We continue our study of doors in the Bible. We have studied:
• God shutting the door of the Ark
• The figurative open door of opportunity to the church of Philadelphia
• Jesus symbolically being the Door to Salvation
• We are to choose to enter the door to the narrow road to Heaven
• Today we study about God miraculously opening a literal door of Peter’s prison cell
Please turn to Acts 12.
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
There are several King Herod’s in the NT. Herod the Great was King in Galilee when he had the children in Bethlehem murdered. Herod Antipas was King when John the Baptist was beheaded. This is the grandson Herod Agrippa.
King Herod Agrippa was a Jew, but he didn’t subscribe to the Jewish faith. He was all about power, politics and pride. He decided to persecute Christians, not because of theology, but political expediency. Notice the phrase in verses 2 and 3.
2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews,
King Herod v3 “saw that this met with approval among the Jews”. What met the approval of the Jews? Killing the Apostle James. This James is the brother of John, the sons of Zebedee also called the sons of thunder. He was part of the inner circle of 3 Apostles Jesus carried up on the Mount of Transfiguration and into the Garden of Gethsemane.
The Jews it refers to here are the Jewish leaders, rather than general population.
Notice the wording of verse 1
• NIV - Arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them
• KJV - Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
• ESV – About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
• Holman - About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church,
King Herod arrested, cruelly attacked and violently laid hands on Christian leaders to persecute and mistreat them.
V3B Herod proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Since things went so well with killing the Apostle James, now King Herod arrested Peter. Arresting Peter, the leader of the Christian movement at that time, was a bold move that he hoped would disperse all Christians from the city and region.
4 After arresting Peter, Herod put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
King Herod used all available means to guard and secure Peter for his trial after Passover. 4 squads of 4 soldiers each guarded him. Historians believe rather than all 16 being around him at once, they rotated shifts every 3 hours. Two soldiers would be chained to him, one of each side, and two guard the door to his cell. Peter is not a violate criminal! Yet, they are using such extreme means to secure him. No matter what King Herod does, it will never be enough to stop the Lord God from liberating Peter.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
I love this verse! The church was praying! How were they praying?
• NIV, ESV and Holman – earnestly praying
• KJV – praying without ceasing
• NAS – fervently praying
The Greek word used here is a medical term which describes “stretching a muscle to its limit”. It describes total effort. Praying without ceasing sounds like an emphasis about time to me, but this word is really about intensity of effort. It is not a halfhearted, casual or blasé prayer. It is prayer that pours forth from a burdened heart. That kind of prayer reaches heaven and moves the hand of God.
Evangelist Alan Carr observed, “The church did not cower in fear before those who threatened them. The church lifted its collective voice and rang the prayer bells of Heaven! God heard their prayers and moved in mighty power to bring them His answer!”
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
When did this miracle occur? The night before Peter was to stand trial the next day and be executed.
An angel suddenly appears and light shone in the cell. I found several art depictions of this event online. I am a very visual person and it helps me to see something to help me understand it.
(show powerpoint)
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it.
Since one emphasis of this message today is to focus on doors, I need to draw attention to the door to his prison cell was opened, then even the large iron gate leading to the city (verse 10) “opened for them by itself”. The text doesn’t state this, but it would seem very reasonable to me that guards would be at this iron gate. Like those in Peter’s cell and door in the hallway, they had been put to sleep or made unconscious by the angel.
It is important to understand that the throne in Heaven was in control and not the throne on the earth.
When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
Just as suddenly as the angel appeared, now he was gone.
Now that Peter was all alone in the city in the wee hours of the morning, what should he do? He went to a friend’s house. Remember what the church is doing at this house? Verse 5 they are having a prayer meeting for Peter to be released from prison.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
I find what happened next as funny.
13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
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.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
The servant girl was so excited to see Peter at the door, she failed to open it to let him come inside.
Everyone was in such disbelief Peter was actually at the door even though that was what they had prayed for. Before we are too critical of them, we ought to be sure we always have the faith we should when we pray. The classic illustration is when you go to a prayer meeting to pray for rain in a drought, carry your umbrella as a sign of your faith.
17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
Peter couldn’t stay there; it would probably be the first place the guards would look. Where he went history doesn’t record for us.
From chapter 2 of Acts through chapter 13, Peter is the main character. From that point through the end of Acts, Paul becomes the main character Dr. Luke writes about.
Why did God liberate Peter when He didn’t spare James?
1. Some people bear witness for Christ through death and other through life. In God’s plan James was to do it through death. Peter would later die as a martyr, but not now.
2. To answer the prayers of the church. It is not known but seems implied that the church didn’t pray for James with the intensity they did for Peter because they had learned Herod was killing people and not just imprisoning them.
3. God liberated Peter to show King Herod and the Jewish leaders who is really in control.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
I am going to assume you feel as I did after reading these verses, I wish King Herod would get what he deserves. If you do, then you will enjoy verses 22, 23
22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Appeal:
What are some points of application to us from Peter release from prison?
1. God fulfills His purposes. It was not in God’s plans and purpose for Peter to die at this time.
God has a purpose for your life too! It may not be as lofty as Peter’s, but it is none the less important. It may be to raise your children and grandchildren in the ways of the Lord or to teach a SS class training the next generation of disciples. Fulfill your Christian purpose.
2. God answers prayer. The church was having a prayer meeting and God answered their prayers. I believe one of the hallmarks of Yuma Church is prayer – you are a praying church and this is something very good to be said about our church. The Puritan preacher Thomas Watson once said, “The angel fetched Peter out of the prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel”.
3. God still works miracles today. Sometimes we forget that God is still in the miracle working business in our modern times. God opened prison doors miraculously and He can open doors for you too. Maybe the prison you are in is one of a negative attitude or bad habit – pray and ask God to liberate you.
Prayer
