Acts 8:25-31
Continuing on in Acts 8, the Word of the Lord has been preached in Samaria and is spreading. The apostles, Peter and John, head back toward Jerusalem, but we see here that the Lord is not finished with Philip. As I mentioned yesterday, Philip is not an apostle, and yet the Lord is about to use him significantly to spread the Word in Ethiopia.
A casual reading may cause us to miss the fact that an “angel of the Lord” instructs Philip to “go south down the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” That is a pretty significant encounter. When was the last time an angel of the Lord told us to do something? The angel also had some very specific instructions, and Philip, unbeknownst to him, was walking into a divine encounter that would impact many people.
Note to self: Don’t ignore the gentle nudgings of the Lord. You never know what God is setting up.
As Philip obediently follows the angel’s instructions, he runs into an Ethiopian eunuch who happens to be the treasurer of Ethiopia, a man of great authority. Not only that, but as the Holy Spirit instructs Philip to walk beside his carriage, he just so happens to hear the eunuch reading out loud a rather timely portion of Scripture.
Side note: Reading in the ancient world was often done out loud.
This sets up an exchange between Philip and the Ethiopian that only God knows the full ramifications of. More on their conversation tomorrow.
Philip was at the right place at the right time all because he listened to and obeyed the angel and the Holy Spirit. Do you think he knew why God was asking him to go this way? How often do we reason away God’s direction because we do not know where it is leading? The fact that God is leading us somewhere should be enough, for He can be trusted. Yet how many times do we fail to follow through because we want to know the “why” behind the “what?” That answer usually is not revealed until after we have been obedient. In fact, our obedience often unlocks the answer to our question. We must not limit the various ways God may instruct us, nor should our obedience be contingent upon knowing the plan.
A casual reading may cause us to miss the fact that an “angel of the Lord” instructs Philip to “go south down the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” That is a pretty significant encounter. When was the last time an angel of the Lord told us to do something? The angel also had some very specific instructions, and Philip, unbeknownst to him, was walking into a divine encounter that would impact many people.
Note to self: Don’t ignore the gentle nudgings of the Lord. You never know what God is setting up.
As Philip obediently follows the angel’s instructions, he runs into an Ethiopian eunuch who happens to be the treasurer of Ethiopia, a man of great authority. Not only that, but as the Holy Spirit instructs Philip to walk beside his carriage, he just so happens to hear the eunuch reading out loud a rather timely portion of Scripture.
Side note: Reading in the ancient world was often done out loud.
This sets up an exchange between Philip and the Ethiopian that only God knows the full ramifications of. More on their conversation tomorrow.
Philip was at the right place at the right time all because he listened to and obeyed the angel and the Holy Spirit. Do you think he knew why God was asking him to go this way? How often do we reason away God’s direction because we do not know where it is leading? The fact that God is leading us somewhere should be enough, for He can be trusted. Yet how many times do we fail to follow through because we want to know the “why” behind the “what?” That answer usually is not revealed until after we have been obedient. In fact, our obedience often unlocks the answer to our question. We must not limit the various ways God may instruct us, nor should our obedience be contingent upon knowing the plan.
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