A secure leader who allowed followers to worship God.
Acts 8: 26-40
No one needed to tell him how blessed he was or that he made the right choice when he converted to Judaism. Look at him, the finance chairman of the treasury of Queen Candace, who is leader of the Ethiopians. One of the five most influential African Queens in history.
Sure, the job is hard, sometimes stressful. But he is paid well, has the status of an important official and even the privilege to travel the provinces in a chariot. Most people, including the messiah, walked.
And his well-decorated vehicle of antiquity is a beauty. Chariots had either two- or four-wheels that initially rotated on a fixed axle linked by a draft pole to horses. To the axle was attached a superstructure consisting of a platform protected by side screens and a high dashboard. Chariots were first used in royal funeral processions and later employed in warfare, racing, and hunting.
His revelry about chariots steers him back to his blessings. He is allowed to use his chariot to travel to Jerusalem to worship with like-minded believers. However, it is at this site that the top official in Queen Candace’s kingdom faces the harsh realities of his time. As an Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile, he was denied entrance into the temple’s inner courts. He had hoped and prayed that this pilgrimage to Jerusalem would result in success. He had been discouraged on his trip home.
Why couldn’t he enter as a eunuch? The fifth book of Moses or Deuteronomy 23:1, said, “He who has been castrated by having his testicles crushed or his male organ cut off shall not enter the congregation of the Lord.”
As a gentile, the law rested on circumcision. Circumcision is a surgery to remove the skin that covers the tip of the penis, also called the foreskin.
The Ethiopian yearned to be included, after all he sacrificed a lot to profess a belief in the Jewish faith. To his amazement, however, God honored his faith on this trip when He directed one of Jesus’s disciples into the path of the eunuch. What seemed like a wasted, unsatisfying journey home turned into a life-changing experience.
Joy pulsed through his body as he remembered his encounter with Philip, one of the 12 main disciples. The chariot was rumbling on a desert road that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza and on to Ethiopia. Flushed from the days of worship in Jerusalem, the eunuch felt inspired to tackle the Book of Isaiah the prophet.
He was sitting in his luxurious chariot holding the scrolls when he heard someone yell, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
“How can I,” he replied over the noise of the moving vehicle, “unless someone explains it to me?”
At first hesitant, he then invited Philip to come up and sit with him. And, line by line, Philip began to explain what he was reading in Isaiah 53: 7-8, NIV version.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment, he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
As a high-ranking official, he is well acquainted with animal sacrifices by people seeking forgiveness for their sins. There were many religions in his sprawling kingdom. But he had other questions.
“The eunuch asked Philip” in Acts 8:34, “‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’”
Philip blew his mind when he explained that Jesus, who as the son of God was considered sinless, offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus is the “lamb” in verse 7 of Isaiah 53. WOW!
Philip continued, showing him Isaiah 56: 4-5
“This is what the Lord says, ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths
And choose what pleases Me, And hold firmly to My covenant,
To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial,
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.’”
Like a ton of bricks, the message struck him: The Messiah suffered for his sake, bearing his sins to make him acceptable to God. WOW, such love! That was powerful good news about Jesus that Philip shared with him. He does belong.
Although overwhelmed, he did not want to waste time or to miss an opportunity that may never come again so he pointed to some water the chariot was passing along the road.
“’Look, here is water,’” he said in Acts 8:36. “’What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’ and he gave orders to stop the chariot.”
He and Philip went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
“When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away,” said Acts 8:39 a.
Although he never saw Philip again, “he went on his way rejoicing.”
This was truly a win-win situation, he thought as the Holy Spirit showed him that understanding the Scriptures is paramount to his ability to manage the financial affairs of the queen. A greater understanding of God’s word helps him keep the proper perspective about the Lord, his life, and his job.
Without a doubt, Queen Candace is the best boss ever, despite being a female leader during a patriarchal era. Her self-confidence keeps her from feeling threatened by his service to someone else.
Candace is the royal title given to the queens of the Kingdom of Kush who ruled from the city of Meroe. The area that they ruled in Ethiopia during that time is in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan, not the area known as modern Ethiopia. Candace led one of the oldest African nations and is believed to be a successor to the queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10:1.
Eight queens made up the Candaces of Meroe, from Shanakdakhete in 170 BCE to Lahideamani from 306 to 314 CE. It’s not certain which Queen Candace ruled in Acts 8 when the eunuch met Philip. But Meroe flourished as the capital of the Kingdom of Kush between 750 BCE – 350 CE and became a legendry wealthy city. The World History Encyclopedia said Meroe was located on the Nile in the region of modern-day Sudan with its riches coming mostly from trade, ironworks, and abundant grain supply. Researchers said that the Candaces of Meroe were among the most powerful and successful monarchs of the Kingdom of Kush and their skill in leadership was the equal, or better, of any king. She was one of the five most influential African Queens in history.
While the queen may have depended on his managerial skills and knowledge, after this one trip to Jerusalem, he praised God that she also now can trust his loving, compassionate heart.
Source:
“Candace.” Eason’s Bible Dictionary.
Chambers, J., “Candace: Secure Leader.” Women of the Bible for Women of Color. Urban Spirit, LLC. Page 208. 2021.
Mark, Joshua J., “The Candaces of Meroe.” World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 19 March 2018. Web, 12 Jan 2024.
“Chariot.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 03 May 2023. Web, January 27, 2024.
