But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
By night God sent His angel to open the prison doors and bring forth Peter and John, who had been shut up for preaching a crucified, risen Saviour, and to lead them out directly through the guarding soldiers. The angel commanded them to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life in Jesus, directly contrary to the rulers' order not to teach, and they obeyed at once by entering the temple early in the morning to teach. That conflict establishes that when God's command and man's prohibition clash, obedience belongs to God rather than to men even at cost of danger and punishment. The deliverance was God's token of His care, love and presence with His servants, yet it did not rescue them from all suffering, for it was then their part to continue their work and to suffer for the sake of Jesus. Man's extremity is God's opportunity, for when human escape is cut off bolts and bars and Roman guards only display His power over locked doors and make His triumph more complete.
Arrest and Imprisonment
The imprisonment followed the arrest of the apostles for healing the sick and preaching a crucified and risen Saviour, and for healing every afflicted and sick person brought to them by the power of Jesus as a crucified, risen and ascended Saviour under whose banner hundreds were enlisting daily. The high priests, elders and rulers shut them up in prison hoping the excitement would subside. The Sanhedrim with many learned men was called to decide what to do with them.
It came after Christ left, when the disciples had assembled together in earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and they had healed the sick, and for this they were shut up in prison. Yet angels of God opened the prison doors and set them free, so that those who came to find them found them gone, and when their enemies tried to stop their mouths they refused because they had a message to bear. This proves that earnest united prayer brings missionary power that prison cannot hold. The deliverance came after first receiving the Holy Spirit and taught trust in God's power to deliver, meaning God will deliver if He wants them delivered and if not they are ready to suffer whatever suffering comes, and it took away fear of persecution and fear of what the Jews would do, so that those who had seen the evidence but had not yet taken their stand because of fear were made bold.
The priests and rulers had planned to charge the apostles with insurrection and with murdering Ananias and Sapphira and conspiring against the priests. They intended to stir the mob to deal with them as with Jesus. But the people were so moved by what they had seen and heard that they could not be excited against the apostles.
Angel Opens Prison
By night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought forth the apostles. The angel was sent by God the mighty Ruler, who took the imprisonment into His own hands because men were warring against His work. Those freed were Peter and John, who had been confined for their faith and for preaching about Jesus. Heaven would not allow the servants of the King of Righteousness to be prevented from carrying out the work God had given them, so the angel brought them out to continue that work despite the rulers' opposition and efforts to stop their preaching. Their release enabled them to resume the preaching that the arrest had interrupted and to speak again in the temple about the life found in Jesus.
The angel led them directly through the band of soldiers guarding the prison. Escape by human means appeared cut off, yet they were conducted straight past the guard.
The miracle left the prison shut with all safety, the doors afterward found securely bolted and barred with the guard and keepers standing without before them, yet no man within. Those who came to find the prisoners found them gone. The men who had been put in prison were found standing in the temple teaching the people, and when officers came for Peter he was gone and was found preaching.
Command to Preach Again
The angel who opened the prison by night did not merely free the apostles but sent them back to public witness, commanding them to go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. That life is the life found in Jesus, the words of life to be proclaimed openly to the people. The command from heaven stood directly contrary to the order of the rulers not to teach, the voice of God set opposite to the voice of the authorities forbidding teaching in the name of Jesus.
Their release was for resumption of work, enabling them to take up again the preaching that arrest and imprisonment had interrupted. God thereby enabled His messengers to continue the work He had given them despite the rulers' efforts to stop it, demonstrating His authority above human rulers. So freed, they were to keep speaking despite opposition, orders, and every effort to silence them.
They obeyed at once, without waiting to consult the magistrates for permission, and entered the temple early in the morning and taught. When the officers came for Peter he was gone from the secured prison and was found preaching in the temple. Brought back without violence before the council and questioned for teaching in that name, he answered that obedience belongs to God rather than men.
Care Amid Coming Suffering
The night release was a token of care and love and an assurance of divine presence with the servants in prison. It was a sign that the mighty Ruler had taken their imprisonment into His own hands because men were warring against His work. Yet the miraculous deliverance did not save them from examination and punishment nor rescue them from all suffering. It was then their part to resume the interrupted work and to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached, as Christ had warned when He said they would be delivered up to councils.
The lesson is trust in power to deliver: deliverance will come if God wills it, and if not His servants are ready to suffer whatever comes. That deliverance, coming after first receiving the Holy Spirit, took away fear of persecution and fear of what the Jews would do. Those who had seen the evidence but had not yet taken their stand because of fear were made bold.
