Joseph reigned in Egypt empowered by God of Abraham. The ministry of the ancient Israeli Prime Minister of Egypt, lead people from Ethiopia and Cush into worship of the Great I Am.
God of the Bible is the eternal God. The only God, and the Almighty, YA, the Great I AM. He revealed Him self to Middle Easthern people before Jacob was called and renamed Israel. Before the Torah (Law) was given to Moses. One of the most powerful epoke in World history is Joseph’s reign in Egypt, around 1.800 B.C. People along the Nile, North Africa and the Middle East came to know the living God through the ministry of Joseph.
When Solomon had built the first Temple in Jerusalem, kings from the whole World sent their representatives to Zion, to worship in the Temple. There they acknowledged the wisdom of the king. It was God’s desire that all nations should come to know God as God of Jerusalem.
1 Kings 4:34
From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
Isaiah 56:7
These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
This regional worship was based on reverence of the living God, who had chosen Solomon as His king, placed on the eternal throne in Jerusalem, established by his father David. Eventually the Messiah, the King of Kings, will return and reign as the offspring of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Phillip ministering to the Ethiopian is an New Testament example of the regional worship of God of Israel. The worship of God was never intended to be an exclusive service done by Jews and the people of Israel. Phillip also shared the gospel in the villages and cities of Samaria, and non-Jews got saved. They had worshiped a God they did nor know properly. After hearing the gospel, they knew Him.
John 4:22
You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.
The Ethiopian had travelled up to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple, but did not understand what he was reading in the scripture. He knew the authority and power of God, but not His Words.
Act 8: 26-31
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road— the desert road —that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
The relationship between the Ethiopian and God is very similar to the relationship many Christians have today. They spend a lot of time in praise and worship. Many of the worsippers hardly read the Bible. And if you ask them questions, many seems unable to understand what they just read. Beyond the basics, they have little or hardly any knowledge of God of Israel. Still I pray they will be saved by mercy and grace. I also pray that Yeshua the Messiah will send a «Phillip» to them, and open their eyes for all the wisdom and divine messages in the Word of God.
Written by Ivar
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