WWUTT 2631 Peter Arrested and Freed by an Angel (Acts 12:1-11)

Peter was arrested and put in prison. And when that happened, the church began to fervently pray for him. God worked through their prayers to accomplish his purpose, which included setting Peter free when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Peter's Arrest, James's Death, and Herod's Persecution

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come now to chapter 12, where we read of Peter, who's going to be arrested, put in prison, and miraculously set free. Let me read through about the first 11 verses.

Hear the word of the Lord. Now about that time, Herod the king laid hands on some belonging to the church in order to harm them. And he had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword. And 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. Now 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, rise 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 garment around yourself 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 was thinking he was seeing a vision.

And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, 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 truly I know that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. Now we may get a little further in the narrative, but we'll begin at least with these first 11 verses.

Let's go back to the start and examine what we've read thus far. So remember, as we pick up with Peter in the narrative here, we had just read at the end of chapter 11 about the work that was being done in Antioch.

Barnabas was sent there sharing the gospel in that region. And he had gone and retrieved Paul who came with him. And then they shared the gospel for a while. I think it said they were in Antioch and saw many people come to the faith because of the work that Paul and Barnabas had done there.

Before that, we had read of Peter. So in chapter 10, Peter had gone to the household of Cornelius and shared the gospel. At the start of chapter 11, he reported back to the Jews about how the gospel is being accepted by the Gentiles and they are also receiving the Holy Spirit.

So we're catching up in the narrative with Peter again. And it's here where Herod has become bold to start arresting some of these Christians. Now, for the most part, Herod is probably not really cared about what was going on up to this time.

Herod, and by the way, this would have been Herod Agrippa. This was the second to last Herod. This was Agrippa the first. And when he died, he was succeeded by his son, Agrippa the second. And if memory serves, Agrippa the second was the last Herod.

So we're coming to the end of the Herod or the reign of the Herods here. The predecessor to Herod Agrippa was Herod Antipas. And Herod Antipas was the one who arrested John the Baptist and put him to death and was also the Herod to whom Jesus was presented.

When he was on trial before Pilate, Pilate sent him to Herod, Herod sent him back to Pilate. It would have been Herod Antipas. It's the predecessor to Herod Agrippa. So Agrippa doesn't reign for very long.

He reigned from 41 to 44 or some, I think some will say 40 to 44, but it was only about three, maybe four years that Herod Agrippa had been king. And we're reading here in chapter 12 of his death. So we're near the end of his life at this point.

But Agrippa probably didn't care much for what was going on with the apostles. We know that the Pharisees hated them greatly and so did the Sadducees. They had come up against the apostles, arrested them, had threatened them, had beaten them.

Then there was the stoning of Stephen that happened in chapter seven. Stephen, of course, was a deacon. He wasn't an apostle, but this was where the first martyrdom had taken place. That scattered the Christians around the Roman empire.

Hence why when we were reading in chapter 11, we were reading of those Jews who were there at Antioch and then also the Gentiles that were hearing the gospel and were coming to faith. The gospel is now gone beyond Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.

It's going throughout the Roman empire. We're gonna see it spread more and more. But here, at least at this juncture, Herod has got some boldness in himself to decide, okay, these apostles are becoming a nuisance and I'm going to do something about them.

The Pharisees and Sadducees, the Sanhedrin didn't want to be putting them to death because they knew that the people greatly favored the apostles. The apostles were healing the sick. The people loved that.

And of course, many were being converted to faith in Jesus Christ. The Pharisees hated that, but they would not put the apostles to death out of fear of the people. Herod, on the other hand, oh, he's loving being able to assert his authority.

So he's decided now that the apostles have become a nuisance and he's going to do something about it. And really doesn't seem to hesitate once he's made up his mind to begin to do something about it, because he puts James to death and arrests Peter.

And it seems like all of this happens about at the same time. So again, in verse one, Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. And he had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword.

And when he saw this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. We have in those two sentences, the three apostles who were with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Remember there were three apostles that witnessed Jesus being transfigured before them.

His face shining brightly, his garments so white that you couldn't even look at them. He was so brilliant as he revealed his glory to these three apostles, Peter, James, and John. James and John were brothers.

They were referred to as the sons of thunder. And James here is being put to death with the sword. There's a graphic that I see going around on social media. I think it's more than one. There's more than one version of this, but this graphic shows all 12 apostles and the ways that they died.

And with James, it says that he was like crucified or boiled or something. I can't remember what it was it said about James. And I've tried to tell people, every time I see that graphic, I try to tell them, guys, this is the one apostle whose death is explicitly said in scripture.

None of the rest of the apostles, the way they died, it's not said in the Bible how they died. We generally assume the way that they died because of what's said in church history, which may be true and it may not be.

