Acts 12

James Killed and Peter Imprisoned


Herod killed James with the sword. This pleased the Jews so he also arrested Peter. It was around passover, so he was planning on bringing him out to the people afterward. The church prayed to God for Peter's safety.

I'm guessing "bring him out to the people" means that he is going to execute him or something? 


Peter Is Rescued


Peter was being held in prison surrounded by guards. An angel came and helped him break out of jail. He stopped by his friends place to tell them he is okay then he took off, presumably so he wouldn't get them in trouble for harboring a fugitive.

It is interesting to me that the angel breaks Peter out of jail. I would say a message you could get from that is that you should fight against unjust laws. I like it.


The Death of Herod


Herod was giving a speech to the people and they shouted "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" and God struck him down because "he did not give God the glory"

God sure does seem to be a violent fellow. Also, what is up with "The voice of a god"? Are the polytheistic roots of the time showing through here? I looked through other translations and it is the same in all of them as far as I can tell.



------------------

Note: I am out of town for about a week. There will not be a disruption is posts as I have front-loaded enough content to fill the void while I am gone, however, I will most likely not be responding to any comments until I get back. If any comments do come from me this week please excuse typos as it means I am posting from my phone.