Acts 8:31-35
 
Acts 8:31 (KJB)
And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
 
The Ethiopian was being very honest. He was reading the scroll and did not understand what he was reading. I don’t think this is a question that the man could not understand Hebrew but he was mulling over the section of Scripture which he was reading. So without any pride on his part, which is a good start for a student of Scripture, he asks Philip to come and sit in his chariot with him. The kind of chariot he was in was a transport chariot which had four wheels and was normally pulled by a team of horses. This type of chariot would have had seats in it. The other type of chariot we know of is the war chariot where the occupants stand and is pulled by a team of 4-8 horses, the Assyrians had chariots pulled by ten horses. His heart was already prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive Philip as one who would help him understand. There is a mindset among some Christians that one does not need teachers, only the Bible and the Holy Spirit, but God gave Bible teachers and if they are saved, then the Holy Spirit dwells within them too. So to reject the method of spiritual growth God has given in the Bible, is to cheat oneself of some good Bible teaching. The Lone Ranger mentality is nowhere found in Scripture. We grow as a body not as individual parts of a body.
 
Acts 8:32 (KJB)
The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
 
(Isa 53:7 KJV) He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. The Holy Spirit had really prepared this meeting because the Eunuch was reading Isaiah 53 which was the Old Testament account of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage it speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ going before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, knowing why He came to earth, He did not say a word in His defense or tried to talk His way out of the coming events. (John 12:27 KJV) Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Isaiah had compared this event to the time of shearing the sheep which was done without the sheep resisting or even slaying a sheep which would not fight back.
 
Acts 8:33 (KJB)
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
 
(Isa 53:8 KJV) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. The humiliation that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered at the hands of His detractors was void of real judgment. Their bias caused them to remove real judgment, which would have been a real trial to uncover all the facts. They did not want to do this because they already had the evil desire to put Jesus to death. Since there was no true trial, there could have been no true and impartial judgment rendered. The generation in view was the evil times in which He came to this earth. He was subject to the most cruel and inhumane treatment that other human beings could render plus He faced satanic hatred at its worst. His life was taken as He was tortured and crucified unto death which was in a very cruel and barbaric manner.
 
Acts 8:34 (KJB)
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
 
Then the Eunuch asks Philip, if the prophet was speaking about himself or of some other man. This Eunuch had some good insight because the Jews today claim that Isaiah 53 is speaking about the nation of Israel but here the Eunuch knows enough that it is speaking about a man. Which man was being spoken about is what he wanted Philip to tell him.
 
Acts 8:35 (KJB)
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
 
Then the opportunity opens up where Philip was able to properly explain to the Eunuch that this portion of Isaiah was specifically prophesying the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip started to explain the Scriptures right where the Eunuch was. He did not break out into a great litany of other Scriptures, instead he stayed right where the Eunuch was building a foundation of a proper understanding of that portion of Scripture which eventually opens up proper interpretation of other verses which are prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a principle that Bible teachers need to keep in mind, especially with younger believers because they cannot absorb too much yet and need to be nurtured. When they come to you with a passage of Scripture, then explain that one and then you can move on to other ones which help expand that teaching you are giving on those specific verses.

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