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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:19) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "Was Philip Miraculously Transported by the Spirit?" Here's Rick and Julie.

[Rick] (0:20 - 0:27) Welcome, everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor.

Julie, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

[Julie] (0:28 - 0:37) Acts 8:39: "When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him but went on his way rejoicing."

[Rick] (0:38 - 1:27) There are several scriptures in the Bible that really capture our imaginations. The account of Jonah and the great fish is one. Elijah being taken up in a whirlwind is another. One more of the many is the account of the disciple Philip when he was instructed by God to find an Ethiopian man on a deserted road and witness the gospel to him.

After this amazing and well-known encounter, the scriptures say that Philip was "snatched away" by God's spirit. What does that mean? Many believe it was a miracle, and that Philip was supernaturally transported away from that place in an instant.

Others believe that he was simply and powerfully compelled to leave. Which perspective is true? Let's unfold the events that lead to this detail and see what we can learn from the scriptures.

[Julie] (1:28 - 1:46) There are four different men named Philip in the Bible. Two are in the family of Herod the Great. You have Philip the Apostle, and the Philip we're talking about here, often referred to as "Philip the Evangelist" or "Philip the Deacon," because he was both of these things.

He's a shining example of faith, and we're inspired by the details of this account.

[Rick] (1:47 - 2:11) All right, we're going to look at this Philip. From his very first mention in scripture, Philip was shown to be a devout Christian, as he was chosen as one of the seven deacons to directly aid the apostles with the administration of the gospel. We're going to drop in on this account as they're working out how to take care of all who are in need. Let's go to Acts 6:2-6:

[Julie] (2:12 - 2:41) "So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables." Now this ministry of tables had to do with the practical side of serving the Christian community, especially the financial and practical details of distributing food for the widows. Continuing: "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task."

[Rick] (2:41 - 2:57) Okay, so pause there for a second. Think about the qualifications. "Seven men," "good reputation," "full of the spirit" and full "of wisdom."

These were really, really well-respected, well-seasoned Christians they were looking for. Go ahead.

[Julie] (2:57 - 3:38) The apostles continued by saying: "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. The statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid hands on them (or approved them)."

So these seven devoted men were chosen. What an amazing privilege it is to be mentioned by name in the Bible in such a positive sense, but the only men we hear more about in the Bible are Stephen and Philip, this number one and number two.

[Rick] (3:38 - 4:44) All right, so the first two on the list, very, very obviously for a reason. It's after this privileged selection that Stephen--we know what happened to Stephen--went about preaching mightily and ended up being stoned to death for his defense of the gospel. The individual who stood there at his stoning was Saul of Tarsus, who would become the Apostle Paul. After Saul of Tarsus (later the Apostle Paul) consented to the stoning of Stephen, many Christians were scattered.

They were afraid, but they didn't stop preaching. It seems that Philip is the example of this. It seems that Philip was pressed further into service after Stephen's death.

It's very curious that you have this list with these seven; you mention Stephen and then Philip and then the others. We know what happens to Stephen, and right after this, Philip comes into the limelight, so to speak. He's the one that the scriptures focus on. Let's look at how he's really introduced in his activities in Acts 8:4-6,8:

[Julie] (4:45 - 5:33) "Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip,

as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. So there was much rejoicing in that city." I want to stop, because let's not overlook what just happened. Philip is in Samaria.

Samaritans and Jews hated each other for generations too long back to count. This was a long and bitter animosity. He is bringing Jews and Samaritans together as Christians.

He had this powerful evangelical influence as he preached the gospel. He's performing miracles. People are listening to him. His zeal for the Lord is contagious, and the city rejoiced.

[Rick] (5:33 - 6:17) It's so contagious, it's so big, and it's so successful that word gets back to the apostles in Jerusalem, and here's what happens. Peter and John, hearing about this, about these Samaritans receiving the gospel, go down to see what's happening. When they arrive, they lay their hands on the believers, and then the holy spirit comes on them.

You can see that this is real, true evangelizing and bringing Christianity into play in Samaria in a big way. After Peter and John are there doing the things that they needed to do, they made their way back to Jerusalem, preaching along the way as they went. They were there to contribute to what Philip started.

[Julie] (6:18 - 7:17) Acts 8:26-27 says: "But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza (this is a desert road). So he got up and went..."

