Peters Arrest And Deliverance
background information
“1-3. Herod the king--grandson
of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus.
He at this time ruled over all his father's dominions. PALEY has remarked the
accuracy of the historian here. For thirty years before this there was no king
at Jerusalem exercising supreme authority over Judea, nor was there ever
afterwards, save during the three last years of Herod's life, within which the
transactions occurred.” [2]
The Jail Break
1 Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. “Herod was the name that people called all the Jewish rulers. It was the name of the rulers’ family. This Herod was Herod Agrippa the First (the first Herod that had the name Agrippa). He was Herod the Great’s grandson. Herod the Great was ruling when Jesus was born (Matthew 2:1). Herod Agrippa the First was a friend of the *Roman rulers, Caligula and Claudius. When Claudius became the *Emperor in AD 41, he gave *Judea to Herod Agrippa. Before, a Roman had ruled over it.” [3]
2 And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.
The method of execution for those found guilty of being
a political threat was beheading.
This particular execution caused the followers to call
him a blessed martyr!
The loss of James was a great blow because he was one of
the few who the Lord added to His most intimate circle.
3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread.
“The Jews” probably meant the Jewish rulers.
They were pleased because the Jewish people were
following Jesus in increasing numbers.
Herod was emboldened by the reaction of the Pharisees
and Sadducees and arrested Peter.
4 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.
Another name for squad is quaternions which is comprised
of four soldiers.
There were four quaternions 16 soldiers, assigned to guard Peter.
You may think this to be over kill but Herod knew that followers of Jesus were known to escape in the past.
These soldiers were to remain awake and therefore four
shifts were used to guard Peter.
Herod was planning a public trial; more of a spectacle
than a trial.
Herod was intending to kill Peter all along, after the
entire ecclesiastical term ( the completion of Passover; a 7 day period).
5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
Peter was never unguarded; to the extent that he was
chained to two of the soldiers ( See Acts
21:23
).
You would think there was no way Peter could escape, but
there is nothing impossible for God.
The prayers offered up by the church were Instant,
earnest, and urgent as in Luke
22:44 , Acts 26:7 and 1 Peter 4:8
We will soon see how powerful corporate prayer is when
they are prayed in earnest and with urgency.
6 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 from of the door were watching over the prison.
These extreme measures of security were used by the king
to ensure Peter could not escape.
Knowing that Peter was a man with great powers
It may seem strange that Peter facing death would sleep
but sleep he did chained to the two soldiers.
Peter was at total peace with his pending death knowing
full well that this would bring him to the arms of Jesus.
7 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 feel off his hands.
Even though Peter may have felt he was dreaming or
having a vision, he was not; see Acts 12:9 .
This apparition was a heavenly angel, not human as some
may think
The angel had to wake Peter by physically poking him.
The miracle began when Peter obeyed the angel, and
immediately got to his feet
The moment Peter obeyed, his chains fell off.
Although not said here I
believe if
Peter did not obey, he would not have been freed.
No mention about whether the guards were awakened.
8 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.”
Gird yourself: zonnumi dzone'-noo-mi; to bind about
(especially with a belt):--gird
Undoubtedly Peter had untied his outer garment in order
to be as comfortable as possible.
Notice Peter obeyed immediately without question.
Peter must have been shocked when the chains fell off,
and at that moment, must have realized the Lord was delivering him from
captivity.
We who were once bound with the chains of sin, are also
delivered from sins imprisonment.
Our Lord Jesus, who by grace forgives those believers
who by prayers of repentance asks to be forgiven.
9 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. 10 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.
In verse 10 we see Peter and the angel passing by the
guards unnoticed.
We must remember at this point, the penalty for a guard
to allow a prisoner to escape was death.
There is no explanation in scripture as to why the
guards did not sound an alarm or pursue Peter.
Some possible answers are:
(1) The guard’s sleep was deepened to prevent them from
being wakened by light or noise.
A similar miracle occurred at the tomb where Jesus was
resurrected.
(2) Or perhaps
the guards were supernaturally blinded.
The important thing to remember about the escape is:
(1) It was
brought about by earnest and urgent corporate prayer.
(2) Obedience to
God’s will is paramount in all things.
(3) Nothing is
impossible with God.
11 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.”
Peter was understandably dazed and perhaps confused over
what had just happened.
The phrase “came to himself” is very interesting.
The word in Greek is heautou pronounced heh-ow-too' from a
reflexive (able to reflect) pronoun.
