320: David Fraser - Exhortation: The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to good Chris Selfian talks. I’m Levi. I’m Chris. I’m Jason. And I’m Brian, thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. Each week we post talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world.

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   Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now let’s talk more about this week’s talk.

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   Hello, this is brother Chris back with another talk to share with you this week. We’re listening to an exhortation that was given all the way back in 2016 by Brother David Frazier from the Pine Town Ecclesia in South Africa. And in the sectation, Brother David is taking a look at the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. And I really enjoyed this because it’s one of those taking a deeper dive into one of those stories that you read and the meaning behind it.

4. 1:16

   A lot of it I felt like I had heard before, but Brother David does a really good job of putting it all together and pulling a lot of really interesting Nuggets from the story of the Ethiopian eunuch and Philip and kind of the events going on after Christ’s resurrection during the time of Acts representing the gospel, going out to the entire world, and sort of how that began following Christ’s death and resurrection. So this was one that was sent through as a suggestion for a couple different expectations, and David Frazier’s one from October in 2016 was one of them.

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   And I found it to be really encouraging. Also, one of those fun deep dives into a little section of scripture and a little story that maybe you haven’t always paid attention to or just sort of read over as being just a Sunday school story that you read about and not always focusing on all the little details.

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   But Brother David does a really good job at digging into those details and finding all the meanings that are there. So if you’re going to be following along, the account is taken from Acts chapter 8 starting at verse 25. And there are tons of good opportunities for Bible marking and kind of making little connections to other parts so that the next time you read through this passage, you can call back to this class and find those fun notes to make the story come alive as I felt it did when I was listening to Brother David give this exhortation.

7. 2:33

   So I hope that you find this exhortation to be an encouragement to you as you go through this coming week and uplifts you on your walk. And with that, I will turn it over to our brother David Frazier for his exhortation entitled The Ethiopian Eunuch. My dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ. So the exhortation is on the Ethiopian eunuch. It’s the latter part of the ACT reading. And we know the story of Philip in the Ethiopian eunuch very well.

8. 3:03

   It’s a very familiar New Testament story. But the interesting thing is that the reality of the story begins at least 1000 years before this time. It begins 1000 years before in the reign of King Solomon. So if you open your Bibles with me to 1st Kings chapter 8, we’ll be able to see some of the detail of of where the origin of the Ethiopian eunuch story began.

9. 3:32

   So we know in First Kings chapter 8, verse 20, it says that Solomon had built a temple as Yahweh had commanded him as an house for the name of Yahweh, Elohim of Israel. The point of building the house for Solomon and that had as God had required, was to venerate the name of Yahweh.

10. 3:56

    It was a place for Yahweh’s name to be placed. Solomon plainly understood that the temple couldn’t contain God, but it was a place where His name would reside. And you see this from verse 22 onwards. First Kings 8. Verse 22 And Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards toward heaven. And he said, Yahweh elohimeth Israel. There is no God like thee in heaven above or in earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all thine their heart. Verse 27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house that I have builded. So this was not a constraint of God. It was a place where the name of Yahweh was to be imprinted on the building that Solomon had made. Now the temple was in many ways different to the Tabernacle and, and we know obviously that the materials were mostly much grander and of much greater worth. It was a permanent structure compared with the temporary structure which was the Tabernacle, and it was larger, though not that much larger than the Tabernacle, but that’s not the real difference.

11. 5:28

    The real difference between the Tabernacle and the temple was the following. The Tabernacle was created by God in the wilderness for the Jews, whereas the Temple of Solomon was the 1st House of prayer for all people and we’re going to come to that in a moment. It really is important to understand the distinction between them. If somebody had to appear at the Tabernacle, they had to comply with Jewish strictures and and conversion principles. The Temple was the 1st House of prayer for all people. Have a look a little on in in First Kings chapter 8 down at verse 41.

