“Acts 12:1-19”

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

“Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, ‘Gird yourself and put on your sandals.’ And he did so. And he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’ And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, ‘It is his angel.’ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, ‘Report these things to James and the brethren.’ Then he left and went to another place. Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.”

---End of Scripture verses---

With the killing of James, the church suffered its second prominent martyrdom and the loss of its first inspired apostle. We are not told the reason why Herod (Agrippa I) put one of the sons of thunder to death, but the result pleased him so much that he quickly set his sights on Peter. Herod may have been poised to take the leaders of the church out one by one, and, but for God’s intervention, he may have succeeded. He had Peter arrested and was just waiting until Passover was finished to put him to death to the further delight of Jews that hated Jesus (verse 3).

Herod was very serious about taking Peter out and he took no chances that he might escape before his execution (verses 4-6). He put Peter in prison and set 16 armed soldiers in strategic locations to watch over him. He even had Peter chained between two of the guards as he slept through the night. Maybe Herod had heard that the Apostles had escaped imprisonment before (Acts 5:17-20), and he was determined to not have that happen on his watch. Unfortunately for Herod, he never learned the lesson that when you battle against God, even impossible things can happen, and you have zero chances of winning that fight.

“So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church of God” (verse 5). I wonder what the nature of those prayers was? Were the Christians praying for the strength of Peter’s faith, that he would remain loyal to Christ to the bitter end? If they were praying that he would be spared from the sword and delivered unto them once again, they obviously didn’t expect God to deliver. The brethren who had been praying at Mary’s house were so incredulous when Rhoda said that Peter was at the door that they accused her of being out of her mind (verses 13-15).

Brethren in Christ, prayer is a very powerful weapon against the forces of Satan. If we don’t believe that God can deliver on the things that we request of Him, then we take the spiritual legs right out from underneath our own prayers. It is very understandable that these brethren prayed for the best and expected the worst. They had certainly prayed earnestly for James as well, only to see him murdered by wicked and perverse men. But when we pray to God, we should not be driven to a state of utter disbelief when God answers “Yes” to those prayers. We serve a mighty and awesome God. Prayer works. Prayer can accomplish great things (James 5:15-16). Pray to Him often. Pray for the best and prepare for the worst. But pray with faith unwavering. And whatever the result may be, glorify God that His will is being done. I don’t know why it was God’s will to allow James to be killed and then to spare Peter. And I don’t know why God sometimes allows bad things to happen to us. But I do know this much: God is still there. God is still all-powerful. And God always hears and answers the prayers of His faithful people.

Please read Acts 12:20-25 for tomorrow. And pray!

Have a blessed day!

- Louie Taylor

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