DAY 12
Acts 12:1-25
James Is Killed and Peter Is Imprisoned
About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. 2 He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. 3 When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) 4 Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. 5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.
Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison
6 The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. 7 Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.
9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.
11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”
12 When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. 13 He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”
16 Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place.
18 At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter. 19 Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.
The Death of Herod Agrippa
20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, 21 and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. 22 The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”
23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.
24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.
25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, taking John Mark with them.
1. After the imprisonment of Peter, God sent an angel to free him from his captivity. This is the second time we have seen God miraculously free apostles from chains and imprisonment. However, it is also clear that God didn’t always intervene when there was danger, including the time when James was killed with a sword (Acts 12:2). We often trust in God when we think that He will get us out of a tough situation, but we don’t typically think that God will let us suffer. As you look at your own life, what do you make of the fact that God didn’t always save believers from harm? Does this change your view of God? In what ways does this rub against a God that we sometimes assume “only desires for us to prosper and to be blessed?”
2. While God doesn’t always save us from harm, He does promise to be present in our suffering. This is evident in 2 Corinthians 1:3, which states that “God comforts us in our troubles, so that we may comfort others…” We are never promised deliverance, but God provides His presence to aid and to comfort us. In what areas of your life do you need to rely more on the presence and comfort of God? In what ways does this give you encouragement where perhaps there was previously discouragement? Can you think of other instances in the Bible where God promises His presence to those going through trials?
3. When Peter returned from prison to the home of Mary, he found many believers gathered in prayer. While we often think of prayer as a one-to-one communication with God, it was clear in the early church that prayer often took place in larger groups. Why do you think believers gathered together to pray as a group as often as they did? In your own life, do you practice both of these kinds of prayers?
4. Acts 12 ends with a gruesome display of God’s power as Herod accepted the peoples’ worship instead of worshiping God. While this may seem extreme to us, it shows again how we ought to view our own talents and abilities, both in humility and in the glorification of God. Are there areas of your life that you still enjoy taking credit for? As those areas come to mind, take a moment to pray and to ask God for humility for the gifts He has given to you, and then take a moment to thank Him for those gifts in your life.
Most high God, I thank You today for Your constant presence in my life. Forgive me for the times that I have ignored Your presence, or even the times I haven’t noticed You at all. I rest today in the promise that You will be with me during difficult times, and I pray now that I would be aware of Your workings when things get hard in my life. Be with me, just as You were with Your church from the beginning, and mold me and make me more like You each day. Amen.
LIFE IS NOT MEANT TO BE LIVED ALONE. YOU WERE CREATED TO EXPERIENCE LIFE WITH OTHER PEOPLE.