There are some interesting stories in the Bible and I decided to share some of those here. I'm going to begin with a story that sounds like a scene from a science-fiction movie.
First a brief background. In Acts chapter 8, the Apostle Philip was traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza when he saw an Ethiopian eunuch reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip joined the eunuch and they discussed the passage he was reading. Which was...
"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."
Isaiah 53:7-8
Philip explained that this passage was talking about Yeshua (Jesus). Then they came to some water and the eunuch asked about being baptized.
"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."
Acts 8:36-38
Then an amazing thing happened. Immediately after baptizing this new believer, Philip disappeared and was transported to Azotus.
"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 8:39-40
The word "snatched" in this passage comes from the same Greek word (G726) that was used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17...
"Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet our Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with our Lord."
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Some people may question if a person can transport from one location to another like that. But for me that is not a question. Our God can do anything and it is in the Bible, therefore I believe it. Yeshua tells us, "All things are possible with God." Philip was instantly transported from the water and found himself at Azotus. If he traveled there by natural means, then why the phrase "Philip found himself at Azotus"? I do wonder though, was he still wet? The Bible doesn't tell us about that. I also find it interesting that the eunuch didn't think anything of Philip disappearing, he just "went on his way rejoicing".
There are also passages about Yeshua that may refer to supernatural events like in Luke 4 where He was led to the edge of the cliff to be thrown off and he "passed through their midst". Did he become invisible to them? We don't have the specific details of how "He passed through their midst", just that He did.
I hope you enjoyed today's first look at interesting events in the Bible. I look forward to writing more.
If you want information as to why I use the name Yeshua instead of Jesus, see my article The Sacred Name, Part 4 - Jesus and Jehovah.
Thank you for reading.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org”
(Unless otherwise noted, the images are public domain from pixabay.com.)
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