We don't know that those accounts are infallible, but we do know how James died because he's the one apostle whose death is recorded in the New Testament. James, the brother of John, was put to death with a sword.

So it's kind of, it's irritating when the way he died is explicitly stated in the Bible, and yet you see these graphics claiming that James died another way. James was killed with a soldier, most likely.

A soldier drew his sword and killed James. And so when Herod saw that this pleased the Jews, again, they didn't bother to put the apostles to death because they feared the people. They had more fear of man, no fear of God, but they were pleased when Herod would do it.

Herod's an authority. So now he's finally gotten involved. He's put an apostle to death. He's going to arrest others. When Herod sees that this was pleasing to the Jews, well, then he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

There may have been a little hesitation on Herod's part because of the attitude of the people, but he was the king and he didn't have any problem with putting people to death. None of the Herods did. They were very brutal rulers.

So now wanting to gain a little bit of favor from the people he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of unleavened bread. So this is going on at Passover and Herod resolves not to kill Peter right away or do anything with Peter because it's a holiday.

This is a sacred time. We're not going to put anyone to death or shed any blood right now. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him. So all of this, the way that Peter is guarded, it's very detailed here in chapter 12.

The author here, Luke, of course, wants us to know that Peter was pretty well secure in his imprisonment so that we see the miracle that takes place shortly and how incredible it was that this angel just walks in or just appears there with Peter and then walks out with Peter and releases him.

So we see all of the different measures that were taken to guard Peter when he was put in prison. Why such great measures? Why were such great measures taken? Well, there's a couple of reasons. Number one, again, it could be because there was concern about the people.

The apostles were greatly favored by the people since they did such charitable things and even healed the sick. So the people would have rioted perhaps, maybe tried to break Peter out of there. Maybe the other apostles would have come to try to take Peter out.

So you have these significant fortifications that are set up to try to keep Peter in place and not let anybody come in. The second reason, a second reason why such great pains were being taken to secure Peter's imprisonment is because, and surely you remember this, Peter had been imprisoned and set free before.

Remember this happened earlier when the Jews had arrested the apostles, Peter and John in particular, put them in prison and then an angel of the Lord set them free and they went out and continued preaching.

And when a guard was sent to go and retrieve Peter and John and bring them before the Pharisees, he comes back and goes, well, they're gone, but they're out there preaching. And everybody's baffled by this.

How in the world do these guys keep getting out whenever we capture them and want to inquire of them or arrest them or get them to stop? So because this has happened before, Herod is probably knowledgeable of it.

And so he sets up a pretty significant guard to try to keep Peter in place. He delivers 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.

I think that's a very important detail. And it's significant that Luke includes that. He didn't have to say that. He didn't have to say anybody was praying for Peter. Just we go on in the narrative to read about this angel that sets Peter free.

But you see how the church is in one accord with one another in the way that they react to the news of Peter's imprisonment. And no doubt, greatly grieved and saddened to hear of James being put to death.

So they're all grieved. They believe Peter has been put in prison and being put in prison, meaning that he's going to be executed. So they're all praying for his release. And it's through their prayers that God is going to deliver Peter.

It's not because the people prayed. It's not like their prayers had the power to change God's mind or challenge God to act and free Peter from prison, but God in his providence will use our prayers to accomplish his goodwill and sanctify us and purify us in that process, which of course was being done in the lives of these people who are praying fervently for Peter's safety.

Peter's Miraculous Escape and the Power of Prayer

So we go on to verse six. Now 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.

So again, we have detailed for us how secure Peter was in prison. So this miracle that's about to take place is going to look all the more miraculous. He's asleep between two soldiers. He's bound with two chains and guards are in the front of the door watching over the prison.

How do you get out of this situation? Even if Peter had friends on the outside that could break him out, who in the world could come up against these guys? And you know how important it was for soldiers to secure a prisoner.

If a prisoner got out under their watch, they would be put to death. Now, if you know this narrative, if you know this account that we're reading here in chapter 12, you know that's eventually what happens.

When it is found that Peter is set free and those guards are still there, well, they get executed because this prisoner escaped under their watch. All of these guards. You would think Herod would have gotten a clue and gone, okay, something supernatural was clearly at work because how could Peter have escaped my guards?

Even though it's been known before that Peter had been set free by an angel and just continued on preaching. So surely at some point you would think these guys would give up. Okay, we can't contain Peter, so just let him do his thing.

But Peter is sleeping between two soldiers. Now, where it says that he was bound with two chains, it could be that he was chained to the floor. You've probably seen pictures of that before where you got chains that come up from the floor and probably they are bound on either leg or could be on either arm.

And then you've got a guard standing on either side and Peter would just sleep on the ground there in between them. Or the other possibility is that Peter is chained to these soldiers. So one chain is being held by one soldier, one chain is being held by the other soldier.

