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Tag: peter

His Angel at the gate
A messenger after an angel

Today we’ll move around between scenes and times hoping for a glance at an angel.

(Have you ever seen one?)

Acts of the Apostles 12:

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
Acts of the Apostles 12:5 ESV

~ A.D. 42

Scene: Likely the same upper room where Peter and the Apostles have proclaimed the Gospel to the Church with great power. It is above a palatial home of Mary mother of Mark, who will record his Gospel during these next several years.

Like James, this time the Apostle has been seized in Jerusalem and led to prison.

Here in Mary’s house, the church prays continually for their pastor Peter, who Herod will soon execute to please the Jews.

A servant girl, Ῥόδη [Rhoda] comes up to them as claimed she saw Peter.

..and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”
Acts 12:15c ESV

These believers in the resurrected Christ seem pretty insistent that Peter wasn’t knocking at Mary’s gate as her servant girl insisted, but that Rhoda just saw an angel at the gate.

Just what is it that this flock of Peter’s believes about angels?

ἄγγελος – angelos
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 KJV Translation Count — Total: 186x
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- a messenger,
- envoy,
- one who is sent,
- an angel,
- a messenger from God
..in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”

But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”

Perhaps some in the room had witnessed the risen Christ! (Jesus, though, IS more than just an angel). He demonstrated both spirit-like and human traits during those forty days after the resurrection a dozen years ago.

Perhaps Peter has sent a messenger from Herod’s prison, even a messenger sent from God.

Philip the Evangelist or Cornelius the Centurion

Luke does not account for who is present among those praying for Peter. Maybe John is mourning in a family home for his slain brother James. But Philip might be present, traveling from Caesarea even as Agrippa frequently does. Or maybe Cornelius, now a Roman brother in the Lord and follower of Peter, could have been there (or some of his family).

These men and others had seen angels and delivered the Lord’s message.

He distinctly saw an angel of God

Philip: Evangelizing Christ’s Sheep Beyond Gaza

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying,
“Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
Acts of Philip, disciple of the Apostles, 8:26 NASB20

A.D. 2022

Scene: In a neighborhood near my own home

I saw an angel. I understood her message, a graceful and timely gesture sent to me.
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Want to know more?
Comment on this post about angels, especially sharing any contemporary experience of your own, and I will privately share the rest of my brief recent encounter - RH
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Having experienced the mysterious and powerful work of the Holy Spirit personally on a Good Friday more than twenty years ago (even as many witnessed its mysteries on that first Pentecost more than a decade prior to our account from Acts of the Apostles 12), I do not marvel that those praying for Peter suggested that Rhonda, servant of the household of John Mark, had seen angel.
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Peter’s witness of Angels

It happens here in Acts 12, that this servant girl had not seen an angel at their gate.

¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

Peter, however, has seen an angel – even as Luke records in Acts of the Apostles that he has before.

Arrested AND Released

“The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

Were some of those won to Christ by Peter’s preaching and powerful signs in the Temple (even before the stoning of Stephen) now present in this upper room where a servant girl has announced that Peter is at the gate?

Also, of course, there was the Voice Peter heard from the housetop when the angel of the Lord brought Cornelius to him: “Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat!” .. “What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.”

So Peter was kept in prison..

It’s ten years beyond A.D. 30, when Jesus appeared to the Apostles and an angel released Peter from prison to preach in the Temple. And it’s a few months beyond A.D. 40, when an angel of the Lord appeared separately to Peter and Cornelius.

Scene:

A.D. 42 – a high-security prison of King Herod in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover

Agrippa’s timing is not unlike that of twelve years earlier, when Jerusalem’s former Prefect, Pontius Pilate, had crucified the Lord Jesus.

But now is the night before Herod Agrippa is about to make an example of Peter in front of the Passover crowds of Jerusalem, just as he had pleased the Jews so much (remember: *Herod really isn’t a Jew) by killing James with the sword of an executioner.
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*source: Herod the Great's father was half Edomite. Agrippa grew up around Rome. 

For more READ: Herod Vexing Opposition of the Church from our introduction to ACTS 12
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Acts 12:

τετράδιον – When he [Herod] had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four [sixteen men] squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.

[During every watch of the night..]

Peter was sleeping..
- between two soldiers,
- bound with two chains,
- and [two] guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
No one is going to escape these Roman guards of Herod’s standing watch over Peter all night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared

and a light shone in the cell;

and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying,

“Rise up quickly.”

And his chains fell off his hands.

And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and [bind] your sandals.” And he did so.

And he said to him, “[Bind] your [cloak] around yourself and follow me.”

[So Peter] went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing a vision.
Acts 12:9 of an angel leading Peter from prison

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”

FREE from prison & certain death

Peter, standing in the early morning hours alone in the streets of Jerusalem.

And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer…

ACTS of the Apostles – To be continued…
August 23, 2022
Herod Vexing Opposition of the Church
Acts 12: of Herod vs Jesus’ Apostles

Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
Acts of the Apostles 12:1 King James Version
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A contest is about to begin between: King Herod Agrippa verses the Apostles of Jesus.
Today we'll read the King James Version of the Bible for our look at Acts 12. Like me you'll probably have to look up some of these 'kingly' 17th c. 'Olde English'  words like "vex."
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And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

James – a Greater Thunder and a lesser king

Last time we pointed out that James (in English) is rooted in the Hebrew name Jacob.

