Updated: Jun 17, 2018
My older brother is a pretty smart guy. He went to UPenn and he has a couple of smart friends; they are doctors. Super smart! One day they invited me to lunch. We met at the old Abbey Grille. I was on my way to becoming a believer, as God had healed me from a terrible cigarette smoking addiction.
I knew God had done it because I tried to quit four times and always failed. In fact I failed so badly the last time, that I promised myself I was never going to try to quit smoking again! I told myself, “I am a slave to nicotine.” God had other plans because not a week later, after some unsolicited prompting of a friend, I picked up a cigarette one morning, said, “This is gross and I’m not doing it anymore!” That was it. I never craved another smoke in my life. I didn’t have cravings. I didn’t over eat. I didn’t get mean and cranky. I just didn’t smoke anymore! That was a miracle to me!
Back to our lunch now…I announced to our friends, “God healed me from smoking.” These very smart men assured me that I did it myself. They tried to explain to me how the human mind works and how I did it. But I knew better. They just didn’t understand. They had a worldly wisdom, but not spiritual wisdom at that point.
God’s word says, “The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” Psalm 19:7b The Bible is unlike any other book you will ever read. It has 66 books in total, 39 in the old testament and 27 in the New Testament. The authors vary, yet, there is a central theme to the entire book… God’s redemptive love for mankind as expressed through His only Son, Jesus Christ.
Lets look at another wise man who was a Eunuch. According to Wikipedia, “the term eunuch generally refers to a man who has been castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have hormonal consequences. Castration was typically carried out on the soon-to-be eunuch without his consent in order that he might perform a specific social function; this was common in many societies.. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent, treble singers, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants.” This means that people around the world are still being made Eunuchs to this day.
Well, God had a plan for this particular Eunuch, just as He had a plan for me. “ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”) Acts 8:26-27a
So this man probably had mannerisms much like a woman. He must have been very intelligent if he was the treasurer; he was an important official as we are told. “The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Acts 8:29 “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” Acts 8:29-31
So this learned man was first made simple at reading God’s word. But in his humility in asking for help, he became wise! He was reading from Isaiah 53. “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…” Isaiah 53:7-8a
I picture this Eunuch sitting there wondering who this humble King was and why He suffered so. “The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
“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?” Acts 8:34-36
God’s word changed a Eunuch into a child of God in one day. God was working all along by sending Philip to him to help him understand the gospel. Has God sent someone to help you? If He has, know that Jesus is standing at the door knocking, all you need do is open the door of your heart by opening a Bible. May you know true wisdom that comes from God.