Study #26: The Golden Ratio design of Acts Chapter 3

Acts, Chapter 1.3: The Sanhedrin violently rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Stephen (6:1 - 8:4)

§Unique Introduction: The Apostles appointed seven men (Deacons) to assist them in the ministry of the church at Jerusalem (6:1 - 7)

¶Opposite The Apostles ask the members of the church at Jerusalem to choose seven men to take charge of the daily distribution of food (6:1 - 5)

¶Opposite The appointment of the seven Deacons resulted in a great increase of the church membership at Jerusalem (6:6 - 7)

§Complement Body: Stephen laid the theological groundwork for an indictment of the leadership of the Jews for their guilt in murdering their Messiah (6:1 - 7:43)

¶Unique The enemies of Stephen caused him to be falsely arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin council of the Jews (6:8 - 15)

¶Complement God called Abraham to serve Him and gave his seed the land of Canaan (7:1 - 8)

¶Complement Joseph called his father Jacob to come down to Egypt with his family (7:9 - 16)

¶Opposite God trained Moses for leadership by placing him in the household of Pharaoh, but Pharaoh tried to kill him (Acts 7:17 - 29)

¶Opposite God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt, but the people rejected Moses and the Law of Jehovah (7:30 - 43)

§Complement Conclusion: Stephen indicted the Jews for rejecting their Messiah; and this resulted in his death and a general persecution of all Christians (7:44 - 8:4)

¶Complement Stephen indicted the Sanhedrin Council for murdering Jesus Christ, the true Temple of Jehovah, and the Prophet like Moses (7:44 - 54)

¶Complement This indictment of Stephen resulted in his death by stoning and a general persecution of all Christians (7:55 - 8:4)

We begin our study of Acts Chapter 1.3 with an overview of the Golden Ratio design of the entire Chapter.

§Unique Introduction: The Apostles appointed seven men (Deacons) to assist them in the ministry of the church at Jerusalem (6:1 - 7)

¶Opposite The Apostles ask the members of the church at Jerusalem to choose seven men to take charge of the daily distribution of food (6:1 - 5)

¶Opposite The appointment of the seven Deacons resulted in a great increase of the church membership at Jerusalem (6:6 - 7)

In the Introduction Section, we read about a crisis in the church in Jerusalem:

“there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution of food.” Acts 6:1b

The Apostles responded to this crisis by saying that they wanted someone else to take care of the daily distribution of food, so they could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word of God. So the church members chose a group of seven men from among themselves, and the Apostles laid hands on them and ordained them into the ministry. Paul later called this type of leader in the churches ‘Deacons” (I Timothy 3:8).

Among that first group of Deacons was an unusual man by the name of Stephen:

“And they chose Stephen (a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit)” Acts 6:5b

This man Stephen is the central person in the rest of Chapter 3 of Acts. So, looking at the outline of Chapter 3 above, you should be able to easily see how the Introduction Section sets the stage for the rest of what we read in Acts Chapter 3.

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

§Complement Body: Stephen laid the theological groundwork for an indictment of the leadership of the Jews for their guilt in murdering their Messiah (6:1 - 7:43)

¶Unique The enemies of Stephen caused him to be falsely arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin council of the Jews (6:8 - 15)

¶Complement God called Abraham to serve Him and gave his seed the land of Canaan (7:1 - 8)

¶Complement Joseph called his father Jacob to come down to Egypt with his family (7:9 - 16)

¶Opposite God trained Moses for leadership by placing him in the household of Pharaoh (Acts 7:17 - 29)

¶Opposite But the people of Israel rejected Moses, the leader given them by God (7:30 - 43)

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

Where does the Golden Ratio design come from? That is another question that I don’t have space for in this study, but it is explain on this page on my website:

https://www.phibible.org/info/GoldenRatioBibleStudies/GoldenRatioBibleIntroEnglish/GR_Intro_Page_4.html

In a nutshell, the Golden Ratio design comes from mathematics, and a design that is found in the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers. God is the Author of both mathematics and the Bible; and God used the Golden Ratio design from mathematics as a way to demonstrate that the Holy Bible was given by Him, and Him alone, by the agency of chosen and holy men of God: forty prophets and Apostles of God over a period of approximately 1,600 years.

This series of Bible studies is dedicated to explaining this Golden Ratio design to the world, as a means for propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations, and building up the faith of the saints of God on every continent of this world.

The Golden Ratio design of the Bible is the antidote to the poison of Liberal theology and false religions of all kinds: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, liberal “Christian churches” who deny the Bible and turn sinners away from Christ, and the thousands of other sects and cults who deny Jesus Christ and twist the Bible to their own destruction and the destruction of all who follow them.

Getting back to our study of Chapter 1.3 of Acts, as you can see from the alternating design next to each Chapter above, the Body Section has the reverse design from Chapter 1.2; and Chapter 1.4 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 paragraph of the Body Section sets the stage for the rest of the Chapter. The enemies of Stephen spread lies about him, and caused him to be arrested and brought before the Council of the Sanhedrin, the most powerful ruling clerical body in Israel at that time, second only to the Roman governor. This paragraph is unique in the Body Section:

¶Unique The enemies of Stephen caused him to be falsely arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin council of the Jews (6:8 - 15)

Acts 6:12 - 14: And they stirred up the people, and the elders and the scribes; and they came upon him, and caught him; and brought him to the council. And they set up false witnesses, who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the Law: for we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place; and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.”

