[00:00:00] Hello listeners, welcome to my podcast. We will continue from yesterday, Acts, a Commentary by E. M Blaiklock, Acts 8, 5-40. The following points should be noted. 1. The chain of historical circumstance may have gone back a thousand years. The faith of which Israel was the guardian followed the trade of Solomon and brought the Queen of Sheba from southern Arabia to Israel.
[00:00:28] 2. Southern Arabia and Ethiopia were closely connected with trade in those days, and it is noteworthy that the stock of legend which collected round the persons of Solomon and Sheba's queen had ramifications which involved Ethiopia. 3. Judging from the gifts they brought, the Magi of the Christmas story came from Arabia Felix, Sheba's land, and both they and Candace's chamberlain may indicate that a spark of messianic expectation had been kept alive over the years.
[00:00:58] 4. The centuries among the devout of distant lands. All this is speculation, but the undergrowth of history is sometimes a rewarding study. 2. The great geographer of Palestine, Sir George Adam Smith, one discusses the desert, Gaza. It lay on the old strategic route to Egypt, a locality destined to form a nodal point of strife, as ancient and modern history abundantly demonstrate.
[00:01:27] Hence, 2. Hence, 2. The fact that it was a posting station on the Ethiopians' way home. 3. He had no occasion to pass through the seaport, the new Gaza, by which the Romans had sought to provide a haven for ships on that perennially harbourless coast. 3. The angelology of Acts is discussed by R. B. Rackham. His conclusion is that verse 26 speaks rather of a compelling intuition than of an external visitation.
[00:01:55] 4. Compare verse 29. Similarly, verse 39 probably involves no supernatural removal, but rather a prompt withdrawal on the urge of a strong compulsion. 4. Azotus, the old Philistine stronghold of Ashdod, was not far away. 4. The story sets the seal of New Testament authority on the interpretation of Isaiah 53 and the associated
[00:02:22] servant passages as prophecies of Christ. There is an eloquent chapter on the subject in George Adam Smith's study of Isaiah. 5. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we will continue.