I just want to stop here because there aren't too many people in the Bible visited by angels, so obviously God is working closely with him. This angel came to Philip, but the message he received has so few details. A Bible commentary by Adam Clarke says this: "He is to perform some great duty; but what,

he is not informed. The road which he is to take is marked out; but what he is to do on that road, or how far he is to proceed, he's not told! It is GOD who employs him, and requires of him implicit obedience."

Basically the message is, go that way, and he obeys without question. I can't help but think that I'd be like, so should I take three days worth of fish, or do you think two? Am I coming back?

Should I leave my clothes here? But he just gets up and goes.

[Rick] (7:17 - 8:07) There's something very significant about that. Again, we go back to the description; "good reputation, full of the spirit, and" full "of wisdom." When you're "full of the spirit," God's will is everything.

You can see that this angel gives him this direction, get up and go; "so he got up and went." There's just this instant--as the Adam Clarke commentary said--instant "implicit obedience." It's really, really powerful.

What do we know about Philip so far? Here's the thing; when we figure out what Philip is like, it helps us understand the rest of his account here. First of all, he was a man of "good reputation," just like the scripture in Acts 2:3 said, a man of "good reputation, full of the spirit," and he was full "of wisdom."

[Julie] (8:08 - 8:13) He met those qualifications, so he was the second named of the seven deacons chosen, with Stephen being the first.

[Rick] (8:14 - 8:32) Okay. Then he was an example of preaching the gospel even after Saul of Tarsus terrorized Christians. He was the one that was highlighted to go out there and just keep going, no matter what the potential consequences were.

[Julie] (8:32 - 8:41) He was fearless, and his preaching and miracles brought much joy and many conversions to those in Samaria. He was a very effective evangelist.

[Rick] (8:42 - 9:34) You can see the gospel spreading to Samaria in a very specific and dynamic way as a result of him. Finally, he immediately complied with instructions to travel on a specific road without knowing why, without knowing when, without knowing anything except that's where I'm supposed to go. But it's a deserted road...but...There's no "buts;" there's just, he got up and he went. It's a beautiful example of obedience.

It's just a beautiful example of the loyalty that we must have in following in Jesus' footsteps. Philip is journeying to an unknown location, for an unknown purpose, in an unknown timing, for completely unknown reasons. All of that, though, would change at some point on that journey.

Let's pick up now with Acts 8:27-28:

[Julie] (9:35 - 9:49) "...and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah."

[Rick] (9:50 - 10:18) Okay, this complete, utter, total stranger is sitting there in his chariot, reading. He has come from Jerusalem--the scripture gives us a little background--and he's reading. (Editor's note--It seems obvious the eunuch had a dedication to the Jewish faith, as he had a scroll of Isaiah with him and was in Jerusalem to worship. Many Bible scholars believe he was a proselyte, a Gentile who had converted to the Jewish faith. While he may not have been a Jew in the fullest sense under the Law, we make the assumption he believed in the Jewish faith, and the few recorded scriptures about him seem to indicate he lived that faith.) Now, Philip has no idea what he's supposed to do.

We don't know if that's the first person he passed or if there were other people on the road. All we know is, he comes across this individual, and now God is going to provoke him to do something. Let's go to Acts 8:29:

[Julie] (10:19 - 10:23) "Then the spirit said to Philip, Go up and join this chariot."

[Rick] (10:23 - 11:14) All right. Now when "the spirit said to Philip," we understand that to be the spirit is provoking, the spirit is driving him, but the words to describe that are very, very specific. Philip's commanded by God's spirit to "join" this chariot. That word for "join" literally means "to glue together, to join oneself to, to cleave to."

It's a word that shows very strong commitment. We want to look at two examples, The first of this word for gluing together, if you will--

the first of the two examples is the very next use of this word in Scripture, and it's about the newly converted Apostle Paul. Remember now, we had Saul of Tarsus wreaking havoc. The next time this word to "join" or to "adhere to" is used after this with Philip is the Apostle Paul.

Let's look at Acts 9:26:

[Julie] (11:14 - 11:50) "When he (Paul) came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple." That word "to associate" means he was trying to ingratiate himself, strongly join himself to the disciples. That's that same word we're talking about.

One other example, Rick, is in Romans 12:9: "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil;

cling to what is good." "Cling" is the same word; you hold on for dear life.

This is what Philip was doing with this chariot and with this eunuch in this chariot.

[Rick] (11:50 - 13:01) In both of these examples--Paul trying to associate--he's not saying, not coming by the Christians and saying, hey guys, you have room for one more? He wants to be a part of them. With association, like you said, it is to be a part of, to be close to them.

