The physician Luke wrote how, “the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join yourself to this chariot. And Philip ran there to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, do you understand what you read? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom speaks the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus”, and in chapter eight and verse thirty-six of the book of Acts Luke shared how the Ethiopian asked Philip, “what does hinder me to be baptized?” where we read:
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:
and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized?
The verse begins, “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water:” Luke began with the words, “and as they went on their way” which means “and while Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch continued on their journey and traveled road”, “they came unto a certain water” or “they, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch approached a particular body of water”. Luke shared how “Philip” and the “Ethiopian eunuch” approached a body of water as they traveled together.
The verse goes on to say, “and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized?” Luke continued with the words, “and the eunuch said” which means “and the emasculated man uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked”, “See, here is water” or “observe, notice, behold and consider, in this place is a body of water”; “what does hinder me to be baptized” which means “what thing prevents, denies or withholds me, the Ethiopian eunuch, from being immersed, submerged and cleansed by dipping”. Luke shared how the “Ethiopian eunuch” told Peter to notice there was a body of water where they were, and he wondered what prevented him from being “cleansed by dipping”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how the “Ethiopian eunuch” noticed the body of water while riding with “Philip” in the chariot. We will see why this was important to him since he asked what would prevent him from being “baptized”. “Baptism” follows the inner commitment of a person to Jesus Christ, and when someone submits to Him, He will forgive them of their sins and grant them everlasting life. This “Ethiopian eunuch” knew he needed to be baptized, and he wanted “Philip” to tell him if there was anything preventing him from being “submerged” in the water as a symbol of cleansing from his sin. God loves everybody, and His desire is to have a personal relationship with them through His Son Jesus. Let all who read these words yield to Jesus, be baptized and receive God's promise to live with Him forever.
Next time Luke shares how Philip told the Ethiopian, “if you believe with all your heart, you may”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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