Acts Study #27: The Golden Ratio design of Acts Chapter 4

Hechos Estudio #27: El diseño de la proporción áurea del capítulo 4 de los Hechos

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“This is the work of Jehovah! It is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:23

Acts, Chapter 1.4: The salvation of Saul of Tarsus: a devout, but false Jew under the Old Covenant (8:5 - 9:31)

§Unique Introduction: Philip and the apostles Peter and John destroyed the evil influence of Simon Magus among the Samaritans with the Gospel (8:5 - 25)

¶Opposite Philip won many Samaritans to the Lord Jesus, and away from the evil influence of the Simon the Magician (8:5 - 13)

¶Opposite Peter uncompromisingly rebuked the wicked attempt of Simon to bribe the apostles for the power to give the Holy Spirit (8:14 - 25)

§Complement Body: Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for his Name’s sake (8:26 - 9:22)

¶Opposite Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant (8:26 - 35)

¶Opposite After baptizing the completed Christian Jew, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (8:36 - 40)

¶Complement Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was blinded by the experience (9:1 - 9)

¶Complement The Lord Jesus Christ sent Ananias to baptize Saul and restore his sight (9:10 - 19a)

¶Unique Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, and proved that Jesus is the Christ (9:19b - 22)

§Complement Conclusion: Saul suffered persecution by his former allies at Damascus and Jerusalem (9:23 - 31)

¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Damascus, he met with the apostles in Jerusalem (9:23 - 28)

¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Jerusalem, the churches of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were strengthened and multiplied (9:29 - 31)

We begin our study of Acts Chapter 1.4 with an overview of the Golden Ratio design of the entire Chapter.

But first, let’s take a look backward at where we have been in the Book of Acts:

Book 4.5: The apostles preached the Gospel of Christ to both Jews and Gentiles (Acts)

Complement Part 1: The apostles and leaders of the Assembly in Jerusalem were persecuted by the Jews

Unique Chapter 1.1: Many Jews of the Diaspora believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Complement Chapter 1.2: The Sanhedrin rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the apostles

Complement Chapter 1.3: The Sanhedrin rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Stephen

Opposite Chapter 1.4: The salvation of Saul of Tarsus: a devout, but false Jew under the Old Covenant

Opposite Chapter 1.5: The completion of Cornelius: a devout and true Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant

Now, you should be able to easily see the Golden Ratio design in each Chapter, marked with “U” for Unique, “C” for Complementary, and “O” for Opposite.

The first three Chapters were focused on the church in Jerusalem; but now, the focus is moving away from the church in Jerusalem toward the Gentiles, which fits the characteristic of the Golden Ratio design, since the “OO” portion is a related, but separate division in the group of five: “UCC-OO”.

Chapter 1.4 is about special Jews who were saved: e.g. the Samaritans (not considered true Jews by other Jews of the day, but nonetheless genetically related); the Ethiopian Eunuch (a Gentile who converted to become a Jew); and Saul of Tarsus, who was a Jew, but was a Roman citizen, because he was born in Asia Minor. Hence the term: “special Jews”.

Chapter 1.5 moves even further toward the Gentiles with the conversion of Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, and many other Gentiles in Antioch of Syria.

Now let’s look at the Golden Ratio design of Chapter 1.4:

§Unique Introduction: Philip and the apostles Peter and John destroyed the evil influence of Simon Magus among the Samaritans with the Gospel (8:5 - 25)

¶Opposite Philip won many Samaritans to the Lord Jesus, and away from the evil influence of the Simon the Magician (8:5 - 13)

¶Opposite Peter uncompromisingly rebuked the wicked attempt of Simon to bribe the apostles for the power to give the Holy Spirit (8:14 - 25)

In the Introduction Section, we read of the conversion of the Samaritans through a city-wide crusade by Philip the Evangelist.

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord paid attention to those things which Philip spoke: hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many that were possessed by them; and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. And there was great joy in that city.” (Acts 8:5 - 8)

This crusade set the stage for the rest of the Chapter, because the next events are the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Saul of Tarsus; and we read about them in the Body Section.

Remember from previous studies that the Golden Ratio paragraph pattern for the Chapters in every Book in the Body Section goes like this:

Chapter 1.1: UCC-OO

Chapter 1.2: OO-CCU

Chapter 1.3: UCC-OO

Chapter 1.4: OO-CCU

Chapter 1.5: UCC-OO

Chapter 2.1: OO-CCU

Chapter 2.2: UCC-OO

Chapter 2.3: OO-CCU

Chapter 2.4: UCC-OO

Chapter 2.5: OO-CCU

This is Chapter 1.4, so the paragraph pattern is “OO-CCU” for the Body Section, which we will see is exactly the case.

