A gate and a door to open and two different angels. Acts 12
Acts 12 begins with King Herod arresting and persecuting some of the Church.
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, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Acts 12
Herod, though king, was a man pleaser and eventually it cost him dearly.
25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Proverbs 29
Peter was awaiting trial in prison and the Church was praying earnestly.
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.
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.
It was the night before Peter’s trial and he was sleeping, as best he could, while chained between two guards. The first angel arrived, no doubt in answer to prayer and Peter, as if in a dream was set free. Heaven had to intervene and release Peter, otherwise he may have suffered the same fate as James, the brother of John.
Peter went to the house of the mother of John Mark, were many people were praying for his release.
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!” (Funny incident in a serious situation)
16 BUT PETER KEPT ON KNOCKING, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
Peter had to KEEP KNOCKING UNTIL THEY OPENED THE DOOR TO HIM, he surely wasn’t expected. The angel had left him and he now had to get them to open the door for him.
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. (Did someone have to die, a blood sacrifice to satisfy false gods?)
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.
Herod moved on for the last time. He made a speech wearing his royal robes from his throne and the people said it was a god, not a man. (False praise that puffs up man’s ego is a trap).
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.
Some lessons from the account of Peter’s great escape.
If you’re in a prison, literally or figuratively (somewhere too strong for you to get free), PRAY EARNESTLY AND ENLIST THE HELP OF OTHERS!
If you need a door to open, don’t give up, KEEP KNOCKING!
We as believers need to live our lives here in the Fear of God and not the fear of man.
God bless and keep you today.