04.14. Conversion of the Eunuch

CONVERSION OF THE EUNUCH LESSON TEXT.Acts 8:26-40. The Church Scattered. In the first part of the eighth chapter of The Acts we have an account of the first persecution against the church at Jerusalem. This resulted in driving all the disciples out of Jerusalem, excepting the apostles. Having been so long under the teaching of the apostles, these disciples were so full of the word that they went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:1-5). Thus this persecution, instead of destroying Christianity as it was aimed to do, sent out active evangelists everywhere.

Philip at Samaria. Philip was one of the seven selected to distribute alms (Acts 6:1-6). By means of this persecution, Philip the deacon became the evangelist. Samaria was his first field of labor. Here he met with phenomenal success. This city had long been under the influence of Simon the sorcerer, who had succeeded in making them believe that he was "that power of God that is called Great" (Acts 6:10). "But when they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. they were baptized, both men and women. And Simon also himself believed: and being baptized, he continued with Philip" (Acts 8:9-13). See "Sound Doctrine," Vol. 2, p. 113. The Angel. Samaria had been converted, and had received miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:8-18). With the teaching and training they had received, together with the miraculous powers of the Holy Spirit, these disciples were able to carry on the work in that city. At this juncture "an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go towards the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert" (Acts 8:26).

Apostles, Not Angels--Are Ambassadors. During the entire history covered by the Bible God frequently communicated with man through the medium of angels; but since the apostles received their commission as ambassadors of Christ, God has never revealed his law to any man through an angel. After that time angels sometimes appeared to man, but not to show him the way of salvation. An angel appeared to devout Cornelius, not to preach the gospel to him, but to direct him to a man who would speak to him words whereby he and all his house should be saved (Acts 10:1-8; Acts 11:11-14). When the Ethiopian Nobleman was to be brought to Christ an angel was sent to the preacher. In both cases when the angel had delivered his message he withdrew. Neither has Christ since the apostles were empowered to act as his ambassadors. ever appeared to any one in person to tell him what to do to be saved. It is true that he appeared to Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus, and that incident is very illuminating. See Acts 9:1-19. Saul makes the direct appeal, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" But the Lord did not in person give him the desired information. That work had been given to man. Hence Saul was sent to Damascus to learn from a man the answer to his question. See lesson on "Apostles," Sound Doctrine, Vol. 1, p. 84.

Philip Promptly Obeys. Philip was commanded to leave Samaria, and "go towards the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same in desert" (Acts 8:26). To a preacher the command to leave a city and go fifty miles to an uninhabited country would seem singular, but Philip showed his faith in God’s guidance by prompt obedience. "And he arose, and went." The Same Is Desert. It has been argued by a certain class of controversialists that the country, being desert, where the eunuch was baptized, afforded not sufficient water for immersion. But no informed man who valued his word should make such assertion. As a matter of fact the word desert, in the New Testament, does not mean a barren, waterless waste. Thayer’s New Testament Greek Lexicon defines the word from which we have the word desert: "Solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited." A study of the usage of the word in the New Testament will show this definition of the word to be correct. By reading Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-34, you will learn that Jesus and his disciples went to desert place in a boat, and that the multitudes followed them, were made to sit down on the green grass and were fed, and that Jesus immediately caused the disciples to enter the boat while he sent the multitudes away. They were in a solitary, uninhabited place, and yet they were on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was desert, but not barren and waterless. The road from Jerusalem to Gaza passed through what was then a well- populated country, with the exception of a short stretch of road some miles out from Jerusalem. It was to this point in the road that Philip was instructed to go. Prof. J. W. McGarvey, who traveled through this country, says:

"The term desert is not here to be understood as meaning a barren waste; for no such waste has ever existed between Jerusalem and Gaza; but as meaning that part of the way which leads through a comparatively unpopulated district. Much error and confusion concerning this way, or road, is found in the older commentaries, which were written before the recent thorough explorations of the country; but these, and especially the actual surveys made by the Palestine Exploration Fund of Great Britain) have cleared up the subject by showing that there was a Roman paved road leading direct from Jerusalem to Gaza, some traces of which are still visible, though the route, in the roughest part, is now impassable for vehicles. This road is laid down on the great map of Palestine made from the surveys, and can be easily traced by any one in possession of the map. The whole distance from city to city is about fifty miles, and the direction from Jerusalem is nearly due southwest. Some five or six miles from the latter city the road begins to descend from the central ridge, which it follows that far, through a rough and narrow ravine called Wady el Mesarr, into Wady es Sunt, known in the Old Testament as the valley of Elah. After traveling this valley for a few miles nearly due south, the road turns to the west, and rises through another wady to the level of the great Philistine plain, which it follows the rest of the way to Gaza. The passage along the mountain ravine must be the part called desert for all the rest of the way the road passes through the midst of villages, pastures, and cultivated fields; that is, it did so when the country was well populated" (Commentary on Acts, Vol. 1, pp. 150, 151). His Route. To go direct from Samaria to the desert part of the Jerusalem-to-Gaza road would require Philip to pass through the country to the west of Jerusalem. This would harmonize with the command, for he was not commanded to go to Jerusalem and take the road leading out to Gaza, but to go to the way that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.

