Beam me up, Scotty

A few years ago some friends of mine were doing a study on the Holy Spirit. For my part, I went thru the bible looking for examples of what the Spirit of the Lord (or the Holy Spirit) did - how does He work? How do we know when he's been around?

I classified 68 references (yes, there are more) and discovered many interesting and faith building things, but I also found something I never expected to find. It's best described in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

Look again at this verse: Acts 8:39 "When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing."

From the scripture we see:

1. Philip was suddenly taken away. 
2. It was immediate, as they were exiting the water
3. The eunuch didn't see him again, but he wasn't concerned, kept on rejoicing

I think that is odd. Surely they must have said good-bye and thank you? But that is not implied. It was sudden. So I wonder, how could that be? Perhaps...

1. Philip lost his mind and ran off like a crazy person (unlikely, as that behavior would have had a memorable impact on the eunuch's next actions)
2. Philip quickly ran away (also unlikely, the eunuch would have seen him running)
3. Philip was teleported from one location to another ala Star Trek (and the eunuch could have reasoned that Philip was an angel sent by God, even more reason to rejoice)

What? Star Trek teleportation you say? Take a look at the next verse. Acts 8:40 "Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea."

Um... he was just on a desert road leading to Gaza, and suddenly he is in Azotus? Azotus is likely Ashdod, a town in the Gaza Strip. Luckily, that is where Philip intended to go, as we saw from earlier in the story.

People in the old testament seemed to expect that the Spirit of the Lord would do such things as teleporting people from one place to another, as seen in 1 Kings 18:12 and 2 Kings 2:16. There are also first hand accounts of this happening directly to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:14, Ezekiel 11:1, Ezekiel 37:1, Ezekiel 43:5. Perhaps Ezekiel was in a trance for a couple of those, but I think this disputable matter warrants some consideration.

Besides, teleportation by the Holy Spirit is a fun theory to ponder.