City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word 

26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”

Acts 8:26–29 (NASB)

Reflection

I chose the New American Standard Bible’s translation of the Bible verse above because it included in parenthesis the sentence, “This is a desert road.” That’s what made it stand out to me, and it sets up the story Luke is going to tell. 

The Lord sent Philip to a desert road, not a crowded marketplace. It is not a place you would expect to find people, and because you wouldn’t expect to find people, the chance of finding any particular person is even more remote.

Yet when Philip goes to that desert road, he finds a man in a chariot reading the Bible. This man is a court official of the Ethiopian queen. She had put him in charge of all her wealth, meaning he was one of the most trusted officials in the kingdom. In short, it made him one of the most influential people in Ethiopia.

Additionally, he already had a foundation in the Jewish religion and had just been to Jerusalem to worship. He had a copy of Isaiah with him and just happened to be reading Isaiah 53, which is a prophecy about Jesus. 

This is all more than a coincidence; it is a divine appointment. The Lord directed Philip to reach a man perfectly positioned to take the gospel to Ethiopia. And by all known accounts that is what the eunuch did.

Early Church father, Irenaeus, writing a century and a half later, says the eunuch went back and preached in Ethiopia. Eusebius, who wrote his Ecclesiastical History in the early fourth century, says the same thing. And Ethiopian Orthodox tradition holds that the eunuch established Christian communities throughout Ethiopia.

But there is one more thing about this meeting that makes it divine. 

Under Mosaic Law, a eunuch was excluded from full participation in Israel’s covenant community (Deuteronomy 23:1), and the eunuch was reading messianic 53rd chapter of Isaiah when Philip approached his chariot. Three chapters later, in chapter 56, the Lord says this: 

4“To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. — Isaiah 56:4-5 (NASB).

I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. The man who, under the old covenant, could never fully belong is now welcomed into the new covenant through Jesus. 

And here we are 2,000 years later still talking about this eunuch. His name has not been cut off.

Application

A nation reached with the gospel. A prophecy fulfilled. A name remembered.

And it all happened because Philip obeyed the Lord, went to a desert road, and shared the gospel.

Prayer

Lord, help me always to obey Your voice and show up to the divine appointments You give me. Amen.