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    Here is Solomon at the dedication of the temple talking about non Jews. Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel explicitly a non Jew, but who cometh out of a far country for what reason? For Yahweh’s name’s sake, for they shall hear of thy great name. And if thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm, we remember when Solomon started praying to God, he stretched forth his hands towards heaven.

13. 6:53

    The people are responding because Yahweh’s arm is stretched out in verse 42. And when this stranger shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee, for that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do the people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I’ve builded is called by thy name.

14. 7:23

    So the purpose of the temple was plainly to expand the principle of the name of Yahweh to all nations, not just to the Jews. It was an outstretched intent. It was an outreaching to all the nations. And you know what? God actually built this into the architectural features that He required Solomon to make in the temple.

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    If you come back just two chapters, you’ll see this in First Kings chapter 6, verses 23 to 28. And that’s primarily in the structure of the Caribbean in verse 23 of First Kings chapter 6. It’s a notable change to the Tabernacle within the Oracle that is the most Holy Place. He made two Caribbeans of olive tree, each 10 cubits high, and five cubits was the wing of one Carib and five cubits the other wing of the Carib.

16. 8:25

    From the outermost part of the one wing unto the outermost part of the other were 10 cubits, and the other Kerub was the same. Both the Kerubim’s were of one measure and one size. And verse 27 continues. He set the Kerubim’s within the inner house, and they stretched forth the same phraseology again, the wings of the Kerubim’s, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall and the wing of the other Kerub touched the other wall, and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. And he overlaid the Caribbeans with gold. So in the Tabernacle, the wings of the Caribbeans had been folded in and exclusive in the wings of the Caribbean of Solomon’s temple.

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    They’re outward, reaching and expansive. And it’s notable, too, that it specifically describes them as two Caribbean of olive wood. And because we Bible students, our minds run straight away to Zechariah, to the two olive trees, the one wild and the one natural who jointly created the oil for the lampstand. Because this, my dear brothers and sisters, is talking about the two anointed ones, the Jews and the Gentiles, each represented in equal measure, in equal stature, in equal structure within the Holy of Holies. And what do they do?

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    They’re made of olive wood and they’re covered, both with the same method of redemption, the gold of tried faith. How do they stand? They stand stretching out, extending outwards, yet meeting in perfect harmony in the middle. It was a harmony of Jew and Gentile in the principles of God’s expansion of His name to all nations. And not only were the Caribbean expansive there Solomon also says that he put them upon the veil and uniquely in the temple also on the walls of the holy place, not the most holy, the holy place both within and without. And whether that means on the outside or not, it’s it’s a moot point.

19. 10:50

    But we have the symbol of two olives, olive tree made Kerubim June Gentile, and then Kerubim’s all over the walls of the holy place in Solomon’s temple. So what did Kerubim’s represent? They represented the vehicle for the conveying, the chariot for the conveying of God’s principles and God’s truth in an expansionist form. It was always the vehicle moving was a Kerubim to bring God’s glory to all nations.

20. 11:25

    Now we’re in first Kings and we don’t have to wait very long to see the work of God actually bearing fruit. Cometh me to 1st Kings chapter 10 because this is the first time when somebody responds to this outstretched work of of Yahweh to the Gentiles in First Kings chapter 10 at verse one.

21. 11:51

    And when the queen of Sheba heard the fame of Solomon concerning the name of Yahweh. Isn’t that interesting? What was her response to it was about the name of Yahweh and all that it stood for. She came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train with camels that best spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart, and Solomon told her all her questions.

22. 12:22

    There was not anything hid from the king which he told her not. And then what happens? The queen of Sheba makes an observation. The Queen of Sheba, when she had seen all of Solomon’s wisdom and the house that he had built, the food off his table, the sitting of his servants in the attendance of his ministers, their apparel of righteousness, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up to the House of Yahweh. There was no more spirit in her, because what was getting presented here was the greater than Solomon preparing the table for his servants.

23. 13:11

    There was the food on the table, and they were the cupbearers, and which she saw the expanse of what this outward reaching humility was in giving the salvation to all. The result was that there was no more spirit in her.

