Bk – Peter’s Persecution and Deliverance 12: 1-19

Peter’s Persecution and Deliverance
12: 1-19

43 AD

Peter’s persecution and deliverance DIG: This Herod is the nephew of Herod the Great who ruled in Yeshua’s day. What do you learn about his character in verses 1-3? Why would this action please the Jewish leaders? Why do you think Herod, as a Roman official, would now join in the Jewish opposition to the Messianic Community? How do you feel about the fact that God saved Peter and not Jacob? In light of John 21:18-19, how might Peter respond to this question? Who is Jacob? Why do you think he is specifically mentioned? What does this tell you about the importance of the Messianic Community in Jerusalem? Herod died in 44 AD, eleven years after the events of Chapter One. What types of opposition has the community faced so far in Acts? How far had it expanded?

REFLECT: Who really has the power here? Herod or ADONAI? What does that tell you about how believers ought to deal with opposition and persecution? What worldly forces seem all-powerful to you right now? How does this chapter put them in perspective for you? How are you like the people in the prayer meeting in this story? What are some of your prayers that you would be surprised if God answered them favorably? Although Peter was miraculously rescued from prison, he went into hiding to avoid Herod. How do you think Peter acted when he left Jerusalem? With a lack of faith? With common sense? Within God’s plan? Explain. Likewise, where do you see an overlap between God’s power and human common sense in the way things work out for your deliverance?

Up to this point, the Messianic community was enjoying great growth and success; experiencing one exciting conversion after another. First, there was Sha’ul of Tarsus, then the Gentile centurion Cornelius, then the mixed crowd of Jews and Gentiles in the church at Antioch. But here in Acts 12, the ugly opposition of the Adversary once again raises its ugly head.²⁵⁷

The death of Jacob (James): Now at that time Herod Agrippa I enters the picture. He was the son of Aristobulus IV and the grandson of Herod the Great (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Aw – Herod Gave Orders to Kill all the Boys in Bethlehem Two Years Old and Under), Agrippa was born in 11 BC and sent to Rome for his education after the execution of his father Aristobulus in 7 BC. Herod the Great (who some people call Herod the paranoid) mistakenly thought that Aristobulus was conspiring to overthrow him, had him executed. Arriving in Rome, Agrippa was raised by the members of the royal family. In fact he became close friends with Gaius, also known as Caligula, who was the grandnephew of Emperor Tiberius. And when Caligula became Emperor in 37 AD he gave Agrippa the patriarchies of Philip, and Lysanias in south Syria (Luke 3:1). When Caligula banished Agrippa’s uncle Antipas I 39 AD, the Emperor added Galilee and Perea to his domain. Later in 41 AD when Claudius was emperor, he gave Agrippa both Samaria and Judea, which made him king over Judea. Until then Judea was under the control of Procurators, but now it was under the control of Agrippa the King. He died in 44 AD for refusing to give God the glory (see Bl – Herod Agrippa Gets His Due).

Despite being raised and educated in Rome, Agrippa I was always on shaky ground with the Romans. He ran up numerous debts in Rome, then fled to Palestine, leaving angry creditors behind him. Unwise comments he made got back to the Roman emperor Tiberius, who promptly imprisoned him. Released from prison following Tiberius’ death, he was made ruler of northern Palestine (Luke 3:1), to which Judea and Samaria were eventually added in 41 AD. He ruled the largest territory of Palestine since his grandfather Herod the Great nearly fifty years earlier. Because of his tenuous relationship with Rome, it was vital that he maintain the loyalty of his Jewish subjects. One way to win favor with the resident Jewish authorities was to persecute the hated believers, especially the apostles.

Now about the time Barnabas and Sha’ul arrived in Jerusalem to give the financial gifts for the Jews collected from the Gentile believers in Antioch (see Bj – The Church in Antioch: The benevolence of the church). But at that point Herod Agrippa seized some from Messiah’s community to do them harm. This is the fourth persecution of the Messianic Community. He had Jacob (James), John’s brother, put to death by the sword (12:1-2). So Jacob was the first apostle to die (apart from Judas) in fulfillment of Mark 10:39: You will drink the cup I drink, and you will endure the immersion I must endure. The ancient Christian historian Eusebius relates a story from Clement of Alexandria, who says that the soldier who guarded James was so affected by his witness that he declared himself a believer also and was willingly executed for Yeshua alongside Jacob.²⁵⁸ Ironically, his brother John would be the last of the apostles to die, and he would die of old age.

