Acts 12 - Do You Believe The Miracles You Pray For Will Happen? What If They Do?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Acts 12

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

As the church starts growing, the first wave of serious persecution comes in and through King Herod. He killed James, John's brother, and proceeded with a plan to take out Peter, though he was deterred by it being Passover season. Herod was so paranoid about Peter, he had four squads of four, or sixteen men guard him. James was the first of the 12 apostles to be martyred. 

Most importantly, the church was "earnestly" praying for Peter. Fortunately for Peter an angel appeared in his prison cell in a blaze of light. He woke up Peter and his chains instantly fell off. Apparently the 16 men were impervious to these happenings. Herod used all of his human power to guard Peter, but God sent on angel to set him free. 

For Peter, it seemed as if it were all a dream and wasn't really happening. But it was really happening, and they walked by the guards together and magically through the city gate opening. Then, after walking with Peter for one block, the angel suddenly left Peter. 

Up to Acts 12, the church had been on a streak of success, experiencing one exciting conversion after another. First there was Saul of Tarsus, then the Gentile centurion Cornelius, then the highly successful work among Gentiles (and Jews) in Antioch. But in Acts 12, the ugly opposition inspired by Satan again raised its head. - Guzik

When Peter woke up, he realized it was God's intervention through the angel that set him free. Then, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark, who later we learn went on a missionary journey with Luke. When the servant Rhoda came to the door, she recognized Peter instantly. 

The people in the house didn't believe her, even though they had been praying for this very thing. When we pray for the miraculous do we really expect it will happen? If it does happen will we accept that our prayer has been answered?

We are comforted (and amused) by the little faith of these Christians. Even while they prayed for Peter, they found it hard to believe God actually answered their prayer. - Guzik

Meanwhile Peter is still waiting at the door probably wondering what was happening. Finally, they opened the door and realized it was him. He recounted the story and told them to tell James, who obviously wasn't James, the brother of John. It was probably James, who was the leader of the early church in Jerusalem. Then, he left for another place probably realizing that the men would be after him soon after they discovered he was gone. 

When the soldiers discovered that their prisoner had escaped, they were understandably panicked realizing that Herod would not take this lightly. Sure enough, after cross-examining them and not finding Peter anywhere, he had them executed. 

The execution of the guards was customary. In that day, if a guard’s prisoner escaped, the guard was given the penalty due to the prisoner – in this case, death. - Guzik

Herod’s Death

Herod then went to Caesarea and met people of Sidon and Tyre, who desired to have grievances with Herod settled, so they could continue to get food, which Herod controlled. When the day came for Herod to hear the case, he saw it as an opportunity to flaunt his wealth and power by dressing in a robe fit for a king. 

The desired effect he intended to have on the people worked, as they praised him as a "god". But, because he did not deflect this praise and give it to God, he was struck down by angel, eaten by worms, and died. That's pretty gross. 

The manner of Herod’s death was appropriate to his spiritual state; he was corrupted from the inside out. In writing to the Roman world, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus also described the death of Herod in gory detail. - Guzik

Despite all of this commotion, the Word of God continued to flourish and spread. While we may see all kinds of horrific things going on in our society, this story can teach us two things today. 

1. All human beings in power will be held accountable for how they used their authority, which was God given. (See Romans 13) In this case Herod was a ruthless tyrant and received in the end what he deserved.

On another note, we just saw in the news that the the president of Iran died in a plane crash. Is there any connection here? I don't know but it certainly begs the question. 

2. God's Word will also go forth and accomplish what it is intended to do. This is why we need to, as Paul said, "Preach the word in season and out of season." 

History is filled with the stories of men who thought they could fight God and succeed; their ruined lives are evidence that it can’t be done. Friedrich Nietsche was the philosopher who coined the idea that God was dead, and that Christianity was a despised religion of weaklings. Fighting God drove him insane, and he spent the last several years of his life in that condition. Sinclair Lewis won the Nobel Prize for literature, and fought against God in his book Elmer Gantry. The book was about an evangelist who was also an alcoholic and would sleep with any woman he could. Sinclair Lewis died a hopeless alcoholic in a clinic near Rome. Writer Ernest Hemingway lived his life of adventure and sin against God seemingly without consequences – until he shot himself in the head with a shotgun. Fighting against God just doesn’t work. - Guzik

The chapter ends with saying that Paul and Barnabas ended their mission took the aforementioned John Mark with them.