Acts 8:26

God’s messenger (an angel? cf. Acts 5:19) directed Philip to go south to a road that ran from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip did not return to Jerusalem with Peter and John. Whenever Luke introduced "an angel of the Lord" (Gr. angelos kyriou) into his narrative he desired to stress God’s special presence and activity (Luke 1:11; Luke 2:9; Acts 12:7; Acts 12:23; cf. Acts 7:30; Acts 7:35; Acts 7:38; Acts 10:3; Acts 10:7; Acts 10:22; Acts 11:13; Acts 12:11; Acts 27:23). [Note: Longenecker, p. 362.] The Lord’s direction was evidently strong because Philip had been involved in evangelizing multitudes successfully (Acts 8:6). Now God definitely told him to leave that fruitful ministry to go elsewhere. Luke did not say exactly where Philip was when he received this direction, but he was probably somewhere in Samaria or in Caesarea, where we find him later (Acts 8:40; Acts 21:8).

"The church did not simply ’stumble upon’ the idea of evangelizing the Gentiles; it did so in accordance with God’s deliberate purpose." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 161.]

Luke added for the benefit of Theophilus (Acts 1:1), who was evidently not familiar with the geography of Palestine, that this was desert territory. The word "desert" can modify either "road" or "Gaza."

"The old town was referred to as ’Desert Gaza’, and this is probably meant here rather than a desert road, which properly begins only at Gaza on the way to Egypt." [Note: Neil, p. 123.]

To get from Jerusalem to Gaza a traveler such as this eunuch would normally route himself west through the hill country of Judah, the Shephelah (foothills), and down to the coastal plain. There he would finally turn south onto the international coastal highway that ran along the Mediterranean Sea connecting Damascus and Egypt. Only as it left Gaza, the southeasternmost city in Palestine, did the road pass through desert. This is in the modern Gaza Strip.

The Ethiopian’s spiritual condition when Philip met him was as arid as the desert. However when the two men parted the eunuch had experienced the refreshing effects of having been washed by the Water of Life.