§Complement Body: Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for his Name’s sake (8:26 - 9:22)

¶Opposite Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant (8:26 - 35)

¶Opposite After baptizing the completed Christian Jew, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (8:36 - 40)

¶Complement Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was blinded by the experience (9:1 - 9)

¶Complement The Lord Jesus Christ sent Ananias to baptize Saul and restore his sight (9:10 - 19a)

¶Unique Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, and proved that Jesus is the Christ (9:19b - 22)

The paragraph marks with “O”, “C”, or “U”, indicate the Golden Ratio design: two Opposite, two Complements, and one Unique.

As you can see from the alternating design next to each Chapter above, it is the reverse design from Chapter 1.3; and Chapter 1.5 will reverse the design again, and so on. This would be impossible, if the Bible was only written by men. The Golden Ratio design of the Bible is proof of its Divine Authorship and its Divine Authority.

The first and second paragraphs set the stage for the rest of the Chapter, but are not directly related to each other: “OO”.

These two paragraphs obviously have opposing themes: The Holy Spirit sent Philip to preach the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant. Then, the Holy Spirit caught away Philip, after the Jew had become completed in his faith when he believed in Jesus Christ as his Messiah.

§Complement Body: Saul of Tarsus was chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for his Name’s sake (8:26 - 9:22)

¶Opposite Philip preached the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, a gentile who had been saved under the Old Covenant (8:26 - 35)

¶Opposite After baptizing the completed Christian Jew, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip (8:36 - 40)

“Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.” And Philip ran there to him; and he heard him read the Prophet Isaiah; and he said, “Do you understand what you read?” And he said, “How can I, unless some man should guide me?” And he asked Philip that he would come up and sit with him.” Acts 8:29 - 31

But the main theme of the Chapter is found in the third and fourth paragraphs of the Body Section, in which Saul met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was saved.

¶Complement Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was blinded by the experience (9:1 - 9)

¶Complement The Lord Jesus Christ sent Ananias to baptize Saul and restore his sight (9:10 - 19a)

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus; and suddenly there shined round about him a light from Heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you persecute; it is hard for you to kick against the ox goads.” (Acts 9:3 - 5)

In the fifth paragraph of the Body Section, we read of Saul doing the opposite in Damascus of what he had gone there to do, which was to imprison Christians. Instead, he was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which completely confused and angered those who previously supported him.

¶Unique Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, and proved that Jesus is the Christ (9:19b - 22)

We read about this in Acts 9:21 - 22:

“But all that heard him were amazed, and said, “Is not this he that destroyed them who called on this Name in Jerusalem? And he came here for that purpose, that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased even more in strength; and he confounded the Jews who dwelt at Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. ”

Do you see how, in the “CCU” portion, that the Unique text is closely related to the two Complements texts, but there is some separation between them? The two Complementary are a pair; whereas the Unique is only one.

¶Complement Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and was blinded by the experience (9:1 - 9)

¶Complement The Lord Jesus Christ sent Ananias to baptize Saul and restore his sight (9:10 - 19a)

¶Unique Saul immediately preached Christ in the synagogues of Damascus, and proved that Jesus is the Christ (9:19b - 22)

Now in the Conclusion Section, we read about the reaction of the Council of the Sanhedrin to all of these miracles and healings that were done by the apostles:

§Complement Conclusion: Saul suffered persecution by his former allies at Damascus and Jerusalem (9:23 - 31)

¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Damascus, he met with the apostles in Jerusalem (9:23 - 28)

¶Complement After Saul escaped persecution at Jerusalem, the churches of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were strengthened and multiplied (9:29 - 31)

First, Saul escaped from Damascus to Jerusalem, where he met with the apostles; but being newly converted and inexperienced, he became a center of controversy, so the Lord told him to leave Jerusalem (Acts 22:18), and so the persecution that he had started against the Christians was over, for now.

“Then the Assemblies had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria; and they were strengthened. And, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.” (Acts 9:31)

I invite you to look at Acts Chapter 4 on my website in the Kingdom Study Bible, so that you can see the Golden Ratio design for yourself. At the top of the page, you can find links to view other parts of the Kingdom Study Bible as well. https://www.phibible.org/Bible_Pages/Volume4/Acts4Eng.html