A STUDY GUIDE ACTS 12:18-25
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 12:18-25
a) The verses describe events after Peter’s escape from prison. God strikes Herod dead.
#1) Acts 12:18-19
18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
i) The soldiers panic.The guards outside seemed to notice nothing untoward during the night, even though Peter and the angel had walked right past them. The two guards inside, who had been chained to Peter, did not become aware of Peter’s absence until dawn. How could this be? No wonder there was such consternation or “no small disturbance” as Luke puts it. The punishment for letting a prisoner escape was death. God’s angel somehow delayed the discovery of Peter’s escape to gain Peter some time to find refuge.
ii) Where Peter went. Luke doesn't tell us where Peter lay low so that Herod couldn't find him. But it wasn't at Mary’s house. Peter went there only to bring news of his escape, then he went elsewhere while it was yet night (Acts 12:12,17).
iii) Peter’s story ends. This is where the book of Acts leaves the adventures of Peter and turns to the acts of Paul. Peter is mentioned only once more in Acts, when Paul goes to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and the other apostles and elders there, and Peter speaks in favor of Paul and his doctrine (Acts 15:1-12).
#2) Acts 12:20-23
20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country. 21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
i) King Herod. Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod the Great who slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem, and nephew of the Herod Antipas the tetrarch who killed John the Baptist (Matthew 2:16, 14:1 Luke 9:9). These Herodian kings seem to have been especially nasty types. So when the coastland cities of Tyre and Sidon somehow angered Herod, there ensued a political scramble on their part to appease him, because he controlled the sources that supplied the cities with their food, and there was famine at that time (Acts 11:28-27-30, Acts 12:1). If Herod were to decree sanctions against Tyre and Sidon, the cities would starve.
ii) Herod’s stupidity. Herod sat in the judgment chair, dressed to impress. He made a speech, but the people also had a message that they were anxious to get across to him. Most translations have them shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man”. Josephus (a Jewish historian) also records this event, and leans in that direction. But some translations have, “The voice of God and not of man.” The latter makes him a prophet of God, whereas the former makes him a god. Neither case is fitting, and Herod should have raised his hands and silenced the people. He should have said something like, “I am a king. I am neither a god nor a prophet of God. God grants me power by his grace. I have no power of my own.” But instead Herod accepted the adulation and didn't give God the glory.
iii) Herod’s nasty death. An angel of the Lord caused Herod to be consumed by worms. Luke, a doctor, states that Herod was eaten by worms and died, not the reverse. And Luke doesn't say that he died the same day that the angel struck him with the fatal disease. We won't dwell on this terrible affliction. Enough is enough. The death by this affliction was meant to show clearly that God is God, and men are men. Even though men be worshiped as gods, they are mortal; and their bodies, no matter how gorgeously arrayed, are corruptible.
iv) An angel of the Lord. Josephus says that Herod saw an owl hovering above, which Herod supposed was an angel taking the form of an owl, and an ill omen. This may or may not be true.
#3) Acts 12:24-25
24 But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.
i) Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas and Saul were last mentioned in Acts 11:29-30. They were sent from Syrian Antioch with the funds to help the Christians in Jerusalem survive the famine. They had now fulfilled that task and came back to Antioch, accompanied by John Mark who was to be their helper when they made what is known as Paul’s first missionary journey.
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 12:18-25
a) The verses describe events after Peter’s escape from prison. God strikes Herod dead.
#1) Acts 12:18-19
18 Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19 When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.
i) The soldiers panic.The guards outside seemed to notice nothing untoward during the night, even though Peter and the angel had walked right past them. The two guards inside, who had been chained to Peter, did not become aware of Peter’s absence until dawn. How could this be? No wonder there was such consternation or “no small disturbance” as Luke puts it. The punishment for letting a prisoner escape was death. God’s angel somehow delayed the discovery of Peter’s escape to gain Peter some time to find refuge.
ii) Where Peter went. Luke doesn't tell us where Peter lay low so that Herod couldn't find him. But it wasn't at Mary’s house. Peter went there only to bring news of his escape, then he went elsewhere while it was yet night (Acts 12:12,17).
iii) Peter’s story ends. This is where the book of Acts leaves the adventures of Peter and turns to the acts of Paul. Peter is mentioned only once more in Acts, when Paul goes to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and the other apostles and elders there, and Peter speaks in favor of Paul and his doctrine (Acts 15:1-12).
#2) Acts 12:20-2320 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country. 21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
i) King Herod. Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod the Great who slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem, and nephew of the Herod Antipas the tetrarch who killed John the Baptist (Matthew 2:16, 14:1 Luke 9:9). These Herodian kings seem to have been especially nasty types. So when the coastland cities of Tyre and Sidon somehow angered Herod, there ensued a political scramble on their part to appease him, because he controlled the sources that supplied the cities with their food, and there was famine at that time (Acts 11:28-27-30, Acts 12:1). If Herod were to decree sanctions against Tyre and Sidon, the cities would starve.
ii) Herod’s stupidity. Herod sat in the judgment chair, dressed to impress. He made a speech, but the people also had a message that they were anxious to get across to him. Most translations have them shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man”. Josephus (a Jewish historian) also records this event, and leans in that direction. But some translations have, “The voice of God and not of man.” The latter makes him a prophet of God, whereas the former makes him a god. Neither case is fitting, and Herod should have raised his hands and silenced the people. He should have said something like, “I am a king. I am neither a god nor a prophet of God. God grants me power by his grace. I have no power of my own.” But instead Herod accepted the adulation and didn't give God the glory.
iii) Herod’s nasty death. An angel of the Lord caused Herod to be consumed by worms. Luke, a doctor, states that Herod was eaten by worms and died, not the reverse. And Luke doesn't say that he died the same day that the angel struck him with the fatal disease. We won't dwell on this terrible affliction. Enough is enough. The death by this affliction was meant to show clearly that God is God, and men are men. Even though men be worshiped as gods, they are mortal; and their bodies, no matter how gorgeously arrayed, are corruptible.
iv) An angel of the Lord. Josephus says that Herod saw an owl hovering above, which Herod supposed was an angel taking the form of an owl, and an ill omen. This may or may not be true.
#3) Acts 12:24-25
24 But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.
25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.
i) Barnabas and Saul. Barnabas and Saul were last mentioned in Acts 11:29-30. They were sent from Syrian Antioch with the funds to help the Christians in Jerusalem survive the famine. They had now fulfilled that task and came back to Antioch, accompanied by John Mark who was to be their helper when they made what is known as Paul’s first missionary journey.
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