The Desert Road

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” Acts 8:26

As Saul headed down the Damascus road, Philip was directed to a desert road. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza’”(Acts 8:26). Not much about that route sounds delightful—more like hot, dry, and desolate. But whatever the desert road was or was not, it was soon occupied, for at God’s word, Philip went. He was given no explanation—only an instruction. He didn’t know if he was traveling south for his own good or if God had someone else in mind; Philip just knew to go, so he did.

“On his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace queen of the Ethiopians”(Acts 8:27). Somehow this bigwig in the Ethiopian government had heard of God and traveled to the temple in Jerusalem to worship. On his way home, he was reading aloud from the book of Isaiah when Philip ran up to his chariot and asked if he understood the text. “Not by myself,” the man replied, so on invitation, Philip hopped up and helped him out.

Just so happened the man was reading the prophecy of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53 and was wondering if Isaiah was “talking about himself or someone else”(Acts 8:34). Starting with that very scripture, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus”(Acts 8:35). The man believed, and at the first place they found water, was baptized. Incredible. As an Ethiopian, the man was a foreigner. As a eunuch, he was physically disfigured. At the temple, he would be been banned because of both from getting too close to God’s presence, but on the desert road, God sat right beside him as Philip shared the good news. The man had gone to Jerusalem looking for truth, but he found the Jesus on the return trip.

In case you didn’t know (and you’ll want to), after the baptism, God beamed Philip up (literally), and he reappeared several miles away in the town of Azotus, and the eunuch went on down to Ethiopia, filled with joy because he was full of Jesus.

Be willing to walk the desert road—you never know who God wants you to meet along the way.
Be ready to share the good news of Jesus—all Scripture, no matter where you start, points His way.


And remember that if you don’t find what you’re looking for at your destination, God often shows up on the return trip.