People who use the book of Acts to seek consistency in God’s actions have trouble with Chapter 12 because ADONAI did not choose to rescue Jacob, but he did rescue Peter. Once again, we cannot use a historical book like Acts to establish biblical doctrine.

Also, it is important to remember that the Messianic community did not replace Jacob as they had replaced Judas (1:15-26). As long as the gospel was going to the Jew first (Romans 1:16), it was necessary to have the full complement of twelve apostles to witness to the twelve tribes of Isra’el. The stoning of Stephen (see Ax – The Stoning of Stephen) once again confirmed the rejection of the gospel by the Great Sanhedrin and the expansion of the Good News through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (1:8). Therefore, the number of apostles was no longer important.²⁵⁹

The imprisonment of Peter: Seeing that the killing of Jacob pleased the Judean leaders, he proceeded to capture Peter, the chief of the apostles, as well (12:3a). Because Agrippa’s grandfather was Herod the Great, he was a descendent of the Edomites. As a result, he did what he could to appease the Jews. The Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law) records another event where he did the same thing. When Antipas was publically reading the commandments of the Kingdom (Deuteronomy 17:14-16), at Sukkot of the Sabbatical Year, he read: You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother, he wept when he read the words, for he remembered his Edomite ancestry. But the people of Hasmonean ancestry, who remembered that he was also the grandson of Maryomni (a Hasmonean, a descendent of the Maccabees), cried repeatedly, “Do not be dismayed, you are indeed our brother” (Sotah 8:8). This shows that because of the insecurities of his Edomite background, he went very far in trying to please the Jews.²⁶⁰

This was during the Days of Matzah or the Festival of Unleavened Bread (12:3b). After seizing Peter, he put him in prison. This was Peter’s third imprisonment (4:3 and 5:18). Then Agrippa handed him over to four squads with four soldiers each to guard him. The usual number of a Roman military night-watch was four, and the watch changed every six hours. Normally this procedure was reserved for dangerous political prisoners. Perhaps Antipas had heard of Peter’s previous escape in 5:19 and to make sure it didn’t happen again. He was intending to bring him before the people after the eight days of the Festival of Passover/Unleavened Bread (12:4), fearing an unpredictable mob reaction when Passover pilgrims flooded the City. We may compare the similar problem that arose when the Jewish leaders were contemplating the arrest of Jesus (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ka – The Plot Against Jesus).

So Peter was kept in prison, but Messiah’s community fervently (Greek: ektenos) offered prayer to God for him (12:5). Luke uses ektenos to describe the agonizing prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: And being in agony, He was praying very fervently (Greek: ektenos); and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground (Luke 22:44). The imperfect tenses in this verse make it clear that they prayed for several days. This is the turning point in the story. Never underestimate the power of prayer. While it is true that the angel fetched Peter out of prison, prayer fetched the angel!²⁶¹

Peter’s deliverance: Herod thought he had the situation well in hand. But God had other ideas. Now that very night, the night of the eighth day of Unleavened Bread, when Herod Antipas was about to bring him out (for he was to die the next day), Peter was sleeping (12:6a). The fact that Peter was sleeping the night before he was scheduled to die shows that he was not too worried about the situation. And why not? Back in John 21:18-19a, Peter had the assurance of Yeshua that he would reach old age before he died: I tell you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. So he wasn’t worried because he knew that somehow God was going to rescue him.

He was bound with two chains between two soldiers, while the two other guards were before the door keeping watch over the prison (12:6b). Among the Romans the prisoner was bound to the soldier who had charge of him by means of a chain, which joined the prisoner’s right wrist to the left wrist of the soldier. Sometimes, however, for greater security, the prisoner was chained to two soldiers, one on each side of him, and two were stationed outside the door. This was the case with Peter.²⁶²

In Herod’s plans to win the favor of the Jewish people there was one thing he forgot – he didn’t consider what Ha’Shem might do! God had more ministry for Peter and He didn’t want him executed yet. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. The light, however, didn’t awaken either Peter or the soldiers. He poked Peter on the side and woke him up, saying: Get up! Quick! And the chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals,” and he did so. Then he tells him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” Peter went out and kept following him. Still groggy, however, he didn’t know that what was happening with the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. In a series of miracles, they made their way past a first guard, and a second at the cell door, then they came to the iron gate leading from the prison courtyard into the streets of the city, which opened for them by itself. Finally, they went out and walked along a narrow street. Suddenly the angel left him because his divine duty was done (12:7-10).