24. 13:30

    And verse 6. She says to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believe not the words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it, and behold, the half of it was not told me. Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded the fame which I heard, and the consequence of sitting at this table of bread and wine is that happy are thy men.

25. 13:58

    Happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. O Solomon, blessed be Yahweh thy God, which delighteth in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel, because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore made he the king to do judgment and justice. And the echoes to us and our Christ our greater than Solomon is plainly painted in this this vision.

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    She was a queen from the South. She came from the way of the South. She was the first queen of the South in scriptural language. And she came because the name of Yahweh had been attached to that house, but had spread. It was not just localized. It had spread into all the earth this wonderful, true monotheistic religion that made sense. It was believable, unlike the nonsense of the pagans roundabout.

27. 14:58

    And she came and was satisfied, and she received that wonderful wisdom from Solomon, who was Yahweh’s divine mouthpiece. So perhaps as a consequence of her belief, my dear brothers and sisters, 1000 years later a man of Ethiopia, the eunuch from the South, could make a similar pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

28. 15:25

    This pattern though, had persisted for many years. People out of all nations were being called to God’s truth always because of the principles by which He stood. There were truth seekers out of all nations always wanting to come to this one God of Israel. Open your Bibles just for a moment to John chapter 12 and you’ll see an example of this, because in John chapter 12, we get an example of exactly the same type of people as the Queen of Sheba and her cohorts as they came up to Jerusalem. So John chapter 12 beginning at 1st 20 to 21. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast.

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    That’s the feast of Passover. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of beside her of Galilee, Galilee of the nations, and desired him saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. It’s the same type of appeal as the Queen of Sheba had. And what’s very important for us to notice is that these people here are referred to as Greeks. There is another word used in the New Testament. It’s very important for us to distinguish, and you don’t need to turn it up.

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    In Act Six, there are people who are called Grecians. Grecians are not Greeks. Grecians in scriptural terminology and you can look it up in your own time, were Hellenistic Jews, Jews who spoke Greek as their first language. They were typically born outside of the land of Israel and were viewed as second rate citizens because they spoke Greek and not Aramaic or Hebrew as their first language.

31. 17:25

    These were the Grecians. However, in John 12 these Greeks are Gentiles and it’s exactly the same phrase that’s used in Galatians 328. There’s neither Jew nor Greek as Jew nor non Jew in Galatians 328 and they came up to the Passover. Gentiles came to the Passover at Jerusalem. What brought them up? Well, it says they came to worship.

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    They came to worship. And you know what? Gentiles could participate in the Passover. And so they did from the very first Passover. Because it didn’t mean you had to be a Jew to partake in the Passover. It meant you had to be circumcised, irrespective of your national origin. You were welcome at the Passover if you were circumcised.

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    What Jesus did they see? What was the Jesus they saw? Well, in the New Testament, Jesus was the true cherub. He was the anointed cherub who was taking God’s message outside the confines of the temple and the precinct of the temple, and was Emmanuel walking among us. He was the perfect vehicle to bring God’s principles amongst all people, And they behold beheld as glory, as of the only begotten glory of the Father, full of grace and of truth. And Jesus though, presents Himself not as that great image a little down in John 12.

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    He presents Himself as the seed which has to fall into the ground to bring forth much fruit. They saw the suffering servant Jesus, not the one who has glorified just yet. Jesus showed that the cross had to come before the crown. So now, brothers and sisters, cometh me to Acts chapter 8 as we pick up the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, because it all fits together.

35. 19:30

    There was precedence to the events of Acts chapter 8. In Acts chapter 8, the Angel of Yahweh spoke to Philip again to Philip of all people, Philip who’s he was a Gent. It’s a Gentile name. Philip means a lover of horses. He was of Galilee. He was a person who was speaking well to the Gentiles. And of course the Angel of Yahweh chooses Philip of all people to send him on this mission. Verse 26 The Angel of Yahweh spoke to Philip saying, Arise and go toward the South, unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And Philip arose and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia and eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of The Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure. Interesting that word.

