“And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth.' ”
And Ananias, this pious and respected godly Jew, had told him that the ‘God of our fathers', the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, had appointed him to know His will, and to see ‘the Righteous One', the Messiah, and to hear Him speak to him. For ‘the Righteous One' see on Acts 3:14; Acts 7:52.
This is the central point in the chiasmus and thus central in importance, It declares that God has appointed him for a threefold purpose:
1) To know His will. It was a special revelation from God. It was firstly His will that he should follow Jesus Christ, which is now made clear, but the ultimate point is not revealed at this stage. It is finally revealed in Acts 22:21. It was His will that he might go to the Gentiles. Those who were listening properly would be waiting to know what it was right to the end. Compare Galatians 1:16.
2) To see the Righteous One. He was privileged to see in the glorious light the resurrected, enthroned Lord of glory, the righteous Saviour and Judge. In the Old Testament righteousness and salvation are regularly paralleled. He had beheld the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)
3) To hear a voice from His mouth. The Lord had now spoken to him, and from the mouth of the Lord he was to receive revelations from God. Compare Act 26:16; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4; Galatians 1:16.