Divine Appointment - Acts 8:26-40

© May 25th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts

Many of us understand the importance of appointments. We have doctor’s appointments, meetings, and other times we set aside for specific purposes. Sometimes those appointments are specific (show up here at 10:15), other times they are more general (like a delivery I’ve been told to expect on Wednesday between 7 AM and 7 PM), but in general, we understand that appointments are important to keep if we can.

In the Christian life, there are many appointments we try to keep as well. We should have a standing appointment to spend time reading the scriptures and praying. We should schedule time to worship God with other believers. But sometimes the Lord makes the appointment for us and just asks us to show up. Sometimes we don’t know exactly what to expect, but we are called to be open to what the Lord is doing.

In our passage this morning, that’s exactly what we see. Today we continue with the story of Philip. When we left him, Philip was in Samaria preaching and seeing the first Samaritans come to faith and join the early church. He was engaged in important and valuable work. Today’s passage shows us God using Philip in a different, but no less important way.

Philip’s Call

Our passage today begins in Acts 8:26, which sets up everything that’s about to happen,

26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26, NLT)

We don’t know where Philip was at this point. It seems reasonable that he was still in Samaria carrying out ministry. It’s possible that he had gone back to Jerusalem, though this seems unlikely. Whatever the case, God calls Philip to head out on the desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This is another time when a quick geography lesson will help us. This desert road was in the middle of nowhere. If Philip was in Samaria, it would also have been quite a journey to get there, as it was a long way south, and likely would have necessitated a trip to Jerusalem first. It would have likely taken Philip a couple of days to get to the place God was calling him.

It also would have been a strange request. Think about it from Philip’s perspective. He had begun a thriving ministry in Samaria. He was a pioneer for the gospel. It would have made good sense for him to stay where he was and continue doing the work. It would seem odd for him to leave Samaria (or wherever he was) and go out into the middle of the desert. God didn’t give him much in the way of details, just told him to go. The remarkable thing is that Philip did what he knew God wanted him to do. It didn’t matter whether he understood or had all the details, he just went.

The Ethiopian

We are not told that God had given Philip any idea of what to expect, but he went out on the desert road nonetheless. I imagine that when he saw a chariot approaching, his heart had to quicken, thinking, maybe this is the reason God has called me out here?

27 So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. (Acts 8:27-28, NLT)

Out on this desert road, Philip encountered a man described as a eunuch from Ethiopia, who was in charge of the treasury of Kandake the queen of Ethiopia. There is a lot of information here that is likely to go over our heads, so we should pause to unpack it.

Ethiopia was a region much larger than the country of Ethiopia we think of today. It encompassed a significant chunk of North Africa, including some of what would today be considered Egypt and Sudan. The region of Ethiopia was large and considered wealthy.

Kandake (or Candace) was not the name of the queen herself, but rather was her title (similar to Caesar or Pharaoh). We do not know specifically who this woman was, but this man was a high-ranking official in her administration.

The man is described as a eunuch. Typically, this word describes a man who had been emasculated. This meant that he could be trusted to work around the royal women. But sometimes the word was just used to describe a trusted official within a royal administration, and may not refer to his emasculation. If the man was a eunuch in the first sense of the word, he would not have been admitted to the assembly in Jerusalem, so it is possible the term is more of a title than a physical description.

Apparently, he had traveled to Jerusalem to worship there and was now returning. This would indicate that the man likely had some familiarity with the Jewish faith. Judaism may have originally spread to the area because of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon. We know she was impressed by all that God had given Solomon, so maybe she brought the worship of the Lord to the region. We don’t know how the man came to believe, but apparently he worshiped the Lord, and traveled to Jerusalem for the express purpose of doing so.

We also see that this man was particularly wealthy. This would have been an expensive journey to undertake. For the man to travel to Jerusalem just to worship there (and possibly traveling with an entourage), he would have to have considerable wealth.

He was also traveling in a chariot (or carriage) which was something only wealthy or powerful people owned. Not only was he traveling in the chariot, he was sitting in it, which means he had a servant (maybe several) traveling with him.

