“Answers For A Study in the Book of Acts” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “Case for the New Testament” posts on the weekend. The original questions are posted on the bottom of the Case for the New Testament” post the weekend before, and the answers appear here mid-week. This gives you time to do your own research and then check your answers here. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper if you’d like.
Note: The answers will focus on what the text of the Bible says, and commentaries and speculative answers will be noted as such. There are many scholarly commentaries out there but it will be important, as students of the Bible, to keep the text of the Bible as our first source. Commentaries can be used, keeping in mind that they are human thoughts about God’s Word.
Bible Study
Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.
Read Acts Chapter 8: Then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions.
NOTE: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for “Discussion” or “Going Deeper” questions.
Philip and Peter in Samaria; Philip and the Ethiopian
1. Read Chapter 8:1-24 with your table group
In this section of the chapter the early Church began to experience persecution:
a. What was Saul’s role in this early persecution and what happened to the believers (8:1-4)?
But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison. Acts 8:3
- As we saw in chapter 7, Saul was there watching, and approving of Stephen’s stoning and death. He now took it upon himself to go out and round up these “believers” and put them in jail.
And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 8:1-2
Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. 8:4
- Because of the persecution and killing of Stephen, the church was scattered. However, this caused them to now preach the Gospel to others outside of Jerusalem.
- Note: This is what Jesus had told them to do in the Great Commission (Acts 1:8) and it seems that it took persecution to get them out of Jerusalem to do the LORD’s will!
b. Where did Philip go first; what was he doing and how did the crowds respond (8:5-12)?
Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was much rejoicing in that city. Acts 8:5-8
Philip went to Samaria; he proclaimed Christ and cast out unclean spirits and healed many; the people responded by giving their attention to what Philip said, and there was much rejoicing.
c. Who was Simon, and what happened between him and the Apostle Peter (8:9-24)?
Simon was a magician/sorcerer who believed in what Philip was preaching and became baptized. However, when he tried to “buy” the Holy Spirit from Peter and John who had come down from Jerusalem, Peter rebuked him by saying:
“May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Acts 8:20-24
Note: Scholars are divided on whether Simon was truly saved, or had just pretended because he was impressed with what the Apostles were doing and just wanted in on the “action”. The text does not tell us what happened to him, but his response to Peter is telling.
d. Going Deeper: Where was Samaria, and what was the history of the Samaritan people?
The region of Samaria is north of Jerusalem.
From gotquestions.org:
The Samaritans occupied the country formerly belonging to the tribe of Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The capital of the country was Samaria, formerly a large and splendid city. When the ten tribes were carried away into captivity to Assyria, the king of Assyria sent people from Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2-11). These foreigners intermarried with the Israelite population that was still in and around Samaria. These “Samaritans” at first worshiped the idols of their own nations, but being troubled with lions, they supposed it was because they had not honored the God of that territory. A Jewish priest was therefore sent to them from Assyria to instruct them in the Jewish religion. They were instructed from the books of Moses, but still retained many of their idolatrous customs. The Samaritans embraced a religion that was a mixture of Judaism and idolatry (2 Kings 17:26-28). Because the Israelite inhabitants of Samaria had intermarried with the foreigners and adopted their idolatrous religion, Samaritans were generally considered “half-breeds” and were universally despised by the Jews.
Additional grounds for animosity between the Israelites and Samaritans were the following:
1. The Jews, after their return from Babylon, began rebuilding their temple. While Nehemiah was engaged in building the walls of Jerusalem, the Samaritans vigorously attempted to halt the undertaking (Nehemiah 6:1-14).
2. The Samaritans built a temple for themselves on “Mount Gerizim,” which the Samaritans insisted was designated by Moses as the place where the nation should worship. Sanballat, the leader of the Samaritans, established his son-in-law, Manasses, as high priest. The idolatrous religion of the Samaritans thus became perpetuated.
