Acts 8:26

The Acts of Philip the Deacon,Episode of the Conversion and Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch, the Treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia, 26-40.

Acts 8:26. And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip. The more accurate rendering, ‘But an angel of the Lord,' is more in harmony with the history of the early days of the Church. Among the strange and supernatural manifestations which accompanied the laying of the first stones of the Christian Church, the visible manifestation of angels is not the least remarkable. It was no special minister of the great King in this case, as we read of in the announcement to Zacharias the priest and Mary the virgin (Luke 1:19-26), but simply one of the army of Heaven. For other instances of this visible ministering on the part of angels in these first days, see Acts 1:10; Acts 5:19; Acts 10:3; Acts 12:7; Acts 28:23. There is no hint given here that this appearance took place in a dream or a vision. The writer of the ‘Acts' here simply relates the actual appearance of an angelic being to Philip.

Unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. Gaza was one of the oldest cities in the world. It is mentioned with Sodom and the cities of the plain before their destruction (Genesis 10:19). It was the chief city of the Philistines, and in later years was of great importance as a frontier fortress, and the key to Egypt on the south and to Syria on the north.

After many sieges and vicissitudes of fortune, we hear of it frequently during the Crusades. It still exists under the changed name of Ghuzzeh, and contains a population of about 15,000.

The exact application of the words, ‘which is desert,' has given rise to much argument. Some suppose the words refer to the deserted state of Gaza, as though it were uninhabited. Another view prefers to understand the expression in a moral sense: ‘This is desert,' being the angel's reason for Philip being sent to evangelise this region, in which the light of truth seemed hopelessly dimmed; but the simple meaning of the words gives the best sense. There were several roads which led to Gaza, and the angel carefully pointed out one of them to Philip as the way by which he was to go, knowing that he would thus meet the Ethiopian; so the heavenly messenger directed him to choose that particular road which, after passing Hebron, led through a desolate, solitary country. In other words, he said, ‘Go to Gaza by the desert road.'