(Acts 12:1-19) Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. 2 And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. 5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
6 On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” 12 And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 When he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.” 16 But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.
18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
From this we see:
- when the angel appeared, it produced light in order to see (Acts 12:7)
- when the angel appeared and woke up Peter, his chains just fell off of him. Did the chains fall of because of the angel's powers or God's powers? (Acts 12:7)
- the angel told Peter to put his sandals and cloak on (Acts 12:8)
- as the angel led him out of prison, Peter thought he was dreaming (Acts 12:9)
- it seemed as if the angel made Peter invisible to the guards (Acts 12:10)
- did the gate open by itself because of the angel's powers or God's powers? (Acts 12:10)
- the angel disappeared in a moment, and Peter then seemed to "wake up" (Acts 12:10)
- Peter realized afterwards that God definitely sent an angel to help rescue him (Acts 12:11)
- while the believers were praying for Peter's rescue, they didn't believe that God had answered their prayers and assumed the girl was just seeing Peter's (guardian) angel, which in itself would be curious (Acts 12:15)
- as far as the guards were concerned, they just thought Peter had disappeared into thin air (Acts 12:18)
Personal experience: I'm going to share how God answered a prayer - that I have prayed on three different occasions. And each time God answered it, I kind of had a difficult time believing it.
Back when we lived in Calgary, Alberta, I had found myself on the extreme other side of the city from where we lived. My appointment had gone longer than expected, and I had to be back home in 20 minutes. And it was rush hour! Even if all the traffic lights had been in my favor, it would have taken much longer than 20 minutes. It should have taken me, at the very least, 40 to 60 minutes. (I just google-mapped it to confirm.)
Anyway. So I prayed! I told God that I did believe He could do anything! And if it was His will... could He please make "time stand still for me???" At the same time, I promised Him that I would not speed. I was going to fully obey all traffic laws!!! I was not even going to run the yellow lights!!!
I made it home with 5 minutes to spare. I was stunned. AND GRATEFUL!!! But also stunned. And then I started thinking, "Okay, wait... did I look at the time correctly? Yes! Did I...???..."
Today's takeaway: it's interesting how God can perform a miracle right in front of our eyes, but then we can try to "logic it" away. I'm a very logical person. So I don't share these experiences lightly. God has done amazing miracles in the past - God is able to still do amazing miracles right now!...
(John 14:12-) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
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