Acts Study #34: The Golden Ratio design of Acts Chapter 5

Hechos Estudio #34: El diseño de la proporción áurea del capítulo 5 de los Hechos

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

Acts, Chapter 1.5: The completion of Cornelius: a devout and true Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant (9:32 - 12:24)

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

¶Opposite Peter healed a paralyzed man at Lydda (9:32 - 35)

¶Opposite Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa (9:36 - 43)

§Complement Body: God used Peter to open the door for the mass evangelization of the Gentiles (10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (10:1 - 23a)

¶Complement Cornelius, a Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant, became a complete Christian Jew (10:23b - 48)

¶Complement Peter met with the church at Jerusalem to explain the sequence of events that led him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (11:1 - 18)

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

§Unique Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from death, and killed king Herod (12:1 - 24)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from being slain by king Herod (12:1 - 17)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord smote king Herod and killed him for his pride (12:18 - 24)

We begin our study of Acts Chapter 1.5 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 Unique, Complementary, and 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 who had been saved under the Old Covenant, and many other Gentiles in Antioch of Syria.

Notice that the main character of Chapter 1.4 was Stephanus; the main character of Chapter 1.5 is Peter; and the main character of Chapter 2.1 is Paul. Clearly, these are units of thought that must be arranged according to the contents of the text, not according to arbitrary divisions, such as found in the traditional “chapters” and “verses” arrangement found in other Bible versions. Only the Kingdom Study Bible has the correct arrangement.

The Chapter can be summarized like this:

The Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man at Lydda, then to raise a woman from the dead at Joppa.

The Body: God used Peter to preach the Gospel to Gentiles for the first time (paragraphs 1, 2, and 3).

This event led other Jews to peach the Gospel to Gentiles in Antioch, which led to the start of the very first church with Gentiles (Paragraph 4).

These Gentile Christians sent relief to the church in Jerusalem (Paragraph 5).

The Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from imprisonment and certain death by Herod.

The angel of the Lord slew Herod for not giving God the glory.

So the Golden Ratio design is clearly based upon the actual content of the Bible text; it is not a gimmick or a trick. God built the Golden Ratio design of UCC-OO into the Bible text as it was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the apostles of Jesus Christ and the Prophets of Jehovah God under the Old Covenant.

Now let’s look at the Golden Ratio design of Chapter 1.5 in more detail, but still at a high level:

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

¶Opposite Peter healed a paralyzed man at Lydda (9:32 - 35)

¶Opposite Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa (9:36 - 43)

In the Introduction Section, we read of two miracles done by God through Peter:

In paragraph 1, Peter healed a paralyzedman at Lydda.

“And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, who had kept his bed eight years, and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole; arise, and make your bed.” And he arose immediately.” Acts 9:33-34

In paragraph 2, Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa.

“But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes; and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord.” Acts 9:40 - 42

These miracles in the Introduction complement the events in the Body Section, because the next events are of Peter preaching the Gospel to Cornelius and his family, and Peter’s meeting with the church elders in Jersualem to explain what happened with Cornelius.

The Conclusion Section is Unique compared to the Introduction and Conclusion, because the text is about king Herod, who attempted to kill Peter; but was killed himself by an Angel of the Lord for his pride.

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

§Complement Body: God used Peter to open the door for the mass evangelization of the Gentiles (10:1 - 11:30)

§Unique Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from death, and killed king Herod (12:1 - 24)

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 1.5, so the paragraph pattern is “UCC-OO” for the Body Section, which we see is exactly the case.

§Complement Body: God used Peter to open the door for the mass evangelization of the Gentiles (10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (10:1 - 23a)

¶Complement Cornelius, a Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant, became a complete Christian Jew (10:23b - 48)

¶Complement Peter met with the church at Jerusalem to explain the sequence of events that led him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (11:1 - 18)

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

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

As you can see from the alternating design next to each Chapter above, it is the reverse design from Chapter 1.4; and Chapter 2.1 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 main theme of the Chapter is always found in the UCC or CCU part of the Body Section, in which Peter received a vision from God; he met with Cornelius and his family and preached the Gospel to Gentiles for the very first time in history, and they were all saved. Then Peter explained his experiences to the church in Jerusalem and how God showed him that this was his Plan and his work: to send the Jews to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.

