Dare 2 Share

Let’s continue in verse 27:

“So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candice, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way back home was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.” (Acts 8: 27-28)

Philip is standing in the middle of no where, sweating and praying, when all of a sudden on the horizon there is movement. It becomes apparent that a fairly large entourage is headed his way. He was about to discover why God had brought him to this lonely stretch of road.

A high ranking official in the Ethiopian government is about to pass by. He is the queen’s personal financial advisor and probably a eunuch. Men with access to the queen were often neutered, for lack of a better term, to ensure their submissiveness. He served queen Candice. This was not her actually name but her title, like the Pharaohs of Egypt. The king of Ethiopia was considered a god so he didn’t do much. The queen was the ruler of the land and this man was in her inner circle.

There was more to him that his job though. He was a “God-fearer.” Ethiopians were familiar with Israel’s one true God because of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon hundreds of years earlier. He was returning from a trip to Jerusalem - a twelve hundred mile round trip! What he saw in Jerusalem must have shocked and disappointed him.

Jerusalem was a mess. The temple was a place to go through the religious motions. Empty, repetitious rituals were the norm and Jerusalem seemed lost amidst a sea of uncertainty. Surely he would have heard talk of the young Jewish rabbi/carpenter that was crucified and many claimed to have seen risen from the dead. As he stood outside the temple, he could not go in because he was a foreigner and eunuch, he must have wondered why he even bothered to make the trip.

On his way out of town, he stopped and bought a scroll of the book of Isaiah. This would have been a very expensive purchase but he had the money at his disposal. He begins the long journey home by reading the scroll, hoping to find the answers to what he is looking for.

God is at work in his heart. He is drawing him to Himself. There is something sovereignly mysterious going on here. He thought he would find the answers in Jerusalem. He was probably praying that God would somehow help him understand. What he didn’t know was that his answer was standing in the road ahead.

One afternoon, I was working in my office when I felt very strongly I was suppose to go to the school. I was busy and tried to shake it off but I couldn’t so I jumped on the scooter and headed over to PTHS. When I got there, I didn’t know what to do. I went and stood in front of the rec center. I felt a bit like a goof, but prayed that whatever God wanted me to do I would do. The bell rang and students started pouring out of the school and toward their cars. I said hello to many of these students but felt like I was to stand my ground. Then I saw her. It was one of our students and her eyes were as wide as saucers. She asked me what I was doing there. I answered honestly and told her I didn’t have a clue. I will never forget what she said next: