Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1902-05-10
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson In the International series
for May IL 1oO2Peter De-
Ifvered from Prison.
THE LESSON TEXT.
(Aafs T0.1-oN

/ Now about that time Herod the king
stretched forth his hands to vex certain
ST the church.
2. And he killed James the brother OF
John with the sword.
5. And because he saw It pleased the
Jews, he proceeded further to take PeteE
also. CThen were the days of unleavened
bread.)
4. 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
10 the people.
5. Peter therefore was kept In prison; but
prayer was made without ceasing OF the
church unto God for him.
6. And when Herod would have brought
him FORTH the same night Peter was Sleep
Ing between two soldiers, bound with two
chains; and the keepers before the door
kept the prison.
z. 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
MN up. saying, Arise up quickly. And his
chains fell on from his hands.
3 And the angel said unto him, Grid thy.
SELF and bind on thy sandals. And so he
did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy gar.
ment about thee, and follow me.
3. And he went out. and followed him;
and Wlst not that it was true which was
done by the angel; but thought he saw a
vision.
GOLDEN TEXT.-The angel of the
Lord encampeth round about them
0eAITeERLh them
-Ps. "a: z.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
Martyrdom of James...........Acts 12:1, 2
Peter imprisoned. ...............Acts 1855
Peter delivered. ................Acts 12:6-11.
Peter and the disciples. I2:12-l7.
Inc d1spleased hng...-.........Acts 12:1S-22
Time.-A. D. A.
Place.-Jerusalem and Caesarea.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Church in Jerusalem.-That
| church had a new foe in Herod Agrippa
L, grandson of Herod the Great, who
was appointed king of Trachonitis by
Emperor Caigula. This dominion
was subsequently enlarged until, in
A. D. Al, it included the whole of Pal
estine. Herod was not welcome to the
Jews because he had Edomite blood
in his veins. He tried to make himself
popular with them by showing him
self to be Pharisee of the Pharisees,
a scrupulous offerer of sacrifices and
observer of the ceremonial law. His
highest bid for their good will was
made in his putting forth his hand
against the church.
Martyrdom of James.-The Herod
who appears in this account was Herod
where in the Bible. This James was
one of the three disciples most init,
mate with Jesus, but he is mentioned
in the Acts only here and in the list
| of the apostles. It does not follow
from that, however, that his work was
less important or even less prominent
than Peters or Johns.
Peter mprisoned.-James was killed
perhaps on the anniversary of Jesus
crucifXion on the Passover day. Peter
was imprisoned almost at once, but the
execution was deferred till after the
feast. A quaternion is a squad of four
soldiers, and these soldiers served in
watches, four at time, to guard Pc
ter. The prayer of the church is not
said to have been for Peters deliver
ance, though no doubt that was sought
| Peter would need strength to endure,
and the church would naturally pray
for that most.
Peter Delivered.-Peter's rescue was
on the last night before he was to have
! been put to death. The soldiers who
were bound to him were asleep, as
was permissible, but others were OF
| guard at the door of his cell, besides
the usual guards of the prison. Peter
| himself had to be reused, freed,
clothed and led out without waking
the guards, but the difficult work was
safely accomplished. No wonder the
| sleepy apostle thought he was seeing
a vision. The angel led him far enough
away from the prison so that he
would not be in immediate danger of
| recapture, and then left him.
Peter and the Disciples.-Peter knew
Mary's home, which was quite possibly
| the house where Jesus had eaten the
last supper and where the Holy Spirit
had fallen on the disciples. That house
| was a common gathering place of the
| Christians. The unbelief of the COM
pany when Peters arrival was an
| nounced is not surprising. Tt was
| quite as likely that some enemy might
! come in Peters name as that the apos.
| tie himself would arrive. Nor is the
| unbeIief discreditable if, as is likely,
! their prayer was chiefly that Peters
faith and courage might not fail. That
| place was too well known as a resort
| of Christians for Peter to stay there.
| The James of verse II is the brother
| of the Lord and author of the epistle,
who was president or bishop of the
| church in Jerusalem.
The Displeased King.-The killing of
the guards was in accordance with mil
| itary law, which recognizes no excuses
for failure to guard a prisoner. Her
DDS removal to Caesarea was probably
partly due to disgust at Peters escape,
but was intended only as an official
visit. The sickness of which he died
was probably not miraculous, but
something of the nature of appendi-
citis, or, possibly, trichiniasis. The
latter would be more likely, save for
the fact that Herod would hardly so
| offend Jewish prejudices as to eat
pork Jews and Christians alike con-
sidrrrd if Divine judgment.