Acts 7:26

26. The angel An angel. Perhaps, as to Paul, (Acts 16:9,) in a dream; as the word arise may possibly, but not certainly indicate. Philip is still in Samaria. The apostles return home in the ordinary level of their apostleship, but for the cheery and spiritual Philip there is an angel-call to a lively work.

Why are the nearer thousands overleaped, and the distant and lonely one selected for this angel-directed visit through the desert? The reply, From God’s mere sovereignty, is absurd, for God has no mere sovereignty, but always a sovereignty with a reason. Now Abyssinia, to this day Christian, says that it was by this eunuch, his name being Indich, that she was converted to the Christian faith. This our Indich had been on a blessed visit to Jerusalem, and was returning with a heart full of God, and his hands holding God’s book, and his lips pronouncing the syllables of God’s open word. And the Divine Head of the Church said, He must not go to Ethiopia before he hears the name of Jesus. And he spake to his angel to speak to Philip to go and speak to the eunuch. And to such a heart how welcome the name of the Saviour would come! We strongly believe that Indich converted Candace and her Ethiopia.

South… way The road from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip is to go southward from Samaria until he arrives at that Gaza road which is the desert one. There are three routes from Jerusalem to Gaza: one, the most northern, passes through Wady Aly, (a wady is a valley;) the middle one through Wady Surar; the southern one through Eleutheropolis. To this last the epithet desert is most applicable. Some apply the epithet desert not to the road, but to Gaza itself; but, first, there would be no reason for specifying the condition of the city; and, second, there is no reason to doubt that Gaza was at this time a populous city, having lately been rebuilt by Gabinius, the Roman general. The words of the angel literally are, The same is desert. He gives Philip no information what he will find besides or in the desert; but he must go to that road of the three which is desert. Let him obey and he will find what the desert can afford.

Gaza Gaza is a very ancient city, mentioned as early as Genesis 10:19, and is celebrated as the scene of one of Samson’s most noted exploits, the carrying off of the city gates. It was one of the frontier towns defending Palestine from Egyptian invasion. It was three miles from the sea, but had a seaport town. It was the route through which the eunuch would take ship for Alexandria.