PHILIP

The first 3 verses of Acts 8 should probably have been the ending of chapter 7.

Saul watched and approved of Stephen’s stoning. And he genuinely believed he was on God’s side; defending Torah from these upstart Christians. He began going door to door like the Gestapo; forcing his way in, arresting Christians.

This increase in persecution pushed many Christians out of Jerusalem. And, that was actually a good thing for the spread of the Gospel. God always manages to make lemonade out of lemons. 🍋

Philip was the second man named in the list of the 7 servants appointed to handle the food distribution in the Church. He was also an Evangelist who did miracles and cast out demons.

😯 Wow. That was some Deacon Board they had back then! Healing miracles, signs and wonders, casting out demons, bold preaching…

🤓 If Stephen and Philip did all this stuff, what did all the other guys do?

Good question. Let’s find out.

PROCHORUS

• His name is Greek, suggesting that he was a Greek-speaking Jew. Christian tradition numbers him among the 70 disciples.
• He traveled with Peter and later served as a companion and scribe to the Apostle John. Church tradition holds that he was even banished with John to the aisle of Patmos where he wrote down the Revelation as John’s scribe.
• He reportedly became the Bishop of Nicomedia and finally suffered martyrdom in Antioch.

NICANOR

• He was a Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jewish Christian whose name means “conqueror of men”.
• Tradition also numbers Nicanor either among the 70 Apostles designated by Jesus, or one of the disciples of the 70.
• According to tradition in the Eastern Church, Nicanor suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem on the same day as Stephen along with hundreds of others. Other traditions believe that he was one of those who left Jerusalem and went with a group of Christians to the island of Cyprus where he eventually died.

TIMON

• His Greek name means “honorable.” He was likely a Hellenistic Jew.
• Christian tradition also numbers Timon among the Seventy Apostles sent out by Jesus.
• Timon left Jerusalem for missionary work and was later appointed bishop of Bostra (Busra) in Roman “Arabia” (Syria).
• He actively preached the Gospel, baptized both Jews and Greeks, and was recognized in various accounts for gifts of healing and casting out evil spirits.
• Eastern tradition holds that he was arrested and thrown into a red-hot furnace. One version of the story says he died in the furnace. Another version says he miraculously emerged unharmed, so they crucified him. Either way, he died around AD 44.

PARMENAS

• Church Tradition includes him in the 70 Apostles.
• He preached the Gospel in Asia Minor and Macedonia where he is said to have abolished the pagan sacrificial meals and planted house churches; winning thousands through healings and preaching and baptizing entire families. He is also identified as serving as bishop of a city called Soli (either in Cyprus or Cilicia).
• Western tradition notes he suffered martyrdom by stoning around 98 AD in Philippi under Emperor Trajan because he refused to sacrifice to Apollo, while some Eastern traditions hold that he died from an illness in Jerusalem.

NICOLAS OF ANTIOCH

• Not to be confused with “Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra” who is the basis of the earliest “Saint Nicholas” Christmas traditions.
• Nicolas of Antioch is the only non-Jew by birth explicitly identified among the original seven deacons. He was native of Antioch who had converted to Judaism (a proselyte) before later embracing Christianity.
• Early church traditions (including writings from Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Hippolytus) link Nicolas to the Nicolaitans, a group rebuked in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:6, 15). Suggesting that he became a heretic.
• Clement of Alexandria defended his character, suggesting his personal advice to “abuse the flesh” (meaning strict asceticism) was twisted by false teachers to justify immoral behavior. Many modern scholars question whether he had any real connection to the sect bearing a similar name.

PHILIP IN SAMARIA

This is one of the instances in the book of Acts where we see a distinction between belief and baptism, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.

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

“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬, ‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This is one of the passages that led Pentecostals to conclude that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was something additional and subsequent to repentance, belief, and water baptism.

If believers automatically receive all of the Holy Spirit they’re going to “get” at baptism, then what is happening here?

Something not addressed directly in the text is the beautiful healing between Jew and Samaritan that takes place in Christ. For centuries, the two races had despised one another. But Jesus brings people together. He began to reach out to the Samaritans in John 4 when He revealed Himself to the Samaritan Woman at the Well. The antidote to racism has always been for each race to submit to Jesus. Their loyalty is no longer primarily to their race, but to Christ and His Kingdom.

