When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, turned up at Azotus. He went through all the towns, announcing the good news, until he came to Caesarea. [Acts 8:39-40 (NTE)]
We don’t know how far Philip and the Ethiopian traveled together before the eunuch spotted water. The book of Isaiah is 66 chapters long and there was a lot to cover as Philip told him about the man called Jesus, so it may have been as far as Gaza. It is there that the road split—north to Caesarea and south to Egypt and Ethiopia. While we don’t know the location, we just know that the Ethiopian was baptized when they came to water.
After the baptism, the logical thing for Philip would be to continue south beyond Egypt to the Ethiopian’s homeland. With the support of a rich and powerful man like the Queen’s treasurer, Philip would have been remarkably effective in bringing the gospel to a new part of the world. God’s logic, however, is nothing like man’s. When the men emerged from the water, we’re told that the “Spirit of the Lord” snatched Philip away and the eunuch never saw him again.
The Greek word Luke used was harpazó which meant to seize, catch up, or snatch away. Often used when speaking of a robbery or an arrest, the power clearly belonged to the snatcher rather than the snatchee. Does this mean that Philip was supernaturally carried away north to Azotus? Or does it mean that Philip was carried away by a vision of the Spirit and he immediately changed direction and departed on another God-ordained appointment? It’s unclear whether Luke was writing figuratively or literally, but we do know that the men abruptly departed from one another.
After this significant episode in the advancement of the Gospel, what became of these two men? It hardly seems likely that the Holy Spirit would leave a new convert like the Ethiopian high and dry! Perhaps the scroll, Philip’s words, and the Holy Spirit’s presence were all the man needed. In the 2nd century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, wrote that the eunuch became a missionary to the Ethiopians and, in the 4th century, Eusebius (260-339), the man called “the father of church history,” asserted that, filled with the Holy Spirit, the Ethiopian planted a flourishing church in Ethiopia. All we know for sure, however, is that he “went on his way rejoicing.”
Scripture does tell us that Philip preached the gospel in the coastal cities of Palestine from Azotus north to Caesarea. Because Paul and Luke stayed with him some twenty years later, we know Philip eventually settled in Caesarea, married, and had four daughters. The men stayed with Philip several days and it may have been then when Luke learned of Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch.
Rather than an apostle, Philip was one of the seven men selected as a deacon for the early church. A deacon’s job was to distribute food to the widows and alms to the poor and to handle everyday church business so that the apostles could spend their time praying and teaching. Along with identifying Philip by his position as deacon, Luke identified him by his passion and called him “the Evangelist.” The Greek word translated as evangelist was euaggelisté. Used to mean “preacher of the gospel,” its literal meaning is “bringer of good news” or “bearer of glad tidings.”
Evangelism isn’t an occupation; it is a passion. While most of us don’t qualify as “preachers of the gospel,” all can be bearers of glad tidings! When we look at Philip, we see someone who had a passion for Christ—who, when given an opportunity to share the gospel, didn’t say it wasn’t his job. He didn’t doubt, negotiate, hesitate, or refuse—he simply followed the Spirit’s lead and was a “bringer of good news.” Can we do anything less?
Devotions of the Heart 