§Complement Body: God used Peter to open the door for the mass evangelization of the Gentiles (10:1 - 11:30)

¶Unique Peter received a vision from God to prepare him to meet with the Gentile Roman Cornelius and his family (10:1 - 23a)

“Then Peter went down to the men who were sent to him from Cornelius; and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek; what is the reason for which you have come?” And they said, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that fears God, and of good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by a holy angel to send for you into his house, and to hear words of you.” Then he called them in, and lodged them.” Acts 10:21 - 23

¶Complement Cornelius, a Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant, became a complete Christian Jew (10:23b - 48)

“While Peter still spoke these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them who heard the Word; and they of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles: for they heard them speaking foreign languages, and magnifying God.” Acts 10:44-46

¶Complement Peter met with the church at Jerusalem to explain the sequence of events that led him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (11:1 - 18)

“And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!” But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and related it in order to them, saying, ...” Acts 11:1-4

Do you see how, in the “UCC” portion, that the Unique text is closely related to the two Complements texts, but there is some separation between them? The two Complements are a pair; whereas the Unique is alone, but again, closely linked to the two Complements themes.

In the fourth and fifth paragraphs, the Jews in Antioch carried forward what Peter had done, and God blessed their efforts with many Gentiles who became born-again Christians. Then, Agabus prophesied of a great famine, which led the church in Antioch to send relief to the Christians in Judea.

¶Opposite The Jews preached the Gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch, and the converts became the first church of the Gentiles (11:19 - 24)

“And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they came to Antioch, spoke to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them; and a great number believed, and turned to the Lord.” Acts 11:20-21

¶Opposite Agabus the Prophet prophesied of a great famine, which led the church to send relief to the Christians in Judea (11:25 - 30)

“Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judea; which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.” Acts 11:29-30

These two paragraphs oppose each other in their themes. Also, the content is a continuation of what Peter did with Cornelius, but Peter was not involved in these events; so this illustrates how the Golden Ratio design works. The two “OO” divisions are always distantly related to the “UCC” divisions; and they oppose each other in their themes.

§Unique Conclusion: The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from death, and killed king Herod (12:1 - 24)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord delivered Peter from being slain by king Herod (12:1 - 17)

¶Complement The angel of the Lord smote king Herod and killed him for his pride (12:18 - 24)

Now in the Conclusion Section, we read about king Herod imprisoning Peter, planning to kill him, but the angel of the Lord released Peter by a miracle.

Then, the angel of the Lord killed Herod for his pride.

“And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the guards before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. And he struck Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, “Arise up quickly.” And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals.” And he did so.” Acts 12:6 - 8

And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne; and he made a speech to them. And the people shouted repeatedly, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!” And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory; and he was eaten by worms, and gave up the spirit.” Acts 12:21-23

These two paragraphs complement each other in their themes. The main character in both is the angel of the Lord, who releases Peter, but kills Herod. So it is like two sides of the same coin.

I invite you to look at Acts Chapter 5 on my website in the Kingdom Study Bible Version, 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 Version as well.

https://www.phibible.org/Bible_Pages/Volume5/Acts5EngEsp.html

Acts, Chapter 1.5: The completion of Cornelius: a devout and true Gentile believer in Jehovah under the Old Covenant (9:32 - 12:24)

§Complement Introduction: God used Peter to heal a paralyzed man and raise a woman from the dead (9:32 - 43)

¶Opposite Peter healed a paralyzed man at Lydda (9:32 - 35)

¶Opposite Peter raised a woman from the dead at Joppa (9:36 - 43) =