SECT. CXCII.-Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch.- THE Apostles having testified, and proclaimed the word of the Lord, and "preached the Gospel in many villages of the Samaritans, returned to Jerusalem;" not slothful in their business, but continually serving the Lord, ever mindful of the commission they had received, and of the necessity of putting it into execution'. But Philip was directed by an Angel of the Lord to "go toward the south, unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." This was at the south-west point of Judæa, and was originally part of the tribe of Judah; but, being situated towards the extremity of the promised land, it fell into the hands of the Philistines, at the time that Samson carried away its gate. The situation of the place was the cause of its becoming subject to many revolutions in after times. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great, and so made desolate; and, in after time, a celebrated geographer describes it as having been, and still continuing desert 3. The description here given, “which is desert," seems to be added, to distinguish the Gaza here meant, from another of the same name in the tribe of Ephraim, not far from the place where Philip now was '. Drs. Wells and Stackhouse. "Dr. Lightfoot. The fame of the Temple at Jerusalem, diffused abroad among surrounding nations, brought many, even from very distant countries, to inquire continually "concerning the name of the Lord;" and to "come to Jerusalem for to worship." Among them came a great lord of Ethiopia, the chamberlain and treasurer of Candace the queen, who had probably embraced the Jewish faith, either by conversion, or otherwise. This man, one "of great authority," engaged, as he must have been, by a multiplicity of worldly affairs in so high an office, and advanced to the height of worldly honour, could yet find time and inclination to take a long journey on account of religion! How will this illustrious Ethiopian rise up in judgment against many Christians, who, in hours of domestic ease and tranquillity, have, notwithstanding, no leisure to open a Bible; whilst here we behold a man, who thought it not too much, for so all-important a consideration, to take a journey of above four thousand miles, that he might appear before God in the solemn place which He had chosen to put His name there! And, as he "was returning, and sitting in his chariot, he read Esaias the prophet'." Perhaps the fame which he had heard in Jerusalem of the sufferings and resurrection of Christ, may have induced him at this time Bishop Horne. 1 Rr to be reading the prophet. The name of Ethiopia was applied in a general sense to the countries south of Egypt, which were then but obscurely known. Candace had long been the name of the queens of this country, and was a titular distinction, similar to that of Pharaoh, Ptolemy, and Cæsar; hence it is impossible to designate this queen by her proper name 3. As Philip journeyed on the way, as directed by "the Angel of the Lord," he met the Ethiopian in his carriage, and, being prompted to go near to him, "heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest ?" It is still the custom among the Orientals to read aloud, when reading privately, without any intention of being overheard by others; and, as Philip not only heard his voice, but heard distinctly what he said, this must have been the case with this Ethiopian. "The place of the Scripture which he read," was the fifty-third chapter of the prophet Isaiah, which gives the liveliest portraiture of resigned innocence. The translation of this passage, given in our Bibles, is, in some degree, different from that given in this place. Here the Greek or Septuagint translation is followed; whereas, in our Bible version, the 4 2 Dr. Whitby. Pictorial Bible. 3 Dr. Wells. Bishop Horne. Hebrew text is directly followed. The character here given puzzles the reader, whether "the prophet is speaking of himself, or of some other man;" but Philip shows that it accurately agrees only with the blessed Jesus, who was not more a lamb for sacrifice, than for innocence, meekness, and resignation: and he proved to him, not only from that passage of Isaiah, but from other passages also of the Old Testament, that Jesus was the Son of God 8. Philip was at this time sitting with him in his chariot, proceeding on his way; and "they came unto a certain water," when the Ethiopian eagerly desires "to be baptized," doubtless fully converted to faith in the miraculous death and passion of our Lord; and to the belief that Jesus Christ, of whom he had heard in Jerusalem, and the circumstances of whose life and resurrection Philip had related from other parts of Scripture, was " the Son of God," -the Messiah, of whom the prophets wrote, and whom Isaiah, in particular, had described in terms so appropriate': "And when they were come up out of the water, he went on his way rejoicing." Thus, he who came from Ethiopia, treasurer to queen Candace, made his entrance into it at his return in a far different character, that of a disciple of Jesus Christ, full of joy in the Holy Ghost; for as such the ecclesiastical historians inform us that he was commissioned to preach the Gospel to his countrymen: and that he finally sealed the truth of his conversion with his blood'. Philip miraculously disappeared after his baptism, and "was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord,” probably to afford the Ethiopian an additional attestation of the divinity of the new religion he had so gladly embraced'; and "he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cesarea,"-a town situated on the Mediterranean sea, and a place, as we shall find, very distinguished in the early history of Christianity3. SECT. CXCIII. - Saul's Conversion. Acts ix. 1-19; - xxii. 3-21; xxvi. 9-17. We now approach one of the most remarkable events that followed the death of Christ, and the diffusion of the Holy Ghost, that by which one of the most eminent converts to the Christian faith was obtained. "A young man, whose name was Saul," has already been mentioned, as assisting at the martyrdom of Stephen. He is next recorded as making "havoc of the Church, entering into every house, and seizing by force men and women, and committed them to prison." Indeed, not content with evincing such zeal in the cause of Judaism at Jerusalem, that he "breathed threatenings and slaughter against the disBishop Horne. 1 2 Dr. Hales. 3 Dr. Wells. |