CHAPTER 12

(A.D. 44)

PERSECUTION

¹Now about that time (pertains to the time Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem) Herod the king (speaks of Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, grandson of Herod the Great, who murdered the babies of Bethlehem) stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church (was probably done to ingratiate himself with the Jewish Leadership).

²And he killed James the brother of John with the sword (the first of the Apostles to die; no successor for James was ever chosen; in fact, with the exception of Judas who was replaced by Matthias, no others ever followed any of the Twelve in Office; in other words, there is no such thing as Apostolic Succession, as taught by some).

PETER

³And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of Unleavened Bread.) (It was the time of the Passover, i.e., April.)

⁴And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison (represents the third time Peter was arrested [Acts 4:3; 5:18-19]), and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him (represented sixteen soldiers, four to the watch); intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people (should have been translated, Intending after Passover...).

⁵Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him (presents the greatest weapon at the Churchs disposal).

⁶And when Herod would have brought him forth (Herod had probably spread the word all over Jerusalem that he was going to put on a show, which would be the death of the great Apostle Peter), the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison (Peter was sleeping, even though he was supposed to die the next day; he wasnt worried because the Lord had told him that he would not die young, but old [Jn. 21:18]).

THE ANGEL

⁷And, behold, the Angel of the Lord came upon him(should have been translated, An Angel of the Lord), and a light shined in the prison (meaning there was no doubt this being was from the Lord): and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly (simply means that the Angel awakened him). And his chains fell off from his hands (great power!).

⁸And the Angel said unto him, Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals. And so he did. And he said unto him, Cast your garment about you, and follow me (speaks of the outer garment, with Peter now being fully dressed).

⁹And he went out, and followed him (presents Peter doing something, which at the moment he is not certain is real); and wist not that it was true which was done by the Angel; but thought he saw a Vision (he had difficulty making the transition to the supernatural; he kept thinking that he was seeing a Vision).

¹⁰When they were past the first and the second ward (probably means that Herod had placed Peter in the inner prison; as well, they went through the doors and passed the guards without them knowing what was happening; in some way, the Angel made all of this invisible to these individuals), they came unto the iron gate that leads unto the city (pertained to the gate of the Prison); which opened to them of his own accord (means that it opened automatically): and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the Angel departed from him (so Miraculous that it actually defies description).

¹¹And when Peter was come to himself (meaning he now knows that this had not been a vision or a dream, but that he had been truly delivered by an Angel), he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord has sent His Angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod (proclaims Peter giving God all the Glory), and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews (Herod would be deprived of his show, and all who were expecting to see the bloodletting).

PETERS ACCOUNT

¹²And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark (the John Mark mentioned here is the one who wrote the Gospel which bears his name); where many were gathered together praying (proclaims they were praying for Peter around the clock; most think that Peter was rescued between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.).

¹³And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate (not the door to the house, but the gate at the fence that surrounded the house, which was normally kept locked), a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda (pertains to this lady who was a servant in this house, with a part of her duties being to welcome guests).

¹⁴And when she knew Peters voice (tells us that the wall and gate were tall, with her unable to see who was knocking), she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate (presents her message as being so astounding, as to be unbelievable!).

¹⁵And they said unto her, You are mad (in other words, they not only did not believe her, but concluded that she was losing touch with reality). But she constantly affirmed that it was even so (pertains to her claim being made with more and more conviction). Then said they, It is his Angel (proclaims a belief in that day that all Jews had a Guardian Angel).

¹⁶But Peter continued knocking (refers to Peter knocking ever harder): and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished (they were speechless, even to the extent of putting them in a daze).

¹⁷But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace (they were all speaking to him at one time), declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go show these things unto James, and to the Brethren (referred to the Lords half-brother and the Elders of the Church in Jerusalem, plus any other of the Twelve who may have been in Jerusalem at that time). And he departed, and went into another place (evidently he didnt tell anyone where he was going).

HEROD

¹⁸Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter (losing their prisoner meant certain death for them).

¹⁹And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers (means that he did not believe their story; it was, in fact, quite a story!), and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode (has reference to the fact that he had been embarrassed before the people, not being able to put forth his spectacle concerning Peter; so he left Jerusalem).

JUDGMENT

²⁰And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon (gives us no clue for the reason of this displeasure): but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the kings chamberlain their friend, desired peace (they tried to make peace with Herod because of some disruption, which history failed to mention); because their country was nourished by the kings country(pertains to trade agreements regarding food, etc.).

²¹And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne (all of this was done with great fanfare and ceremony), and made an oration unto them (concerns him speaking with great pride about the agreement he had just made with Tyre and Sidon; he made it appear that he was the saviour of these cities).

²²And the people gave a shout (means that whatever he was saying greatly pleased them), saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man (means they kept shouting this over and over!).

²³And immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him (may have been the same Angel who delivered Peter), because he gave not God the glory (in other words, he accepted the acclamations of the people that he was a little god): and he was eaten of worms (Josephus said that he lingered for five days with agonizing pains in his stomach), and gave up the ghost (he died; this took place A.D. 44).

²⁴But the Word of God grew and multiplied (didnt say the Church grew, but rather the Word of God grew...).

²⁵And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem (proclaims such happening, but does not tell us exactly when), when they had fulfilled their Ministry (speaks of the offerings brought to Jerusalem from the Saints in Antioch, and possibly elsewhere as well), and took with them John, whose surname was Mark (Mark would join with them on the very first Missionary Journey).