THURSDAY 06 May 2021 “Azotus?”

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Have you experienced some amazing things in your life my friends? Perhaps you call them miracles. Maybe you simply say they are outrageous, unexplainable events. Maybe you say it was an encounter with God and God did what you don’t fully understand. Yesterday we were with Philip as he was standing alongside the road, near Jerusalem, when a fancy chariot came by and the Holy Spirit instructed Philip to run up to it and speak to the royal person in that chariot. Luke identifies him as an Ethiopian official, in fact he was in charge of the treasury for the country of Ethiopia! I imagine these two men had very little in common, but Philip was obedient and soon he was actually up in the chariot, riding along with this official explaining Isaiah 53 in response to the questions of this official!

Luke writes “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the Ethiopian official said, ‘Look here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” (Acts 8:36) Now that question tells me Philip had been so successful in explaining Isaiah 53 that this Ethiopian official had understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of that Messianic chapter and the official had prayed, entrusting his life to Jesus, and asking Jesus to be his Savior and Lord. Philip had evidently explained the significance of baptism for a new believer in Jesus and perhaps had told the official about Acts 2 and 3000 people who had responded to Peter’s message, trusted Jesus, and been baptized to launch the great spiritual movement in Jerusalem. (Acts 2)

I like the way the Ethiopian official asked the question. He did not ask “Why should I be baptized?” Rather he asked Philip, “Why SHOULDN’T I be baptized?” Perhaps it was because of his position in the kingdom of Ethiopia and his allegiance to queen Candace that helped this official understand that baptism, among other things, is a declaration of allegiance to Jesus as my Savior and my King! Perhaps it was his understanding that baptism is my public identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus as my Savior, as I am plunged down into the water and raised up again. Perhaps it was work of the Holy Spirit in the Ethiopian officials’ heart and his great desire was to follow Jesus in full obedience, as Philip had perhaps shared with him that Jesus had said “As you are going make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:18-20)

Whatever the reason, the chariot stopped at his command, and both the Ethiopian official and Philip got down out of that royal chariot. Was the water a little lake, or a stream along the roadside, or just a big puddle in a field, we don’t know. But Luke writes: “Then both Philip and the Ethiopian official 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, and the Ethiopian eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:38,39) Now my friends THAT is one of those outrageous, unexplainable events God sometimes does! I simply can’t explain it.

What I do know is that the Ethiopian official got back in his chariot and headed on down the road toward Ethiopia a changed man! He had encountered Jesus and experienced full salvation. I presume there were servants with him, and I suspect the Ethiopian official talked with them about Jesus all the way home. I also imagine the Queen expected a report of his travels as soon as he arrived home, and can you imagine what he told his Queen? Now friends, that was 2000 years ago, but did you know the Ethiopian church is today strong and vibrant? I have a friend who travels there often and he tells me Jesus has been doing a great work in that country growing His church, just as He promised!

Now what about Philip you might ask? Look at what Dr. Luke records for us: “Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” (Acts 8:40) Now that is remarkable! The Spirit did NOT send Philip back to Samaria to resume his leadership of the great spiritual movement that he had been part of. Why not? We don’t know, but I presume others continued to spread the word of Jesus and perhaps other apostles visited from time to time and the Samaria spiritual movement grew.

Instead, Jesus had a new assignment for Philip… Azotus. Where, you might ask, is Azotus? Azotus was a city almost 50 miles west of Jerusalem, near the Mediterranean Sea. Why there, you might ask? While I don’t know much about what was going on there in Philip’s day, I do know that town had great significance many centuries before Philip. In the days of Samuel it was known as the town of Ashdod and it was to this town the Ark of the Covenant was taken when captured by the Philistines, (1 Samuel 5:1) when they defeated Israel’s army, and killed Eli’s two sons the priests Hophni and Phinehas. (1 Samuel 4:17). When news of this arrived back at Shiloh where the Tabernacle of God was and where Eli was High Priest, and young Samuel had been brought by his mother Hannah in fulfillment of her vow to God, the news was so shocking Eli fell backward off his chair, broke his neck and died. Also, Phinehaus’ pregnant wife went into premature labor and she was dying as she gave birth to a son, whom she named “Ichabod” saying, “The glory of the LORD has departed from Israel…” (1 Samuel 4:21) It was one of the darkest moments in the entire history of Israel.

The stolen Ark of the Covenant was brought into the temple of the Philistine god Dagon as a means of shame for Israel and mockery of Israel’s God. But the next morning, when Dagon’s priests came into their temple they found the statue of Dagon fallen over on its face! They stood it up and cleaned it off. and the next morning found it again fallen over before the Hebrew Ark of the Covenant, and this time Dagon’s hands and head had broken off! Also, people in Ashdod began getting sick and dying of tumors. The people concluded these horrible things were happening to them because the captured Hebrew Ark of the Covenant was in their town and in their Dagon temple, so they urged Philistine leaders to remove it and take it somewhere else. They did, but people began dying in that town also. 1 Samuel 5 gives us this remarkable account. Finally the Philistines leaders put the Ark on a new cart, hitched two cows who had never been yoked together and without any driver, allowed them to go wherever they wanted, and these cows pulled that cart straight to Beth Shemesh, the nearest town of Israel, bringing the Ark back to God’s people.

Ashdod remained one of the Philistine stronghold cities all through the Old Testament times, and finally here in Acts 8 God sends Philip, the Jesus following evangelist, to Ashdod, known in Philip’s day as Azotus. Why? I think so Philip could preach the Gospel of Jesus to the descendants of those who had experienced the power of God in punishment when the stolen Ark was taken to their town, more than 1000 years before! Now my friends, I have a question: I wonder what the long story of your city is? How has your city responded over the years, to opportunities they have had to hear of Jesus? What is the spiritual condition of your city today? Could it be YOU are the modern day Philip for your city? If so, what does God want to accomplish through you being in your city TODAY and for however long you live there?

Luke tells us “Philip traveled about, preaching the Gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” I wonder if Philip was led by the Holy Spirit to each of the other towns where the Philistines had taken the captured Ark, more than 1000 years before? Those towns were Gath, the hometown of Goliath, and Ekron. What did the Holy Spirit do in those towns through Philip, if he visited those towns and shared the story and power of Jesus?

From Azotus it was another 50 miles north, along the Mediterranean coast, to the regional Roman capital city of Caesarea, so named after the Caesar. A large Roman garrison was stationed there and I’m sure it didn’t take long for Philip to begin having a significant spiritual impact in this city. It seems Philip settled down in Caesarea, married and had four daughters all of whom became passionate followers of Jesus. How do we know that? Luke tells us in Acts 21:8, it was about 20 years later that the Apostle Paul and Dr. Luke traveled through Caesarea on their way to Jerusalem and evidently spent some time with Philip and his family! I wonder what they talked about and how many Christians were in Caesarea by that time? Paul had planted churches in many cities and towns and before long Paul would be coming back through Caesarea for a final time, on his way to Rome as a prisoner. (Acts 23-26)

For today, let’s simply marvel at what Jesus accomplished through Philip in his obedience in Samaria, with the Ethiopian official on a desert road, and then the Holy Spirit’s powerful work through Philip in Azotus, several other towns, and finally Caesarea! I invite you to look back in your life… all the places you’ve lived. What was Jesus doing as He opened doors of opportunity for you to move from place to place? What has been the lasting impact you’ve had on each of those places? Is Jesus more famous in all those places because you lived there? Everywhere Philip went Jesus became famous and impacted that town! Here’s a song that celebrates that, and I invite you to worship as you reflect on the life of Philip. . .

Today’s Scripture is Acts 8:35-40.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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