He also had a copy of the scroll of Isaiah (at least) and possibly other scriptures. Very few people owned such scrolls, as they had to be meticulously copied by hand. It was not common for individuals to possess scriptures in the way we do today. The fact that he had a copy of the scroll of Isaiah speaks to his wealth also.

Listening to the Spirit

Luke tells us that at this point the Holy Spirit told Philip to go up to the carriage (or chariot) and speak to the eunuch (v. 29). To Philip’s credit, he went up to the chariot. We’ll examine his interaction in a moment, but I think it’s worth asking an important question: how does one hear from the Holy Spirit?

Twice in this passage, Philip receives clear instruction from the Lord. First, the angel of the Lord spoke to him and told him to go to this desert road, and now we are told the Holy Spirit told him to go up to the carriage and speak to the man in it. You may find yourself asking: how does this happen? How did Philip know to do these things? And more importantly, can we hear from God in the same way?

These are important questions to ask. I believe every Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and I believe He will often speak to us and lead us. In my experience, this rarely takes the form of an audible voice, but more of an inward direction.

So, how do we know whether the voice speaking to us is the Spirit of God, or simply our own selfish desires? In other words, how do we learn to recognize the leading of the Spirit? I’ve got a few ideas.

First, we must learn to recognize His voice. God has spoken in many ways throughout history. Today we have access to the Bible, which records what God has said in the past. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. He is God. Therefore what He says to us will match what scripture says. One of the best ways to recognize the Spirit’s leading is to familiarize yourself with what God has said! If you know your Bible, you will be able to quickly discern whether the voice you are hearing is consistent with God’s Word or not. The Spirit will always lead us in a way that is consistent with what God has said in His Word.

Second, practice following His leading. When you feel led to do something, and if it coincides with something the scriptures tell you, then act upon it! Chances are, you will find confirmation that it really was God leading you, because you will see the wisdom of what He was telling you. When we follow the Spirit’s leading, we will find confirmation that He was the One speaking to us.

Third, the more we listen to Him, the better we will be at recognizing His voice. The scriptures seem to tell us that we can quench the Spirit, we can grieve the Spirit, and we can be full of the Spirit. This seems to indicate that our own actions will determine how readily we hear God’s leading in our lives. The more we practice listening to the Lord’s voice and following Him, the more we will find Him speaking. The more we ignore Him, the less we will hear from Him.

Philip recognized God’s leading, and when the Holy Spirit told him to approach the chariot and speak to the man, he ran alongside it and struck up a conversation.

The Eunuch’s Conversion

Luke records what Philip’s conversation with this man was like.

30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

32 The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. (Acts 30-35, NLT)

Philip heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah and recognized the passage. He asked a fairly innocuous question, “Do you understand what you are reading?” This is a reasonable question when people are reading the Bible, because if you aren’t familiar with it, the Bible can sometimes be difficult to understand.

The man was reading from Isaiah 53, a passage that speaks of the “suffering servant”. Many Jews in the first century did not associate this passage with the Messiah, because they did not believe the Messiah could suffer. It simply didn’t make sense to them. So this man’s bewilderment is not surprising. It is possible that he had spoken to some Jewish teachers and was confused as he read it. So he asked Philip what it meant. Was Isaiah speaking of himself or someone else? He invited Philip up into the carriage with him, and Philip began to explain not only the passage to the man, but the whole of scripture.

It is not difficult to imagine how Philip directed the man to Jesus from this passage. It is one of the clearest depictions of Christ’s suffering. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear to see that Jesus is the person Isaiah was writing about. But Philip did not stop with Isaiah 53; he continued to teach the man about how this passage was only one of many that pointed to the promised Messiah, and how Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of all these things. Philip recognized his opportunity, and after answering the man’s question, seized the chance to share the fullness of the gospel with him.

Baptism and Aftermath

We don’t know how long this conversation went on or everything Philip said, but we can assume he fully explained the gospel to this Ethiopian official. We do, however, find out what happened after he had done so.

