Acts 12 (Wednesday Evening Bible Study)

Acts 12

• What are most political leaders’ primary concern?
  • Staying in power, gaining more and having favor with those who can help make that happen.
• Context:
• Last week we saw the beginning of the Gentiles coming into the church. Tonight we are in chapter 12 where Luke steps back to the persecution that primarily the Jewish Christians were going thru in Jerusalem.  Here we will see God’s mercy and God’s judgment.
• Acts 12:1-4
• About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, 2 and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
  • First of all who is this king Herod?
    • He is the Grandson of Herod the Great the one who tried to kill Jesus when Jesus was a baby.  This is not the Herod Jesus appears before and would speak to on the night of his crucifixion.  This king Herod Agrippa the 1st his mother was a daughter of the Jewish High priest so he had some Jewish blood.  His father was killed by his grandpa and he was sent to Rome to be raised and to keep him safe. He was a friend to Emperors Caligula and Claudius who favor him by making him King of the Jews and ruled over Judah, Galilee, Samaria, & Perea.
  • What appears to be King Herod’s motivation in killing James and then planning on doing it to Peter?
    • Look at verse 3…   Herod wants to gain the favor of the Jewish leaders which are the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  We know the Jews don’t care for the church so this is all about gaining favor with these leaders and not so much persecution against all Christians.  Herod is simply a political animal doing what he thinks is best for him, he knows now the Jewish leaders see the Apostles as a threat to their  power in Jerusalem. 
  • What does it mean that James was killed with the sword?
    • Jews would have stoned him so this is the civil government doing this.  Also this is the only death of one of the 12 disciples other than Judas mentioned in scripture.  How much detail do we see about James death?  We get more from Stephens’s death than we do the 1st apostle that dies.
  • Why wasn’t Peter killed right away?
    • Because of the Passover it was consider improper to kill a criminal during the feast remember Herod is trying to look as Jewish and devoted as possible to curry favor.
  • Why four squads of soldiers to guard a man of peace?
    • Do you think they were worried about the church breaking him out of prison?   It would take 16 to guard Peter around the clock. A squad was 4 soldiers… Peter is chained to two of them in the cell and 2 guard the gate.
    • Does make you wonder if the new Peter’s past history when it comes to being in jail.  This is the 3rd time for Peter to be imprisoned the 2nd time he was imprisoned an angel released him.  So maybe they have heard this story.
• Acts 12:5-11
• 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him. 6 When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”
  • Peter is in prison but what is the church doing?
    • Fervently praying to God for him.  This carries the idea of continually praying for Peter…  Look how Luke describes how the church is praying for Peter… fervently… Luke uses this word only one other time in his writings, when Luke describes Jesus passionate prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
  • Two things are going on in verse 5 that contrast one another,
    • “Peter is in prison” and “The church is was fervently praying.”  So when we read this we need to understand the fervent prayers of the church are far more powerful than Herod’s plans.
  • What was Peter doing when the angel showed up?
    • Sleeping like a baby… What does this suggest? That Peter was not worried.  That he has no fear of dying and his conscience is at peace… the next day he was to die.
  • What does Peter think is going on when the angel escorts him out of prison?
    • Seeing a vision.  In verse 11 The Greek word translated rescue can also “plucked”. God sent an angel to pluck Peter from Herod’s clutches.
  • Is this the first time something like this had happened?
    • Acts 5:18-20 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
  • How do you feel about the fact that God saved Peter but not James?
    • I imagine God had his own reasons.
• Acts 12:12-19
  • 12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had assembled and were praying. 13 He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate. 15 “You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”16 Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place. 18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
    • Where does Peter go after being rescued?
      • To the home of Mary the Mother of John Mark.  This would be the same John Mark who accompanies Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey later in Acts and who turns back.
      • But later John Mark is a great help to Peter and Paul. It is thought that this is the same Mark who wrote the gospel of Mark. 
      • Some think the home of Mary the mother of John Mark is the same place where the upper room was.
    • How is Rhoda’s announcement that Peter’s at the door received? And why?
      • They didn’t believe her, after all they are praying for Peter to be released or saved.  15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” Notice their prayers turn to insults for the servant girl.
    • What is this talk about this being Peter’s angel?
      • Guardian Angel must be the one knocking on the door, implying that Peter is dead. That Herod prematurely executed Peter and his angel was released from his duty. The Jews had traditions about angels and one was the Guardian angel could take the appearance of the one they watched over.
    • When they finally answer the door why are they astonished?
      • Because God actually did what they were asking for.
    • What does Peter want them to do?
      • Spread the word God has answered our prayer and worked a miracle… what would that do for the church community? 
    • What does Peter do now? Does this show lack of faith or common sense?
      • …he left for another place…Common sense… I don’t think Peter would want to attract attention from Herod on the rest of the church in Jerusalem. So Peter goes into hiding. Some think he went to Antioch, but we don’t know.
    • What shows us that Herod could not admit there had been a miracle to Peter’s escape?
      • The execution of all 16 guards.
• Acts 12:20-25
• 20 Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country. 21 On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them. 22 The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God spread and multiplied. 25 After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.
  • Why a quarrel with Tyre and Sidon?
    • Tyre and Sidon cities on the coast were dependent on King Herod, the land he ruled provided food supplies.  Maybe the cities has raised their import duties and were charging more for what came thru their ports. And maybe Herod responded by raising the prices or cut off the food supply altogether.
  • How do the representatives of Tyre and Sidon work out a deal with Herod?
    • Thru Blastus.
  • What was the appointed day?
    • It may have been to celebrate Caesar’s birthday. During the celebration King Herod will announce all is good with Tyre and Sidon.
  • How did the crowd of people respond to King Herod in his royal robes?
    • They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”   According to Josephus Herod arrived in a garment woven of silver the sun reflected light over the crowd. Did Herod know better than to accept this type of praise? I would think so.   Do you think God was ready to deliver judgment on Herd because of what he did to James and tried to do to Peter?
  • This chapter opened with James dead, Peter in prison and Herod gaining popularity but what do we see at the end of the chapter?
    • Herod is dead, Peter was free and the church is growing.
• TAKE AWAY
  • Are we ever like the people at the prayer meeting in Acts 12?  Should we pray expecting God to answer our prayer? Do we pray earnestly enough?
  • Are we ever amazed when God answers our prayers?
  • Government and rulers look like they are in control but who really is? 
  • Is there an overlap between God’s power and human common sense in the way God rescues his people?
  • How sound would we sleep if we knew they next we were to die?