Acts 8:36-40 – 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] 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.
“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?”” This man was pushing to be right with God. He had been studying the Old Testament and wanted to know what it meant and he wanted to personally know God. After believing and receiving the Gospel as explained to him by Philip, he wanted to go the next step and he wanted the next step to be right away.
Verse 37 is not included in many (most) modern translations. It is believed to be an interpolation inserted by a well-meaning translator. However well-meaning is not acceptable. What is in the Bible has to be what God put in and not man. The content of the addition is sound theology, but never-the-less seems to be an addition and not part of the earliest manuscripts. It appears only in the “Western” family of manuscripts that originated in the Western Roman Empire. It is thought to be inserted by a well-meaning scribe. It reads “Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” The insertion, rather than a cause for concern, should give us confidence in the scriptures we have. The authenticity of the Bible has been continually examined so that what we have in the Bible is only what the original manuscripts contain. Praise God for these diligent scholars!
“And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.” This God-seeker stopped the carriage and went with Philip to the water to be baptized. Now we must remember that Philip would not have baptized the new believer if Philip did not believe that the confession of faith was sincere. Philip knew full well the meaning of being baptized.
“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.” We can see from this verse that the water was deep enough that the baptism was a submersing as it reads that “they” came out of the water.
The next part of this verse states that the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away and the eunuch did not see him again. This all may seem so very mysterious, especially if one is inclined to disbelieve the supernatural acts of God (How is possible to be a Believer and think that way?). What happened here is that Philip had finished his ministry to the Ethiopian man and so the Holy Spirit whisked him away. Philip baptized the neophyte and was obviously with him as he dunked the man in the water, even went underneath with the man, came out of the water and helped raise the man to a standing position and then, suddenly vanished and the man never saw Philip again. Philip was with the eunuch and then “appeared” in Azotus. Why would anyone doubt that the Lord supernaturally transported Philip from one place to another? Does that seem too hard for the Creator of heaven and earth, for the one who raised Jesus from the dead, for the one who did all the mighty miracles of the Old and New Testaments? Also, this was not the first time that the Lord had done this. The Lord did the same with Ezekiel as we see in Ezekiel 3:14 “The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me.” Ezekiel was also supernaturally transported by God. Even more eye-brow raising is that Ezekiel was not cooperative like Philip, but was resistant to what the Lord was calling him to do (Ezekiel 3:15). 1 Kings 18:12 shows that it was known in the days of the Old Testament that God could, and would, transport his prophets from one place to another. We also see the same evidence of this knowledge in 2 Kings 2:16.
Luke used the same word (harpazō) to speak of the transporting of Philip as Paul used to speak of the “rapture,” or snatching away of the church from earth to Heaven near the end of days as we know them (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This word means to “snatch out or away.” And the word carries with it a meaning of a forceful action. This indicates that the action of being snatched away is done by the will and mighty hand of God. Philip was not transported by his own will or action, the same applies to the coming “rapture” of the church. Surely it is only by the power of God that Philip was snatched from one place to another and so it will be with the church. And absolutely God is able to do what seems inconceivable to us.
The same word is used in John 6:15 when the Jews had come to try to seize and take away Jesus by use of their force. John 10:29 uses the Word when assuring us that no-one is capable of snatching us from the secure hand of Jesus. Now let us finally consider 2 Corinthians 12:2 where Paul uses this word to describe how God “caught” him up into paradise. The person caught up is firmly believed to be Paul talking about himself. Paul was supernaturally transported by God from earth to Heaven and then back again. Now that is a journey! Yes, God has in the past, and if He desired to do so again, supernaturally transported people. Family, if we are wondering how grand it would be for us be so transported, I can suggest a way to set ourselves up for the possibility. Start by transporting ourselves from one place to another by whatever mode we can to do the work of God. Let’s be busy doing the work of God here on earth. That is what Philip and Paul were doing when they were transported. Besides God will one day transport us. He may do it now for ministry, or perhaps we may be one of the ones transported at the rapture, or perhaps when our life on earth is over He will transport us from here to there. And there we shall be with Him forever. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.