Acts 12
(1) James Killed; Peter Arrested
Around that time, King Herod Agrippa I seized some church members to torture them. He even had James (John’s brother) executed with a sword. When he saw how much the Jews liked that, Herod arrested Peter too, during the flatbread holiday [Passover], throwing him in prison. Four units of four soldiers each were stationed to guard him until the end of Passover when he would be presented to the public. So he was held in prison, but the church was constantly pleading with God about it.
(6) Angel Frees Peter from Prison
The night before Peter was scheduled to be brought out in public, he was sleeping between 2 soldiers, tied up with 2 chains, with more guards just outside the prison door. But guess what? One of the Master’s messengers/angels appeared, lighting up the whole prison cell. He smacked Peter in the side and woke him up, saying,
“Get up, quick!”
Then the chains fell off his wrists, and the messenger told him,
“Get dressed and put on your shoes.”
After Peter did that, the messenger said,
“Ok, now put on your jacket and follow me.”
So Peter followed him out, but thought it was just a vision and didn’t realize it was actually happening. After passing the first two guards, they got to the iron gate at the city entrance, and the gate opened by itself. They walked through the gate, went down the street, and then the angel left. When Peter came to his senses, he said,
“Now I know for sure that the Master sent His messenger to rescue me from Herod and save me from all the bad things that the Jews thought would happen to me.”
After that, Peter went to Mary’s house (the mother of Mark, who’s real was “John”). Lots of people were gathering there and talking to God. When Peter knocked on the door, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. She recognized Peter’s voice and was so excited that she forgot to let him in and ran back inside to tell everyone that Peter was at the door. But everyone replied,
“Are you out of your mind??”
After she kept insisting, they concluded,
“Well, then it must be Peter’s messenger or angel.”
Meanwhile, Peter kept knocking, and when they finally opened the door, everyone was awestruck to see that it was really him. He quickly motioned for them to keep quiet, and told them how the Master had led him out of the prison cell. Then he told them,
“Make sure you tell James and the rest of the spiritual family about this!”
Then he left and went somewhere else.
(18) Herod Punishes Guards and Goes to Caesarea
The next morning, the soldiers were in a huge uproar because Peter was missing. When Herod realized he wasn’t there, he launched an investigation against the guards and ordered for them to be executed. Then he left Judea and went to Caesarea to spend some time there. [Caesarea is a coastal town still in modern-day Israel]
(20) Herod Dies
King Herod was furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon [cities still in modern-day Lebanon]. But the people won over Blastus (the king’s household manager), and unanimously approached King Herod asking for peace. They did that because their towns depended on Herod’s country for food. When the scheduled day came, Herod put on his royal clothes, took his seat on the judgement seat, and gave them a speech. The people kept shouting out,
“That’s the voice of a god—not a man!”
Then one of the Master’s messengers struck Herod for not giving God the credit. Herod was eaten by worms and breathed his last.
But the Master’s message continued to grow and multiply.
(25) Barnabas, Saul, and Mark go back to Jerusalem
When Barnabas and Saul finished up their service project, they went back to Jerusalem and brought Mark with them (who’s real name was “John”).
