When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
Acts 12:11
Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church (Acts 12:5). Persecution was ramping up in Judea. Herod was moving against the church. He had already killed James, and when he saw how it gained him favor with the religious leaders of the Jews, he arrested Peter, intending to do the same to him after the Passover. So the timing of this was all too eerily familiar to the disciples. Jesus was crucified the night of Passover, and now just a few years later, Peter was looking at death around the same event.
But even though Peter was chained and sleeping between two soldiers with armed sentries guarding his cell, God would not allow Peter to be martyred at that moment. An angel awakened the apostle, his chains simply fell off and he was led out of prison, out onto the streets past sleeping guards and sentries. It was dreamlike, and it took Peter’s astonished realization that God had freed him quite a bit of time to settle in.
God will protect His people, even as they give lives and suffer for His name. Ultimately Peter’s release kept the church in Jerusalem thriving, praying, and eventually reaching out to the world even under such extreme deadly persecution. What the enemies of the gospel were expecting (the death of Peter and demoralization of the momentum of the church) God kept from happening by His power, so the gospel would advance. This rescue that felt like a dream furthered redemption of countless crowds of people. And I am able to rejoice in my salvation today because God rescues in ways we can never imagine!
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