Reaches the Way. He had fulfilled the command when he reached the way. Here he must wait for further orders. However, at that moment the Ethiopian was passing in a chariot. Philip could not as yet know that his journey had any relation to this man, and would most likely have let him pass out of sight had not the Holy Spirit given further directions.

Foreknowledge. (Perhaps with God there is no foreknowledge nor afterknowledge, as time can be thought of as relating only to material things; but we use this word in the sense attached to it by most people.) God deliberately laid plans for the conversion of this Nobleman. Philip had to travel some fifty miles, and the eunuch only ten or twelve, to reach the point of meet­ing. Philip, therefore, had to leave Samaria, at least, the day before the eunuch left Jerusalem. But God had known the exact time the eunuch would leave Jerusalem, else he could not have properly timed the movements of Philip. The Eunuch. An eunuch is a man who by reason of physical conditions cannot be a father. The eunuch of this lesson was most likely a Jew, for the Jews then, as now, might be found in most civilized countries. His intelligence and honesty commended him to Candace, queen of Ethiopia, as being pre­eminently fitted for the position of treasurer of the kingdom. He was a believer in God, and had been to Jerusalem to worship according to the law of Moses. Ethiopia lay to the south of Egypt. The distance being so great, it is not likely that he went to Jerusalem three times a year as the law required (Deuteronomy 16:16). Besides, it would have been necessary for him to have obtained leave of ab­sence from the queen, who, doubtless, had not sufficient interest in his religion to indulge him in the loss of so much time from his important duties. Only a few years had elapsed since John the Immerser began to preach. Perhaps the eunuch had known little or nothing of the momentous events connected with the beginning and progress of Christianity. Not long before this visit to Jerusalem the church had been scattered from that city by persecution, and Saul of Tarsus was yet vigorously making war against the church. It is impossible that he did not on this visit hear something of these things. Whether he had heard anything favorable about this new religion and those who had espoused it is not certain, but his conduct shows that he left Jerusalem in a contemplative and inquiring state of mind. In this state of mind he began early in his journey to read carefully the copy of the Scriptures which he had. He was not a careless reader, but sought diligently to learn the meaning of what he read. But God, who was watching him and guiding the movements of another man, was bringing him help in a way he had not dreamed.

"The Holy Spirit Said.” The eunuch was very desirous of more light, and God had laid plans to enlighten him; but, instead of the Holy Spirit coming to this inquiring man to enlighten him or convert him, the Spirit talked with the preacher. "Go near, and join thyself to this chariot," said the Spirit to Philip. The eunuch must have already passed on some distance, for Philip ran to him.

Heard Him Reading. One thing was now settled in Philip’s mind, namely, that this man was the object of his mission, though he could not know whether this man was a Christian or Jewish worshiper; but he knew that a simple question would determine the matter, without raising any antagonism in the man if he should be an unbeliever. The Nobleman was reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and Philip knew that no Jew with the Jewish idea of the worldly glory of the promised Messiah could understand this Scripture. This chapter speaks of the lowliness, humility, suffering, and death of some one; and this would not fit the Jews’ idea of what the Messiah would be, but to the Christian it was plain. Hence, the simple question, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" The eunuch responded, "How can I except some man should guide me?" This showed Philip that the man was not a Christian. He knew now how to proceed, and needed only an opportunity to give the needed instruction. This the eunuch afforded by inviting Philip to sit with him in the chariot. The Passage. The exact point in Isaiah 53:1-12 which the eunuch was reading was: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before his shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: his generation who shall declare: for his life is taken from the earth."

285 B. C. the Old Testament was translated into Greek. This version was called the Septuagint, and was extensively used by foreign Jews, also by the apostles. That the eunuch was reading from this version is proved by the fact that the wording of the quotation given from Isaiah agrees with the Septuagint. Compare Acts 8:32 with Isaiah 53:7. You will notice that "lamb" and "sheep" change places in these passages, but this is exactly what occurred in the Sep­tuagint, with which Acts 8:32 agrees.

