Angels and the Saint (Acts 12)
An angel assists a saint in a most extraordinary way in the book of Acts (12). Peter is imprisoned and heavily guarded by the command of Herod while the church has set a prayer vigil to God. A supernatural being comes and looses Peter from his chains and confinement in such a way that though Peter does as he is commanded he is not completely aware if its real or a vision.
While the angel was with Peter he was not himself but as in a rapture or a dream. However when he comes too his senses he finds himself outside the prison and walking to the believers gathered in prayer. Though his chains fell off, he clothed himself, walked past two guard posts and locked gates opened, yet Peter was not aware it was any more than a dream. When Peter arrived at the gathered believers though praying they were astonished that he was freed.
There are two aspects of this account which strike me as important. 1) Jesus never had an angel give this kind of help when he was imprisoned to do God's will yet 2) an angel sets a saint at liberty to continue to do God's will. Gods will, we are to suppose, was moved to do this by the offering of a vigil of prayer by the church. Or was it?
Maybe the will of God was done never-the-less and the prayers were in fact faithless as the account says the partitioners were astonished at Peter's freedom. They thought the girl Rhoda was beside herself, crazy in fact, when she had gone to the door, that they suggest that it was actually a angel. Why would they think it an angel, was it common for angels to knock on doors in those days?
Our own experiences over the past year in discernment of angels may fortify the notion that the gathered may have been more aware of other-worldly presence than we might ordinarily expect. The kingdom was after all very much at hand and can also be as much present in these times and in certain places. These were a people who were witnessing astonishing spirituality just out of the rut of Judaism and the associated Pharisees.
More evidence of angelic works can be similarly seen at that time freeing disciples from prison in Acts 5:19, directing Philip to the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26, and striking Herod in Acts 12:23. The scriptures are as clear about angels as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and if we are to believe in Jesus then we are also to believe all the Bible says is in the realms of heaven and earth.
Ephesians 4:17-20 speaks to me of that closed heart which loves not the things of God but rather the things of the world and works within it. Rev 2:1-7 the Lord reveals to the angel His view of the Ephesian church as one so close to the heart of God but not actually of the heart of God. They have left their first love which is to say their heart has erred again towards the world system.
We are fools to sideline the normal Christian experience of their day in our day. If angels were the normal experience, and that is more so the case we are finding today, then we must equally interweave this supernatural dynamic with our daily belief system rather than sidelining it as is often our heart's preference.
While the angel was with Peter he was not himself but as in a rapture or a dream. However when he comes too his senses he finds himself outside the prison and walking to the believers gathered in prayer. Though his chains fell off, he clothed himself, walked past two guard posts and locked gates opened, yet Peter was not aware it was any more than a dream. When Peter arrived at the gathered believers though praying they were astonished that he was freed.
There are two aspects of this account which strike me as important. 1) Jesus never had an angel give this kind of help when he was imprisoned to do God's will yet 2) an angel sets a saint at liberty to continue to do God's will. Gods will, we are to suppose, was moved to do this by the offering of a vigil of prayer by the church. Or was it?
Maybe the will of God was done never-the-less and the prayers were in fact faithless as the account says the partitioners were astonished at Peter's freedom. They thought the girl Rhoda was beside herself, crazy in fact, when she had gone to the door, that they suggest that it was actually a angel. Why would they think it an angel, was it common for angels to knock on doors in those days?
Our own experiences over the past year in discernment of angels may fortify the notion that the gathered may have been more aware of other-worldly presence than we might ordinarily expect. The kingdom was after all very much at hand and can also be as much present in these times and in certain places. These were a people who were witnessing astonishing spirituality just out of the rut of Judaism and the associated Pharisees.
More evidence of angelic works can be similarly seen at that time freeing disciples from prison in Acts 5:19, directing Philip to the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26, and striking Herod in Acts 12:23. The scriptures are as clear about angels as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and if we are to believe in Jesus then we are also to believe all the Bible says is in the realms of heaven and earth.
Ephesians 4:17-20 speaks to me of that closed heart which loves not the things of God but rather the things of the world and works within it. Rev 2:1-7 the Lord reveals to the angel His view of the Ephesian church as one so close to the heart of God but not actually of the heart of God. They have left their first love which is to say their heart has erred again towards the world system.
We are fools to sideline the normal Christian experience of their day in our day. If angels were the normal experience, and that is more so the case we are finding today, then we must equally interweave this supernatural dynamic with our daily belief system rather than sidelining it as is often our heart's preference.
Comments