Blacks in the Bible: Philip & the Ethiopian
( The Reader)
( Read these scriptures from The Holy Bible,
Acts 8:26-39, and see my comments at the end of your reading.)
26"And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
28Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
30And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing."
The Spirit of the Lord speaks to Philip, a holy man, and he is led to a place where an Ethiopian man of great influence and power is reading. This black man is reading without true understanding the written words given to the believers by Isaiah, another prophet of God. However, all words, written by true prophets, are the inspired words given to men from God.
The Ethiopian will never understand unless he is guided by a holy man of God. Isn't God good? He places people in your life to guide and to teach you. Everyone is a babe in the beginning. However, with assistance we grow and mature; we can later teach and guide others to a realization of our Lord.
Philip preaches Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, who came to the world to save the world. The Ethiopian knew only the Father, the god of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. With Philip's intervention, this black man has come to a realization of the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Philip explains that he needs to be baptized in water, and he needs to confess with his mouth, the Messiah, who was crucified, buried, and resurrected from the grave on the third day. Jesus, who was led like a lamb to the slaughter and spoke not a word in his own defense against workers of iniquity and evil doers, became real to this new convert, a black man.
A black man of power and influence accepts Jesus
from his chariot and is water baptised by Philip, a man of God.
What hinders you from accepting the perfect love of Jesus?
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