A Man of Ethiopia

“And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to J erusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.” — Acts viii. 27, 28.

CAUSE a little here and contemplate that interesting

JL stranger, while Philip opens to him the word of life. He is a man of Ethiopia. In the main, it is the country which is now called Abyssinia. It lies on the eastern edge of the African continent, north of the equator, and bounded on the east by the southern portion of the Ked Sea. It is a land of mountains and rivers. Its climate is warm and its soil fertile. It is of great extent. In those days it was a powerful kingdom; and if its people were civilised, it might become powerful again. Some of the streams which constitute the Mle rise in Abyssinia.

The inhabitants are very black. Although we cannot be certain of the nationality of the queen’s treasurer, yet, in the absence of any information to the contrary, we must assume that he was a man of Ethiopia by birth as well as by allegiance. In that carriage Philip sits beside a coloured man, and leads him into the kingdom of God. The Word is not, Blessed are the fair in skin, but, Blessed are the pure in heart. The Ethiopian’s colour cannot be changed, but his character may. He may become a new creature in Christ. If he is born again, he will see the kingdom, and enter it too. It does not go by good looks. There is no respect of persons with God. A few days in the grave will make white and black people all alike; and the Ethiopian, if he has been renewed, will be very beautiful in God’s sight when he rises

A Man of Ethiopia. from the grave. Angels will gaze in wonder on his gracefulness, as he enters the gates of the New Jerusalem.

This inquirer occupied a very high place in his own country. He was like Joseph under Pharaoh. Inasmuch as the sovereign was a woman, the first lord of her treasury would probably enjoy more power than Joseph possessed under an intelligent and active king. Irresponsible power is not favourable to spiritual humility; but, in this case, grace triumphed over all obstacles. Although the man had much of this world’s treasure, it did not satisfy his soul. He did not say, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” He possessed in abundance all that the world could give, and yet he was wretched. In some way, to us unknown, he had found out his sins, but had not yet discovered the way of pardon. His conscience told him of his guilt, but could not reveal a Redeemer. So the great man, to whom everybody paid court in the capital, went about bent under a load of grief, and inwardly sighing, 0 wretched man that I am!

Some one — perhaps a little maid who had been taken prisoner in war — observing the sadness of the treasurer, intimated that he might obtain a cure at Jerusalem, where they worshipped the one living and true God. Having heard that there was a place on earth where God makes himself known, he could not rest till he found it. Judging from the length of his journey, the eagerness of his search, and the period of his return, we think it probable that he was in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified. We have no account of how he spent his time in the city; but it is certain he would frequent the temple at the hour of prayer, and listen to those men of learning who explained the Scriptures in public, and kept alive the hope of a Messiah. It is possible he may have followed the crowd as it streamed along

The Church in the Mouse.

the Via Dolorosa early in the morning towards Calvary, and seen at a distance the elevated cross and the Man of sorrows. This sable stranger, we may be assured, did not mock, or join the cry, Crucify him. He would rather stand by in silent tears.

As yet, however, the Ethiopian did not know Christ. Never man spake like this man; never man lived, never man died, like this man; but still the stranger did not know that here was opened a fountain for sin and for uncleanness. He was very thirsty, and his lip was near the fountain of living water; yet he continued thirsty still.

He must have been present at the Pentecost revival, and heard in his own tongue the wonderful works of God, spoken by Galilean fishermen. From the public assemblies he retired to the secret study of the Scriptures, and from the Scriptures again to the public meetings for prayer; but all the while he was only a seeker — he had not found peace of conscience, pardon of sin, peace with God.

At last the time arrived when he must leave Jerusalem; and, alas! he must go empty away. He had not found what he came to seek. Having a carriage and servants at his disposal, he would doubtless carry water and other provisions, so that he would incur no danger of want in passing through the desert. But the water that he carried in a skin could not satisfy the soul of the Ethiopian prince. After he drank of that water he thirsted again. He was sitting in his carriage alone one day, with an awning over his head to defend it from the sun. A large parchment lay outspread on his knee. He was searching there for the water of life as eagerly as he would have searched near a group of palm-trees for a spring, if he had found himself alone and destitute in the desert. Some instinct in his soul, stimulated and directed by what he had seen and heard at

A Man of Ethiopia.

Jerusalem, told him that near this spot the water of life would certainly be found. “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.” He pauses there. He cannot go past that spot. I think I see a great tear gather in the dark eye of the noble African, and dropping on the book. “Led as a lamb to the slaughter!” This reminds him of the wonderful man whom they had nailed to the cross on Calvary. He muses alternately on the verse which he has read and the scene which he witnessed. His heart is throbbing, and his eyes are swimming. “Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?” Does the word point to that other man who died on the accursed tree? Those looks and tones were more like heaven than earth. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When the thief at his side cried, “Lord, remember me,” he answered, God-like, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” That other man! Of whom speaketh the prophet this?

At that moment “the anxious inquirer” lifted up his head, and descried a solitary traveller marching on foot at some distance over the burning sand; for you can discern an object at a distance when the ground is level, and destitute of vegetation. When they meet, the inquirer’s question is ready; it had already been brooding silently in his own breast; and now, when he finds a teacher, the demand comes out articulate and intense, Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Deliverance is near. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. “Seek, and ye shall find.” The Ethiopian was in downright earnest: when he could not obtain pardon and peace in Abyssinia, he travelled to Jerusalem, and when he failed there he started on his journey homeward again; but he continued seeking. He never let go; the line between his soul and the Saviour whom he sought was at no time permitted to slacken. He had leaned on it, and kept it tight. At night, when he fell asleep, he fell asleep in the act of drawing, as if he would by violence draw a pardon down; and when he awoke his spirit was still in the same attitude: I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

The Lord in heaven is well pleased with this pertinacity and perseverance. He opens his hand wide, and satisfies this longing soul.