May
29th Herod
dies
11:
And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety,
that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the
hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the
Jews. 12: And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house
of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were
gathered together praying. 13: And as Peter knocked at the door of
the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14: And when she
knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in,
and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15: And they said unto her,
Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then
said they, It is his angel. 16: But Peter continued knocking: and
when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. 17:
But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace,
declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.
And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren.
And he departed, and went into another place. 18: Now as soon as it
was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become
of Peter. 19: And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not,
he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to
death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode. 20:
And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they
came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king's
chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was
nourished by the king's country. 21: And upon a set day Herod,
arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration
unto them. 22: And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice
of a god, and not of a man. 23: And immediately the angel of the Lord
smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of
worms, and gave up the ghost. 24: But the word of God grew and
multiplied. 25: And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when
they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose
surname was Mark.
When
Peter finally woke up he realised that he had been delivered by the
hand of God from Prison and from Herod and from the murderous plots
of the Jews. When he had figured out what he was doing he made his
way to Mary’s house, because he knew they were praying for him.
When Peter knocked on the outer door Rhoda came to see who was
knocking. Rhoda was probably a servant of the lowest order. It was
her job to keep the door and wash the visitor’s feet after their
journeys. She was expert at recognising voices – it was her job and
she knew Peters voice. I wonder what he sounded like. However she was
so excited that she forgot to open the door and ran into the prayer
room to tell everyone that Peter was knocking. They said to her, you
are mad! Then, maybe its his angel knocking. (Little did they know of
angelic activity this night) Peter was still knocking! When they
finally opened the door and saw him they were completely astonished
and overjoyed. Peter raised his hand for quiet and then told them how
the Lord had delivered him from Prison. Then he said go and tell
James and the brethren. Then Peter went to another home. When the day
dawned and the guards woke up they were in a great flap as to what
had become of him. Herod tortured the guards to find out what had
happened and then he executed them all. Then Herod left Judea and
went to Caesarea and stayed there. Herod was very displeased with the
people of Tyre and Sidon but the men of the city came to make things
up and they secured an ally in Blastus. On a particular day Herod was
clothed in his king’s garments and he was sitting on his throne and
he made a great speech. The people shouted, it is the voice of a god
and not a man. And it that moment the angel of the Lord killed him
because he did not give glory to God. He was eaten of worms and died.
But the Word of God – that is the preaching of the gospel
flourished and multiplied. (The converts were becoming evangelists)
Paul and Barnabas returned to the north and they took John Mark with
them he was the nephew of Barnabas.
- How hard was it for Peter to get out of Jail?
- How hard was it for Peter to get into the prayer meeting?
- How did God deal with Herod?
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