12:1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.

2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then 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 to the people.

All right, 12:1: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.” Herod’s a Roman.

“And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” Now in this case there’s no replacement chosen for James. You remember what happened in the case of Judas? They got a replacement for him. But when James goes, there’s no replacement chosen. And that shows you the twelve apostles are one group, and there are no replacements. Paul is not a twelfth apostle. He’s not a replacement. The twelve are the twelve. And the others are extra.

“And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.” Now Peter’s a Jew. So what follows says, “(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)” Which, of course, is the Passover. That’s put in there because you’re dealing with Jews (verse 3) and Peter in verse 3.

Now, in verse 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 to the people.” “Easter” is put in because the “he” there is Herod, and Herod’s a Roman. And for a Roman, this spring festival is not called the Passover, it’s called Easter.

QUESTION: You said Paul wasn’t an apostle?

ANSWER: Yeah, he’s an apostle, but not one of the twelve apostles. Now, I say that, because in New Jerusalem it says the twelve gates, they have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve foundations are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. But Paul is not one of those gates, or one of those foundations.

All right, now, this word here in Greek looks like this, and is transliterated this way: { pascha} . A hard “K”. “Paska.” And normally it’s translated “Passover.” Here the King James have translated it “Easter.” And because they translated it “Easter” there’s been a hewing cry from all the dumb, stupid, backslidden, apostate fundamentalists that the King James is wrong and it should have been translated, “and a more accurate translation,” “a better translation,” and all that bunk. And it’s all bunk.

For example, the new A.S.V., after hollering about this, the new A.S.V. takes this word here and translates that word “sky”, and translates that word as “heaven,” in the same book — in the Book of Acts — translated two different ways.

And it’s true for any word. I don’t know of any translation on the market where the same word is always translated exactly the same way every time. I don’t know of any. So why this word has to be translated “Passover” every time is nonsense. It doesn’t have to be. In this case here, it’s translated “Easter” because the context is Roman, pagan Roman, and the pagan Romans were celebrating Easter before a Jew knew what a Passover was. And that thing came from the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar, called in your Bible “Ashtoreth,” like this, and sometimes this — and in English, that. That’s what that feast it. That’s a Babylonian feast; it’s been around for years and years and years. And when John R. Rice says in his newspaper, “Easter was unheard of at this time,” he’s just talking like a man who’s got a rock for brains — he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I mean, the very idea of a guy talking like that and professing to be a “scholar” is ridiculous.

QUESTION: You had Ishtar and Ashtoroth and what’s the third one there?

ANSWER: Uh...Istarte, called sometimes. And sometimes Astarte — A - S - T - A - R - T - E. But they’re all a Babylonian goddess, every one of those things.

12:5 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 sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

7 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 him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.

10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.

14 And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate.

15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished.

17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

19 And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.

All right, 12:5: “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” Now the prayer that’s made for Peter is evidently that he’ll not deny the Lord like he did before. And I say that, because if they were praying for him to get out, then they should have believed it when he got out. Look at verse 15; when Peter gets out of jail, that bunch in that prayer meeting there, in verse 15 they tell her, she says, “Peter’s out, and he’s alive,” and they say, “You’re crazy!” And then she said, “It’s him!” They said, “It’s his angel. It’s his appearance. It’s his ghost.” See Acts 12:15?

Now, if that bunch was praying for him to get out, when he got out, why didn’t they say, “Praise the Lord! Our prayer is answered!” Well, they didn’t say it. They said, “You’re crazy! He couldn’t be! He couldn’t have got out!” They’re expecting him to die. So the question comes up, “What are they praying for?” The only answer can be, they’re praying he won’t deny the Lord like he did the first time. And when he shows up alive, they think, “Oh, good night! He denied the Lord again!” That’s what’s happening.

Look at verse 16: “But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace.” I mean, you don’t show up there saying, they’re saying, “Oh, Pete! Good night! Did you do it again?”

“All right, hold the phone, hold the phone,” and he tells them all about it. That’s what’s going on.

All right, 12:6: “And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping...” always sleeping! “...between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.” Now that door, in the long thing, you want to notice how this passage here is a picture of an unsaved man, a picture of conversion. That’s a beautiful picture of an unsaved man.

