Just One
In the first great awakening of the New Covenant era, there is an interesting and intriguing account that I believe has application for our journey today. It is the story of a government official (ugh), a eunuch (yikes), a lifeless desert (hmmm), racism (yep, it was a real thing two thousand years ago), and two humble guys with hearts open to whatever the Most High God would radically change (the heroes of this exhortation).
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his return was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that chariot and stay by it.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Acts 8:26-31 BSB
You can go finish this amazing account that includes the baptism into Christ AND into water by a racially, physically, and religiously rejected believer seeking the truth about what his heart yearned for. It also has the exciting occurrence of Philip being trans-relocated, supernaturally confirming the miraculous access given to submitted servants willing to, “do the hard things,”… and, because God is no, “respecter of persons,” it should inspire us to lean into the supernatural as we obediently heed the leading of the Spirit in our lives.
There are just tons of important facts here that are all worthy of deep and profound exegetical extrapolation, but, for the sake of honoring your Thursday time, I will just shoot out some bullet points to whet your thirst for doing your own biblical meditation.
* It was strongly believed and historically recorded that there was a large contingent of Jewish converts and/or adherents in Ethiopia since the days of Solomon, the beloved son of King David. This was due to the massive impact of divine grace that produced enormous wealth and profound wisdom embodied in Solomon. These world-renown virtues deeply impacted the Queen of Sheba (the biblical territory formerly known as Cush that would eventually become Ethiopia) to personally come and “search” out whether it was really that real. During her short visit to Israel in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9, there was a massive impact on the heart and life of the Queen. Many believed and historically recorded, that the Queen returned bearing a child from her time with Solomon.
* This would coincide with the reality of there being such a strong and authentic contingent of believers in that remote land. So much as to the extreme point that one of the highest government officials in the country was sincerely committed to the end that he requested the time (likely around 2-3 months) and the expense (travel by ship and then chariot for him and his entire cabinet would have costed the equivalent of tens, if not, hundreds of thousands of dollars) for his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in Israel. On a side note, what a “coincidence” that he just “decided” to do this the year that Jesus happened to be atoning for the change of all of humanity for all of time, followed up by the tearing open of the heavens so that Holy Spirit could fill the whole earth on Pentecost starting in Jerusalem… when this eunuch was compelled to visit. You just can’t make this stuff up.
* His visit was likely a dismal failure and an emotionally heart wrenching circumstance because he was fully rejected by the religious hypocrites of the day in their arrogant misunderstanding of the Gospel. He finds that on arrival in Jerusalem, he has several strikes already against him. First, he cannot actually enter the Temple (the church to meet God in). No Eunuch was permitted to enter the Temple. Second, he was a Gentile and, at best, could have only entered the Court of the Gentiles, but that too was also unattainable for him because his second strike was his castrated condition. Insult to injury, for sure. So, he could not fulfill his objective: to worship God directly, as he had devoutly resolved. The two main opposing forces: religious hypocrisy and racism.
* Deuteronomy 23:1 No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.
* Leviticus 22:25 neither shall you offer as the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.
* Acts 21:28 Men of Israel, help us! This is the man (Paul) who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.
* This humble and meek proselyte chose to remain in the area seeking a genuine encounter because we find him leaving after many days following the Holy-day (Pentecost) celebration that he was rejected from participation in. Beloved, hear me please, one of the greatest and simplest promises you can ever commit your heart fully to is, “seek and you shall find,” declared by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. That promise, though audibly unknown, was written on the eunuch’s heart and compelled him to search for the truth. This internal force led him to purchase (at a great expense) a hand-scribed copy of the Scroll (or Scrolls) of Isaiah on the, “black market.” What we dismiss and devalue in today’s anti-Bible culture was of such priority to this Ethiopian that he put himself in physical peril, financial distress, and a politically incorrect position just to possibly find the truth. Jesus did not disappoint…
* Our above verses pick up the evangelistic encounter in the wilderness, a common reference to the cosmic geography of the devil and hades because of the lifelessness and demonic activity insinuated to take place there. So, to paint a glorious picture of the loving mercy of our Good Father, envision this moment with me:
* A racial minority in the generally hated career field of government elitist, who was likely forced into castration by that same government he was now employed by… is motivated by adoring reverence for the God he has been longing to meet… travels a huge distance at massive expense and under great potential for peril… finally arrives to the gloriously anticipated and awe-inspiring Temple complex in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and Feast of Weeks (two of the most celebrated calendar moments in all of Judaism)… finds that his Gentile black skin and forced castration makes him doubly rejected by church hierarchy from worshipping Yahweh in the way his heart so passionately longed for… processes his rejection in an authentically and healthy way… surprisingly, stays in Jerusalem to worship God in spite of the overt ostracization for the next fifty days… has his heart filled with hope likely because of the heightened supernatural activity surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah… finds the sacred Scroll of Isaiah and is determined to meet his God even if it is ONLY through the anointed scriptures… starts his tedious return trek and is quickly in confusion and disappointment at the difficulties associated with the prophetic nature of Isaiah chapter 53… GOD, WHY!
* A rejected black, political figure, not allowed in church because he was emasculated by society, disappointed by not accomplishing his desire to find God, and is now in the waterless desert in spiritual confusion and potential emotional misery…
* But God…
The parallels scream at me in the application for our time and generation. Here we are as Christians and conservatives in a culture that blatantly and vilely HATES us. Here YOU are, as a precious part of the Beloved Church family, aware of the dark and wicked hostility towards us specifically as part of the remnant movement in America. We look around at a scorched wasteland of spiritual deadness and moral degeneracy like the lifeless topography of an endless desert in seeming hopelessness. The government wants to castrate us and our children spiritually and physically, the religious cool-kids of church-i-anity despise and dismiss us, the surrounding society is narcissistic and God-less, and we are leaving the place we thought was gonna fix everything, all alone in a hot chariot, presumedly headed back to old normal.
But God…
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, a crazy-eyed Jesus-revolution preacher shows up in the middle of our confused pity party and confidently declares a message of divine hope that changes EVERYTHING!
The Father encounters us through our repentant hearts and fulfills our desires by gently immersing us into Christ…
The crazy preacher immerses us in the water of baptism for allegiance to a New King and Kingdom…
The heavens immerse us in the reality of the New and Living Way rushing into the earth specifically for those despised and rejected…
The Spirit of Truth immerses us into a new calling higher than government work called a Divine Destiny…
Just for giggles, go do a quick search for the Ethiopian Christian Church and you will find that this one blacklisted dude on a journey to find God became the HERO who started a Great Awakening movement that has yielded over eighty million believers in his nation to date.
What could one of us heroes do if we just believed…?
I believe… will you join me?
See you not soon enough,
Steve
