African Queen - Candace

Acts 8:26-39

Ethiopia isn’t very far from the Middle East, but many ancient folks considered it the end of the earth. There were legends about fierce female warriors who lived south of Egypt’s civilized society. And while the Romans conquered the Mediterranean basin, bringing a certain unity to lands from Algeria to Arabia, the Ethiopians remained outside their control, wild and free.

That makes the New Testament story of the Ethiopian eunuch especially interesting (see Acts 8:26-39). This man was the official treasurer in the court of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. Well, Candace (or Kandake) was actually a title rather than a name, something like Pharaoh in Egypt. The eunuch served the Kandake of Ethiopia, whose proper name was probably Amantitere.

But what was this Ethiopian doing in Jerusalem, and why did he have a scroll of the Hebrew Scriptures? More important, what happened when he got back home, after Philip baptized him?

Judaism has a long history in Ethiopia, possibly dating back to the Queen of Sheba. There’s a dubious legend that Solomon fathered a child she bore, thus creating a strain of Jewish royal blood in Africa. More likely, Jews just migrated there during times of war or famine. The eunuch was probably a Jew himself, returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We might wonder if he had bought his Scripture scroll there and was taking it back to a Jewish community in Ethiopia. Otherwise, it would be strange to travel with such a rare and precious item.

According to tradition, the newly baptized eunuch returned home and evangelized many Ethiopians, including the Kandake. With royal influence, Christianity gained a strong foothold in the area. The warrior-queen had met the Prince of Peace.

In the opening verses of the book of Acts, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be witnesses for him “in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). For seven chapters, the disciples are holed up in Jerusalem, but chapter 8 explodes outward. A revival occurs in Samaria, Philip meets a traveler on a road in Judea, and this man takes the message back to his queen in a mysterious region known by many as the end of the earth.

We are witnesses of a truth that moves ever outward.

You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Acts 1:8