PHILIP AND SIMON THE MAGICIAN

Simon the Magician is given a LOT of credit on the internet for being the founder of Gnosticism and Secret Societies and who knows what else. I haven’t researched it so I can’t say for certain, but I’m highly skeptical that he did all that. What I can tell you is that the practice of offering to pay for positions of leadership in the church was named after him.

One could argue (and some do), that the attempt to purchase any kind of spiritual ability, (like classes, books or conferences that claim to teach how to prophesy, heal, or exercise any spiritual gift), would be simony.

All I can tell you is…

Jesus said, “Freely you received, freely give,” Mat. 10:8.

“…test everything; hold fast what is good.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

PHILIP AND THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH

K… I LOVE this story and it gives me hope that someday, in a glorified body, I will be able to “teleport.” I mean, how cool would it be to just pop over to some beautiful location a thousand miles away, just for a cup of tea with a nice view or a chat with a friend? I’m reasonably sure that will be possible and I am VERY much in favor of it.

We aren’t given a name for this Ethiopian man, but there is plenty of historical and archaeological evidence about his boss:

Amanitore, Kushite Kandake of Meroe

“Candace” is not actually her name. It’s a Latinization of her title, kendake [kan-dah-kee], which means queen consort or queen mother. She co-reigned with her son Natakamani in the mid first century.

This eunuch was a high-ranking official who handled the royal treasury. And he was a follower of Yahweh.

The text isn’t clear on whether he was a Jew, a Gentile convert to Judaism, or simply a Gentile “God-fearer,” but he was serious enough to travel to Jerusalem to worship and purchase his own copy of Isaiah which would’ve been quite expensive.

An angel appears to Philip and tells him to get up and go down the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.

The LORD knows that this man is sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah and puzzling over it. He sends an angel to send Philip for this one man. The vehicle was probably more what we would call a wagon than like a little war chariot. And it’s traveling slowly enough for Philip to walk or jog alongside.

The passage the man is reading offers the perfect opportunity to share the Gospel. And when they pass some water, he asks if he could be baptized.

This pool captures the water of the Spring of Ein Haniya, the second largest water source in this area. It’s also known as The Fountain of Philip. Ancient markings and remnants of ancient churches indicate that Christians recognized it from very early times as the location where Philip baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch. It’s located here:

The Spring is in The Valley of Rephaim (the Valley of Giants), where David defeated the Philistines twice shortly after being crowned king. The second time was when God told him to wait to attack until he heard the sound of the angelic army of Yahweh marching in the tops of the mulberry trees.

Interestingly, the scroll of Isaiah in the Eunuch’s hands made one reference to the Valley of Rephaim. It was about the coming judgment on Jerusalem and Judah for their idolatry.

“And in that day the glory of Jacob will be brought low, and the fat of his flesh will grow lean. And it shall be as when the reaper gathers standing grain and his arm harvests the ears, and as when one gleans the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten— two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the Lord God of Israel.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭17‬:‭4‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

You can see from the satellite image above, that grain would be difficult to grown in this steep, narrow valley. There wouldn’t be much to glean. But God said there would a just a few gleanings left.

Jerusalem has once again rejected the LORD and will come to judgment. But there is a remnant, a gleaning, of those who love God and His Word who are being gathered, literally in the Valley of Rephaim.

The Ethiopian Eunuch is said to have shared the Gospel when he returned home and this was likely the earliest foundation of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church. These Christians were cut off from the rest of the Church when Islam took over northern Africa. But Ethiopia remained a Christian nation.

Just outside this church is the building said to contain the Ark of the Covenant. All around Ethiopia there are churches with miniature or scale replicas of the Ark and their worship today has a strong Jewish flavor.

In central Ethiopia, there is a site called Lalibela with 11 stone churches carved from the top down out of solid rock. The site was intended to replicate various holy places in Israel. In the northern Tigray region there is a chapel in the sky called Abuna Yemata Guh built in the 5th century. I’d love to see it, but there is no way I’d make it past the last bit of path with a sheer drop off and no handrail.

Hope you enjoyed our travels with Philip. He has teleported off to Azotus. That was the Greco-Roman name for the city of Ashdod where the Philistines put the Ark of the Covenant in the temple of Dagon and the statue of Dagon was found prostrate before the Ark.

We’ll bump into Philip again before Acts is over. By then he’ll be married with 4 daughters and living in Caesarea but we’ll come to that later.