When the apostles told the believers how the angel had led them out, the brethren were filled with joy and amazement. Their escape stood as evidence of God's work given to priests and rulers. It answered the triumph of Satan and the exulting of evil angels and frustrated the rulers.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity. When human means of escape are cut off, bolts and bars and Roman guards that cut off human aid only display power over guards and locked doors. They only make the triumph in deliverance more complete, humiliating and defeating the attempt to take life and defeating the hand lifted against Omnipotence to save by divine might the life the Jews were plotting to destroy.
Obey God Rather Than Men
The voice from heaven that sent the freed apostles back to preach was set in direct opposition to the voice of the authorities that forbade them to teach in the name of Jesus, so that God's command and man's prohibition stood in open conflict. The angel who by night opened the prison doors and led them out through the guarding soldiers commanded them to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life, a command directly contrary to the order of the Jewish rulers not to preach Christ. They did not wait to consult the magistrates for permission but obeyed at once, entering the temple early in the morning to teach the work the rulers had interrupted.
To follow the angel's direction was to obey the divine command, establishing the rule that when the two clash obedience belongs to God rather than to men. That obedience had to be continued at any cost to themselves, even when it brought danger, examination, and punishment for the sake of Jesus whom they preached. Their course left a heroic example of loyalty to God's law, enduring imprisonment rather than breaking one of God's commands.
The deliverance demonstrated that God is alive and has a government above human law and above human rulers, enabling His messengers to continue the work He had given them. He does not work by persecution, oppression, or force. The same living God who freed the apostles will act against the oppressive spirit that joins the spurious Sunday sabbath with threats that those who do not keep it shall not buy or sell.
Angels Minister and Deliver
The opening of the prison doors is one instance of how in all ages God works through holy angels for the help and deliverance of His people, with celestial beings taking an active part in human affairs. That same constant ministry appears in coming in garments shining as lightning, in coming as men in the garb of wayfarers, in resting as if weary under the oaks at noon, in accepting human hospitality, in guiding benighted travelers, in kindling the fires of the altar with their own hands, and in rolling away the stone from the Saviour's tomb.
Angels from heaven come right into the prison house for those suffering in prison for the truth's sake and minister to them, opening the doors and bringing them out and taking their prey out of the hands of the enemy. Imprisonment does not prevent God from caring for and helping them, for He is constantly working in their behalf by angelic deliverance as He wrought for Peter and John and Paul. This same guarding and watching care is exercised as angels come in and go out of homes to guard men and children, which fathers and mothers are to teach to their children while giving God the credit. Their help strengthened the disciples for their work and enabled them to testify to what they had seen and heard and to remain steadfast even to sealing their testimony with blood.
The deliverance proves that God reigns and is omnipotent, yet in His majesty loves the most helpless and most suffering among His children and does not forget His own. It reveals His tenderness and compassion and gives evidence of His power when angels come within the prison walls and minister to the apostles thrust there. Angelic opening of prison doors to free His servants is one way He actively protects and rescues His people in times of danger.
The former escape of Peter and John from prison because of their faith was remembered when Herod later imprisoned Peter under sentence of death, so to prevent another escape he took double precautions and cut off all possibility of human aid. He bound Peter with chains between two soldiers in a cell of massive rock with bolted and barred doors, with the chains fastened to the soldiers' wrists so he could not move without their knowledge. He detailed sixteen men to guard him in watches of four day and night who were answerable for his safe-keeping, with the prison doors securely fastened and strongly guarded. Yet bolts and bars and Roman guards that cut off human aid only make God's triumph in deliverance more complete, for man's extremity is God's opportunity. Peter's later rescue by an angel, even when guards and chains and barred doors left no human way of escape, humiliated and defeated Herod's attempt to take his life, defeating the hand lifted against Omnipotence and saving by God's might the life the Jews were plotting to destroy.
The closing part of Acts 5 shows God accomplishing His work in the earth so that truth shall triumph, bringing His punishment upon every hindrance to that work, every exorbitant price exacted, every connivance of fraud, and every diverting of His means into a wrong channel. Just as He punished Ananias and Sapphira for deceptive and unjust dealing, He will just as surely punish oppressive, unjust dealings in His work that are not straightforward but use lawyers to take advantage of circumstances and savor of injustice.
