Summary: There is no doubt that the Ethiopian Eunuch had the joy of salvation and he would be sharing to the ends of the earth what he learned from the prophet of Isaiah and what he experienced in his new life in Christ.

The Ethiopian Eunuch

Acts 8:26-40

The story of the Ethiopian Eunuch is a pivotal passage for many reasons. One of those reasons is that it is considered the fulfilment of Acts 1:8. At the coming of the Holy Spirit the gospel would go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. Ethiopia is the “ends of the earth” in this context. This man is from Ethiopia and on his way home and he comes to faith. This Ethiopian Eunuch represents the breakthrough of the gospel going viral to the ends of the earth.

Another important aspect of this passage is that this Ethiopian Eunuch is reading from Isaiah. The passage he is reading about is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Phillip explains to him that Jesus’ life, death on the cross, and resurrection is the fulfillment of this prophecy. It will also be important to look at the wider Isaiah passage, Isaiah chapters 53-56, and see that the Lord made many incredible promises. One of those incredible promises is how Jesus coming is a special blessing for the Eunuchs. This is especially significant because he is a Eunuch.

That was the passage he was reading when he so readily accepted Jesus Christ and he was the one asking Phillip to baptize him. That was how enthusiastically the Eunuch accepted the good news at a time when others opposed it. As a matter of fact Phillip was out preaching because at his home in Jerusalem people were going house to house and dragging Christians to prison for talking about Jesus the way Phillip is doing here.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. (Acts 8:26-28)

After Philip left Jerusalem because of the severe persecution he has been preaching the gospel in Judea and Samaria. Now the angel of the Lord led him to the Ethiopian Eunuch on the desert road. When Philip went to the place, he met the Ethiopian Eunuch. This was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia.

This Eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship God. He had with him a scroll and was reading from the prophet Isaiah while seated in his chariot. It was a divine appointment and Philip would be taking the gospel to the final aspect of Acts 1:8. He had preached in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and now to the ends of the earth.

Not only was this Ethiopian a gentile who is considered an outsider of Israel, but he was a Eunuch. There was a specific Levitical law that the Eunuchs were to remain outside the assembly. They were explicitly excluded from the Lord’s assembly.

“No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 23:1)

As a Gentile there was exclusion from the citizenship of Israel (Ephesians 2:12). But this gentile came to Jerusalem to worship God and he was reading from the prophet Isaiah.

And was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” (Acts 8:28-29)

Philip asked him if he understood what he read.

So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30)

His famous answer,

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:31)

Here is the passage we have in Isaiah.

32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he opens not his mouth.

33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth.”

The passage comes from Isaiah 53:7-8. I want you to see first the wider context of this passage to include from verse 7 until verse 12. We can see that the Lord orchestrated this passage for him to see how he was part of the Lord’s grand masterplan.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:7-12)

As we look even wider at Isaiah chapter 54 we begin to see how this passage would bless the Eunuch because salvation is for all, but especially for those who will have no physical offspring like the barren woman, the widow and the eunuch. There is a promise of blessing in the coming Messiah. A blessing for the desolate to have offspring to possess the nations. It is the promise that was to Abraham when it was impossible for him to have offspring. The promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,

you who have not been in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than the children of her who is married,” says the LORD.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

do not hold back; lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.

3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

and your offspring will possess the nations

and will people the desolate cities.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;

be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

5 For your Maker is your husband,

the LORD of hosts is his name;

and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

the God of the whole earth he is called. (Isaiah 54:1-5)

Now with the context wider yet to include Isaiah 56 the promise goes beyond the barren womb, to be blessed in Christ, and for the Eunuch to have blessings of something much better than physical descendants. In Christ they will possess a spiritual heritage in the Lord that can never be cut off.

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,

“The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;

and let not the eunuch say,

“Behold, I am a dry tree.”

4 For thus says the LORD:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,

who choose the things that please me

and hold fast my covenant,

5 I will give in my house and within my walls

a monument and a name

better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

that shall not be cut off.

6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,

to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,

and to be his servants,

everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,

and holds fast my covenant—

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:3-7)

When Isaiah made this prophecy of Christ, at that time eunuchs were not allowed in the innermost court of the temple. Yet, Isaiah predicts a time when this ban will be removed.

