What Old Testament connections can we find in the Ethiopian's reading in Acts 8? Setting the Scene • Acts 8:28 tells us the Ethiopian “was sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah the prophet.” • This man is a foreigner, a eunuch, and a high official—three details that make the Old Testament links especially rich. The Passage He Was Reading “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He did not open His mouth. In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.” The citation comes from Isaiah 53:7-8. Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant • Isaiah 52:13-53:12 foretells a Servant who suffers vicariously for the sins of others. • Key connections: – “Led like a lamb to the slaughter” ⇒ innocent, substitutionary sacrifice. – “Did not open His mouth” ⇒ silent submission (cf. Psalm 38:13-14; 39:9). – “Cut off from the land of the living” ⇒ violent death yet ultimate vindication (Isaiah 53:10-12). • Philip explains that Jesus perfectly fulfills every detail (Acts 8:35). The Lamb Motif Across Scripture • Genesis 22:7-8, 13—Abraham assures Isaac, “God Himself will provide the lamb.” • Exodus 12:5-13—The Passover lamb’s blood brings deliverance. • Leviticus 16—The Day of Atonement underscores substitution and atonement. • Isaiah 53 combines these threads, and John 1:29 later identifies Jesus as “the Lamb of God.” Promises to Eunuchs and Foreigners “Let not the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ … to the eunuchs who … hold fast to My covenant, I will give them … a name better than that of sons and daughters.” • Deuteronomy 23:1 had excluded eunuchs from the assembly, but Isaiah 56 promises welcome and a perpetual name—fulfilled in the eunuch’s immediate admission into the new-covenant people through baptism (Acts 8:38). • The foreigner theme ties back to God’s global plan (cf. Isaiah 56:6-8). Ethiopia in the Old Testament Storyline • Psalm 68:31: “Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.” • Zephaniah 3:10: “From beyond the rivers of Cush My worshipers … will bring Me offerings.” • Isaiah 18 portrays Cush (Ethiopia) hearing of God’s work and bringing gifts to Zion. • The Ethiopian eunuch becomes a firstfruit of these prophecies. Salvation Spreading to the Ends of the Earth • Genesis 12:3—All families of the earth blessed through Abraham’s seed. • Isaiah 49:6: “I will also make You a light to the nations, that You may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.” • Acts 1:8 echoes Isaiah, and Acts 8 records one of the earliest cross-cultural fulfillments. Takeaway Themes • Scripture is a unified, prophetic testimony pointing to Jesus. • God’s plan always included outsiders—foreigners, eunuchs, people from “the ends of the earth.” • The sacrificial lamb theme, from Genesis to Isaiah to the Gospels, culminates in Christ’s atonement. • The Ethiopian’s conversion illustrates Isaiah 56 in real time: an excluded man receives an everlasting name. |
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