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    Treasure is the word Gaza. He was going down to Gaza and he was a man in charge of Gaza, which is treasure. It’s a play on where your treasure is. And he had come like the Greeks, to Jerusalem for to worship. Isn’t this interesting? He was a Gentile who had come to Jerusalem for to worship. And he was returning and sitting in his chariot he read Isaiah the prophet.

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    So what was this road? It says the road LED S. Well, obviously a southward leading Rd. leads S. But you know what the the Greek actually implies? It means it doesn’t mean S at all. It means at noonday. So this was another Rd. There was one Rd. that led S through Hebron more directly South and another one that led S towards the coast to Gaza, and that was the really unused Rd. to Gaza.

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    He was on that road to Gaza to probably catch the King’s Hwy. to go further South. It was like a adjoining route. He was on that route in a dry desert in the middle of the day at noonday, and there was nothing around him. It was quiet. Still. No other passengers. Nobody else would be mad enough to go on that road in the middle of the noonday heat.

39. 21:51

    And there he was in the most unlikely place on earth that God caused a new beginning to happen for the Ethiopian war. You see, God’s often causes interesting things to start in our lives in the most unlikely places that we could ever, ever expect or believe. So where was Ethiopia that he was from? So Ethiopia in those days tended to refer to anything South of Egypt.

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    It was a very wide area, not just the narrow country that we know as Ethiopia now. And who was he, the Chamberlain or control of the, the, the treasury form? Well, it says her name was Candace, Queen of The Ethiopians. Well, Candace was a title very much like pharaoh. It’s, it’s not a proper name.

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    Her name was Amanatari and she reigned from AD 25 to AD 41. So it’s a title. He was in service to a great queen and as a eunuch. He was a man of high status, a Chamberlain, and he had knowledge of the Jewish faith because he was coming plainly to Jerusalem to worship.

42. 23:04

    His reason for being there was only to worship. It was not to exalt his position or his status or his power or in a diplomatic mission. It wasn’t a byproduct of going there for some other reason. He came there to worship. He had intent in his heart and an understanding of the God of Israel. So significantly then, brothers and sisters, with Paul and Cornelius, he makes up the great three of the conversions of the New Testament, Shem Paul Ham, the Ethiopian eunuch, and Japheth Cornelius out of all nations called to the truth. And he’s returning and he’s reading Isaiah. Now, we might think that that’s normal because we’re people of the book, but it was extremely rare to own a copy of your own scrolls.

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    This man had gone and taken his own money and had bought the Isaiah scrolls. And there there were normally two in a set because they were so bulky. He had bought two of these from the scribes in Jerusalem. We know from the version he’s reading, it was probably, probably the substurgent version, the Greek version of the Old Testament, which shows that he was a learned man of those days that and he read this and he was reading aloud, as many people in the past used to do.

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    We tend to read quietly. In the past, reading aloud was much more frequent. So he was, he was reading obviously somebody else was driving because he couldn’t do both at the same time, and his servants would have been hearing the things he was saying. So verse 29, the Spirit says to Philip, Go near, join thyself to this chariot.

45. 24:53

    And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I accept? Some man should guide me? And he desired, or as the Revised Version says, he besought Philip that he would come up and sit with him. So the Ethiopian eunuch had opened his scroll and had been reading through it and got to Isaiah 53, the suffering servant of Jesus, and was now stuck. Isn’t isn’t it interesting that Philip was at a distance from the chariot at this point?

46. 25:30

    The Spirit was able to take him away in an instant, but that Philip, under circumstance of God’s design, had to run with the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch.

47. 25:46

    The Spirit can move him around afterwards, plainly moved him away, but Philip had to with his feet shod with the gospel of grace, as Romans 10, verse 15 tells us, run with the gospel to bear it to the Ethiopian eunuch and running aside him, the perfect timing to meet somebody who’s moving at this desert place at noonday at just the right place.

