We shall now share the account of that other worthy gentile but this time, an African. Closer to home and much more relevant, since I am an African too. It’s only fair however to mention that some scholars suggest he might have been a Jew living in Ethiopia, but he is referred to as the Ethiopian eunuch in the Bible, and God’s word through the reliable and diligent beloved physician, Luke, is good enough for me.
Here’s what Luke 8: 28-29 says about the man: an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
It is therefore very clear that the Ethiopian Eunuch had connections with the Jews and their religion. I dare to say so because not only did he travel quite a distance to worship. Some scholars explain that it was to participate in the Passover festival but I prefer the word worship. For the Jews, this was much like what Christians call a Retreat today. For them the date is fixed and even obligatory, and the objective is to gather to recall God’s word and deeds by studying the scriptures, express appreciation and gratitude to Him in praise and worship, and dine together as His family.
It’s interesting to note that this Ethiopian was reading the scriptures. So, not only was he a worshipper of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but he was also a devout and devoted one. His relationship with God did not end in the presence of the religious leaders, or at the end of religious ceremonies. Rather, he was like the Bereans that Apostle Paul commended because he made time to confirm if what he was taught was true, and to find out more about the God he served. So I’d go further still to describe him as diligent, thorough and sincere worshipper.
I believe this obvious well-read man must also have been highly intelligent. After all, treasurers who worked in the courts of a kingdom had to be great mathematicians!
As to financial status, not only was he rich enough to afford a personal copy of the scriptures, but he was travelling in a chariot. I’d say the equivalent of a private jet in our days!! I wonder how many private jet owners read the scriptures while on a flight these days. As for his social status, the Bible also tells us that he was an important official as Treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia.
When we look at these external details about him, we could easily conclude that the Ethiopian had everything going for him but that is if we leave out the word eunuch. As a eunuch, this man was not married, had no children, and had no hope of even having any. In fact, he probably never enjoyed family life as a child! Scholars suggest that this elevated position might actually explain why he was a eunuch. Below is what I extracted from an interesting link which attempted to explain the making and reality of eunuchs:
… He may have been taken as a young boy to become a eunuch. He had no choice in the matter, and he probably didn’t know what was happening to him. To become a eunuch his testicles were crushed to stop him producing testosterone. Because he had no testosterone, this altered his growth and changed his appearance. His voice never broke, so as an adult he still had the voice of a boy. His body had little hair, and his body grew in disproportionate ways – reduced muscles, but increased body fat in abdomen, and he developed breasts. His bones would be weaker and more likely to break. He would also be lethargic and depressed.
All of this meant that he looked unusual, and people would recognise him as a eunuch just by looking at him. He was different. He looked strange. He sounded strange. He felt strange…
So, to summarise, the appearance of this highly intelligent, highly placed, diligent and devout man nothing to write home about. We could even say laughable. He was probably diminutive in stature, looked strange, and sounded funny. And it so happens he was reading about another physically unimpressive sight like himself in Isaiah chapter 53: 2-5. Perhaps this was what grabbed his attention. But that was where the similarity ended. The text reads:
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
You see, while the eunuch enjoyed wealth, position and recognition, this other man was despised, mistreated and mocked for no apparent reason. And for some reason, the text makes it clear that he was innocent but nevertheless accepted the suffering on behalf of the same people who were torturing him!!! It would seem that his great intelligence was not enough to help him figure out what the text he was reading meant.
What manner of man is this, he must have wondered. And who exactly was it referring to. He apparently knew his Scriptures well enough to know that it could not have been Isaiah as there was no account of any such thing happening to the prophet Isaiah. And there was no reason why it should, because the prophet Isaiah was well known and accepted in the courts of the king. And although he might and did rile some in the upper echelon of the society, and indeed suffered for it, he was never treated like this man he had written about. And the account fitted no one else he had heard about in the Scriptures.
But he knew instinctively that this account was extremely important since it so depicted the constantly repeated sacrifices of animal that was obligatory for every one practicing the Jewish faith. Only this was not a lamb but a man. So I imagine this must have made him pray earnestly.
Clearly, the prayer of this Ethiopian eunuch was not done in the same context, or in the same way as Cornelius’. The Ethiopian Eunuch’s prayer was not in an organized and controlled setting. His must have been uttered silently in his thoughts as he read the Scriptures. Nor are we told that he did so regularly or not. For all we know, this might very well have been the first time he prayed such a prayer. But both prayers had one thing in common: they were desperate prayers coming from a deep desire to know the Truth. And this type of sincere prayer is always acceptable to God no matter who prayed it.
Once again, please allow my imagination free course to put words to to his mouth. Perhaps it went like this:
What kind of man is this Lord God of Israel? Who exactly is he? Why did he subject himself to such treatment without trying to defend himself? How come he chose not to insist on his rights and declare his innocence in spite of the fact that everyone seemed to know that he was? And it says that in doing so, he was taking on the punishment deserved by the same people who were hurting him! And the way his murder was described? Like the lambs we slaughtered as sacrifice for our sins at the Passover feast I am coming from! A kind of human replacement for the lambs that we continually sacrifice for our sins. But you provided a lamb for father Abraham when he was about to slaughter his son. Which is consistent with your warning that we must not take another human life because of the grave consequences! So why is this happening in your word and you did not intervene?
It’s really frustrating that I am discovering new details in the scriptures that no one ever told me about! And here I am, all alone, with no religious leader nearby to ask. And since I am heading home, I am not likely to find anyone knowledgeable enough to explain it to me. Does that mean I will have to wait another twelve months to be able to ask someone? And who knows if I will be able to come al this way again next year? So this confusion could drag on indefinitely!!
