8:26
Angels play a significant role in Acts. They are not mentioned all the time, but from time to time they are. We need to realise that angels are part of the kingdom “ecosystem”. Philip was told to go south down to Gaza. Notice that he isn’t told why, moreover there is no description of his encounter with the angel. He simply has to obey the instruction. The angel knew who Philip would meet.
8:27
Ethiopia refers to the general region south of the Nile. Kandake, the queen of the Ethiopians, was very rich. It was common for high up officials of queens to be eunuchs, presumably so they could concentrate on the job assigned! The man was a god-fearer, and he had been to Jerusalem to worship. Being a eunuch he would not be able to fully convert to Judaism, so he is in a way the first Gentile convert.
8:28-30
The eunuch was sitting reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit told Peter near the chariot. Another feature of Acts is the role of the Holy Spirit in directing affairs. The fact that the man was in a chariot is indicative of his status. We should note that here we have a man who has some devotion to God, and has considerable status. We sometimes place a right emphasis on reaching the poor, but implicitly draw the wrong conclusion that the God is not really interested in the “respectable” people. When Philip got close to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah, so presumably he was reading aloud.
8:31
The eunuch had no idea what the text he was reading meant. We might think this strange. Why was he reading it then? However, it is not really that strange. Jesus told parables and most, including the disciples, did not understand the true meaning, at least not until Jesus explained the parable to them. In 2 Corinthians Paul speaks of satan having blinded the minds of people (2 Cor 4:4). This is why teaching is so important, we need to explain the meaning of Scripture.
No comments:
Post a Comment