"In His Humiliation"—in his trial and crucifixion"his judgment was taken away." The judgment delivered by Pilate—"I find no fault in this man"—was taken away by the clamoring Jews, and Jesus was crucified.

Philip Preaches Jesus. The student should carefully read Isaiah 52:1-15. The eunuch’s question, "Of whom speakest the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?" gave Philip an excellent opportunity to enlighten this earnest inquirer; "and, beginning from this scripture," he "preached unto him Jesus." To preach Jesus was then, and is now, more than to set forth his deity. For a fuller discussion of what it is to preach Jesus, the student is referred to "Sound Doctrine," Vol. 2, pp. 115-118. It is certain that Philip was laboring under the Great Commission, and that he was faithful to it. The Great Commission required on the part of the alien sinner faith, repentance, and baptism. See "Sound Doctrine," Vol. 1, pp. 95-108. Philip taught him that it was his duty to be baptized. Of this we are sure; ’for the eunuch said, "Behold, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" He could not otherwise have learned the need of being baptized. The conceit that the eunuch learned of baptism from Isaiah 52:15, which says, in our common version, "So shall he sprinkle many nations," is not borne out by the facts. The marginal reading in the American Standard Version has "startle." Isaac Lesser, a learned Jew, made a translation of the entire Hebrew Scriptures. He translates the passage: "Thus will he cause many nations to jump up (in astonishment)". This translation agrees with the context of the verse. It is further proved that the eunuch did not learn of baptism from this verse by the simple fact that he was reading the Septuagint Version, which, instead of having the Greek word for sprinkle—rantizo—it has the thaumazo, which means to astonish. The Baptism. "They both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him." Some controversialists have argued that Philip and the eunuch went only down to the water, but language could not be framed in either the Greek or our English versions to indicate more clearly that they both went down into the water. Some who have tried to be funny rather than argumentative have said the Zacheus climbed up into a sycamore tree without going into the body of the tree, and Jesus went up into a mountain without going into the ground. But one can easily see how Zacheus could climb up into a sycamore tree without getting inside the body, and how Jesus could go up into the mountain without going into the ground, but no one can see how Philip and the eunuch could go down into the water without going into the water. Besides, when Jesus went up into the mountain he did not just go to the mountain. Just so, when Philip and the eunuch went down into, the water they crossed the line between the dry land and the water. They both went down into the water, just as is done in every case of immersion. The baptizing was done while they were in the water, and then they came up out of the water. The description does not fit the practice of affusionists. Affusionists do not take the candidates down into the water; immersionists do.

SOME REFLECTIONS.

Baptized Immediately. In The Acts no one was considered converted till he was baptized. This explains why there was no delay in administering baptism then. Every Christian should urge on those who respond to the invitation the duty of being baptized at the earliest moment. No Voting on Candidates. There is no indication that any inspired man ever called for a vote to determine whether any candidate should be baptized. It is certain that Philip did not call for a vote at Samaria nor in the eunuch’s case, for there was no church present in either case. This is a rebuke to those who practice such".

Conclusion. The conversion of the eunuch throws much light on the ancient manner of evangelizing. Religious people have in these degenerate times fallen far short of the simplicity of New Testament evangelism. We have not space here to enumerate and discuss the points of divergence; the discriminating student can easily do that. The eunuch was a devout worshiper of God; but he was not a Christian, not a saved man.He was however, an earnest inquirer after truth. Such honesty of heart commends him to God. God sent both an angel and the Holy Spirit to Philip to guide him to the eunuch. Philip preached Jesus to him. The gospel is the power of God for saving men (Romans 1:16), and Philip brought this power to bear on the Nobleman. From this preaching he learned of his duty to be bap­tized, and Philip baptized him. Whatever the word baptize meant in that day is exactly what Philip did to him. Nothing can be settled by the scholarship of the world more certainly and definitely than that the Greek word baptize, from which we get the word baptize, means immerse. And the circumstances connected with this baptism are such as always accompany an immersion, but never accompany sprinkling and pouring. Such language is never used to describe sprinkling or pouring.

Having now learned of Jesus the Savior of man and having been baptized in obedience to his command, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing in the assurance of salvation and in the hope of a glorious immortality.

TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION.

• What Is It to Preach Christ?

• Christ in Prophecy.

• The Sufferings of Christ.

• The Agency of Man in Converting Sinners.

• The Doctrine of Matthew 5:6 and Its Application in This Case.

QUESTIONS.

ancient preaching—evangelizing.