Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1920-02-22
LESSON NOTES.
The imprisoned APOSTLE (Acis ~:
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0NVUNllt NNfiN
tin.
The note Of time II Indefinite
But Il seems 10 connect this nara
tive with what Immediately proccdcs
namely. tho bringing Of the contri-
button of narnabas and Saul from
Antioch. Luke only says about that
time The Herod numcd here was
the one who If known ~ llerod
Agrippa q grandson Of liorOd the
Great This Ilcrod put forth his
hands" that ls. eXcrtod himself. "to
affllct certain OF the church" lie
renewed the persecution md nntur-
ally took hold Of the leaders. one
Of his victims was James, the brother
Of John. who was slain with the
sword. This was the James who was
one OF the three that were taken into
closest intimacy with Jesus.
The execution Of james was 80
acceptable to the Jews that the ty-
rant arrested Peter. In verse I we
are told that lIerod intended after
the Passover to bring him forth to
the people. Meantime Peter is put
In prison and placed In charge Of u
squad OF sixteen soldiers. THIS Is
!what the expression -four Quartern-
ions" means-four tours The pro-
liability Is that they took In turn
the four watches OF the night. Ut
three hours each Under this strong
guard Peter was kept In prison, IN
the meantime we are told that prayer
was made earnestly Of the church
,unlo God for him.
The time was now about come for
the closing hours OF the Passover
festival. and llerod was on the point
of bringing Peter out. II appears
that he had made up his mind on the
last day. and that night Peters de-
liverance occurred. The miraculous
event Is described very simply and
| naturally The apostle In his cell
lay asleep between two soldiers.
This perhaps means two Of the four
who were ON duty. the other two
being the first and second guard
outside mentioned below. II was u
Roman custom To bind by chain u
prisoner to his keeper We know that
Paul was 80 treated later. Some
times there was only one chain. the
right hand Of the prisoner hcing
hound Ia the left hand ~ the guard
But In cases Of particular care. as
here, the prisoner was bound By
both hands To soldier on each side.
We might comment on the cdlmnpbs
Of the apostle. that In such bodily
discomfort. and with his trail and
probable execution awaiting him. h.
should have calmly slept. Ills slum.
hers wcro wonderfully interrupted.
Possibly while only half awake. he
perceived the form of an angel
standing by him. and n glowing
light shonc in the cell. The soldiers
slept soundly. The angel slapped
Peter ON the side and awakened him
bidding him to rise quickly. immcdi-
atcly the chains dropped from his
hands without awakening his keep
crs. The angel gives him minute d.
rec,ions about dressing and bids him
follow. These natural details Inter.
woven with the miracle make the
Who'll" scene more vivid and impress.
sivc. Peter was dazed and bewildcred.
and needed guidance even In small
matters. lie dressed himself for the
street. and not understanding. feel
ing rather that Il was dream or
Vision, he went on. They came by
the first and second guard. These
we're probably the other two soldiers
Of the group OF four who were stand
INK or sitting out In front. Either
they were asleep or the vision was
Invisible TO them. There was an iron
gate, probably To the courtyard of
the prison, and when they got 10
that II opened OF It's own accord.
This, OF course. was q part OF the
miracle They went out aud passed
on through zone street" The angel
kept his guard through IL and then
departed. Peter WAS still bowllderod.
There h. stood moditatlng on The
wonderful occurrence. Soon his full
consciousness came 10 his rescue.
and he realized the tremendous fact
that he had been delivered by an
angel. Peter realizes the truth of
The divine delivcrancc from the pow.
- Of Herod and from all htc OK.
pectation Of the. Jews"