Five, the devil’s got him captive at his will. Somebody’s praying for him. Six, the sinner’s asleep. He doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s bound hand and foot. The devil’s got him shut up. And the angel of the Lord — a type of Christ — came upon him. A light shined in the prison. Light came into the world; the Light of the world. “He that cometh to the light.” And he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up — spiritual resurrection, quickened — saying, “Rise up quickly,” and his chains fell off of his hands. “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Lie down, Fritz!” And the angel said to him, “Gird thyself!” Paul’s admonition: loin girt about with truth, put on the armor of God. “Bind on thy sandals.” Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. “And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee.” Clothed with the Lord’s righteousness. “And follow me.” Picture of Christian service.

“And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.” So sometime after you get saved you don’t exactly know what you’ve been through. It’s kind of muddled to you. After the experience, you can’t figure out exactly what happened. You only know you’re out; that’s all you know.

Verse 10: “When they were past the first and the second ward,...” Hence, “warden” or “game warden,” and “ward” for “hospital ward,” for a “closed-in place.”

“The second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord:...” There’s an electronic eye; the first electronic eye in the Bible. Swing it open like an A&P Market.

“And they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety,...” I know for sure “...that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. “And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark.” Now this is the John Mark found also in 13:5. And it’s probably the Mark who wrote the Gospel, the Gospel of Mark. “John, whose surname was Mark.”

All right, 12:12: “And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate,...” he’s outside, around the house “...a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda.” That’s the Latin for “rose.” Our word like it is “rhododendron.” “Rhoda.”

“And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad.” You’re crazy! You’re bananas! You ought to read what the commentaries say about that. “They didn’t really mean she was mad. They meant that it was a kind and polite way of affirming that perhaps they doubted she had given the proper information, you know...{ whistling} ...you know. People have always used expressions like that. They say, “Drop dead.” You know, a guy saying that, “Hand me that wrench.” “Drop dead, man!” Well, he doesn’t mean “Drop dead,” you know. It’s just an expression, you know. But the expression is still the expression. It means “Drop dead,” you know — just like, “You’re crazy” means “you’re crazy.”

“Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.” That shows you what an angel looks like; it is an invisible appearance of somebody, like a ghost. They said, “It is his angel”; they figured he’d died.

“But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.” Now, you wouldn’t believe it, but you better mark it; those last ten words are the proof text of the Roman Catholic Church that Peter went to Rome. That Peter went to Rome, last ten words: “And he departed,...” one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight — the last eight words. Now, can you imagine somebody taking that Bible study seriously? “He departed and went to another place...” he went to Rome, right there.

That crazy, mad exegesis, man! That’s mad! What’s the date of that thing right there? 42 to 44 somewhere? Well, somebody look at the date on the Epistle of Romans, tell me what the date of that is, the writing of the Book of Romans. 60? You know what Paul says in 60? Paul says in 60, “I would have come to you, but hitherto was let; I couldn’t get to you, because I wanted to go and preach the Gospel, and lay not on another man’s foundation, but preach where Christ hadn’t been heard of.” Well, if Simon Peter went to Rome in 44 A.D., what is Paul doing in 60 A.D. talking about nobody having yet preached the gospel in Rome? What did Peter do over there for sixteen years, get drunk or fish mullet or what?

And when Paul writes to the Romans in Romans chapter 16, he doesn’t say “Hello” to Simon Peter, the First Bishop of Rome. He says, “Urbane, Stychichus, Tripena, Triposimus,” and all that bunch. He has a whole bunch down there listed, but Peter isn’t listed with them.

“Departed unto another place.” Went to Chicago!

All right, 18. Eighteen: “Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death.” There’s a tough break. I’m glad I wasn’t assigned to that detail, taking care of that guy! They were all executed!

“And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.” Caesarea’s along the coast here, down near Joppa, bottom here on this map. And he went down, say down from there to there, it’s up on a map, but it’s down topographically; that is, the elevation’s down. When you go from Jerusalem to anywhere in Palestine, you go down. And when you go to Jerusalem, you go up.

12:20 And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: but they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country.

21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.

22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.

25 And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.

All right, Acts chapter 12, verse 20: “And Herod was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon.” So Herod is having troubles, and the trouble is with Tyre and Sidon, these two outfits up in here. They’re giving him a hard time, and he’s thinking of sending military troops in there.

