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| Comfort & Counsel |
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| The Great Bible Story #124 |
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Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who was in power when Jesus was born, was the king in Judea appointed by the Romans at this time, and he tried to exercise his power over Christians. He put James the apostle to death, and when he saw that this was well received by the Jews, he arrested Peter and put him in jail, with a lot of soldiers guarding him, hoping to put him also to death after the Passover. But the church started praying for Peter's release. On the same night when Herod was planning to bring Peter before the people, Peter was sleeping in chains between two soldiers with other soldiers guarding the prison. An angel suddenly appeared there with a bright light, slapped Peter gently on the shoulder and asked him to wake up, take his clothes and follow him out. His chains fell off and doors opened when they were moving, and when they reached the final gate it opened by itself. The angel disappeared. Suddenly Peter realised that he was actually free and outside the prison, and not dreaming as he was thinking till then.
Peter went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many disciples were gathered together and praying for him. When he knocked on the door a servant girl came. But when she heard his voice she ran inside to tell them Peter was there. But the others there wouldn't believe her! But finally when they saw him they were quite amazed. Peter described how the Lord had sent an angel and delivered him from the prison and Herod. He told them to tell the others and went off to another place. It is one of those inscrutable acts of God that He permitted James to be killed, while saving Peter miraculously. But this is given so that we might learn to trust Him even without all the answers. When Herod sent for Peter they couldn't find him, even though everything was in place at the prison! He ordered the soldiers to be killed. Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. One day they came to meet him, and he gave them an impressive speech. They wanted to appease him, and so they flattered him saying it was as if some god was talking! Herod drank in this flattery without even a thought about giving God the glory. In this case the judgment came quickly, and Herod fell down and died. After completing their mission of giving the money to the church in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch. But this time they also took John Mark with them. |
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