Study the Bible Yourself 
Conversion of a Humble Nobleman​​ 2
Purpose:
  • Read to find out what this curious, puzzled man learned from the Scriptures under the guidance of an inspired evangelist (preacher).
  • Read to find out what took him from much uncertainty to knowledgable "rejoicing."
  • Notice what happens when people "preach Jesus."
  • Find out what saves from sin.
Key Words:  Philip, Gaza, Ethiopia, Isaiah, Understand, Scripture (another name for the Bible), guide, baptized (Vine's Dictionary), rejoicing. ​
Text: Acts 8:26-39
Reading time: 2 min. 30 sec.
​Total Lesson Time: 15 to 30 min.
Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian
"26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”

30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.”

34 So the eunuch* answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
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38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing." (Acts 8:26-39, NKJV)
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Take Quiz Below - 
Gaza is about 50 miles SW of Jerusalem, Ethiopia is about 700 miles S of Jerusalem. Courtesy of Google Maps.
Legend
  • Numerals in text=verse numbers; used to help find passages in the Bible.
  • Highlighted text—click to read more about.
  • Text [in brackets] within a quote has been added for clarification.
  • Abbreviation:  v=verse; vv=verses
  • How to read Bible references.  In the example "Acts 8:26"  "Acts" refers to the book in the Bible (a table of contents in the front of the Bible is helpful for persons unfamiliar with the Bible); "8" refers to the chapter within the book; the number after the ":" refers to the verse within the chapter; in this case verse 26. "Acts 8:26-29" refers to the book of Acts, in chapter 8, verses 26 through verse 28; *8:27, 29" refers to chapter 8, verse 27 and verse 29.
Learning Guide
  • Begin by offering a brief prayer for an open heart and God's blessings as you seek to understand this portion of God's word.
  • Read the title and the first couple of verses to determine what genre (kind of text it is: e.g., poetry, exposition, recipe, genealogy, proverbs, fiction, historical fiction, narrative) it is.
  • Use the appropriate framework for reading the rest.
  • ​In this case it is historical narrative; as such you may expect it to have a "beginning," "middle," and "end."; so look for: characters (who), setting (where, when), problem (what), attempts to solve (how), purpose (why), theme (central, key idea or "message" throughout), and resolution.
Glossary
  •  Eunuch - "a man who has had his sexual organs removed" (Meriam-Webster Online) Read more about in Smith's Bible Dictionary.
  • Philip - an inspired evangelist [preacher] "who was one of the seven," (Acts 6:5; 21:8, 9).​​
Copyright © 2016 by L. G. Butler. All rights reserved.
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