“But they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, desired peace; because their country was nourished by the king’s country.” Now, Herod’s down in here, and Herod says, “I’m gonna quit sending food to those folks up there.” And they get wind of it and say, “Uh-oh!” And they come down and say, “Hey, don’t cut us off.” And they got a political buddy there in the king’s cabinet named Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, and buttered him up, soaked him up and tell him, “We’re gonna go along, and we’re not gonna rebel, be good to the boys.”

And so, in 21, “And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” Type of the Antichrist. He’s a Roman. “The voice of a god,” like you find in Revelation 13. “And not of a man.”

“And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory.” Now there’s a sin unto death, one where God killed a man because he didn’t give God the glory.

“And he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.” And the idea is, the Lord smote him right there, but he didn’t die till later. But the Lord smote him there. And in the histories by Josephus and “These Times” by Edersheim, they do have that Herod dying that way; he dies of intestinal worms. And they cut him inside, and they’re just all over his body.

“Now the people gave a short, and said, It is the voice of a god and not of a man, and the angel of the Lord smote him.”

QUESTION: When you say it was just worms, and they he didn’t die right away. The worms came out?

ANSWER: Well, the idea is the Lord smote him right there, and put him flat on his back. And then he lingers for about two weeks. And while he’s lingering for two weeks, he’s dying. And he’s dying, eat up inside with worms, is what is going on. Unpleasant form of death. Everybody has worms in them; you have pinworms, hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms — some kind of worms. That’s why you rot when you die. Man’s a great thing, you know. Maggot-proof!

I kid ‘em about out in the meetings, you know, preaching about “Mr. America,” you know. I call him “Mr. Maggot.”

Twenty-three: “And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory.” Let that be a lesson to you; give God the glory. “And he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.” It’s a good thing God doesn’t hit people any more that quick for not giving Him the glory. There just be so many corpses lying around the street you couldn’t walk downtown.

I was in a meeting up in, uh — ah, I can’t remember, someplace — Indianapolis, in Indiana someplace, some big, tall guy’s got a church up there. Who is up in Indiana? Way up north in Indiana? Out in the country? Oh, I’ll think of it later. And I was going by the book table, and I say a bunch of books there, and here was a book by John R. Rice. It said, “These sermons changed ten thousand lives.” I thought to myself, “What a stupid thing to say! What a stupid thing to say! ‘These sermons changed ten thousand lives.’ What a thing to say, man!” Do you know something, brother? No sermon ever changed anybody’s life. Now, God can use a sermon, and the Holy Spirit may use a sermon to change somebody’s life. The only people who change lives is God. And sometimes God will use a sermon, and sometimes He won’t. “These sermons changed ten thousand lives” — your foot!

And I was reading in a pastor’s library somewhere recently, and picked up one of Hyles’ books on his sermons, and went and thought I’d get some illustration or thing. This funny illustration, where he comes back after being gone, and some deacon thought he was killed. And the deacon comes in and hugs him and cries over him, and falls down and kisses his clothes, and thanks him, you know, “I just couldn’t have lived if you hadn’t got back,” and all this kind of stuff. I don’t know about that, man!

You know, when he tasks one little boy, you know, but you know, “You can’t hide from God. Who is it that sees you and knows about you all the time and watches everything you do?”

He says, “Brother Hyles,” you know.

Which is cute, you know, and you get the idea. But, boy, if a kid said that in front of me, I’d correct him real quick on something, boy — real quick!

People say, after the end of a sermon I have old ladies come by and pat me on the back and say, “You certainly are a fine, godly man.”

I tell him, “Lady, I’m just an old dog that got pulled out of hell.” And some of them don’t like that, but they’re not gonna get away with that with me, brother. I don’t want to have worms eating me out and get thrown to the lion’s den, Daniel and stuff.

QUESTION: When you say something like that, don’t people get offended a lot?

ANSWER: Yeah, they do. They do. And I don’t know what to do except just offend them. I don’t know what else to; it’s going to be my neck or there’s; I don’t want it to be mine.

All right, Acts chapter 12, verse 24: “But the word of God grew and multiplied.” And, “the word of God grew.” It’s living, see? “And multiplied.” So, it’s living. The word of God’s living.

“And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem,...” that is, back to Antioch, “...when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, whose surname was Mark.”