Acts 12
1It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
8Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. 20He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king's country for their food supply.
21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
24But the word of God continued to increase and spread.
25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.
1.) In the previous chapter, Peter shared his vision from God regarding the Gentiles and how he was no longer to call anything "unclean" which the Lord has made clean. The believers in Antioch were the first "Christians.
2.) In Chapter 12 King Herod desired to persecute the Christians and had James put to death. Once he saw this pleased the Jewish leaders he also had Peter imprisoned.
3) The church prayed for Peter during the time of his arrest. God miraculously answered their prayers by sending an Angel of the Lord to wake Peter up inside his prison cell. Peter was asleep with chains around his wrists and surrounded by many guards. Upon the entrance of the Angel, a light shone inside the prison cell and Peter's chains were removed. The Angel then proceeded to escort Peter out of jail, past 2 guard stations. They approached the iron door which mysteriously opened, letting Peter and the Angel out of jail. As they were walking down the block together, the Angel disappeared. This is amazing! It sounds like something out of a movie....
Also, Peter was unsure what was happening to him and mistaked this for a vision. He was not aware this was actually taking place.
4) The power of prayer is displayed in Chapter 12 as the church was faithful to gather for pray during a time of persecution. James had just been killed and now Peter was arrested. They were probably filled with fear wondering what Herod would do next. I wonder what would have happened to Peter, had the church not been praying at Mary's house? This is an example of the power of prayer and how we need to perserve when praying for our leaders, family and friends. The miracle we are waiting for may be right around the corner......
5) Herod's pride was his demise. Herod made decisions based upon the approval of the Jewish leaders and had a great ego problem. The people praised him and he was killed because he accepted the praise. This is a reminder regarding the power and deception of pride.
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