning from Jerusalem not on business, but from worship. That he owns a scroll of Scripture is a sign of both wealth and interest in the things of God.

The Ethiopian was an impotent person

For a guy who had it all, he had nothing that counted. That he is a eunuch is important to the story.

Eunuchs were a common part of palace life in the middle east, lacking family ties and loyalties to coming generations made them trustworthy servants. They often held positions of great honor and power, such as we see with Daniel in the Old Testament. But being castrated would obviously lead to other problems, anger and resentment.

But the aspect where his impotency is most clear is in the simple statement that he had come to Jerusalem to worship. That worship would have been rather unfulfilling.

The law of Moses made it quite clear that no matter how sincere one may be to worship God, a eunuch would always be an outsider. Deuteronomy 23:1 forbade anyone with a crushed testicle or cut off genital may enter the assembly.

This law was designed to stop the abuse of those like this Ethiopian that was common in the ancient world.  But the law meant that he could not enter the temple, he could not participate. His worship was peripheral and empty. He was to be a perpetual outsider, longing to be a part of God’s people, but having no hope of ever being accepted.

God’s providence in the Ethiopian’s may be obvious, but it is present in those with whom you come in contact each day. While people may seem to have their act together, be powerful and at ease, there is place where their pain is more than they can describe. Like this man, there is that God shaped vacuum, that restless heart that can find rest only in Christ.

God’s providence is seen in the passage     29 – 35

Philip providentially directed to go next to chariot

Once again Philip is directed by the Spirit. Still, though, Philip doesn’t have a clue as to what is happening. All he knows is that he has been pulled from a time of success in Samaria to a desert road. But he obediently follows God’s direction and goes along side the chariot.

Remember, a chariot is a term not just for single axle carriage you stand up in, racing through the desert. The pace of this ox-drawn wagon would be not much faster than a walking pace.

Philip is not instructed what to say, but just go over to the cart.

It would be a bit intimidating to go over to this caravan. A man of this position would have an entourage of royal servants and enough pomp to discourage the curious. It would be like seeing a motorcade tooling through the northwoods. Suddenly God informs you to go up to the lead limo, knock on the widow and introduce yourself, only to find its occupant is the Japanese minister of finance.

Ethiopian was providentially reading Isaiah 53.

As Philip is along side the wagon, he hears a voice, reading. In the ancient world given the scarcity of papyrus, there were no spaces in between words, so in order to make sense of the jumble of letters, people would read aloud. It was at that point Philip, having been directed by God spoke.

God’s providence is clearly realized from the passage he read. Like Augustine at the moment of crisis in his life when he realized his sexual prowess was killing him did he hear small children playing a game in the next yard, repeating the phrase: “take up and read, take up and read.’ Augustine turned on his bench, spotted a scroll opened up to Romans 13:14, “

...put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Then did he realize the answer – he could not stop his own sin, but the solution is found in Christ’s imputed righteousness, Jesus Christ’s perfect life was to be his covering.

Philip asks a simple question: “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Ordinarily those in power would not like such a question, but the Ethiopian was at an impasse. The words from the prophet Isaiah were confusing. He admitted what so few would ever, had not God in his providence emphasized his need. So he invites Philip to join him for the ride.

The passage may seem easy to us. There are many places in the Old Testament that makes us scratch our head. But Isaiah 53 is so familiar to Christians we may miss the difficulty. This chapter describes Christ’s substitutionary atonement, his vicarious death, taking our place and enduring God’s wrath. The early church well understood this passage to clearly predict that Jesus’ death on the cross is not just an unfortunate mishap of an innocent man suffering, but that his death insured our life, his rejection by the Father caused our acceptance.

What caused the confusion for the Ethiopian was that he lacked the necessary lens through which to read the Scripture. He asked a very important question: “About whom does this prophet speak/ Himself or another?” Is this autobiographical or prophetic?

Philip picks up on this simple question and launches into not only an explanation of the passage, but gives this man an important lesson in how to read God’s Word.

