Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #13 - 8:26-40)
B. 8:26-40 SPIRIT-LED CONVERSION OF ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH
a. 8:26 LORD'S ANGEL DIRECTS PHILIP FROM REVIVAL TO DESERT
AGge-los de KuRIou eLAlesen pros PHIlip-pon, LEgon,
But an angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying,
A-NAste-thi [450], kai poREUou kaTA me-semBRIan [3314]ePI ten hoDON
Arise, and go toward thesouth unto the way
ten ka-taBAInou-san [2597]aPO Ie-rou-saLEM eis GAzan: HAUteesTIN ERe-mos [2048].
that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert.
b. 8:27-28 “IN-SEASON” OPPORTUNITY FOR EUNUCH
kai a-naSTAS e-poREUthe: kai iDOU, aNER, AiTHIops [128],
And he arose and went: and lo, a man, an Ethiopian,
euNOUchos [2135] duNAstes [1413]KanDAkes [2582],
a eunuch of great authority under Candace,
ba-siLISses [938]Ai-thiOpon [128], hos en ePI PAses tes GAzes [1047]auTES,
queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her :treasure,
hos e-leLUthei pro-skuNEson [4352]eis Ie-rou-saLEM;
who had come to Jerusalem to worship;
EN te hu-poSTREphon kai kaTHEme-nos ePI tou HARma-tos [716]auTOU,
28and he was returning and sitting in his :chariot,
kai a-neGIno-sken [314]ton proPHEten E-SAIan.
and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
c. 8:29 And the Spirit said to :Philip, Go near, and join this :chariot.
EIpen de to PNEUma to PhiLIPpo, PROsel-the, kai kolLEthe-ti [2853]to HARma-ti [716]TOUto.
d. 8:30 PHILIP QUESTIONS UNDERSTANDING OF EUNUCH'S READING
pros-draMON [4370]de ho PHIlip-pos,
And :Philip ran to him,
Ekou-sen auTOU a-na-giNOskon-tos [314]E-SAIan ton proPHEten, kai EIpen,
andheard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said,
A-RA ge giNOskeis [1097]ha a-na-giNOskeis [314]?
Then you understand what you read?
e. 8:31a And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me?
ho de EIpen, Pos gar an duNAImen, eAN MEtis ho-deGEsei [3594]me?
f. 8:31b And he besought :Philip to come up andsit with him.
pa-reKAleSEN [3870] te ton PHIlip-pon a-naBANta [305] kaTHIsai sun auTO.
g. 8:32-33 ISAIAH 53 - THE EUNUCH'S PASSAGE
hede pe-ri-oCHE[4042]tes graPHES [1124]hen a-neGIno-sken [31]en HAUte,
Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this,
Hos PROba-ton [4263]ePI sphaGEN [4967]ECHthe[71];
He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
kai hos amNOS [286]e-nanTIon tou KEIron-tos [2751]auTON Apho-nos [880],
and as a lamb before his :shearer is dumb,
HOUtos ouk aNOIgei [455]to STOma [4750]auTOU:
So he opens not his :mouth:
en te ta-peiNOsei [5014]he KRIsis [2920]auTOU ERthe[142]:
33In his:humiliation his :judgment was taken away:
ten ge-neAN [1074]auTOU tis di-eGEse-tai [1334]? HOti AIre-tai [142]aPO tes ges he zo-EauTOU.
His :generation who shall declare? For his :life is taken from the earth.
h. 8:34 EUNUCH SEEKS TO KNOW THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPHECY
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho euNOUchos toPhiLIPpo, EIpen,
And the eunuch answered :Philip, andsaid,
DEoMAI sou, peRI TInos ho proPHEtes LEgei TOUto? peRI he-auTOU, epeRI heTErou tiNOS?
I pray you, of whom speaks the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?
i. 8:35 THE GOSPEL IS JESUS!
aNOIxas de ho PHIlip-pos to STOma auTOU, kai arXAme-nos [756] aPO tes graPHES TAUtes,
And :Philip opened his :mouth, and beginning from this :scripture,
eu-eg-geLIsa-to [2097]auTO, ton IeSOUN [2424].
preached the gospel to him, :Jesus.
j. 8:36 THE EUNUCH REQUESTS BAPTISM
hos de e-poREUon-to kaTA ten hoDON, ELthon ePI ti HUdor [5204];
And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water;
KAI phe-sin ho euNOUchos, 'I-DOU, HUdor; ti koLUei [2967]me bap-tisTHEnai [907]?
and the eunuch says, Lo, water; what hinders me to be baptized?
k. 8:38 PHILIP BAPTIZES THE EUNUCH
kai eKEleu-sen STEnai [2476]to HARma;kai kaTEbe-san [2597]amPHOte-roi [297]eis to HUdor,
And he commanded to stop the chariot;and both went down into the water,
HO te PHIlip-pos kai ho euNOUchos; kai eBAPti-sen [907] auTON.
both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
l. 8:39 SPIRIT TAKES PHILIP AND GIVES JOY TO EUNUCH
HOte de aNEbe-san [305]ek tou HUda-tos, PNEUma KuRIou HERpa-sen [726]ton PHIlip-pon;
And when they came up out of the water, the Lord's Spirit caught away :Philip;
kai ouk EIden auTON ouKEti ho euNOUchos, e-poREUe-to gar ten hoDON auTOU CHAIron.
and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his :way rejoicing.
m. 8:40 PHILIP PREACHES FROM AZOTUS TO CAESAREA
PHIlip-pos de heuREthe [2147]eis Azo-ton: kai di-erCHOme-nos [1330]eu-eg-geLIze-to
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached thegospel
tas POleis PAsas, HEos tou elTHEIN auTON eis KaiSAri-an.
to all the cities, till he :came to Caesarea.
NOTE: Many have noted the wisdom of the Spirit in removing Philip from the outstanding revival in Samaria at its peak, and leading him to a desert to reach one man for Jesus. But - from this man, the nation of Ethiopia was tremendously reached with the Gospel. Thisis wisdom indeed!
Notice 8:35 - “Philip preached the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch: Jesus!”The early church leaders, apostles and evangelists - all focused on Jesus. One young man fished for compliments for his first sermon - from an elderly man. The latter didn't want to hurt the young preacher's feelings, but being strongly pressed for a reply, he said, “Well son, you didn't mention Jesus in your sermon.” Reply - “Jesus wasn't in my text.” “Young man,” he retorted, “until you learn that every text points to Jesus directly or indirectly, you won't be an able preacher of the Gospel.”
It does not say in this passage that Philip mentioned “baptism”. But we know he did, because of the eunuch's response. He knewfrom Philip that a true repentance demanded an immediate baptism, which he without trouble led Philip to do. It seems likely that when Peter and John followed up Philip's evangelism in Samaria, they said, “We can't follow you up in all your evangelism by coming to lay hands on your converts for the gift of the Holy Spirit. See, we give you freely what Simon tried to buy! Now, go and lay hands on your converts for this unspeakable gift!” So when Philip apparently laid hands on the Eunuch following his baptism, the Holy Spirit rushed in with such power, that Philip was found miles away, and the Eunuch didn't even miss him, because of his rejoicing over his reception of the marvelous gift of the Spirit.
I love this recounting of this unusual event. Luke felt Theophilus needed to hear it, and I know I do! How about you?
I leave a space before and after this. Put in yourexplanation of this event, if mine does not witness with you. J.A.W.
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