Ah, Lord God, would it be asking too much if I ask that you to send someone to explain it to me. For some reason it sounds like a matter of life and death to me. But you yourself said I can ask anything I desire and you will do it. You did it for Daniel and his three Hebrew friends asked for the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream. They too were probably eunuchs like me since they were slave-officials in the court of one of the most powerful and wicked king the world has ever known. Their prayer was specific. Reveal to us the king’s dream and give us the interpretation! A very daring prayer! But you answered fully. And you gave Daniel the interpretation.
Yes, I know I am already elevated in the Queen’s court. But that ends on this earth Lord. The meaning of this text if of eternal value since it is from your Word. So I dare to ask Lord. Please help me to understand this passage. No. that is not enough since I have been struggling with it for hours now. I dare even more to ask Lord, please, please send someone to explain this passage to me. I know you can do anything if you want to…
It was in this confused state of mind that another surprising quality of this great, small man was demonstrated. He felt a strong compulsion to lift his head from the page he had been staring at and saw a man gesturing towards him in the distance. It was a non-discrete man. Walking. Not on any of the chariots of the other rich people around him. Panting as he ran, the man was trying to catch his attention. He pointed at himself as if to ask ‘Me?’ He was shocked when the man nodded. This was no religious leader! He couldn’t be the person God sent! But could he? By this time, the man had almost caught up with his chariot. Well, no harm in giving him audience. He looks very determined. Let me hear what he has to say…
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (Acts 8: 30 – 31)
And this was when another laudable quality of this great small man was revealed. He was a humble man with a teachable spirit. He did not feel ashamed to admit to someone who was clearly from a lower social status that he did not understand what he was reading. And he did not hesitate to invite him to ride with him on his chariot. And the story ended with him rejoicing, exactly as promised by our Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 23, verse 12: But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Unlike Gods’ answer to Cornelius, no angel was sent to the Ethiopian eunuch. Nor did He tell him to send for anyone. Rather, he sent the angel to someone who could help him, in answer to his specific request. And this time, it was no apostle that he sent. Only the deacon Phillip, the former server of widows who might have run away from persecution in Jerusalem, settled in Samaria, shared the Gospel with as many as he could find in the city, and whose efforts were richly blessed by God through the joy and conversion of many in the city to Christianity. The only man called an Evangelist in the Bible.
But the way God sent him is yet another spectacular account in the Acts 8: 26: Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 2
Similar to the experience of Cornelius, at a time that there was no Google or GPs, God sent his angel in answer to the prayer of another Gentile, to provide His servant detailed information and description of where to go and how to get there. And Evangelist Philip obeyed. Unlike in the case of Cornelius who was given names, addresses etc, Evangelist Philip obeyed in simple faith without knowing exactly why or who he was being sent to. But somehow, no doubt by the Word of Knowledge, he identified the person when he saw him, and even knew exactly how to start the conversation. The Ethiopian Eunuch must have been shocked!!!
Oh God please help me to simply obey. Like Evangelist Philip, teach me how to listen so I can hear the Holy Spirit whisper to me what to say, to whom, and when.
All Evangelist Philip now had to do was captured in verse 35 of the same chapter:
35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
And the rest is history. The Ethiopian eunuch’s prayers were answered. He heard the Truth and received it gladly, finally at peace in his spirit, soul, and body. And still determined to squeeze as much as possible from this visit that was fast coming to an end, he requested to be baptized: Here is water. So straightforward, so simple. When we sincerely seek God and His perfect Will, He will always answer. When we sincerely seek to serve Him, he will always direct us. What more is there to say? The Ethiopian Eunuch received the Salvation that He so greatly craved, got baptized, and … went on his way rejoicing (verse 39).
A win-win experience as is can be expected when we walk with God. Because you see, Phillip too got an amazing ride back to the next place God wanted him to go!! Verse 39 states: When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
A free ride that was clearly swifter than supersonic jet in the first century AD! Similar to the strength Elijah received to run faster than chariots of the king! Who is like unto our God who made a donkey to speak, that a big fish to swallow Jonah, the fleeing prophet, in the Old Testament just to mention a few. God, our incredible God again proved Himself the same yesterday, today and forever.
What a mighty God we serve. How wonderful it is to be able to call Him Father… May we all know the day of our visitation.
I have goose bumps as I write this because I remember the day that, not an angel, or a great Apostle, but the Holy Spirit (now I know in retrospect) through a lowly deacon, cleared my confusion about whether Jesus the Messiah was indeed my Saviour or not. (PLEASE CHECK OUT MY CONVERSION TESTIMONY ALSO ON THIS WEBSITE)
Question now is: How about you? Have you ever experienced anything like this before? If so, I bet you too have goose bumps right now as you read. Or perhaps goose bumps is not the best way to put it. But something… real, palpable, unforgettable…
Or are you praying a similar prayer right now? Or you have been praying it for a while now? Listen, let me assure you that anyone who sincerely and diligently searches for the Truth will always find it. I can assure you of that because God Himself says so in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 13: If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
No experience is ever the same. I did with the same result. And there are accounts of many others with the same result. C. S Lewis for one. You might want to read his book, Mere Christianity. Some more contemporary ones that have become popular include Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel,… I could go on… So, what more proof do you need that Jesus died for you?
The same Grace is available for you today. Do the necessary and may you know the Daya of Your Visitation in Jesus’ mighty and glorious Name. Amen!