The Book of Acts Chapter 8

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The Book of Acts Chapter 8

Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.8.NIV

Philip's Ministry (Samaria and Ethiopia)

The Church Persecuted and Scattered

1 And Saul approved of their killing him. (Saul was a persecutor.)

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. (The new believers were scattered throughout the regions fleeing from persecution.)

2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. (Stephen was memorized by the fellow believers.)

3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. (Saul who had proved the death of Stephen continually persecuted the believers.)

Philip in Samaria

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (Being scattered gave them chance to share the Gospel in those regions. We must find the best way even in any difficult situation such as persecution. Rom. 8:28)

5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. (Samaria was an avoided area by Jews due to historical reasons, but Philip preached the gospel here, as Jesus foretold. 1:8)

6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.

7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. (God approved the authenticity of Philip's preaching with signs.)

8 So there was great joy in that city.

Simon the Sorcerer

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”

11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. (Simon the sorcerer was a famous magic worker at the time.)

12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. (Due to the powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the Samaritans, including Simon, came to faith and baptized.)

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. (The Jerusalem church sent Peter and John, the head apostles, to Samaria to confirm‎ their conversion the christianity. Remember this time was the beginning/expansion of the church.)

15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (Peter and John prayed for them to have the Holy Spirit.)

17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. (When the apostles laid hands on them, there was a sign of manifestation of the Holy Spirit, similar to the Pentecost.)

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” (Simon thought the power demonstrated by the apostles might be the same as his sorcery, and asked the purchase.)

20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Simon, even he believed the Gospel, his culture was way too far from the true knowledge and practice of the Gospel due to his old life style. So, it takes time and effort to grow faith and bare fruits.)

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” (Everybody need to learn to be a mature believers.)

25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.

Philip and the Ethiopian

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road- the desert road- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza(1, map).”(48.5 miles SW) (God heavily and clearly involved in the Gospel ministry at the time of the early church.)

27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship(2, Ethiopian Eunuch), 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. (Isa. 53:7-8)

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” (Direct guidance of the Holy Spirit.)

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. (We may not understand the Bible we read.)

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” (Isa. 53:7-8, Prophecy on Suffering Messiah)

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” (The eunuch wanted to know the meaning of the passage.)

35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (The text was one of the most appropriate passages about the Messiah Jesus. So Philip shared the Jesus Christ from the passage.)

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] (The eunuch was willing to be baptized when they found some water.)

38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. (The baptism confirmed his conversion from the faith of the Old Testament to the New Testament.)

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. (The eunuch was not sorry for missing Philip. We live momentary but in the eternity.)

40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus (We see here the 20 to 30 miles Gaza to Azotus of sudden relocation(3, Teleportation) of Philip.)

and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

(1)MAP: Philip's Journey

https://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney1/7-journeys-of-jesuss-followers/philips-journeys/

Philip's Journey

(2)Ethiopian Eunuch

During the reign of the King Solomon, the queen of Shiva (now Ethiopia or Yemen) visited Jerusalem (1 King 10:). Since then senior officials may have visited Jerusalem regularly. This eunuch may have been one of them. There are still many Ethiopian Jews today.

(3)Teleportation (Google AI)

Teleportation is the hypothetical instant transfer of matter or energy, a staple of sci-fi like Star Trek, but in real physics, it refers to quantum teleportation: transferring quantum information (states) between particles, not the particles themselves, using entanglement, crucial for quantum computing but not sci-fi human transport. While we can't beam people, scientists successfully teleport quantum states over distances, with recent advances showing promise for a quantum internet and secure communication. (I kinda overly exaggerated here but not worry too much because we know that God is almighty.)