Wow! The rollercoaster of joys and tragedy continue in Acts 12.
The chapter opens with startling news that James is killed and Peter is put in prison. We don't get much details about what happened with James such as how long he was in prison before he was killed "with the sword".
I heard Greg Laurie commenting on this passage once and he said that the church was probably a bit apathetic and may not have been praying hard when James was first arrested. They were used to such things happening to some degree but they usually were released. So when James was put to death, it was likely a wake up call to the church. They knew that they needed to be praying hard and now when Peter is arrested we see that the church is praying through the night for him with "earnest" prayer (v 5). We don't know the details around James situation, but I agree that this is a likely scenario and seems to be hinted at in the details of the text. He further commented that they were praying though with unbelief because they were praying through the night for Peter to be released and when God miraculously gets Peter out of prison in the middle of the night, when he goes to the door where they are praying, they at first cannot believe that it could be Peter. It is as if they didn't/couldn't believe that God could/would answer at that time of day and in that way. On the other hand, I probably would have reacted in the same way.
Lord Jesus, help me to pray earnestly and not to just assume that things will work out fine. Help me also to trust in you when I pray and to have the faith to expect your answers that are beyond all that I can ask or think (Eph 3:20).
The story of Peter's release is quite dramatic! He is chained directly to two guards, held in a prison with multiple locked doors and four squads of soldiers (a squad is 8-14 soldiers - so 32-56 soldiers) specifically guarding him! An angel comes in, hits Peter to wake him, and the chains fall off his wrists and the prison doors swing open by themselves. The soldiers must have been put into a supernatural sleep because none of them knew this happened. King Herod cross-examined the guards and had them all executed. Wow! That is an amazing miraculous escape!
Then Herod grows in his pride, even allowing people to call him God, so God brings him low and struck him down and he was eaten with worms and died. So God takes out the enemy of the gospel in a supernatural way and then the word of God continues to increase and multiply.
We see the amazing ending, but we have to remember that things probably seemed very dark and bleak at the beginning when James was executed. We need to remember that when things seem impossible and dark and hopeless, that God is still on the throne. We need to turn our eyes and our hearts to him in earnest prayer and put our hope and trust in him. He is able to deliver us from even the most impossible situations. We don't need to take things into our own hands and fight and we don't need to run and hide. But we need to continue in faith and earnest prayer, keeping our eyes on God and casting our cares, worries and crisis on him.
Lord, help us to do this!
I appreciate the commentary that you provide for us, Nathanael. It really helps put the scripture into context for me. For example, in this chapter when you went into further detail about James' death and Peter's imprisonment, I would have not known that James' death was a wake up call to prayer.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really stood out to me in this chapter was with Herod's death. In my version (HCSB) it states, "an angel of the the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God" (v. 23). That verse is a good reminder to me that we need to always be giving the glory and praise to God. He is the one who answers our prayers and provides for us. It is a reminder that I need to be giving more glory to God and I also feel like it is a way to open up conversations with non-believers (or believers) about what God is doing in your life. An example in my own life is with Zach. I prayed everyday for a happy baby. When strangers or other people comment about how good and easy of a baby he is, instead of simply saying 'thank you' I tell them that I prayed everyday for a happy baby and that the Lord heard my prayers.
I'm glad that it is helpful to you! I enjoy the comments and observations that you and others are making as well. I must say that I cannot take credit for the observation about the wake up call to prayer. As I mentioned, I heard that from Greg Laurie :)
DeletePeter's miraculous prison escape reminds me of Brother Yun's escape from a Chinese prison recorded in the book 'The Heavenly Man.'
ReplyDeleteYes, many things in that book parallel the miracles in the book of Acts. God still is willing and does work in the world today in those miraculous ways! Usually there is a strong correlation of these miraculous acts of God and the 1) need 2) the surrender of the lives of the believers 3) the devoted prayer times
DeleteI think this is the third time that Peter is put to jail because of preaching Gospel. Apostles' boldness impresses me and convince me that Jesus is God.
ReplyDeleteVerse 17, "Tell James and the brothers about this," This James is probably the brother of Jesus, and from this passage we know he also experienced an conversion and believed in Jesus.
I pray to God when I'm in trouble and dangerous situations I can totally trust in Him and ask Him for a favor and direction.
Amen
DeleteI also think it's amazing that Peter escapes from the jail supernaturally while the church is earnestly praying for him, although its obvious that they didn't expect that to happen. I think God did something here that they thought was impossible and perhaps beyond what they were asking for. I've been learning to pray earnestly during fasting periods, and when we have them I see and feel that I need to pray more earnestly for myself and others. Yet, in my daily life I still have trouble making time and effort to pray as earnestly as in fasting times. I want to be able to recognize my needs and others' needs and wake up spiritually to pray.
ReplyDeleteI have an interesting story related to this. During the latest fasting period I was crying out to God to help and tear down the sexual trafficking and immorality in the city of Atlanta. I heard that Atlanta is a major hub for human trafficking and prostitution in the US. I don't know what to do to stop this, except choose not to participate in it myself, and ask God to expose and remove the people responsible for these crimes. At that time one of the Georgia Tech fraternities was exposed for all kinds of sexual violence being done by its members and encouraged by the leaders. That fraternity has been expelled from campus and lost its charter completely. I can't remember if there were any arrests, but it seems like this is a step in the right direction. I want to continue to pray for this and expect that God can and will bring changes to this situation if his people turn to him and earnestly pray.