Acts 8:26-31
26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
27 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.”
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
The recent events involving Phil Robertson’s comments were beautiful and ugly all at the same time. Beautiful in that a prominent figure promoted a biblical moral stance yet ugly in the public response to that stance. In this sound bite culture we live in only part of the message was told in presenting his stance. Only the first part of I Cor. 6:9-11 was conveyed which I call the warnings. Verse 11, which is the good news (the hope) was left out leaving a lack of understanding leading to an outcry.
In the subject passage Acts 8:26-31 the eunuch had a lack of understanding. Philip, being led by the Lord, ceased the opportunity to minister to the eunuch and provide a complete picture of the message. Philip chose to minister yet far too often we/I choose to stand on moral principle and missed the boat. Just as the eunuch invited Philip to sit with him and explain, the world waits in anticipation for God’s people (Romans 8:19-21) to bring the good news. They are looking for the beautiful feet…