Score one for Agrippa (ten to go)

And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.
(Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Acts 12:3-4 of Herod Agrippa – King James Version

πάσχα – pascha

King James of the 17th century translates the Pascal Feast as Easter. Jews of the first century church celebrate the same Passover Feast before which the Messiah Jesus had been hurriedly convicted as “KING OF THE JEWS” then hung on a Cross as our Pascal Lamb of Sacrifice for sin.

Lexicon :: Strong’s G3957 – pascha

Source: BlueLetterBible.org –
1. the paschal sacrifice (which was accustomed to be offered for the people’s deliverance of old from Egypt)
2. the paschal lamb, i.e. the lamb the Israelites were accustomed to slay and eat on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan (the first month of their year) in memory of the day on which their fathers, preparing to depart from Egypt, were bidden by God to slay and eat a lamb, and to sprinkle their door posts with its blood, that the destroying angel, seeing the blood, might pass over their dwellings; Christ crucified is likened to the slain paschal lamb
3. the paschal supper
4. the paschal feast, the feast of the Passover, extending from the 14th to the 20th day of the month Nisan
If you think of the Easter Jesus rose from death as ~A.D. 30, then this Pascal Feast takes place in ~A.D. 44, some fourteen years later.

the Herod’s Vex their Opponents

‘Who will be king of the Jews’ becomes a question of self-preservation and obsession of most of the Herod’s who consequently eliminated other heirs and vexed ANY potentially popular opponents such as John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.

κακῶσαί – to vex

Lexicon :: Strong’s G2559 – kakoō
- to oppress, afflict, harm, maltreat
- to embitter, render evil affected
Jerusalem’s religious leaders had harassed these little Christs by stoning Stephen [A.D. 32] and sending their most zealous Pharisee Saul of Tarsus after them for nearly five years. But then on his way to Damascus, Saul miraculously became a Christian and disappears in Arabia [in AD 37] just as Agrippa comes to power in Jerusalem.

So now Jerusalem’s political king begins with Jesus’ inner circle of Apostles.

Peter, James, John and the other Apostles have challenged authority of the Herod’s ever since their bold appearance in the Temple during Pentecost more than a decade ago [A.D 30].

Ἡρῴδης

A Hero Conquers (and changes the maps)

As you know, the Herod’s are not a particularly nice family. Agrippa’s grandfather, King Herod the Great, tried to kill Jesus as soon as Israel’s Messiah was born. Agrippa is not quite so powerful, but his grandpa had built many of Judah’s great buildings (with Roman taxes and adept political action of Herod intermingling with Rome’s unpredictable leaders).

King Agrippa’s grandfather also had five wives! Herod’s wives had ten sons in the line of kingly succession. So everyone’s question: Which one will become king?

What you may not understand about the ‘maps’ of your Bible is this:

Several subtle shifts in the political winds of Rome blurred boundaries of the landscape of what was once Israel and corrupted Jerusalem’s Jewish rulers who have been under Rome’s control during this half century since the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C. until now [A.D. 44].

The Jerusalem of Agrippa is looking back at Herod the Great’s glory days and the Jews want to make Jerusalem great again.
Herod had Agrippa’s mother Mariamne killed.

Herod charged his sons Alexander and Aristobulus (Agrippa’s father) with treason and received Caesar Augustus’ permission to execute them.

Antipater II (his son not listed here) was executed just days before Herod died.

Judea had been annexed to Rome in AD 6. No Herod’s had any authority in Jerusalem until AD 37 when Agrippa I became a king cooperating with his Roman Prefect.

Antipas, ruler of Galilee who had beheaded John the Baptist (and questioned Jesus at his trial even though he was NOT a king of the Jews or had any authority in Judea) was now dead, as was Herod Philip. King Agrippa prevails.

Source for a great read about the Herod's - Who was Herod? by Jayson Bradley - Overview Bible .com
Herod the Great (whose father Antipater was a son of Esau, not a son of Jacob {Israel}) chose his successor son with the same cunning and ruthlessness by which he ruled as king.

In AD 44, Herod Agrippa is the ONLY King of the Jews remaining in the line of his grandfather, Herod the Great.

BUT, Jerusalem is still all abuzz with the boldness of these Apostles of Jesus.

For a king whose power is waning..

.. every month is an election year.

The killing of James:

And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also…

Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
Acts of the Apostles 12:5 King James Version

Next? The Apostle Peter

And when Herod [Agrippa I] would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
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Do you recall the much earlier embarrassment of the Temple's religious officials questioning Peter and John?
Acts 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day.. 

.. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. - Acts of the Apostles 4:21
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Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church…

Agrippa makes certain that this leading Apostle of Jesus will not elude his Roman authority to execute any who cause them trouble. There will be no turning Peter loose to his crowds of disciples while Herod sits on the throne of Jerusalem.

BUT, a messenger of One with more authority than a mere king comes to Christ’s Apostle.