Philip picked up on the question and pointed the man to Jesus. Philip started sharing with the Ethiopian right where he was. He used the eunuch’s present knowledge of Scripture to bring him to an understanding of the truth of Jesus Christ. Prior to the first century there is no evidence that anyone expected the Messiah to suffer,  but that the Son of David would be triumphant. The meaning of this passage was radically changed as Jesus applied the passage to himself, such as in Luke 22:37.

In v35 Philip now responds. Up to this point he obeys God’s providential direction. But now he is about to speak, and we see the climax of the story. The phrase “to open one’s mouth” is used not just of speech, but is  used when a significant or weighty utterance follows.

Beginning with this passage, he points them to Christ. Just as Jesus did that first resurrection Sunday on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 as he pointed his fellow travelers to where Jesus is found in God’s Word, so Philip does the same here.

Biblical Christianity is not an esoteric religion, and to understand it you do not need to crack a so-called "Bible-code" which then will reveal Scripture's real but hidden message about such matters as nuclear war and the Internet. What sort of God would reveal his love and redemption in terms so technical and concepts so profound only one of an Elite illuminati could understand them? The Bible is not a dark book so that 'mother church' is essential if people are to understand its meaning. It is the Word of God that creates the people of God, that makes us what we should be. It is God’s Word alone which will help us to understand God’s Word. The best book to help us understand the Bible is the Bible.

What was the connection for this man, we don’t know, but looking at Isaiah we have some clues

In Acts 8:32, quoting Isaiah 53:7 he read about the lamb killed for sacrifice. The eunuch may have offered a lamb in Jerusalem, but it didn't satisfy the sacrifice he needed for his sins. What is more, this human lamb experienced humiliation and solitude because he was cut off before he could have any children: "Who shall declare his generation?" The eunuch could identify with that because, as a slave, he had been emasculated to make him safe in the court.

But that is not all Philip would have shown him.

This section of Isaiah contains a series of invitations. Just after this section on the suffering Servant, is the invitation to the barren (Isaiah 54). No doubt this eunuch could identify with the childless, but now have a reason for hope. The next chapter (a modern addition to the text) calls out to the hungry, offering them all that is needed (55:1-6). But the next chapter would apply even more. In Isaiah 56 is an invitation to those outside of the ethnic boundaries to rejoice that God will include them as well as the eunuch. Inclusion into God’s people is assured.

God’s providence is seen in the provision of water   36-40

God’s hand of divine guidance is once again seen.

In this desert region there is some water, an oasis perhaps. But that is not the miracle. Rather a receptive heart should amaze us. I’ve often wondered why the eunuch goes right to baptism.

While baptism was practiced in ancient Judaism, it would not be the expected response in this situation. Philip may have included this important aspect of God’s means of grace, just as Peter did in Acts 2. But as I examined this passage I was drawn to another possibility

The passage from which the Ethiopian read gives us some clue. The section on the suffering Servant begins not so much with 53:1, but 52:12 and that context may have been enough for the Ethiopian to pick up on. This first section points to Christ’s resurrection, the Father’s acceptance of his death in our place. Notice v15.

The Ethiopian would see himself in later half of that verse. He was one who did not understand, but by God’s grace was given understanding. He certainly would be among those foreign kings spoken of here. The word for “sprinkle” is the same word that is found in Leviticus 14 regarding the cleansing of a leper, Leviticus 16 on sprinkling the blood from the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. Hebrews 9:14 uses the same picture of what Christ has done for us and makes the connection in 10:22 to baptism. This may well have been the connection – which brings up another point regarding form: does Acts 8:38-39 teach immersion?

Some have pointed to this passage, saying that the eunuch went down into the water and came up out of the water. But this makes the prepositions says too much. It means simply that they went down to the stream and came up away from it after the baptism. The preposition en applies to both Philip and the eunuch, so both would have to go under. Rather, what probably happened was that they both stood in the shallow, running water and Philip poured or sprinkled water on the man's head.

Through all this we see God drawing this man to Himself. This is not a place to learn a better technique. What we must learn from this is the simple truth that God works through ordinary people, like you and me to tell others about Jesus.