A STUDY GUIDE ACTS 12:1-17
1. A Study Guide
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 12:1-17
a) The verses describe James’s death, Peter’s imprisonment and escape.
#1) Acts 12:1-3
12 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.
i) King Herod. The Herod of Acts 12:1 was Herod Agrippa I. He was the grandson of Herod the Great who slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem, and nephew of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch who killed John the Baptist (Matthew 2:16, 14:1 Luke 9:9).
ii) James the brother of John. The James of Acts 12:1 was James the son of Zebedee, and was one of the twelve apostles. There are four lists of the apostles in the New Testament (Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13, Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19). The following list combines these four sources. You'll note there was another apostle called James: James the son of Alphaeus.
iii) TheTwelve Apostles
Simon Peter (Cephas)
James the son of Zebedee
John (the brother of the above James)
Andrew (Peter's brother)
Philip (not Philip the evangelist)
Thomas
Bartholomew
Matthew the tax collector
James the son of Alphaeus
Simon the Zealot, the Canaanite
Judas Thaddaeus son of James
Judas Iscariot (the betrayer replaced by Matthias)
iv) The Prophecy About James. Jesus predicted that James and John would, like Jesus, be put to death. (Matthew 20:20-23). The prophecy is fulfilled for James by Herod, who has James killed by sword —probably beheaded.
v) Herod’s purpose. Herod acted out of a desire to please the Jews who were opposing the Christians. Now he arrests Peter, not for any just reason, but for political gain.
#2) Acts 12:4-6
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.
i) Sixteen Soldiers. Herod was ensuring that Peter would be there for the show, nicely timed for when Jerusalem would be crowded. Herod has 16 soldiers assigned to guard Peter day and night. During the night, Peter has two soldiers bound to him by chains.
ii) The church prayed. The Christians didn't attempt to break Peter out of his heavily guarded prison. They resorted to prayer. This did not guarantee Peter would be set free. After all, James had not escaped death. As we shall see, however, God did rescue Peter, but the Christians who were praying for him couldn't believe it.
#3) Acts 12:7-10
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.
i) An angel of the Lord. Angels of God do things for people that people can't do for themselves. The angel made Peter’s chains fall off, but he told Peter to put his clothes and sandals on all by himself. The angel led Peter through locked doors, past vigilant guards, and through an iron gate, but he still expected Peter to walk on his own two feet. The angel took Peter down one street only, then left him alone to use his own wits. Don't expect angels to do for you what you can do for yourself.
ii) Thought he was seeing a vision. The “laws of nature” operate in the real world. If we experience something against those laws, we assume it to be an hallucination, or a dream, or perhaps a vision, not something real. But Peter’s escape from prison was all quite real.
#4) Acts 12:11-15
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.”
i) Think before you pray. Peter stands knocking at a house where he expects brethren to be gathered. They are, and they are praying for Peter. But when their prayers are answered, they are not expecting it. The servant girl who comes to the door gets into such a state when she hears Peter’s voice that she runs back inside not thinking to let him in. Then, when she tells the folk inside that Peter is outside, they can't believe it and think the girl is imagining things. Meanwhile Peter has to just keep knocking.
ii) The door of the gate. The door within a larger entrance, where you go in from the public street to the private house. The door would be latched at night.
#5) Acts 12:16-17
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.
i) No time for commotion. When, after quite a delay, they open the door for Peter, their amazement bubbles over. But Peter signals for silence. The last thing he needs is a commotion to attract attention and waste more time. He quickly explains what happened, asks them to pass on the information to others, especially to James. Then he goes off to a refuge somewhere before his escape is discovered at the prison.
ii) James. As we saw above, there were two apostles named James. One was now dead. The other was James the son of Alphaeus.
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 12:1-17
a) The verses describe James’s death, Peter’s imprisonment and escape.
#1) Acts 12:1-3
12 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.
i) King Herod. The Herod of Acts 12:1 was Herod Agrippa I. He was the grandson of Herod the Great who slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem, and nephew of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch who killed John the Baptist (Matthew 2:16, 14:1 Luke 9:9).
ii) James the brother of John. The James of Acts 12:1 was James the son of Zebedee, and was one of the twelve apostles. There are four lists of the apostles in the New Testament (Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13, Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19). The following list combines these four sources. You'll note there was another apostle called James: James the son of Alphaeus.
iii) TheTwelve Apostles
Simon Peter (Cephas)
James the son of Zebedee
John (the brother of the above James)
Andrew (Peter's brother)
Philip (not Philip the evangelist)
Thomas
Bartholomew
Matthew the tax collector
James the son of Alphaeus
Simon the Zealot, the Canaanite
Judas Thaddaeus son of James
Judas Iscariot (the betrayer replaced by Matthias)
iv) The Prophecy About James. Jesus predicted that James and John would, like Jesus, be put to death. (Matthew 20:20-23). The prophecy is fulfilled for James by Herod, who has James killed by sword —probably beheaded.
v) Herod’s purpose. Herod acted out of a desire to please the Jews who were opposing the Christians. Now he arrests Peter, not for any just reason, but for political gain.
#2) Acts 12:4-6
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.
i) Sixteen Soldiers. Herod was ensuring that Peter would be there for the show, nicely timed for when Jerusalem would be crowded. Herod has 16 soldiers assigned to guard Peter day and night. During the night, Peter has two soldiers bound to him by chains.
ii) The church prayed. The Christians didn't attempt to break Peter out of his heavily guarded prison. They resorted to prayer. This did not guarantee Peter would be set free. After all, James had not escaped death. As we shall see, however, God did rescue Peter, but the Christians who were praying for him couldn't believe it.
#3) Acts 12:7-10
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.
i) An angel of the Lord. Angels of God do things for people that people can't do for themselves. The angel made Peter’s chains fall off, but he told Peter to put his clothes and sandals on all by himself. The angel led Peter through locked doors, past vigilant guards, and through an iron gate, but he still expected Peter to walk on his own two feet. The angel took Peter down one street only, then left him alone to use his own wits. Don't expect angels to do for you what you can do for yourself.
ii) Thought he was seeing a vision. The “laws of nature” operate in the real world. If we experience something against those laws, we assume it to be an hallucination, or a dream, or perhaps a vision, not something real. But Peter’s escape from prison was all quite real.
#4) Acts 12:11-15
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.”
i) Think before you pray. Peter stands knocking at a house where he expects brethren to be gathered. They are, and they are praying for Peter. But when their prayers are answered, they are not expecting it. The servant girl who comes to the door gets into such a state when she hears Peter’s voice that she runs back inside not thinking to let him in. Then, when she tells the folk inside that Peter is outside, they can't believe it and think the girl is imagining things. Meanwhile Peter has to just keep knocking.
ii) The door of the gate. The door within a larger entrance, where you go in from the public street to the private house. The door would be latched at night.
#5) Acts 12:16-17
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.
i) No time for commotion. When, after quite a delay, they open the door for Peter, their amazement bubbles over. But Peter signals for silence. The last thing he needs is a commotion to attract attention and waste more time. He quickly explains what happened, asks them to pass on the information to others, especially to James. Then he goes off to a refuge somewhere before his escape is discovered at the prison.
ii) James. As we saw above, there were two apostles named James. One was now dead. The other was James the son of Alphaeus.
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