I believe this to mean that Peter, who must have been
bewildered, now had time to reflect as to what had just happened.
Today we might use the phrase “to collect our thoughts”.
12 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.
Because of the large number of people now gathering to
worship and fellowship the was no single building large enough to accommodate
everyone.
The congregation would gather in smaller groups, in
homes which were large enough for such gatherings.
Mary, Mark’s mother had such a home.
We shall see in verse 13 this house had an iron gate
leading to a court yard.
13 When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 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.
Now this iron gate must have been very large.
The gate was large enough to require a door
This door was perhaps made of wood because we read that
Peter knocked at the door.
Also we are told the servant girl recognized Peter’s
voice, obviously not seeing him.
Mary was undoubtedly rich to have a large home and at
least one servant.
The servant girl must have heard of Peter’s arrest and
undoubtedly quite happy and surprised to hear his voice.
15 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.” 16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed.
They could not believe that Peter himself was waiting outside but
rather thought that it was a apparition of Peter at the gate.
They more quickly believed that it was Peter’s spirit at
the gate and not the man, realizing the impossibility of escaping from the
kings prison.
17 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.
We can well imagine the joy and excitement of all who
saw Peter in the flesh.
they were
probably all talking among themselves of this miracle when Peter motioned for
them to be silent.
Why would Peter want James to be told of what they had
witnessed?
We are not sure which James Peter was talking
about. Was it James “aka James the Less”
or James the Lord’s brother.
James had taken an overseers position of the Jerusalem
church.
After telling them to inform James of how he was
delivered from prison He left.
Perhaps Peter left to avoid recapture by Herod.
If this is the case then he would have gone to a place
beyond Herod’s rule.
I don’t believe Peter left for fear death
because while he was in prison he was quite relaxed and
found no trouble sleeping verse 6.
I believe Peter knew that he was not delivered from
prison just to be recaptured by Herod.
I believe Peter
left with the guidance of the holy
spirit to a place of safety to continue his mission.
18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19 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.
We know there were 4 guards who guarded Peter.
We also know there were 16 guards making 4 six hour
shifts.
The guards were probably rotated every 6 hours, Peter’s
deliverance must have occurred during the 12 to 6 shift; before the changing of
the guard.
These four soldiers were put to death for allowing Peter
to escape or perhaps even their complicity in the escape.
Herod Dies
20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.
When Herod left Jerusalem he went to Caesarea.
Caesarea was located on the Mediterranran coast.
The town was built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BCE
as the port city Caesarea Maritima. It served as an
administrative center of Judaea.
Caesarea was in trade competition of both Tyre and Sidon.
Luke does not explain why Herod was angry with Tyre and Sidon writing
only that he was angry.
Speculate for a moment on why the king was angry with
the people of Tyre and Sidon.
Perhaps Herod was angry over trade being taken from
Caesarea by Trye and Sidon also
located on the Mediterranean coast.
Now during that time there was a drought ( Acts 11:28 ) and both Trye and Sidon depended
on Israel for food;
Which gave Herod a valuable negotiating tool.
21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
Herod must have thought diplomacy was the way to solve
the problem, much as our president does today.
And wanted to publically
Herod dress in his kingly garments made of silver cloth
which must have glistened in the bright sun, and
The people seeing this spectacle may have seen Herod as
a god.
This is why they were yelling “the voice of a god not a
of a man!”
Herod did not stop the crowd from calling him a god.
23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the Glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Herod took the Glory of Israel’s blessings as his doing
and not God’s.
The historian Josephus account of Herod’s death was
remarkably similar to this account [2] [Antiguities, 19.8.2]
He also recounts that Herod after being struck had a severe pain in his bowels and become
deathly ill for 5 days.
Worms in the bowels can cause pains such as described by
Josephus.
24 But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.
You may think it strange that quite often people seemed
to have two first names and no last name.
It’s not that strange people in this country have a
first and middle name as well as a last name.
In the southern United States it is quite common for a person to use
their middle name as their first name.
“Barnabas and Saul had gone to *Jerusalem with money.
(Look at Acts 11:30.) This money would be a help to the *Jewish *Christians
during the *famine. John Mark was Barnabas’s cousin (Colossians 4:10). John
Mark returned to Antioch with Barnabas and Saul.” [3]
CREDITS, LINKS, AND CITATION
[4] – Wikipedia. Org
[5] – The student Bible dictionary –
Karen Dockery, Johnnie Godwin, Phyllis Goodwin
