Digging Deeper: The God Who Speaks to Philip

There is more than one Philip in the New Testament. One of them was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The one that we see here in the Book of Acts was one of the seven men who were chosen by the twelve disciples to be ministers to the people of Jerusalem, and in particular the Greek-speaking Jews, who were in need of food.

The twelve disciples used to spend all their time waiting on tables and helping the poor, and they didn’t have enough time to preach because of this. But God had called them to preach, so they appointed these seven men to oversee the food distribution to the poor and to resolve any disputes between the Greek and the Aramaic speaking widows which were eating up all of the disciples’ time. Philip was one of these seven.

Stephen was the de facto leader of the group it would seem, and eventually the Jewish authorities dragged Stephen into court for preaching in the name of Jesus. Stephen gave them a big long history lesson while he was on trial, explaining how all of Jewish history was pointing to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. But he then accused them of rejecting God and the Holy Spirit, and of killing the Messiah when he came… all of which was true. They didn’t like being called out like that, so they dragged Stephen out of the city and threw rocks at him until he died. As he was dying, he looked up and said that he could see God in heaven with Jesus at his right side.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 

The text says that godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 

And a man named Saul began to destroy the church, and went from house to house dragging people to prison. 

But those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 

Philip (one the seven table-waiters) went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 

When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 

And with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. 

Philip was later told by an angel to go to the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, and there he met an Ethiopian eunuch who had been to Jerusalem to worship, and was returning home. 

The eunuch was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah, and had come to Isaiah 53:7-8, the passage about the suffering servant who was punished for the sin of his people and led like a sheep to the slaughter.

Philip asked the Ethiopian, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 

He said, "How can I understand unless I have a teacher to teach me?"

So Philip became his teacher, and told him the Gospel of Jesus, and the Ethiopian asked to be baptized.

They went down into some water and Philip baptized him. 

Some later manuscripts of this passage also have the Ethiopian say, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (verse 37), but this is absent in the earlier versions. 

After this, Philip is suddenly taken away by the Spirit of the Lord (almost like God tele-ported him away), and the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing.” 

According to tradition, the eunuch returned to Ethiopia, where he converted Queen Candace, and founded what would later become the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 

In the Book of Isaiah, the same book from which the eunuch was reading, God says that the foreigners and the eunuchs who bind themselves to Him, should not despair or lose hope, because He has included them among His own people. He speaks to them personally, promising them a new name and a place in His house. They are not outcasts.

This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice
    and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Blessed is the one who does this—
    the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
    and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
    “I am only a dry tree.”

For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant—
to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure forever.
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.”

The Sovereign Lord declares—
    he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
    besides those already gathered.”

-- Isaiah 56:1-8