Leaving this aspect of our subject, we turn now to the passage itself to seek to understand its message. What

distinctive contribution does it make to our understanding of God's purposes? In the preceding section, we found

that Acts 13:16-41 formed a complete member, so that we are left with the remainder of chapter 13, and the whole

of chapter 14 to complete the record of the first missionary journey. Before attempting to go into detail, it will be

advisable to look at the passage as a whole and to discover its scope by determining its structure. We observe that in

Acts 13:42-51 we are still at Antioch of Pisidia, while in Acts 14:27 we are back again in Antioch of Syria. In the

former, we read the prophetic words: `a light of the Gentiles'; and in the latter, the dispensationally important words:

`He (God) had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles'.

Following out the places visited by the apostles, we obtain the following structure:

A 13:42-51.

ANTIOCH (In Pisidia).- The Light to lighten the Gentiles.

B 13:51 to 14:5.

ICONIUM.- Jews and Greeks believe. Threat to stone.

C 14:6-20.

LYSTRA.- The miracles and the witness against idolatry.

D 14:20-21.

DERBE.- Many taught.

LYSTRA.- The return journey.

ICONIUM.- The return journey.

ANTIOCH.- Confirming and commending.

PISIDIA.- Passed throughout.

PAMPHYLIA.- They came to.

PERGA.- The word preached.

ATTALIA.- From thence they sailed.

ANTIOCH (In Syria).- The door of faith unto the Gentiles.

In Acts 13:42, `When the Jews were gone out' we have an anticipation of Acts 28, where `the Jews departed'

and the door of faith was closed to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. As Israel's door begins to

swing to, the door for the Gentile swings open. Again, in Acts 13:43, the `congregation (synagogue) was broken up'

while in Acts 14:27 we read: `And when they ... had gathered (sunagagontes) the church together', suggesting that

the synagogue of the Jews was about to give place to a `synagogue' of all believers.

We pass by the record of Paul's visit to Iconium without comment, except to mention that he evidently stayed

there a considerable time (14:3), and that, while the Roman Colony at Antioch would deal with the administration of

city affairs, Iconium, as an Hellenic city, would be much more democratic.

Ladies of high rank (13:50) could be used by the Jews in the former, but it was the mob in the latter that brought

about the apostles' expulsion.

At Lystra, we must pause for a moment, as the record becomes more detailed, and is of evident importance. For

the reader to understand the action of the people in offering sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul, it is necessary to know

that the ancients believed that their gods often visited the earth in human form, and more than one such visit is

associated with the neighbourhood of Lystra. Dryden's translation of Ovid's Metamorphosis reads:

`Here Jove and Hermes came, but in disguise of mortal men concealed their deities'.

Jove here is Jupiter, and Hermes Mercury, these being the corresponding Greek and Latin names for the same

gods. In 1909 Sir William Ramsay unearthed a statue dedicated by the Lycaonians to the two gods, Jupiter and

Mercury, showing that these two gods were associated together in the cult of the neighbourhood.

It is not quite correct to speak of the `miracle' at Lystra in the singular, for there were actually two; not only the

miracle of the healing of the lame man, but the miracle of the raising of Paul after being stoned and left for dead.

The statement of the Acts leaves it undecided as to whether Paul actually died, as some think, or whether he was

badly wounded and rendered unconscious, but the fact that he could rise up, go back to the city, and be off on his

journey the next day is in any case sufficient to justify the term `miracle'.