Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian
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.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian 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. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
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.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”[37] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 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. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
I often find some of the Scriptures had to understand...When the apostle Philip was traveling along the road from Jerusalem to Gaza he met an Ethiopian...Now an angel of the LORD said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”...So he started out, and on his way and he met an Ethiopian 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, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet...The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”...So then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet...“Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked...“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?”...So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him...This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open his mouth...
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice...Who can speak of his descendants?...For His life was taken from the earth.”...
But there is this doctrine called Clarity of Scripture or Perspicuity of Scripture...This doctrine tells us that in the written word there is this clarity this way for us to understand the central message of what is written...The Clarity of Scripture tells us that the central message of the Bible is clear and understandable...Clarity of Scripture tells us that in the written text there is clear for those reading it...Ordinary and common readers of the Bible, who approach their readings with faith will understand the central and fundamental message of the word...Clarity of Scripture is a way to promote and encourage the reading of the Bible, because one inherently knows that God is Good...
Maybe the Holy Spirit helps us with an overall guidance of understanding that the text of the Bible is good and that God is Good...The Holy Spirit enlightens us to this goodness of God and the Bible...And when one picks up the Bible we know that it the Good Book, and really is a good book...It is a book that gives us righteousness and we learn from Scripture that God is just...And most believers believe that the overall Bible is a book on the goodness and LOVE of God...
But this concept of Clarity of Scripture is an interesting one when we think about certain verses and certain chapters...This is because many Bibles have sidebar notes and related articles of verses to help us understand the verses and the culture and the words that were written long ago...There are many help notes in many Bibles to understand what we have read, if we do not understand those verses...
Like the Ethiopian, I too have trouble with understanding some Scripture...And the Ethiopian needed Philip to help him understand the Book of Isaiah...Now maybe the Ethiopian did understand the central message of the Bible, but he did need help from Philip with Isaiah's words about Jesus...