Acts 12:7

And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly.

And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals.

And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord:

and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
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Peter's Escape from Herod:  +To be continued
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August 17, 2022
Can anyone withhold Baptism from Gentiles?
Acts of the Apostle Peter 11:
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link above to NASB, KJ21, Orthodox Jewish Bible, SBL Greek New Testament; MOBILE Friendly LINK to ACTS 11 21st Century King James Version only
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Peter has no sooner returned to Jerusalem from his first mission trip to Joppa, Lyda and Caesarea when traditional worshipers of the Lord question what he has done.

Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

This is a VERY BIG DEAL to the Jews!

I remind us here (and now in this 21st century A.D.) that followers of Jesus (by now, hundreds of them) were Jews, a chosen people of the LORD.

Furthermore, due to centuries of division after Israel and Judah fell to foreign empires from both East and West a partially-restored Judea claimed faithfulness to Abrahamic covenants formerly abandoned by most Jews.

Peter is leading a diverse and large group of believers in Christ Jesus. Judea and Jerusalem will soon be crushed by its Roman captors.

And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the Circumcision contended with him, saying, “Thou wentest in to uncircumcised men and didst eat with them.”
Acts of the Apostles 11:2-3 KJ21
- περιτομή – peritomē
  - the circumcision
    from περιτέμνω peritemnō
    since by the rite of circumcision a man was separated from the unclean world and dedicated to God, the word is transferred to denote the extinguishing of lusts and the removal of sins
Contending for the faith

Once again, Peter will tell his story and orders from the Holy Spirit not to contend with gentiles who led him to Caesarea.
- Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting G1252 nothing: for I have sent them. – Acts 10:20
These men of Jerusalem who Peter led were Jews from varying religious traditions: Pharisee, Sadducees, Esenes, Hellenists (Greeks), proselytes worshipping as Jews and even men of little consequence unsought by any jewish traditions of worship.

Yes, they contended with the faith while some zealously contended for the faith. BUT which ‘jewish’ faith?

ALL, however, would agree that ‘gentiles’ had NO place among men and women who worshiped the Lord God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴But Peter began and explained at length to them in an orderly sequence, saying,
- “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision.
  - A certain vessel descended as though it had been a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even to me.
  - I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild animals, the crawling creatures, and the birds of the sky.
- I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’
  - “But I said, ‘By no means, Adoni, because nothing common or tameh (unclean) has ever entered into my stomach.’
  - But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.’
  - This happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into the sky.
Is there any contention in your church?
- Who should worship?
- What evidence does the Holy Spirit provide that something new is from the Lord?
  - Or that some tradition we have held near no longer applies?
JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RISEN IS AN ENTIRELY NEW TESTAMENT OF GOD’S WILL FOR WORSHIPERS AND THE WORLD.
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com + on the inclusion of gentiles in the Church

Peter’s summary of events in Caesarea
- Three men (Romans/Gentiles) from Caesarea came up to him at the very moment of his vision. [v.11]
- The Spirit led him to go with these men.
  - Peter saying that the Holy Spirit led him amounts to his reaction to a command of God.
- Seven men including Peter went to the house of Cornelius and witnessed these things. [vs. 12-14]
And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.
ACTS 11:15 of the HOLY SPIRIT

The men and women of the Church in Jerusalem, ORTHODOX in practice or HELLENIST in their return to the faith of Judaism had all experienced the power and signs of the HOLY GHOST!

It is a great mystery of the Lord God the Father and Christ Jesus that is a NEW TESTAMENT of the Gospel of the Resurrection.

So the Apostle Peter (with all these witnesses) continues:

Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.’
Acts of the Apostles 11:16 KJ21

Quoting The Word

Gospel of Luke 20:

On one of the days while He [Jesus] was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,

(Contention, just like Peter faced now.)

“Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

(Their questions about the Holy Spirit coming to the gentiles seem familiar to the Apostle.)

“I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me:

“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”
Gospel of Luke 20:4 the question of Jesus to doubters in His Authority

They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ “But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

After this Luke’s Gospel records the parable of the vine-growers, a parable now fulfilled by the gentiles replacing jews in the paradise of the Father.
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Their first century BAPTISM of John for repentance and cleansing and a temporary forgiveness of sins now regenerated since Pentecost becomes something more — something MUCH MORE + the Baptism of the HOLY SPIRIT promised by the SON of GOD!

Who am I to contend with the HOLY SPIRIT?

ACTS 11:17 – IF, therefore..

Peter closes his testimony in humble obedience to the Word of God witnessed by the Holy Spirit.

If therefore God gave them the same gift as He did unto us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I that I could withstand God?”
Acts of the Apostles 11:17 KJ21
- Would you contend with ALMIGHTY GOD?
- Will you deny the AUTHORITY of the ANOINTED SON JESUS?
- Can any deny the witness of THE HOLY SPIRIT of GOD?
THIS IS SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW! AND GOD HAS CONFIRMED IT + GENTILES WELCOME.

18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying,

“Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
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ACTS of the Apostles - to be continued.. 
(with both Jews and gentiles) ...
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May 20, 2022