seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 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, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
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.
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.”
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.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
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?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 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. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
In the footnotes... verse 37: Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”Now... let me give you the definition of a eunuch. I got this definition from Got Questions.
The eunuchs of the Bible were usually castrated males or those incapable of reproduction due to a birth defect. A eunuch could also be someone who performed work typical of eunuchs, although he remained perfectly capable of having sex—i.e., “eunuch” in some cases was simply a title. The purpose of intentional castration was to induce impotence and remove sexuality. It was a common practice in ancient times for rulers to castrate some of their servants and/or advisers in order to subdue and pacify them. It was especially common to castrate men who tended the royal harem. Queen Esther’s eunuchs are mentioned in Esther 4:4.
In Matthew 19:12, Jesus mentions eunuchs in the context of whether it is good to marry. He says, “There are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Jesus identifies three types of “eunuchs” here: natural eunuchs (“born that way”), forced eunuchs (“made eunuchs by others”), and voluntary eunuchs (“those who choose”).
OK... This is a story about a Eunuch. He was a smart guy who worked for the Queen. He was castrated... sexless or sex changed or just not interested in sex... he was trusted to be around women. In Matthew, Jesus told us there are three types of Eunuchs. They could be born that way. Born sexless..... hhhmmmm. They could be forced to be that way... like when the Persians gathered up all the able-bodied men, they castrated them so the Jewish Nation would stop growing. And then there were those who chose to be sexless or sex changed... in other words, they didn't get aroused around women... women weren't their type. [Get my drift?]
The man asked Philip to explain it to him. Philip explained. The Eunuch was Baptized right then and there. A Baptized Castrate.... or a Baptized sex changed man. Right? Is that what I'm reading?
Switching to the disappearance, this is from the commentary.
The Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more... Philip was found at Azotus: Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away as he and the Ethiopian came out of the water. He was then transported supernaturally in some way to the former Philistine city of Azotus (also known as Ashdod).
Beam me up Skottie.... Philip was transported supernaturally to Ashdod! Did you miss that? I didn't.... Beam me up Skottie!
So, is this a story about a gay man [for whichever reason] who accepted Jesus as his Savior?
Is this story about why Philip got transported after baptizing the eunuch?
Dr. Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and this Book, has left me scratching my head and questioning this morning.
Is this about a gay man getting baptized or about Philip getting transported?