36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea. (Acts 8:36-40, NLT)

It seems that the man trusted in Jesus and desired to be baptized. When they came to some water, he asked Philip to baptize him, and he did.

If you’ve paid careful attention to the scripture reading, however, you may notice that our text jumps from v. 36 to v. 38. You may ask, what happened to v. 37? Many modern translations have taken v. 37 out of the main body of the text and put it in a footnote. The reason isn’t because they are trying to change the message or delete portions of scripture. It is because as we have discovered earlier and earlier manuscripts of the Bible, this verse is not in the earliest manuscripts. While v. 37 doesn’t contain anything bad (it says, “You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.” And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”), and seems like a reasonable response, the translators have tried to make it clear that the earliest (and presumably most reliable) manuscripts don’t include it. Verse 37 is in the footnotes because translators take the Bible seriously, not because they’re trying to change it.

Whatever the case, the eunuch is baptized, presumably because he had, in fact, expressed genuine faith in Christ. Then we discover something strange. Philip is taken away by the Holy Spirit, seemingly transported to a different city, Azotus (or Ashdod). The Ethiopian eunuch didn’t see Philip anymore, but he didn’t need to. He had trusted in Christ, and went on his way rejoicing, likely returning to Ethiopia as a missionary himself.

Philip, we are told ended up in Azotus (Ashdod). This was also quite a distance away. While I have many questions about what this was like, the text does not answer any of them for us. What it does tell us is that Philip continued to preach the gospel everywhere he went. Philip engaged in what could be called the first missionary journey as he traveled up the coast toward Caesarea. We don’t know if that’s where Philip was from originally, but we do know that around 20 years later (in Acts 21), he was living in Caesarea. He had 4 daughters, each of whom were prophets in their own right. Philip clearly continued to be faithful in preaching the gospel to everyone, including his own family.

Conclusion

This passage is another fascinating account of God working in the early church, but it gives us a little different perspective than many of the stories we have seen so far. There are several lessons for us.

First, individuals matter to God. Most of what we have seen so far in Acts has focused on large groups coming to faith. We have no problem understanding why such ministry is important. But this passage reminds us that God cares about each individual as well. God cared about this singular man on a desert road so much that He sent Philip to go witness to him. This should be a reminder to us that God values the gospel conversations we have with others. You don’t have to preach to a stadium of people to make a difference to God—He cares about the conversations you have with individual lost people. Each one is worth the effort in His eyes.

Second, we must practice listening to the Spirit. God had set up this whole scenario in advance. He had made an appointment for Philip and this eunuch to meet. He had been working on the eunuch, leading him to read the scriptures, and He had been leading Philip, causing him to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes we struggle to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit because what He says doesn’t make sense to us. But that’s because we don’t see the big picture. God does. It was only after Philip followed the Spirit’s leading that he got to see what He was doing. If we want to be Spirit-led and Spirit-filled, we must practice listening to His voice over and over again. As we do, we’ll find He is faithful!

Finally, we see an example of how to share the gospel. Most of the time, sharing the gospel doesn’t look like coming up to a stranger and asking them, “If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?” There is a place for such evangelistic approaches, but most evangelism doesn’t happen this way. More often, it begins with a relationship, a question, or a conversation that opens up to faith. Philip met the eunuch where he was and explained the gospel in a way that made sense to him. Cookie-cutter approaches to the gospel are not usually helpful. There are certain facts we must communicate, but what that looks like will be different in each case. Understand where a person is and start there. Think about how to answer people’s questions and point them to Jesus. It takes some practice, but it’s not as hard as it sounds. When people feel heard, loved, and cared for, often we have an opening to share the words of life with them and have them be received gratefully.

I don’t know what’s on your calendar this week. I barely know what’s on mine. If you’re like me, you’ve probably got plenty of appointments lined up. But let me encourage you to be open to the appointments God has lined up for you. Learn to listen to Him, be obedient to His leading, and do what He says. You never know where it might lead.

© May 25th, 2025 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: Acts