48. 26:14

    The Spirit worked out that this man was going to get stuck on Isaiah 53, and Philip met him where he was. And it’s a great principle for teaching the truth. God sends right people to say the right things at the right time for the right reason. It was perfectly tuned for the needs of the Ethiopian eunuch. So the Ethiopian eunuch acknowledged that he was unable to understand.

49. 26:45

    He was stuck. Verse 32. The place of the Scripture which you read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb done before his Shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgement was taken away. And who shall declare His generation or his descendants, for his life is taken from the earth.

50. 27:10

    And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this of himself, or some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. The remarkable thing is, the scribes had fastidiously copied this text down, but not one of them could have ever explained it to this man.

51. 27:36

    They got it down pat, but they never understood its meaning. And yet this man wanted to know. You see, this is the wonderful quality of a truth seeker, and it’s what we have to do continuously, brothers and sisters, ask questions, seek for truth. What does it mean? So Philip opened his mouth and preached unto him the suffering servant, which is Jesus. You know, there’s no other way to speak except opening your mouth.

52. 28:06

    So what does it mean when it says Philip opened his mouth? Well, that’s a phrase that comes to us and you can just note it. Acts 116 and Acts 3, verses 18 and 21. It’s typically words that are spoken under influence of the Holy Spirit when He opens his mouth. The Holy Spirit was working now through Philip because Philip had done the hard work and got there at the right time.

53. 28:32

    So Philip opens his mouth and preaches to him the Lord Jesus Christ. And as they went on their way, verse 36, they came to a certain water. And the eunuch said, see here is water, water in the desert, the most unlikely place to find anything. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

54. 29:08

    And he commanded the chariot to stand still. And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and Philip baptized him. When it says a certain water in verse 36, the resonance back to Isaiah is absolutely plain. Now Isaiah 43 at verse 19, and the subchergent, I’ll read it to you. Behold, I will do new things which shall presently spring forth, and ye shall know them, and I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers, in the dry land. And in some partial fulfillment of that prophecy, it was coming very real for the Ethiopian eunuch. But which springs of waters would these have been? It says a certain water.

55. 29:57

    It didn’t mean he just said there is water. He came and there was a certain water. It appears, my dear brothers and sisters, that these were the wells and the springs that were given to the Gentile Caleb as his inheritance in the land. In Joshua 15, verse 19, the springs of water as it is described in Joshua in the Southland that were the Gentile Caleb’s, the very water that was going to be baptizing him was that which had been owned by Caleb. So Philip started under the inspiration of the spirit of Isaiah 53 and he preaches to him Jesus and baptism. The two of them go hand in hand.

56. 30:50

    Just a dead Christ is not good enough, but a resurrected Christ is. And the Ethiopian wanted to be baptized into the death of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the Jesus who the Greeks had come up to see in John 12, who was the seed who fell into the ground and came forth and brought forth many more other than just himself alone.

57. 31:15

    He would have descendants which would not be of His own loins. And verse 39, when they would come up out of the water, the spirit of Yahweh caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way, rejoicing. And instantly Philip is found at Ashdod. That’s Azotus. It’s Ashdod.

58. 31:38

    You know where Ashdod is? It’s on the coast. He went from inland in this dry desert place and was found at Ashdod on the coast. And wonderful Philip passing through. He preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea. All the way from Gaza in the South, up the coastline to the very top of the land to Caesarea, Philip’s mouth was opening.

59. 32:03

    Speak, speech, speaking the gospel and preaching the good news of the things of Christ. Isn’t that wonderful? But Philip May began at Isaiah 53, but I’m absolutely certain he never ended there. Either Philip may have continued, or the Ethiopian eunuch would have turned the scrolls a couple of turns on and he would have come to Isaiah 56.

60. 32:35

    Turn with me there if you wouldn’t mind, because it’s so exciting to see the promise that the Ethiopian eunuch would have seen in Isaiah 56 as I 56 at verse 3.

