A Study in the Book of Acts
Part 12
Acts 12: 1-11: 1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4. So when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. 5. Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!'' And his chains fell off his hands. 8. Then the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals''; and so, he did. And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me.'' 9. So he went out and followed him and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 1. Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 10. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.'' 10. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.''12. So, when he had considered this, 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 girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14. When she recognized Peter's voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15. But they said to her, "You are beside yourself!'' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, "It is his angel.'' 16. Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17. But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, "Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.'' And he departed and went to another place.
The Book of Acts is in a way, divided into parts. This first part Chapters 1-12 describe the beginning of the church, its growth in Jerusalem and the dispersion throughout the know world of the believers due to persecution. Chapter 12 is the last of this section, the last part of Acts will describe Paul’s contribution to the church.
So, we see in the beginning of the chapter that James is martyred by the order of Herod. I believe this is the same Herod involved with the crucifixion of Jesus. This is James the brother of John, one of the three apostles close to Jesus. It is not the same James who authored the Epistle of James. This is the second recorded martyrdom of the new believers, the first being Stephen. It is a short and to the point, statement. Herod killed James with the sword. Then seeing that it pleased the Jews and the religious leaders, He ordered Peter to be arrested, with the plan of killing him also. As we see in verse 6, it is the night before Peter’s execution. He is in prison shackled between two guards!
I find it interesting that what we see is Peter is sleeping! I have heard a lot of teaching on this and I am sure you have too. But I want us to stop and consider this again. Peter is sleeping, why?
- Because he is exhausted?
- He is resolved to his fate.
- He has absolute faith that God will save him. What?
Well, I believe it is partially number three. James was just murdered. Peter is in jail. He cannot change what is happening, so he had to wait. Lying awake worrying was not going to change a thing. As we see in Verse 12. The believers were already gathered and praying for him. As we see after Peter was delivered, he went to the home where the believers were gathered and knocked on the door. The women who answered thought it was his ghost. We need to look at all this together, because I believe it will help us see, the heart of the church at this time and it will help us in a time of despair.
James was dead, Peter was in jail awaiting his death. This is two of their leaders. How would you feel? This leads me to the question, “why does God let these things happen?”
My answer is, “I don’t have all the answers.” Why did a good man like Stephen have to die? Why was James singled out and not others?
We just need to sit back and remember two things.
- God’s ways are not our ways.
- The statement made by the three Hebrew young men in Daniel 3:16-18: “16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
- "If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18. "But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.''
Basically, they knew God would do something, and no matter what it would give Him Glory!! It has been hard for me at times to understand that God knew from the beginning of time that these things would happen. That James would die, that Stephen would die.
Matthew 10: 16-23: 16. "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 17. "But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. 18. "And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19. "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20. "for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. 21. "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22. "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23. "But when they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Matthew 24:9: 9. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.
Luke 21: 12-13: 12. "But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. 13. "But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
These are but a few of the sayings of Jesus foretelling what is coming for the apostles.
I think most of the time, we tend to place this type of suffering and death on another level than what we go through on a daily basis or whatever season we are in right now.
This is a famous verse, but I want us to take it, meditate on it and ponder it. Because I think it will help us all today.
John 10: 10. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
-- Living Bible
John 10:10: The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
To kill in Romanized Greek is a primary verb; properly, to rush (breathe hard, blow, smoke), i.e. (by implication) to sacrifice (properly, by fire, but genitive case); by extension to immolate (slaughter for any purpose):
KJV--kill, (do) sacrifice, slay
To destroy to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively: KJV--destroy, die, lose, mar, perish.
So, in this case in the apostle’s lives Satan rushed in and sacrificed them, slaughter them for what he thought was his purpose, but in reality, was part of God’s plan, as described by Jesus.
I submit to you today. That this is true in our case today. No, we are not martyred in a physical sense, but The Holy Spirit has said to me this week, we are still persecuted for Jesus’s Name sake! When our lives are attacked. When things happen, we can’t explain. When we are tried almost beyond our breaking point. It is the enemy attempting to sacrifice, immolate, slay, destroy, mar and kill our spiritual life and make our witness ineffective. We have chosen the path. We made the choice to Follow Jesus, what better way to stop the spread of Christianity, then to stop our lives spiritually.
If you appear to stumble, even fall, seem defeated or discouraged. Then satan is gloating because he thinks he has stopped one more voice in the Choir of Victory, Jesus had created in the Church.
But I am here to tell us all, don’t stop! Don’t give up.
Sometimes there are things on Facebook that encourage me a lot. I have seen a lot of posts lately that make a lot of sense for what a lot of my friends and me are going through.
The thing I most understand is this: God is never taken by surprise. He knows what is going to happen before it happens. It may seem hard and almost impossible to go through, but we have to believe that He is in control. If I cannot believe that God is in control, then I have nothing. Absolutely nothing!
I go back to the three Hebrew boys: (the Tinsley Baker version): Satan, we have no need to answer you in this matter. God whom I serve is able to deliver me from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver me from your hand. But if not, let it be known to you, satan that I will not be defeated or controlled by you. I serve and worship the Lord God almighty and Him alone to I serve. I will not be defeated or overrun!