Chapter Twelve –
Death of the Apostle James and Herod
ACTS 12:1-10:
As we concluded the previous chapter with the coming of the predicted famine
in Judea and the brethren in Antioch of Syria sending relief to the brethren
in Judea; chapter twelve comes
back to Peter as the focus, and explains the martyrdom of James.
Text #1:
Acts 12:1-4
“Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his
hand to harass some from the church.
2
Then he
killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3
And because
he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also.
Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
4
So when he
had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to
four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the
people after Passover.”
Now About
That Time:
This is a
direct reference to the previously mentioned famine that was the subject of
the final
4 verses of the previous
chapter.
Luke, as an able bodied historian is keeping an orderly record for us of
these events.
Herod:
This is Herod Agrippa 1, the grandson of Herod the Great (who was
responsible for the killing of the children at the birth of Jesus –
Matthew
2:16), and the nephew of Herod the Tetrarch who killed John the
Baptist.
James:
This is James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John –
Matthew
4:21. He will become the first recorded Apostle of Jesus the
Christ to be martyred for his service to the Lord.
Days of
Unleavened Bread:
The Days of
Unleavened Bread was a seven day feast in which no leaven could be used or
even found on the premises. The first day of the feast was marked by the
Passover meal, and from there the remainder was met out for the additional
days – See:
Exodus 12:1-20;
Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
These
events have occurred during the time when all devout Jews from every nation
have assembled to honor this feast (Acts
2:5). Herod would want to secure political favor with the Jews to
maintain control in order for him to answer to Rome for their peaceful
conduct.
Four Squads
of Soldiers:
In most of your translations there is a reference to the original word used
by Luke to describe these soldiers (“Tetrads”);
which is from Greek word meaning groups of four (it was also referred to in
antiquity as a ‘Quaternion’ – four bands of four soldiers). This would
indicate sixteen soldiers to be responsible for Peter’s safe keeping, four
for each watch. There could be little doubt concerning Herod’s intent for
Peter based on the treatment of James; the only difference was he had to
wait until after the Passover to bring him before the people.
Text #2:
Acts 12:5-10
“Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer
was offered to God for him by the church.
6
And when
Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with
two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping
the prison.
7
Now behold,
an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison;
and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!”
And his chains fell off his hands.
8
Then the
angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did.
And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.”
9
So he went
out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was
real, but thought he was seeing a vision.
10
When they
were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate
that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they
went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from
him.”
Constant
Prayer:
As we know
that they are going to be surprised to see him alive, we should not just
assume that they were praying for his release. Based on the actions of Herod
against James, they would not think Herod had any other intention for Peter.
However, they offered their petitions to God in trust and in earnest as all
of us are commanded to do (Ephesians
6:18;
Philippians 4:6;
1
Thessalonians 5:17).
Peter was
Sleeping:
All of us
in the presence of anxiety have known the difficulty of sleep; however,
there seems to be a peace with Peter, even in these stressful circumstances.
This offers us an example of the instruction to you and me as children of
God, note:
Romans 13:3
“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will
have praise from the same.”
This is not
a mandate that harm will never come to the servant of the Lord, we know
better based on James; it is a statement of comprehension and trust in the
fact that our actions here on earth in service to the Lord are simply
cultivating that which is truly of value to us, the afterlife. To die while
doing the will of our Lord is to be advanced to our reward and His glorious
presence; thus, there is nothing to fear.
The rest of this portion of the text describes the miraculous jail break,
for which Peter considered it to be a vision (something miraculous, seen
while awake).
This is a short chapter, so we will stop here and break it in half for two
lessons instead of one massive one.
Next: “Peter Returns to the Brethren and Herod’s
Death!”