The main theme of the Chapter is found in the second and third paragraphs of the Body Section. In the second paragraph, Stephen set the stage for what was coming in the Conclusion by talking about the history of Abraham, and how God called him out of all nations to serve Him; and gave him covenants of promise.

¶Complement God called Abraham to serve Him and gave his seed the land of Canaan (7:1 - 8)

In the third paragraph, Stephen talked about the history of Jacob and how God brought him and his family into Egypt.

¶Complement Joseph called his father Jacob to come down to Egypt with his family (7:9 - 16)

So far, so good. No one was upset by talking about the history of the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. These two paragraphs complement each other.

But in the fourth paragraph (the two opposite paragraphs), Stephen began talking about Moses, and how God raised him up and set him over the children of Israel as their first leader.

¶Opposite God trained Moses for leadership by placing him in the household of Pharaoh (Acts 7:17 - 29)

In the fifth paragraph, Stephen talked about how the people of Israel initially rejected Moses; and later rejected his teachings altogether, leading to their expulsion from the land of Israel to Babylon:

¶Opposite But the people of Israel initially rejected Moses, the leader given them by God (7:30 - 43)

In talking about Moses (who was a type of Christ), Stephen was getting the Council ready for his denouncement of them as betrayers of the Law of Moses and the murderers of their own Messiah (who was the antitype of Moses).

This happened in the Conclusion Section:

§Complement Conclusion: Stephen indicted the Jews for rejecting their Messiah; and this resulted in his death and a general persecution of all Christians (7:44 - 8:4)

¶Complement Stephen indicted the Sanhedrin Council for murdering Jesus Christ, the true Temple of Jehovah, and the Prophet like Moses (7:44 - 54)

Acts 7:51 - 54 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the Prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have slain them who showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers! Who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it!” When they heard these things, they were convicted in their hearts; and they gnashed their teeth at him.”

The second paragraph of the Conclusion ends this Chapter with the stoning of Stephen and the scattering of the disciples of Jesus from Jerusalem.

¶Complement This indictment of Stephen resulted in his death by stoning and a general persecution of all Christians (7:55 - 8:4)

Acts 8:1 - 8:4: “And Saul was approving of his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the Assembly at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial; and they made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the Assembly: entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison; therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.”

This is the first mention of Saul in the Bible, who later became Paul the Apostle of Christ; who also is the main subject of Chapter 1.4 of Acts, the next Chapter. So you see how the entire Chapter 1.3 of Acts is all about Stephen, his appointment as a spiritual leader in the church in Jerusalem; his arrest and his sermon to the Council of the Sanhedrin. The murder of Stephen led to Saul taking it upon himself to go about imprisoning Christians all over the area, and dragging them to Jerusalem for punishment.

One of those journeys was to Damascus, where he met the Lord Jesus Christ for the first time, resulting in his salvation and his missionary journeys around the Roman empire, planting churches, and writing most of the inspired letters of the Apostles.

We will go into more detail about Saul and how he became Paul in the next Chapter. But first, we will study Chapter 1.3 in detail in the next few studies.

The point is, that Chapter 1.3 is a unit of thought in the Book of Acts: Stephen. Chapter 1.4 is a unit of thought also: Saul and how he became the Apostle Paul; and so on for each Chapter in Acts.

Each Chapter in the Golden Ratio design is a complete unit of thought. Only the Golden Ratio design accurately captures this unity of each text division in the Bible. The other Bible versions and arrangements that you read do not. The other arrangements of the Bible are not even close to being correct.

I invite you to look at Acts Chapter 1.3 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/Acts3Eng.html

What is the significance of the Golden Ratio design of the Bible?

The Golden Ratio design of the Bible is proof that God is the true Author of the Holy Scriptures, because the Apostles and Prophets who recorded the words in the Bible over a period of about 1,600 years were definitely not aware of the Golden Ratio design in their writings.

But since we can clearly see this design all through the Bible from Genesis to the Psalms (see the entire Golden Ratio design at https://www.phibible.org), and since this design would be clearly be impossible without Divine Inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21), therefore the Holy Bible must be from the one true God.

So, the Golden Ratio design of the Bible is visual proof that the Holy Bible (not including the Apocrypha or the pseudepigrapha) originated from God Almighty, and not from any imagination or device of man.

On the other hand, this also means that the other religious books in the world today are not of God, because they do not have the Golden Ratio design in any way, shape, or form: the Quran of Islam, the bhagavad gita of Hinduism, the “books” of Mormon, the writings of Ellen G. White (Seventh Day Adventists), and many others.

The Holy Bible proclaims Jesus Christ as the one true Way of Salvation, and the one true God; therefore, Jesus Christ is exactly what the Bible says that He is: crucified and risen Redeemer, Savior, King of kings, Lord of lords, and Messiah of the Jewish people (and many other Divine titles).

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” John 14:6.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“Tell, and bring them near; moreover, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient times? Who has told it from that time? Have not I Jehovah? And there is no God other than me, a just God and a Savior; there is no God other than me.

Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am the true God; and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:21-22

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This [Jesus] is the true God, and Eternal Life.” 1 John 5:20-21

The Gospel is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day. If you repent of your sins and believe on Jesus Christ, asking Him to come into your heart to save you, because He paid for all of your sins on the cross of Calvary, then you will be saved and go to Heaven when you die!

I urge you to trust in Jesus Christ right now! Here is a prayer that you can use to repent and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior right now, because you may not live to get saved tomorrow:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.