They're afraid, because this guy's name is Saul, and he's from Tarsus. They're afraid. They don't have any history yet.

Then this other Scripture about clinging "to what is good," it gives you the sense that this word is full of clear commitment of really holding tight. This ends up being really, really significant as we go through the rest of the account. The command to Philip was clear;

devote yourself to this person sitting in this chariot who's before you. Devote yourself to him and do it now. I mean, there's an urgency when it says "go up and join this chariot."

How does Philip respond? Julie, this is what really, to me, this is what really helps us understand who Philip is, because he responds with his whole heart, with his whole mind, and with his whole body.

Listen to what it says in Acts 8:30-31:

[Julie] (13:02 - 13:12) "Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?"

[Rick] (13:13 - 14:41) He ran to the chariot. Okay, think about this. You've got this grown man walking down this road for who knows what reason, except that God's angel said, go there.

He sees this complete stranger from a foreign country, and God's spirit provokes him to say, go join yourself, be adhered to this. He doesn't just say, huh, this is an interesting application I would have never thought. He runs! He runs, and he hears that he's reading the prophet Isaiah.

He runs up, and it shows that his response is one hundred percent committed. He's gotten his instruction, and there's nothing that stands in his way. He heard the scriptures being read as he approached, and he immediately engaged this stranger with a powerful question.

"'Do you understand what you are reading?" It's not, hi! My name's Philip. What's your name?

Where are you from? How did you get to be here? It's, "do you understand what you are reading?"

There is nothing else important. It's just the gospel. The answer that this eunuch gives him describes a desire for understanding.

This eunuch saw Philip as potentially somebody who could help him grab hold of what he's reading. He's lost. He's lost in the details, but he wants to know,

and this man comes running up and says, "do you understand?" What does the eunuch do? Let's look at Acts 8:31:

[Julie] (14:41 - 14:44) "...And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."

[Rick] (14:45 - 15:18) He invoked him. That word for "invite" means he "invoked" him. Come up here.

You can see that there is this instant connection, and what connects them? The book of Isaiah, the scriptures, and God's Spirit driving Philip.

You can see that Philip is being driven hard by God's Spirit, and he is joyfully going along for the ride. He really, really is. You've got, the Spirit's firm guidance was now manifesting to Philip,

this is why you're here.

[Julie] (15:18 - 15:31) Yeah, I will obey with no idea if I'm walking towards my death or a new congregation that we're going to build. For all he knows, he was going to be the next Stephen and be killed.

[Rick] (15:32 - 16:00) Right, because that just happened. That's not like old news. You have this tremendous, tremendous event unfolding. Now we go and see what's going to unfold.

As cool as it was for him to run toward the chariot--and again, that attitude makes me want to be his best friend, I just want to learn from him, okay--

what happens next is even more dramatic. Let's go to Acts 8:32-35:

[Julie] (16:00 - 16:37) "Now the passage of scripture which he was reading was this (and then he quotes from Isaiah 53:7-8): HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH. The eunuch answered Philip and said, please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him."

[Rick] (16:38 - 18:18) Now this is amazingly powerful. This eunuch is searching for God's plan and God's direction. Philip was powerfully sent there.

The way the scripture reads, "...Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this scripture preached Jesus to him"-- now you look at these scriptures in Isaiah 53, and for Christians now, we know Isaiah 53 is talking about the crucifixion. It's talking about the Lamb of God, it's talking about him taking our sins upon him, and it's this beautiful, beautiful introduction into the purpose of Jesus. But what we don't often think about is, what would they have done after they read Isaiah 53?

Now we don't know, the scriptures don't tell us. But suppose, just suppose they kept reading in Isaiah, because he's got the scroll, he's reading through, Philip is being driven by the Spirit. Here's what happens.

Isaiah 53 explains the Lamb of God and his taking the sacrifices of everyone upon him. Isaiah 54, in a nutshell, describes Israel being able to come back to favor after God would cast them off, to show the power of that Messiah in their lives. Isaiah 55 shows that the gospel wasn't just for Israel but it was open to Gentiles, to other nations.

Where's this eunuch from? Other nations. If--and we don't know--but if they kept on reading, you see the gospel unfolding bigger and bigger.

Jesus is being preached in Isaiah 53, 54, and 55. Julie, what happens in Isaiah 56?

