ACTS 12

                                                              The Structure of Acts

        Introduction (Acts 1:1-26)

    First Part: Peter/Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-9:31)

       Transition (Acts 9:32-12:25)

Second Part: Paul "...and to the end of the earth." (Acts 13:1-28:31)

Looking at the general outline of the book, you can see that this chapter concludes the transition section which began in Chapter 9. In this section the emphasis of evangelism in the early church began to switch from the Jews centered in Jerusalem to the Gentiles in the larger Roman world. This is confirmed by the fact that there will be no more quotations from the OT past Chapter 12, although there will be quotations from some Greek and Roman writers. You can see this transition occurring in chapters 9-12 better by looking at the contents of Section 4.

                                              The Structure of the Transition Section

A. Peter with the Gentiles (9:32-10:48)

        B. Peter and the Jerusalem Church (11:1-18)

A'. Barnabas and Saul with the Gentiles (11:19-26)

        B'. Barnabas and Saul with the Jerusalem Church (11:27-30; 12:24-25)

        Peter leaves Jerusalem                                                  (12:1-23)

Look at the back-and-forth movement of both Peter and Paul between these two worlds. The last sub-section is like the sandwich structures we encounter in Mark's Gospel that bring your attention to the two events within them. Both show strengthening ties between the Jewish and Gentile Christians with mutual sharing. Gentiles share financially while the Jewish Christians share spiritually. And the final verse in Chapter 12 appropriately lists Paul, Barnabas and John Mark – who will be the primary evangelists beginning the second half of Acts.

The story concerning Peter in 12:1-23 has its own symmetry in which Peter's salvation is contrasted with Herod's fate:

                                                               The Structure of Acts 12

                    1. Herod's persecution (12:1-4)

2. Church prays for Peter's release (12:5)

3. Angel releases Peter (12:6-11)

2'. Peter appears to the church (12:12-17)

                    1'. Herod's fate (12:18-23)

Acts 12: 1-5 

v. 1 Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, was half Jewish, half Edomite himself and was known from history to be friendly toward the Jewish religious leaders. He only ruled over Judea from 41-44 AD.

v. 2 Jesus had predicted that James would drink of the same cup that He did. God allows James to be killed but miraculously saves Peter from the same fate. This is typical of twinned events in Acts that purposely don't allow you to make generalizations.

vv. 3-4 The Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately followed the day of Passover and was considered part of the same feast. It would have been very uncommon to carry out executions during Passover.

v. 4 Four squads – one for each watch. Four at a time, two on either side and two at the doors.

v. 5 “The contrast is obvious: Peter was bound, but prayer was loosed.” Stanley Toussaint, Bible Knowledge Commentary

Acts 12:6

Extra precautions were probably taken because of Peter's earlier escape (Acts 5:19-24). A friend of mine called this the most unbelievable verse in Scripture, not verse 7 but verse 6 – sleeping under such circumstances. Why do you think he was able to sleep so soundly? Remember that Jesus had prophesied that Peter would live to an old age (John 21:18). Parallel in Psalms 107:14-- “He brought them out of darkness and gloom and broke their chains asunder.”

Acts 12:8-10

“They” becomes “him.” Divine help was limited to what Peter could not do for himself. Lessons for today? More medical miracles are reported in third-world countries where trained medical help is harder to get.

A more modern parallel to this story told by Sadhu Sundar Singh. Born in 1899 and raised as a Sikh. He became a Christian missionary. At one point in his life he was locked in a well by a Tibetan ruler but helped to escape. He thought his rescuer was a man until he suddenly disappeared. This quote from Singh is an interesting one to ponder: “Should I worship from fear of hell, may He cast me into it. Should I serve Him in desire to gain heaven, may He keep me out. But should I worship Him from love alone, He reveals Himself to me, that my whole heart may be filled with His love and presence.”

Acts 12:11-12

v. 11 The wording is very similar to the early Greek translation of Exodus 18:4,10 concerning Moses' deliverance from Pharaoh. Others see a similarity between Pharaoh and Herod – both persecutors of God's people are supernaturally killed by God.

v.12 (John) Mark is introduced. He is again associated with Peter in I Peter, and traditionally was the interpreter for Peter in writing the Gospel of Mark. The house may have been the one where the Last Supper was held. This shows that private ownership of houses continued for the Christians.

