Philip and the Eunuch

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The Eunuch in the story, Philip and the Eunuch, had a very prestigious job in Ethiopia. Eunuchs in general hold places of respect and trust in eastern courts. He was an Official of Candace which connects him to the kingdom of Meroe (Anchor 667). The Eunuch would have worked closely with the queen of Ethiopia and was therefore held in high regard in the kingdom (Witherington III 296). Which makes this Eunuch a very smart and literate man who knows a lot about politics. We know that the Eunuch would have been most likely black or African American (Witherington III 295) due to the fact that Ethiopia was on the fringe of the known word which was the territories south of Egypt. The story of the Eunuch and Philip is a great story to see just how far the word of God will go.
The timing of this story has impeccable timing because Philip has just finished his pilgrimage to the Holy City and he is now on his way back with a heart that is yearning and seeking to guide another heart to Christ (Harrison 151). Surprisingly Philip and the Eunuch from Ethiopia share the most important role of this story. The Eunuch would have been reading the scroll of Isaiah out loud and thus the reason Philip would have known that the Eunuch would have been reading Isaiah (Witherington III 297). Once Philip is invited into the chariot the Eunuch takes an active part in the conversation (The Anchor 667). The Eunuch is portrayed as a man who is religious and is reading the Torah, however, he is not a believer. In verse 27 the Eunuch went to Jerusalem to worship which is interesting because he knew full well that the furthest he could go in the local synagogue would have been the court of Gentiles (Witherington III 297). What I found interesting abou...

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... countless hours of hanging out with my pastor and at youth group he asked me if I was ready to recommit myself to Christ. I was scared that God wouldn’t help me out and wouldn’t take me back because of all the bad I have done and so I said no. I wasn’t ready to give my life back to God because I didn’t think that he would take me back. I was the complete opposite of the Eunuch and didn’t completely believe in God right away instead I was like a little kid jumping into a pool for the first time by myself.

Works Cited
Gutzke, Manford G. Plain Talk on Acts. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966. 87. Print.
Harrison, Everett F. Interpreting Acts the Expanding Church. Grand Rapids: Academic Books, 1997. 151-52. Print.
The Anchor Bible Dictionary. 1992. 667. Print.
Witherington III, Ben. The Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids: Erdmans Publishing Co., 1998. 295-97. Print.

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