Fireside: Some Other Man

“And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?“
Acts 8:34

The Road To Enlightenment

Bible ‘stories’ are the mainstay of most church youth ministries.

Daniel and the lion’s den. David and Goliath. Jonah and the whale. Joseph and the coat of many colors. Samson and Delilah.

Often they are told in no particular order, and for no other reason than that they are indeed, from the Bible. To many who will never read the Book for themselves, they are just fanciful tales of far off places and strange peoples.

But they are so much more than just stories- they are history. History from a perspective not shared by any other culture or author. History that spans each and every millennium of time from creation’s birth, to its burning, to its rebirth. History that seeks not only to relate how it happened, but why it happened.

And why all these strange, seemingly disconnected stories? Books disclose their authors. No journalistic styling or objective disciplining can fully purge the likes, the skepticisms, the leanings of a writer from his work. It bleeds through the pages. It can’t be contained-

Nor was it ever meant to be.

And so it is with the Lord’s Book, the Bible. “Its pages burn with a truth eternal, and they glow with a light sublime!” The stories are meant to be so much more than trivia questions and answers; they are as the eunuch so bluntly pointed out: “of some other man.”

The story of Cain and Abel is less about two brothers’ disagreement, and more about The Innocent Blood (Matthew 27:4) that would be slain by his brethren.

The story of Ahasuerus and Queen Esther is less about the Medo-Persian Empire, and more about The King (Hosea 2:18) reinstating a Jewish bride.

The story of David and Jonathan is less about two friends in a royal feud, and more about The Friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

The story of Ruth and Boaz is less about a romantic love, and more about The Great Redeemer (Ephesians 1:7).

Isaiah’s prophecy is less about Israel’s suffering in siege and captivity, and more about The Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3)

My readers, Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of history. If you will only read those holy words, you will find the whole volume, from start to finish, is about “Some Other Man.”