Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30Then 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.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When 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. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
An angel of the LORD came to Philip...The angel told him to go south to the road, the desert road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza...God wanted His word spread in Africa...So Philip took this road to Gaza and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, who was reading the Book of Isaiah (the book would have actually been a scroll)...The Spirit of the LORD told Philip to go near the chariot and stay near to it...Philip went to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah aloud...Philip ask him if he understood what he was reading...The Ethiopian said how can I unless someone explains it to me...So he invited Philip up into the chariot to sit with him... The Ethiopian was reading Isaiah 53:7-8...Chapter fifty three of Isaiah is one of his Songs of the Suffering Servant...The eunuch ask Philip who is the prophet that Isaiah is writing about...Philip explained to him that the Suffering Servant, is a prophet, and His name is Jesus...As they traveled, Philip explained the good news about Jesus....They ran upon some water in the desert and the Ethiopian said look there is water, why shouldn't I be baptized...So he gave orders to stop the chariot and Philip baptized him in the water...When the two came out of the water, the Spirit of the LORD took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again...The Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing ...Philip went on to Azotus and to all of the towns, preaching the good news, until he reached Caesarea...
We are not told how the Ethiopian had a copy of the book of Isaiah...This would have been a rare, hard to get, and very valuable book (scroll)...We are not told why an Ethiopian was so intrigued with the Jewish religion, but God wanted His word spread...God wanted to spread the gospel in Africa and made available the book of Isaiah to the Ethiopian...No doubt when the Ethiopian reached his home country, and all along his rejoicing route, he would be spreading the good news throughout and in Africa...
Many times we meet strangers and they remain just that...Here, the door opened for Philip, who knew the scripture and the disciples...Philip was one of the seven deacons chosen by Jesus' disciples to help the poor in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5)...Philip had preached in Samaria (Acts 8:5)...He is one of great evangelists who spread the word around the Near East, Middle East, and Africa...He is also mentioned in Acts 21:8, as being an evangelist who meets Paul in Caesarea...Paul stays with him for a time (we are not given the number of days Paul stays with him)...We are also told Philip has four unmarried daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9)...
God wanted His word spread throughout the earth, in fact to all corners of the earth...Philip followed the angel's calling and made his way around the region being an evangelist...We are specifically told of his helping an Ethiopian eunuch learn about the Suffering Servant named Jesus...The word of Jesus would make its way around the whole Roman Empire, and eventually the Roman Empire would adopt the religion of Christianity as their main religion...