Acts 13-16

Human touches point to the historical veracity of this account.

v. 14 The position of doorkeeper was a humble but responsible position, especially in time of persecution. This is either a humorous note or shows that she needed to get permission before letting anyone enter.

v. 15 The closest parallel is Matthew 18:10 on guardian angels of the little ones and may reflect the belief that the angels resemble the people with whom they are identified. Not much else is known about them. Today we would probably say, “It is his ghost.” The manner and timing of deliverance so soon may have been the reason for surprise, or it merely means that they were praying for Peter to be released by Herod at a trial or to meet his coming fate as a Christian. God sometimes answers our prayers in a different manner than we were expecting.

Again a possible humorous touch. Did they really believe? It is like praying for rain but not bringing an umbrella. In the apocryphal book Tobit (Chapter 5), the angel Raphael impersonates a particular person. Perhaps they feel that this angel has come with some sort of message, possibly to inform them of Peter's death. In any case, the passage merely reports the current belief of those in the house, and we shouldn't develop any doctrines around it. It is description, not prescription.

Acts 12:17

He decided not to test the Lord by staying Jerusalem. “Other place” – I Peter 1:1 indicates he went to Asia Minor, and he was also at Antioch of Syria in Galatians 2:11. Eyewitness touch – motioning to be silent, probably because he didn't want the neighbors waking up. James held a prominent place by this time. “Another place” – supernatural? It may be like the Spirit of the Lord snatching Phillip away after he had witnessed to the Ethiopian eunuch. James is there to take his place. God provides the leadership needed and the ministry multiplies.

There are several transitions at this point: from Peter to James as the leader of the church in Jerusalem; from Peter to Paul as the main actor; and from Jerusalem to the Gentile world as the scene of action.

Acts 12:18-19

Even though it has been determined that there were no Roman laws at the time demanding a death penalty for guards who let prisoners escape (unlike previous thnking), Herod probably figured that the only way Peter could have escaped was through inside help.

Acts 12:20-22

Luke gives us another contrasting story two chapters later when Barnabas and Paul are worshiped by the people of Lystra who take them for Zeus and Hermes. Barnabas and Paul tear their clothes and vehemently deny that they are gods. Their comments bear repeating, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortal just like you, and we bring you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God who made the heaven and the earth and all that is in them.” What is the lesson for us?

v. 21 Josephus says that this event happened on Emperor Claudius' birthday in May of 44AD. (Josephus was a boy in Jerusalem at the time). Compare his independent account (slightly edited) with that of Acts: “Agrippa came to the city Caesarea, and there he exhibited shows in honor of Caesar at which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons and such as were of dignity through his province. On the second day of the shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a texture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out in a surprising manner, and was so resplendent that his flatterers cried out that he was a god. Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. A severe pain arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. Accordingly he was carried into the palace. And when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life.” Josephus' version provides several interesting details that are not in Acts but which will feature in two final sets of parallel or contrasting accounts later in Acts.

v. 22 It is interesting that in Ezekiel 28 the king of Tyre is criticized by the prophet for claiming to be God whereas here it is the leaders of Tyre who are calling Herod a god. Also, Antiochus Epiphanes, the great persecutor of the Jews during the time of the Maccabees, is said to have died of intestinal worms.

John Ogilvie draws a number of applications from these verses regarding our lack of faith in prayer, our preconceived notions about what God should do, and our inability at times to recognize that our prayers have already been answered and that the answer is knocking on our door – if we just open it. He also points out there is a noticeable absence of any indication that the people rejoiced and thanked God. Robert Louis Stevenson said, “I will think more of your prayers when I see more of your praises.”

The word “died” only appears here and with deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in the whole NT. This 

emphasizes that it is an act of God in both cases.

There are several parallels between Acts 1 and this chapter, which concludes the first half of the book:

Prayer in the Upper Room                 Prayer in Mary's House

Apostles stay in Jerusalem                 Peter forced to leave Jerusalem

An Apostle is added                           An Apostle is killed

Judas dies                                           Herod Agrippa dies

bowels gush out                                 disease of the bowels*

After Passover                                   Before Passover

There is a second set of comparisons between events that open Chapter 12 and the one that closes it.

Herod kills                                                                     Herod is killed

Herod wants to please the Jews                                     People want to please Herod by flattering him.

Herod wants to bring Peter before the people               Herod appears before the people

Setting:                                                                          Setting:

Jewish festival                                                               Roman festival*

 

Note that two of the parallels above (with asterisks) are not in the Acts account, but contain 

information we only get from Josephus. So these symmetrical similarities can't be due to any 

purposeful structuring on the part of Luke. The main point is not so much that the writers of the Bible 

structured their accounts, as it is that God has structured history itself.