When Peter finally came to himself, he exclaimed: Now I know for real that the Lord has sent His angel (Acts 12:11; Psalm 34:7; Dani’el 3:28 and 6:22) and delivered me from the hand of Herod Agrippa and from all that the unbelieving Judean people were expecting (12:11). This wasn’t a dream – he was really free! They had killed Jacob and they were looking forward to seeing Peter killed, but that expectation would not be fulfilled.

When he realized everything that had happened to him, he went to the house of Miriam, the mother of John (also called Mark, whose gospel was written to the Romans). She must have been a wealthy woman because she had servants and her house was big enough to accommodate many believers. And her house must have been well known because Peter knew exactly where to go. Luke presents five cameos of important believing women in a variety of roles they assumed (see Bd – Signs and Miracles Follow Peter: A closer look at Luke, Women and Ministry). Believers met in each other’s homes for prayer, worship and fellowship arising from their common trust in Yeshua. We can see the same thing today with the havurah (friendship-group) within the Messianic Community.

Many believers were assembled at her house and together they prayed all night. Their prayers were interrupted by a knock at the door. When Peter knocked on the door of the entrance gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. Although she recognized Peter’s voice from previous contacts, out of joy she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You’re crazy!” We must face the fact that even in the most fervent prayer meetings there is sometimes a spirit of doubt and unbelief. We are like the father who cried out to Jesus, “I believe! Help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). Those Jerusalem believers believed that ADONAI could answer their prayers, so they kept it up night and day. However, when the answer came right to their door, they refused to believe it. YHVH graciously honors even the weakest faith, but how much more He would do if only we would trust Him.²⁶³

But she kept insisting it was so. But they were saying, “It is his angel” (12:11-15). The reference to Peter’s angel could allude to the Jewish belief in guardian angels in special relationship to humans (Genesis 48:16 LXX; Tobit 5:22). Though from a later period, there is some evidence that Jews believed that guardian angels had the same appearance as the one they protected (Genesis Rab. 78 [50a], which interprets Genesis 33:10 to refer to the angelic prince of Esau who had Esau’s appearance). To this we should remember that the rabbis taught that one’s spirit or angel often lingered on earth, appearing for several days after one’s death and that belief may be reflected here.²⁶⁴

But Peter kept on knocking, hoping that he didn’t attract attention to himself and get arrested again. Finally, Rhoda was able to convince the others to come and see for themselves. When they opened the gate (much to Peter’s relief), they saw him and they rushed out into the courtyard. They were amazed on how their prayer had been answered! But he motioned with his hand for them to be silent, and he fully explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said: Go tell these things to Jacob, the half-brother of Yeshua (Acts 15:13; Galatians 1:18-19), and the brothers. From Acts 15 we learn that Jacob was the head of the Messianic community in Yerushalayim at that time.

Then, Peter left Jerusalem and went to another place (12:16-17). He didn’t want to put all his fellow believers in jeopardy, and knew Agrippa would soon be looking for him. With this account we basically come to the end of the story of Peter in Acts. He makes one more brief appearance at the Jerusalem counsel in Acts 15, then he walks off the pages of the Bible to make room for Paul and the story of his ministry to the Gentiles.

Peter’s sudden, mysterious disappearance from a securely guarded cell caused no small amount of angst among the Roman guard. Roman law dictated that if a prisoner escaped, his guard would suffer the same punishment, and Peter was going to be executed. When day came, there was no small commotion among the sixteen soldiers that had been guarding Peter as to what had become of him. They just couldn’t figure out that the eyes of ADONAI are on the righteous and His ears open to their prayers, but the face of ADONAI is against those who do evil (Psalm 34:15-16). Herod made a major search of the City for Peter, but he did not find him. Furious, he turned his anger on the hapless guards. He interrogated them and, just like his grandfather, he commanded that they be led away to execution (12:19a). His plan had blown up in his face. He needed a vacation to pull himself together. Unfortunately for him, he still failed to learn that he could not fight Ha’Shem. That mistake, which cost him Peter and his prestige with the Jews, would shortly cost him his life.²⁶⁵

Before we leave this portion of Acts, it would be good for us to consider how believers can best pray for those in prison, for even today there are many people in prison simply because they are believers: Remember the prisoners as if you were fellow prisoners (Hebrews 13:3a). In other words, pray for them as you would want them to pray for you if the situation were reversed. We ought to pray that ADONAI would give them the grace to bear with suffering so that they might have a triumphant witness for the Lord. We should ask the Spirit to minister the Word to them and bring it to their remembrance. It is right to ask God to protect His own and to give them wisdom as they must deal with a difficult enemy day after day. We must ask YHVH that, if it is His will, they be delivered from their bondage and suffering and reunited with their loved ones.²⁶⁶