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. (Acts 8:34-35)

There are so many wonderful truths Philip explained when he shared the good news of Jesus Christ with this Eunuch. It was a divine appointment. The angel told Philip to go to just this particular place, a desert road where he would meet this particular Eunuch who had just returned from seeking God in Jerusalem, reading this particular passage of scripture. When Philip reached the place the Spirit of God gave the same guidance to Philip as the angel of the Lord. But now specifically to go and share Christ with this Eunuch in his chariot who was returning from worshiping God in Jerusalem and reading from the prophet Isaiah.

36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36)

Some manuscripts add all or part of verse 37. And Phillip said, if you believe with all your heart you may. And he replied I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the son of God. (Acts 8:37)

The Eunuch responds in the same way we all must respond to the gospel, by faith. He believed in Jesus Christ with all his heart. If we believe in Jesus Christ with all our heart nothing prevents us to be baptized. It is after all believer’s baptism.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. (Acts 8:38)

The Eunuch was so thoroughly transformed by this good news that Philip shared that he was filled with joy. The passage had prophesied that the coming Christ would bring joy and cause the transformed to sing with joy because they received something better than sons and daughters.

There is an Old Testament Ethiopian Eunuch account that has an interesting parallel to Philip preaching to the Ethiopian Eunuch. This account is of Ebed-Melech Jeremiah 38:7-10 and Jeremiah 39:15-18. This Ethiopian Eunuch was an official to King Zedekiah the King of Israel.

When God’s prophet Jeremiah was thrown in the mud pit and left to die it was Ebed-Melech who rescued Jeremiah and saved his life.

7 When E'bed-mel'ech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate— 8 E'bed-mel'ech went from the king’s house and said to the king, 9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern; and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10 Then the king commanded E'bed-mel'ech, the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” (Jeremiah 38:7-10)

Jeremiah was thrown in the cistern that was not full of water but had mud at the bottom and left to die. It was done with agreement of King Zedekiah. Jeremiah had proclaimed the word of the Lord that Israel would be conquered by the Babylonians and that Jerusalem would be destroyed and Solomon’s temple destroyed, and the Israelites would be in captivity for seventy years.

This was unthinkable to the Israelites that God would bring judgment on Israel through their enemy the Babylonians. They not only rejected this message, but many of the leading men of the day secured permission from king Zedekiah that Jeremiah be thrown in the pit and left to die. Ebed-Melech was the only one that could see the evil being done. He saw that Jeremiah was being punished for bringing God’s truth. He secured permission from King Zedekiah to rescue Jeremiah.

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard: 16 “Go, and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. 17 But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18 For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 39: 15-18)

All of Jeremiah’s prophesies came true. All of those who threw Jeremiah into the mud pit were destroyed. King Zedekiah who did not heed the words of Jeremiah was destroyed. The city of Jerusalem fell, and the temple was destroyed. In all this Ebed-Melech’s life was saved. This was a dramatic turn of events that this Ethiopian Eunuch Ebed-Melech trusted in the Lord and his life was saved. But what happened to this Ethiopian who Philip shared the gospel with was far surpassing. He was saved of his sin. He received eternal life. He was a person of stigma and transformed to receive the greatest blessing of all. That is to become a child of Abraham.

When God called Abraham, he was without any physical descendants. But God made a promise that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. Abraham would have uncountable physical descendants yes. But something more. All who believed the promise of God would be a spiritual descendent of Abraham.

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:4-6)

Father Abraham has many sons. Many sons has Father Abraham, and I am one of them, and so are you, and so is the Ethiopian Eunuch, so let’s all praise the Lord! It is through Jesus Christ that this special blessing to the Eunuch’s comes. Jesus spoke about those who are Eunuchs.

For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:12)

Those who were outside the camp are now inside the camp. The dividing wall has fallen, the curtain vail has been torn in two.

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (Ephesians 2:11-19)

This is a great passage and here is the kicker in verse 13 : But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Is it any wonder the Eunuch went forth with joy.

40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:40)

Philip went on his way and we don’t hear about him again until about twenty years later when Paul stays a few days in his home. It was because Paul had put Stephen to death that Philip fled Jerusalem. Now Philip, Paul and the Ethiopian Eunuch were all brothers in Christ and all part of the family of God. They were all children of Abraham.

And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:39)

Philip was suddenly gone, but the Eunuch was left with the Holy Spirit in his heart. He had the peace of Jesus Christ that transformed him from being banned from the temple court where he had just gone there to worship to a member of the family of God excluded from nothing. He had the Word of God. There is no doubt that he had joy and he would be sharing to the ends of the earth what he learned from the prophet of Isaiah and what he experienced in his new life in Christ. Undoubtedly the Queen of Ethiopia would hear from him how he believed in Christ.