Acts 8:32-40 - Let's get baptised!

8:32,33

The passage quoted is from the Septuagint (Greek version) of Isaiah 53:7,8,  though it would be reasonable to assume that the passage as a whole in Isaiah 53 was being referred to. Remember chapter and verse numbers were not part of the original text. The passage refers to the cross. Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and He was remarkably silent during most of the “trial”. He was certainly deprived of justice, and He was killed.

8:34,35

The New Testament sometimes speaks about a mystery. When we hear the word mystery we tend to think of something that is hidden. In the New Testament it is more a case of something that was hidden, but is now revealed. The meaning of Isaiah 53 was hidden from the eunuch, but Philip explained the truth of the passage to him, telling him the good news about Jesus.

8:36,37

The eunuch clearly knew that baptism was part of the “conversion process”. How did he know this? It may be because Philip told him, or it may be because converts to Judaism went through a form of baptism, or he may have just been aware of baptism. However, seeing the water he thought why mess about, let’s get it done. KJV/NKJV have verse 37 which you will probably see as a footnote in NIV/ESV which has a quick “doctrinal test” with the eunuch declaring “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”. This may have been added by some scribes at a later date. In the New Testament baptism often seems to have been “rough and ready”, later it became much more formalised, with “baptismal classes”. Now baptismal classes, ie preparing the candidate for baptism and giving proper instruction is a good thing, but we do need to realise that it is not a Scriptural requirement for baptism. Teaching people, making disciples, is, but it does not necessarily need to precede baptism, and it certainly should not stop there!

8:38-40

Philip was certainly convinced that the man knew what he was doing, so he willingly baptised the eunuch. The Spirit then took Philip away. It seems that this was some sort of supernatural event, and the eunuch did not see Philip again. However, the euncuh did go on his way rejoicing. Philip appeared at Azotus. Azotus was the Greek name for Ashdod, which was a Philistine city. Philip continued preaching the gospel.

Hosea 7:3-12 - Silly and without sense

7:3,4

This seems to be addressed to the whole nation of Israel. The people sought to please the king and princes with their wickedness and lies, and the king and princes presumably approved of this, instead of providing moral leadership. The people were inflamed with passion, they had a desire to commit adultery. The allusion to a bakers oven is that nothing needed to be done to inflame these passions, they were always there.

7:5-7

The rulers were just the same,. On royal celebrations they became full of wine and then indulged in all sorts of things. Their evil passions burned at all hours of the day, day and night. In such a land no ruler lasts for long, the country becomes extremely unstable and ungovernable.

7:8-10

After the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom, Samaria became despised by “true Israel”. We see references to this in the New Testament, and the reason was that Assyria had a policy of mixing the ethnicity of the regions it conquered in order to reduce the risk of rebellion. However, this “mixing with the nations” seems to have gone on long before that. This sapped Ephraim’s strength, and the analogy of being half-baked is used of her. Israel was arrogant, but was actually getting weaker, and failed to return to the Lord.

7:11,12

The “insults” continue! She was like a senseless dove. At one moment she would turn to Egypt for help, then to Assyria, then back again. The only path that brings security is to turn to the Lord. All her political intrigue and foreign missions would come to nothing, she would not be able to escape the trap of the Lord.

Acts 8:26-31 - An Ethiopian Eunuch

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.

Hosea 7:1,2 - Their deeds surround them

7:1

The heart of God is to restore, but it was Ephraim’s sins that stopped Him. It is our sins that separate us from God. In reading and understanding this, indeed any passage in the Bible, we need to look at the whole message, and understand any individual passage as being part of that whole. We can sometimes think “God has forgiven us in Christ” and that is the end of the matter, it is God’s job to forgive. That is very distorted view, our sin is a very real problem. Passages like this show the seriousness of that problem, both in the direct effects (injustice, adultery, bloodshed, idol worship etc) and in its relational effect with God. At the same time, we know there is a solution, namely the cross, but to appreciate the cross more fully we need to appreciate the depths of the problem more fully.

Notice also the use of the word “heal”. A favourite verse among charismatics is “by his stripes we are healed” usually quoted in the context of physical healing. Now physical healing is important, Jesus, and then the apostles, healed many. It is a sign of the kingdom, but the healing spoken of here is more a healing of our souls, and mostly a healing from sin.

7:2

Israel practised this sin and deceitfulness thinking that God did not notice. The Lord was always aware of their sins. Sin is utterly deceptive, and we are so easily deceived. That is why Jesus taught us to pray “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”.

Acts 8:20-25 - May your money perish with you!

8:20-23

Peter was not interested in making money. This should be a sharp rebuke for those who seem to see the gospel as means of making money! You cannot buy the gift of God with money. Peter then tells him straight that his heart is not right with God. However, he does not leave him there, but commands him to repent. Peter makes it clear that Simon’s thinking is completely wrong, completely evil, and completely contrary to the ways of God.

“For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin”. Peter saw the root of the problem in Simon. Simon was captive to sin. His motivation seems to have been to maintain his celebrity status, his sorcery skills were what gave him meaning, or so he thought. If we are to truly receive the benefits of the gospel we need to realise what our true problem is, and that is sin, and we need to want to be free of that problem.

8:24,25

Simon asks for prayer, fearing the things that might happen to him. It is not clear whether this is out of fear of the consequences, or a genuine change of heart. There is no indication of whether or not Simon did truly change, nor of what happened. So we should take this episode as a warning against having a wrong attitude towards spiritual gifts and dramatic happenings that might accompany the gospel.

The apostles proclaimed the word of the Lord, testifying about Jesus.  Peter and John then returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages along the way.

Acts 8:14-19 - Give me this ability

8:14-17

On hearing what was happening, the apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to Samaria. They would have realised that the next step in Jesus’ commission to the church was now taking place, ie the gospel taking root in Samaria. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Samaritans. There are various suggestions as to why this was the case, the most likely seems to be that God wanted the apostles to be instrumental in this to stress the unity of the gospel. Whatever the case, the key thing is that the Holy Spirit is in charge, we are never in charge of Him! So Peter and John  placed their hands upon the believers and they received the Holy Spirit. Note the tacit implication that there was some outward manifestation of receiving the Holy Spirit, it was not a mere theological thing, there was a visible effect. Presumably praying in tongues and prophesying.

8:18,19

The lack of any deep change in Simon seems evident by his reaction to seeing the apostles laying on hands on people. Again, we should note that something positive and observable happened. Simon also wanted the ability to lay hands on people and seem them receive the Holy Spirit, and he was willing to pay money for this ability. He betrays a total lack of understanding, and a lack of a change of heart. It isn’t clear whether Simon had received the Holy Spirit. One would suspect not from his reaction, though we cannot be certain. We do know he “believed and was baptised” (v13). What we can be sure of is that there is a need for repentance. This can happen before or after conversion, or some spiritual experience. God is not overly fussy on the order of things, but it does need to happen.

1 Corinthians - Complete Notes

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