[Julie] (18:19 - 19:27) This is pretty amazing, because there's just no odds for this. Isaiah 56:1-8--and I recommend you read it when this story is sinking in--but it talks about how, specifically to the eunuchs, "the LORD will never let me be a part of his people," as the foreigners will say to the Lord. He says: "And don't let the eunuchs say, I'm a dried up tree with no children or no future," because "the LORD says, I will bless those eunuchs who keep My days holy" and who "commit their lives to Me."

It goes on and on, that He will give them an "everlasting" name, one that "will never disappear." How personal this would have been to this eunuch! The Life Application Study Bible says this: "Isaiah clearly proclaimed the radical message that God's blessings are for all people, even Gentile foreigners and eunuchs, who were often excluded from worship and not considered citizens in Israel."

These are the blessings of the gospel message he would have so longed to hear. Of course he went away rejoicing!

[Rick] (19:27 - 20:40) Again, the scriptures don't tell us that they read these verses, but just saying, they're right there, right after Isaiah 53. Remember, the scripture that introduced this eunuch to us said that he had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was a Cornelius.

He was looking for the God of the Jewish nation. He wanted to understand. Philip comes, and beginning from the scripture in Isaiah 53, he preaches Jesus to him.

It is utterly remarkable that in Isaiah 56, it mentions eunuchs specifically as being able to be privileged along these lines. Again, this is a little bit of speculation, we don't know for sure, but it certainly seems reasonable that this is how Philip helped him understand what those verses meant. Can you imagine, can you imagine the thrill going through this eunuch?

The thrill going through Philip, saying, oh, you gave me this scripture to start with. Let's you and me talk, friend. I've got something to tell you!

The conclusion of Philip's witnessing was this Gentile converted to discipleship. Here's what happens in Acts 8:36:

[Julie] (20:41 - 21:06) "As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" We're going to skip verse 37. It is omitted in the early manuscript, so we don't think it's included. But obviously, Philip agreed about this baptism, and in verse 38, he says: "And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him."

[Rick] (21:06 - 21:42) Here we have this conclusion of this short but amazingly fruitful interaction between a profoundly dedicated disciple of Christ, who runs to do God's will, and this Gentile who's searching for God's truth in the Jewish scriptures. The result was a transformed life for the eunuch and an accomplished gospel mission for Philip. You think, this is wonderful;

well, things would now dramatically change for both of these men in very different ways. Let's look at Acts 8:39 and move forward to the scripture in question.

[Julie] (21:43 - 21:51) "When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him but went on his way rejoicing."

[Rick] (21:51 - 22:06) All right. Even though Philip was gone, this eunuch's life was changed and he was glad, and we can see lots of reasons for him to go away rejoicing. His life has just been forever, forever altered in such a positive way.

[Julie] (22:07 - 22:30) Right. Now we're coming to our main question. Was Philip miraculously transported by the spirit?

What happened to Philip? It says he was "snatched away." There are at least two possible explanations.

The most common, and that we see in a lot of Bible commentaries, is that this was a supernatural transportation. He's here one minute and poof! He's gone the next. But the second explanation is that he simply was provoked to leave quickly.

[Rick] (22:31 - 23:30) All right. How do we look at this? Well, before explaining our perspective, we just want to add a few more details about what we know about Philip, because that helps us put it together.

Three quick points: Philip, first of all, was instructed to become glued to stick to this chariot, and he ran to comply. Once there, he attentively listened, he questioned, and he preached according to God's Word, beginning in Isaiah.

Then the third point; he brought that man to Christ and he baptized him. He completed his mission. Now we get to this scripture that says "the Lord snatched Philip away." Let's look at how that word is used in some scriptures.

Let's--and here's the thing. Before we start, I just want to make a point that that word does not imply, the essence of the word itself does not imply anything miraculous. It's a very physical word. Let's take a look at how it's used and see if we can understand it.

[Julie] (23:31 - 24:20) Here's a use by the same author, Luke, in Acts 23:10: "And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks." This "take...by force" is the same Greek word we're talking about.

It's "harpazo," used for Philip being "snatched away." Here's another use; John 6:15 of the Young's Literal Translation says this: "Jesus, therefore, having known that they are about to come, and to take him by force, that they may make him king, retired again to the mountain himself alone." So, "take...by force."

Jesus knew the crowd would force him along, snatch him away from his mission. Nothing supernatural transportation-y about it.

