"And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. 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. And 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, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The 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: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And 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? And 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. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And 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. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea."
Today's lesson relates Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch wherein Philip was whisked away by the Spirit to meet the eunuch in the desert. Seeing that the eunuch was reading from to book of Isaiah, Philip explained Isaiah's prophecy and how it foretold the coming of a perfect Savior. Philip went further to explain that Jesus, the Son of God, was the Saviour of whom Isaiah spoke in the prophecy and how through His death, burial, and resurrection, salvation had come to those who would believe.
In the latter part of the quote, the eunuch is said to have asked Philip to be baptized in water, a request Philip granted after being assured that the eunuch had truly believed that Jesus was the Son of God.
After the eunuch was baptized, Philip was again taken away by the Spirit to Azotus.~
NOTE: There are some things about this quote, verses twenty six through forty, that are a bit confusing to me. In tomorrow's lesson we will discuss all of them.
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