Acts, Chapter 12
© Copyright 2007 Darroll Evans, all
rights reserved
Acts 12:1-11
1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain
of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter
also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to
four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him
forth to the people.
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of
the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was
sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before
the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the
prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up
quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he
did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was
done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron
gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and
they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel
departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that
the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod,
and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
About that time, King Herod
became irritated with the Church. He killed the Apostle John’s brother, James.
When Herod saw that it
pleased the Jewish leadership, he decided to execute Peter too. This happened during the days of unleavened
bread, Passover week.
He arrested Peter, and put him in prison.
There were 4 “quaternions” of soldiers, 4 squads of 4 soldiers each.
Sixteen soldiers in total were assigned to guard Peter.
Herod intended to execute
Peter after Passover. The word “Easter”
is found only in the KJV and is an incorrect
anti-Jewish translation of the Greek word, Pascha, or Passover.
The Bible makes no reference
to “Easter,” the supposedly Christian holiday dedicated to the pagan goddess
Ishtar.
The word “Easter” was brought
into Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church in order to pacify the
worshippers of Ishtar, a pagan Babylonian “mother goddess.”
In the early centuries of the
Church, the RCC defrauded, conned many pagans into mistakenly thinking
Christianity was actually part of their pagan religion, much in the same way
they now teach that Muslims are candidates for salvation due to their false
claim that Abraham’s God and their false god, Allah are the same. The RCC increased its size and political
influence by introducing false worship.
The KJV kept the ball rolling
through that false translation of “Easter.”
Fortunately, other good translations have not followed that fraudulent
behavior.
As Peter was in jail, the
Church prayed for him, and that presents a theological problem that we will
shortly address.
The night before the planned
execution, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound to them by two chains. There
were other soldiers at the door.
Amid all that, the Angel of
the Lord came to Peter. His light filled
the prison, but did not awake the guards. (the unregenerate heart will never
see the light of God!) In fact, the Angel had to kick Peter in the side to
awaken him.
The Angel told Peter to get
up, and the Chains fell off of him.
Then, the angel told Peter to get dressed and follow him.
He did as the angel ordered,
but Peter thought he was seeing a vision.
They went through the prison, and at the exit door, the gate opened of
its “own accord.” Upon arriving at the
street, the angel left Peter.
It was at that point that
Peter knew the truth. He said, “Now, I
absolutely know that the Lord sent His angel, and delivered me out of the hand
of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”
Acts 12:12-17
12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the
mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together
praying.
13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken,
named Rhoda.
14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but
ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.
15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it
was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.
16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw
him, they were astonished.
17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto
them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these
things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another
place.
As Peter walked along
thinking about all that, he came to the home of Mary the mother of John
Mark. That is the same John Mark that
went on the trip with Paul and wrote the Gospel of Mark. It was at his mother’s home that prayers were
being offered for Peter.
Peter knocked on the gate
door, and young girl named Rhoda heard him.
She knew it was Peter’s voice asking to come in.
Happily she ran inside to
tell those praying for Peter, but how did those great men and women of faith
react? They did not believe her. Instead
of faith and trust, their prayers were filled with a total lack thereof.
They told her that she was
“mad.” However, Rhoda insisted. Then they claimed that she only saw Peter’s
angel. In those days, the rumor was that
all Jews had an angel. James’ angel must
have gone on vacation when he was executed.
Peter kept knocking! Finally
they opened the door, and surprisingly Peter was standing there. The Bible says that they were “astonished.”
Think about that. They prayed, God answered their prayer, or
did He? Instead of instant rejoicing,
they were astonished.
That brings be to a question
that many do not acknowledge, or are even willing to ask.
Did God answer their unfaithful prayers?
We will get back to that question in a moment.
As Peter entered the home, he
motioned that they should be quiet.
Then, he told them story of his release from prison.
Peter told them to go and
tell what happened to James, Jesus’ brother and the other disciples, then he
left.
Now, back to that question:
Does God answer unfaithful
prayers?
Does God respect unfaithful
prayers?
I don’t think so!
So, what happened?
How did Peter get out of
prison?
It was an answer to a personal prophecy given by
Christ Jesus!
John 21:18
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself,
and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but
when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another
shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
As Peter lay in that prison,
the words of the Lord came to him. They
were spoken while he was still considered to be young.
However, Jesus said, “When
you shall become old.”
Jesus told Peter that he
would become old. If he was to become
old, he could not die at the time Herod appointed.
So, why worry? Just get a good night’s rest and let God do
what God does best. He saves His people!
It was none of Peter’s
business how God would get him out of prison, but in order for Christ’s words
to be true, God had to get him out! And,
He did!
Acts 12:18-23
18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what
was become of Peter.
19 And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the
keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from
Judaea to
20 And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came
with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their
friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king's
country.
21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and
made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a
man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the
glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
When the day had come for the
execution and Peter could not be found, there was no small stir among the
officials in
At this point, Luke writes, “Herod was highly displeased with them of
Herod set a day when he would
appear and make a speech. He was dressed
in his royal apparel. As he sat on his throne to give the oration, the people
in attendance gave him what amounted to a standing ovation. They shouted, “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” No doubt, it was a “slight” enhancement. But it was accepted by Herod as his just
due. After all, he was the king.
Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down, because did not give glory to God. Luke writes, “He was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.” Herod Agrippa died in approximately 44 AD. Josephus reports that Herod suffered terrible abdominal pains for 5 days and then died.
Acts 12:24-25
24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from
Verse 24 tells us that “the
word of God grew and multiplied.” Many
suppose that to be symbolic of the size of the Church. However, it may mean that the power of the
Church grew and multiplied.
Barnabas and Saul returned to