By night God sent His angel to open the prison doors and bring forth Peter and John, who had been shut up for preaching a crucified, risen Saviour, and to lead them out directly through the guarding soldiers. The angel commanded them to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life in Jesus, directly contrary to the rulers' order not to teach, and they obeyed at once by entering the temple early in the morning to teach. That conflict establishes that when God's command and man's prohibition clash, obedience belongs to God rather than to men even at cost of danger and punishment. The deliverance was God's token of His care, love and presence with His servants, yet it did not rescue them from all suffering, for it was then their part to continue their work and to suffer for the sake of Jesus. Man's extremity is God's opportunity, for when human escape is cut off bolts and bars and Roman guards only display His power over locked doors and make His triumph more complete.
Arrest and Imprisonment
The imprisonment followed the arrest of the apostles for healing the sick and preaching a crucified and risen Saviour, and for healing every afflicted and sick person brought to them by the power of Jesus as a crucified, risen and ascended Saviour under whose banner hundreds were enlisting daily. The high priests, elders and rulers shut them up in prison hoping the excitement would subside. The Sanhedrim with many learned men was called to decide what to do with them.
It came after Christ left, when the disciples had assembled together in earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and they had healed the sick, and for this they were shut up in prison. Yet angels of God opened the prison doors and set them free, so that those who came to find them found them gone, and when their enemies tried to stop their mouths they refused because they had a message to bear. This proves that earnest united prayer brings missionary power that prison cannot hold. The deliverance came after first receiving the Holy Spirit and taught trust in God's power to deliver, meaning God will deliver if He wants them delivered and if not they are ready to suffer whatever suffering comes, and it took away fear of persecution and fear of what the Jews would do, so that those who had seen the evidence but had not yet taken their stand because of fear were made bold.
The priests and rulers had planned to charge the apostles with insurrection and with murdering Ananias and Sapphira and conspiring against the priests. They intended to stir the mob to deal with them as with Jesus. But the people were so moved by what they had seen and heard that they could not be excited against the apostles.
Angel Opens Prison
By night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought forth the apostles. The angel was sent by God the mighty Ruler, who took the imprisonment into His own hands because men were warring against His work. Those freed were Peter and John, who had been confined for their faith and for preaching about Jesus. Heaven would not allow the servants of the King of Righteousness to be prevented from carrying out the work God had given them, so the angel brought them out to continue that work despite the rulers' opposition and efforts to stop their preaching. Their release enabled them to resume the preaching that the arrest had interrupted and to speak again in the temple about the life found in Jesus.
The angel led them directly through the band of soldiers guarding the prison. Escape by human means appeared cut off, yet they were conducted straight past the guard.
The miracle left the prison shut with all safety, the doors afterward found securely bolted and barred with the guard and keepers standing without before them, yet no man within. Those who came to find the prisoners found them gone. The men who had been put in prison were found standing in the temple teaching the people, and when officers came for Peter he was gone and was found preaching.
Command to Preach Again
The angel who opened the prison by night did not merely free the apostles but sent them back to public witness, commanding them to go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. That life is the life found in Jesus, the words of life to be proclaimed openly to the people. The command from heaven stood directly contrary to the order of the rulers not to teach, the voice of God set opposite to the voice of the authorities forbidding teaching in the name of Jesus.
Their release was for resumption of work, enabling them to take up again the preaching that arrest and imprisonment had interrupted. God thereby enabled His messengers to continue the work He had given them despite the rulers' efforts to stop it, demonstrating His authority above human rulers. So freed, they were to keep speaking despite opposition, orders, and every effort to silence them.
They obeyed at once, without waiting to consult the magistrates for permission, and entered the temple early in the morning and taught. When the officers came for Peter he was gone from the secured prison and was found preaching in the temple. Brought back without violence before the council and questioned for teaching in that name, he answered that obedience belongs to God rather than men.
Care Amid Coming Suffering
The night release was a token of care and love and an assurance of divine presence with the servants in prison. It was a sign that the mighty Ruler had taken their imprisonment into His own hands because men were warring against His work. Yet the miraculous deliverance did not save them from examination and punishment nor rescue them from all suffering. It was then their part to resume the interrupted work and to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached, as Christ had warned when He said they would be delivered up to councils.
The lesson is trust in power to deliver: deliverance will come if God wills it, and if not His servants are ready to suffer whatever comes. That deliverance, coming after first receiving the Holy Spirit, took away fear of persecution and fear of what the Jews would do. Those who had seen the evidence but had not yet taken their stand because of fear were made bold.