[Rick] (24:21 - 26:27) All right, so we've got two examples. This word's used about twelve different times in the New Testament (Editor's note--it is used thirteen times), and for the most part it's used for, there's an emergent circumstance and something needs to change quickly. It's not necessarily miraculous, but there's something emergent.

The soldiers have to take Paul "by force" to protect him, the Jewish people wanted to take Jesus "by force" to worship him as king, which was not appropriate. You see this thing of forcibly changing a circumstance. That's what the word means.

Now it's also used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. We're not going to get into that now, and it does have a miraculous sense to that in terms of the end of the age and those who are faithful unto death; subject for another day. But the word essentially means to take something and move it quickly out of one circumstance into another. While our understanding of this action is not along the lines of miraculous transportation, we simply can't say, well, it certainly didn't happen.

We don't know that. We absolutely don't know that. It could have.

However, here's how we look at it at this point; by tracing the events before this, we see Philip as a man of--and we've seen this--of all-out conviction in every experience that is brought his way. It seems reasonable that just as he was told to be joined, to be glued to that chariot, he also needed to be told that his time there needed to abruptly end.

I told you to stay there and adhere to it; now you've got to leave. With the same force that he's brought to the experience, it seems to me it's with the same force he had to be separated. He had, with great intensity, appeared before this eunuch and would be required to leave with the same intensity.

That's a sense, that's an opinion on how this event unfolded. Let's go to Acts 8:40, because the question we have to ask is, does this next verse change things?

[Julie] (26:28 - 27:07) Okay, so it says: "But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea." This makes it sound like Philip is dazed and confused after being whisked through a travel portal, when it says he found himself at Azotus. But most translations don't include "himself" in this verse. Let me read it again from Young's Literal Translation: "And Philip was found at Azotus, and passing through, he was proclaiming good news to all the cities until his coming to Caesarea."

It simply means that no one saw Philip again until he arrived normally, like a human, in Azotus.

[Rick] (27:08 - 27:43) You look at that and say, okay, that has a credibility to it. Why no miracle then? Why do we look at this and say, no, we don't think it was a miracle?

One of the reasons, one of the real key reasons, is there's no indication that a miracle was needed. We don't see anything about him needing to leave there for any specific reason, and needing to instantly be twenty or thirty miles away. The work was done.

Philip's next mission, as it's described in Scripture, was to simply preach in Azotus as he passed through Azotus into other cities.

[Julie] (27:44 - 27:55) It could have happened miraculously, but why? There's no time urgency. He didn't have to get to it instantaneously for any reason, at least not one that's recorded for us. It doesn't have to be a miracle.

[Rick] (27:56 - 28:35) Let's move forward with Philip's life now. We put that out there for consideration. Philip apparently goes further beyond Azotus and settles in Caesarea, as about twenty years later, he's visited by the Apostle Paul.

Now remember, it's Saul of Tarsus who provoked him to go out preaching. Now twenty years later after that journey, he's actually being visited by the Apostle Paul, the man who had scattered Christians everywhere at the beginning of Philip's evangelizing. Here's what it says; this is the last mention of Philip in Scripture. Acts 21:8,10-11:

[Julie] (29:04 - 29:25) "On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, This is what the holy spirit says: In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles."

[Rick] (29:25 - 31:15) You have this last mention of the evangelist Philip in the context of the Apostle Paul coming to his house and having a prophecy about the Apostle Paul, about his being bound and being brought to Jerusalem, and he would never be free after that again.

You can see how Philip is so intertwined with the great development of the Gospel, and you can see his interactions with Saul of Tarsus and how he rebelled against Saul of Tarsus. Then once Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle how he welcomed and embraced the Apostle Paul, and how he was there when you see the prophecy that the Apostle Paul's life is now going to go into a whole different direction.

Philip is integral in all of these things. When we look at Philip's journey and God's leadings, Philip the evangelist had a heart for God. His personal preaching experiences that we have in the New Testament show us a man who always responded quickly, powerfully, and with focused discipline.

When God's Spirit directed, Philip always followed. Was there a miracle that transported him? We don't believe that that's the case.

Could it be the other way? Sure. Did it need to be the other way once we see the way the Apostle Philip was?

No. We see a man driven, driven to do whatever God's Spirit provoked him to do. What a lesson for us in our lives! Run to the challenge, even if we don't know what the results are, even if we're not even sure what the reason is. If we're driven there by God's direction, let's run and fulfill God's will.

Philip is a tremendous example for all of us. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners.

We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode: "What really happened on the Mount of Transfiguration?"

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