And we don't know that those guards were asleep, but this angel coming in and freeing Peter, whether he puts the guards in a trance or they're asleep or whatever it might be, but they don't notice. They just don't see it happen.

God caused a blindness or a stupidity to come upon them so that they did not see this angel take Peter out and set him free, nor did they do anything about it. Verse seven, behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell.

And I love the angel's reaction here. I don't know why, but it was always funny to me. He struck Peter's side and woke him up, get up, what are you doing? What are you doing sleeping? You know, we got work to do.

Yeah, I don't know why it's detailed that way, but he just, you know, prods him in the side, like, hey, come on, rise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. So wherever these chains are chained to a wall, to the floor, to the guards that he was in between, they're no longer fastened to him.

And the angel said to him, gird yourself and put on your sandals. So girding yourself, meaning that you kind of take up your cloak in such a way so as not to become a hindrance. And it's easier for him having bound up himself in this way to be able to run or move quickly.

So he did. And the angel said to him, wrap your garment around yourself and follow me. So probably not something that Peter was wearing. Maybe it was off to the side. You know, the guards did not give it to Peter.

They just kind of set it in another place. But he takes up his garment and he went out and continued to follow. And he did not know what was being done by the angel, that it was real, but he was thinking that he was seeing a vision.

Now that makes sense because, you know, in the last narrative that involved Peter, he's up on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner's house. This was in Acts 10. And he falls into a trance and the Lord shows him a vision.

And this vision is given to him because Peter is gonna be told to go to the house of a Gentile and to share with them the gospel. And so Peter is not to call unclean what the Lord has called clean. That's what's being said to him through the vision.

So Peter has this vision while he's in the midst of hunger pains, but that wasn't something where he was taken up to another place or was relocated somehow. It was just a vision. It was just a trance.

Whereas in this state, in Acts 12, now he's wondering like, okay, is this a vision like I had before? Or is this really happening? He was thinking that he was seeing a vision, just like he had in chapter 10.

Verse 10 now, when they had passed the first and second guard posts, again, lot of people guarding Peter and making sure that he stays put and it's not enough. It wouldn't have been enough. All the men that Herod could have put together to guard Peter would not have been enough.

They came to the iron gate that leads into the city. That's also meant to indicate to us that Peter was very well secure. You can get past all these guards. How are you going to get through the gate? And the gate opened for them by itself.

Angels have some tremendous power, y 'all. Of course, we know the power that God has, that the father has, that the son has, that the Holy Spirit has. We've seen those things demonstrated in the book of Acts, but angels have great power as well.

We had read of the angel of the Lord that struck down 186 ,000 Assyrians in the middle of the night. Here, we've got an angel who just comes to an iron gate and it just opens to him. Angels have some pretty amazing abilities.

It's something I wish that scripture told us more about, but we really don't get a lot of details about angels. That's something that we're going to have to wait until glory to understand further. So they pass the first and second guard post.

They come to the iron gate that opens up for them by itself. They went out and went along one street and immediately the angel departed from him. And now Peter is left there by himself. He comes to himself, the text says, and he says, now truly, I know that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.

God is accomplishing his purposes in Peter and he is not going to allow Peter to die, not just yet. It was still God's purpose in James's death, but God is not done with Peter yet. So Peter is going to continue to minister until it is time for him to go home and the Lord will bring him up to glory as well.

But again, you have all these people that have been praying for Peter. And I mentioned that again, because next in the narrative, that's where we go. We'll come back to this tomorrow, but the people who were praying for Peter are the people that Peter goes to.

And again, God providentially working through their prayers to accomplish his purposes. And it's important for us therefore to understand the power of prayer in that way. We pray being involved in the work that God is doing and in the midst of that work that he is doing, that work would also include sanctifying us, opening our minds and conforming our wills to the mind of Christ.

And we do that even when we pray. Praying as Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so as we pray, seeking the will of God, desiring to take part in those purposes that God is accomplishing, that becomes the power of our prayers and God working through those prayers to accomplish all that he wills.

And so what a great thing that we get to be partakers in that. So let us not become lazy in our prayers. Let us also be fervent prayers, such as the churches described as being here. They prayed fervently for Peter's safety and for his release.

And we must be continuous in our prayers as well. As Paul said to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5, pray without ceasing. Even when we've prayed, we don't stop, we pray again, seeing the Lord accomplish his work.

Prayer, Providence, and Perseverance in Christian Life

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read and I pray these things continue to be meaningful to us. Where even though we read a narrative of Peter being in prison and released, we are reminded even through these things that you are faithful to do the work that you mean to accomplish and you will use your people in order to accomplish it.

Use us and help us to be fervent in our prayers, always seeking the will of God and all that we do. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand The Text.