GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 13

Our  book this month  is a continuation of “Chiseled by the Master’s Hand ~ Lessons From the Life of Peter,” by Erwin  Lutzer.  Dr. Lutzer is  Canadian-born and served as Senior Pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago for 36 years, until his retirement in 2016.   He now serves as Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church.  He’s written many books and has radio and internet teaching programs.

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KEPT IN THE MASTER’S HAND (Chapter 12)

(Read Acts 12:1-25)

PETER WAS ARRESTED

We read in Acts 12:1 ~ “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, to do them harm.”

This is a reference to Herod Agrippa the First, the grandson of Herod the Great who had the male infants killed when Christ was born in Bethlehem.  This grandson, who was known for his cruelty, delighted in pleasing the Jews.  As a trial balloon, he killed James, the brother of John, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.  Now it was during the days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.  So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”  (Acts 12:3-5).

Peter was arrested unjustly, for he had violated neither moral nor political laws.  His only crime was to displease the arbitrary whim of the king.  Cruel fate appeared to work against Peter and now he was scheduled to die by the sword.

Today when we put ourselves in a similar situation, we immediately think of the legal recourse that we would have in a just court of law.  But of course in Biblical times tyrants ruled by their caprice, not by just laws.  Peter had no opportunity to have a hearing to clear his name.  In 1988, John Demjanjuk of Cleveland, Ohio was condemned to die by an Israeli court because they believed he was “Ivan the Terrible,”, the cruel director of one of Hitler’s death camps.  But thankfully, he has been able to appeal to both American and Israeli law in the effort to prove his innocence.  Peter had to entrust his case solely to God without a hint of human help in sight.

But God followed Peter into prison.  Our Lord does not have to restrict His entry to the posted visiting hours.  He does not observe the restrictions we do when we take a friend to the airport and come to the sign, “Passengers Only beyond This Point.”  As Joseph learned, God goes with His people into the dungeon, and accompanies them when they cross the border from one country to another.  He goes with us to school, the factory, the home, and the hospital.  “For He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we may confidently say, “the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What shall man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Peter found himself in a dungeon with sixteen soldiers assigned to guard him.  Probably they worked in shifts of four – one was chained to each of Peter’s arms, one guarded the entrance of the dungeon, and the other guarded the entrance to the prison itself.  Thus sixteen soldiers on six-hour shifts worked round the clock to make sure that Peter would stay put.  After all, he had had a history of jailbreaks!  Herod may have heard of his miraculous deliverance years before.  The king’s reputation was at stake, so no one took any chances.

What were the odds of Peter escaping alive?  Not great.  The only light in the darkness is found in one short phrase, “But prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.” (Acts 12:5).  Clarence  McCartney writes, “Never were there greater odds against prayer.  On one side, Herod, the sixteen soldiers, the grim fortress walls of the dungeon, and the power of Rome itself; on the other side, a handful of men and women in a prayer meeting.  How unequal the combat!    Yet, as has often happened since, it was the prayer meeting that came out victorious.

Peter was in prison according to the plan and purposes of God.  Divine Providence had led him to the dungeon.  Only Divine Providence could plan that he would get out alive.  On the very night before Herod was planning to bring Peter out of prison to execute him, Peter was asleep between two soldiers.  His sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane fourteen years earlier was the sleep of carelessness; the sleep here in the dungeon was the SLEEP OF FAITH.  God “gives His beloved sleep” (Ps 127:2).  When they entrust their lives wholly to His care.  Peter knew his fate was not in Herod’s hands.

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Ps 91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.

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Psalm 94:19

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul.

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Psalm 107:9

For He satisfies the longing soul,

And fills the hungry soul with goodness

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Isaiah 54:17

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

And every tongue which rises against you in judgment

You shall condemn.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,

And their righteousness is from Me,”

Says the Lord.

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Psalm 46:1

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

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Psalm 46:1-5

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

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