61. 32:52

    Neither let the son of the stranger that hath joined himself to Yahweh speak, saying Yahweh have utterly separated me from his people. Don’t think you’ve separated from Israel because you’re not a Jew. Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I’m a dry tree, that that’s exactly what he saw in the desert, and his life had no issuance after him, like the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.

62. 33:22

    For thus saith Yahweh, unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant, even unto them will I give. Now look at this, please. In mine house the Caribbean, the two wooden Caribbean, and within my walls the Caribbean. On the walls a place and a name. The name of Yahweh will be upon him better than of sons and daughters.

63. 33:57

    Sons and daughters, carry on your name. The promise with Christ is that you will be carried on yourself. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. What are the attributes of this person? Verse 6. The sons of the stranger that join themselves to Yahweh to serve him, to love the name of Yahweh, to be his servants. Everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, taketh hold of my covenant.

64. 34:32

    Even then will I bring it to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My House of prayer. And their offerings, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices, though not of Israel, will be accepted on Mine altar, for Mine house shall be called a House of prayer for all people. Yahweh Elohim, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith. Yet will I gather others to Him, beside those that are gathered unto Him, Those who served, who loved, who kept, and who held would be given service and access in the House of prayer for all people.

65. 35:19

    This is you and me, my brothers and sisters. And as he says, he’s going to gather others into the fold. This is the other fold of John 10. There’s the Jewish fold, and there’s the fold that you and I are part of. So in bringing this to a close, brothers and sisters, Psalm 68 has a lovely prophecy here, which in many ways was fulfilled when this man of Ethiopia turned to Yahweh in Psalm 68 at verse 29.

66. 35:54

    And look at the context of it because of thy temple at Jerusalem. This is a Psalm of David prophesying the future temple that Solomon his son would build. But of course it’s it’s precient of the future with Christ because of my temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. Princess shall come out of Egypt, and Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. You see, God did the first stretching out and Ethiopia has responded in kind and stretched back to lay hold of the presence and the gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ. And Psalm 87 is also says in the end of days when all of these things, the glorious things are spoken of thee, the city of God, Zion.

67. 36:51

    Verse 4, he’s going to make mention of Rahab and Babylon of Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia saying this man was born there. He was not a citizen, but he’s been made a citizen. He’s been written onto the very walls of the new temple. He is intrinsically part of it because he sets his affections on the things of the name. So as we come to remember the bread and the wine and our suffering servant.

68. 37:25

    Now, how does this affect you and me? Well, it’s a very interesting thing because the Ethiopian eunuch actually represents you and me in Scripture. My brothers and sisters, do you know why Ethiopia? The name Ethiopia means the place of sun darkened faces. The place of sun darkened faces. And you know what? This is exactly what the bride of Christ says of herself.

69. 37:58

    Cometh me to the last reference of Song of Solomon chapter one at verse 4. I mean to read to you from the New King James Version, Song of Solomon chapter one at verse 4. The bride of Christ is Speaking of her bridegroom, her greater than Solomon, and she says it’s important that Solomon wrote this as well. Just think of that in verse 4.

70. 38:24

    Rightly. Do they love you? I am dark. But they answer, but lovely. Her daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedah, like the curtains of Solomon, do not look upon me because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me. That’s the meaning of Ethiopia. And then she says to her beloved, wondering where the flock is, that she should associate herself.

71. 38:53

    Tell me, O you whom I love, where you feed your flock, where you make it rest at noon. The chariot stopped at noon, and he was drawn into the flock of God. For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions? What does the beloved say to this one? He says, If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock.

72. 39:29

    So she thought herself uncomely before her Lord. He calls her the fairest among women, and it was just to follow. And that’s what we do now, my dear brothers and sisters, we follow in the same footsteps as we remember the table of our Lord, with the food on the table and the cupbearers, the sitting of her servants of the greatest Solomon. Thank thanks be to God for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening to the good Chris Adelphian Talks podcast.

73. 40:19

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74. 40:35

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75. 41:08

    God bless and talk to you next week.