3. Samaria became a place of refuge for all the outlaws of Judea (Joshua 20:6-7; 21:21). The Samaritans willingly received Jewish criminals and refugees from justice. The violators of the Jewish laws, and those who had been excommunicated, found safety for themselves in Samaria, greatly increasing the hatred which existed between the two nations.
4. The Samaritans received only the five books of Moses and rejected the writings of the prophets and all the Jewish traditions.
From these causes arose an irreconcilable difference between them, so that the Jews regarded the Samaritans as the worst of the human race (John 8:48) and had no dealings with them (John 4:9). In spite of the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans, Jesus broke down the barriers between them, preaching the gospel of peace to the Samaritans (John 4:6-26), and the apostles later followed His example (Acts 8:25).
2. Read Chapter 8:25-40 with your table group
In the second half of the chapter Philip meets an Ethiopian eunuch:
a. Who was this Ethiopian eunuch, and how did Philip end up meeting him?
But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Acts 8:26-31
From gotquestions.org:
A eunuch is a man who has been castrated for the purpose of trusted servitude in a royal household (see Esther 1:10; 4:4; and Daniel 1:9). A king would often castrate his servants to ensure they would not be tempted to engage in sexual activity with others in the palace (specifically, the royal harem) or to prevent their plotting an overthrow (eunuchs were incapable of setting up a dynasty of their own). Eunuchs have been employed in many civilizations, including the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Greece and Rome, China, Korea, and Thailand. Jesus mentions them in Matthew 19:12.
b. What was the specific Old Testament Scripture that the Ethiopian was reading, and how did Philip help him understand the passage?
The passage that the Ethiopian was reading was from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 53, verses 7 and 8. Philip was able to show him how the Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah, predicted the coming of Jesus as the Messiah, and we can cross-reference it still today!
“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
“In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will relate His generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”
The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. Acts 8:32-35
c. What request did the Ethiopian make after Philip explained everything to him; and what happened to both of them after this event?
As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:36-40
Note: from butgrace.com…
Philip the evangelist vs. Philip the Apostle (one of Jesus’ twelve disciples)
Philip the evangelist was first mentioned in the book of Acts chapter 6 verse 5. It was this Philip who was chosen with Stephen as one of the seven to serve during the daily distribution involving the Hellenist and the Hebrews (Acts 6:1). These seven men were of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appointed to this duty (Act 6:3). During the persecution of the church in Jerusalem they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles (Acts 8:1).
In verses 4 and 5 of chapter 8, the bible says the Philip, who was one scattered went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. This shows that they were two Philips. The one who remained at Jerusalem as one of the Apostles because they were not scattered, and the one who went down to Samaria. This Philip who went down to Samaria would later be referred to in the bible as an evangelist. It was this Philip who performed signs and wonders, and baptized Simon the Magician, in Samaria. It was Philip the evangelist who baptized the eunuch who was under Candace queen of the Ethiopians and later went one to Caesarea. After this the bible then mentions Philip the evangelist in Acts chapter 21 verse 8 when Paul the apostle went to Caesarea and entered into his house and abode with him. The bible declares this was one of the seven in referenced to Acts 6:3.
d. Discuss: Write down and share two or three things that you think are important to remember about chapter eight. (answers will vary)
- The Gospel is (forced) to be preached in other areas because of the scattering of believers due to persecution – Philip is an excellent example of this as he is instrumental in preaching the Gospel to Samaria and the Ethiopian Eunuch (who most likely was a major influence for the spread of Christianity in Ethiopia).
- Philip’s ability to show how Jesus fulfilled prophecy that pointed specifically to Him in the Old Testament as exampled in the book of Isaiah that the Eunuch was reading. We can use this same example today!
Please continue to join us in making our “A Case for the New Testament” along with a study in the book of Acts, and share it with others!
Note: Class presentation, videos, reflections and Bible study question are posted on the weekend – Bible study answers (like these) posted mid-week.
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Teri Dugan
TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com
1 Peter 3:15
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