When the apostles told the believers how the angel had led them out, the brethren were filled with joy and amazement. Their escape stood as evidence of God's work given to priests and rulers. It answered the triumph of Satan and the exulting of evil angels and frustrated the rulers.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity. When human means of escape are cut off, bolts and bars and Roman guards that cut off human aid only display power over guards and locked doors. They only make the triumph in deliverance more complete, humiliating and defeating the attempt to take life and defeating the hand lifted against Omnipotence to save by divine might the life the Jews were plotting to destroy.
Obey God Rather Than Men
The voice from heaven that sent the freed apostles back to preach was set in direct opposition to the voice of the authorities that forbade them to teach in the name of Jesus, so that God's command and man's prohibition stood in open conflict. The angel who by night opened the prison doors and led them out through the guarding soldiers commanded them to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life, a command directly contrary to the order of the Jewish rulers not to preach Christ. They did not wait to consult the magistrates for permission but obeyed at once, entering the temple early in the morning to teach the work the rulers had interrupted.
To follow the angel's direction was to obey the divine command, establishing the rule that when the two clash obedience belongs to God rather than to men. That obedience had to be continued at any cost to themselves, even when it brought danger, examination, and punishment for the sake of Jesus whom they preached. Their course left a heroic example of loyalty to God's law, enduring imprisonment rather than breaking one of God's commands.
The deliverance demonstrated that God is alive and has a government above human law and above human rulers, enabling His messengers to continue the work He had given them. He does not work by persecution, oppression, or force. The same living God who freed the apostles will act against the oppressive spirit that joins the spurious Sunday sabbath with threats that those who do not keep it shall not buy or sell.
Angels Minister and Deliver
The opening of the prison doors is one instance of how in all ages God works through holy angels for the help and deliverance of His people, with celestial beings taking an active part in human affairs. That same constant ministry appears in coming in garments shining as lightning, in coming as men in the garb of wayfarers, in resting as if weary under the oaks at noon, in accepting human hospitality, in guiding benighted travelers, in kindling the fires of the altar with their own hands, and in rolling away the stone from the Saviour's tomb.
Angels from heaven come right into the prison house for those suffering in prison for the truth's sake and minister to them, opening the doors and bringing them out and taking their prey out of the hands of the enemy. Imprisonment does not prevent God from caring for and helping them, for He is constantly working in their behalf by angelic deliverance as He wrought for Peter and John and Paul. This same guarding and watching care is exercised as angels come in and go out of homes to guard men and children, which fathers and mothers are to teach to their children while giving God the credit. Their help strengthened the disciples for their work and enabled them to testify to what they had seen and heard and to remain steadfast even to sealing their testimony with blood.
The deliverance proves that God reigns and is omnipotent, yet in His majesty loves the most helpless and most suffering among His children and does not forget His own. It reveals His tenderness and compassion and gives evidence of His power when angels come within the prison walls and minister to the apostles thrust there. Angelic opening of prison doors to free His servants is one way He actively protects and rescues His people in times of danger.
The former escape of Peter and John from prison because of their faith was remembered when Herod later imprisoned Peter under sentence of death, so to prevent another escape he took double precautions and cut off all possibility of human aid. He bound Peter with chains between two soldiers in a cell of massive rock with bolted and barred doors, with the chains fastened to the soldiers' wrists so he could not move without their knowledge. He detailed sixteen men to guard him in watches of four day and night who were answerable for his safe-keeping, with the prison doors securely fastened and strongly guarded. Yet bolts and bars and Roman guards that cut off human aid only make God's triumph in deliverance more complete, for man's extremity is God's opportunity. Peter's later rescue by an angel, even when guards and chains and barred doors left no human way of escape, humiliated and defeated Herod's attempt to take his life, defeating the hand lifted against Omnipotence and saving by God's might the life the Jews were plotting to destroy.
The closing part of Acts 5 shows God accomplishing His work in the earth so that truth shall triumph, bringing His punishment upon every hindrance to that work, every exorbitant price exacted, every connivance of fraud, and every diverting of His means into a wrong channel. Just as He punished Ananias and Sapphira for deceptive and unjust dealing, He will just as surely punish oppressive, unjust dealings in His work that are not straightforward but use lawyers to take advantage of circumstances and savor of injustice.