Death of James (Brother of John), Peter imprisoned and delivered. He leaves Palestine; Acts 12:1 – 19. Part 5

Church History: They were now convinced that it was Peter, and they were amazed that he had been rescued. As yet they were of course ignorant of the manner in which it was done. Peter gave them an account of his deliverance. Having found them praying for his deliverance, he did not leave them until he and they had together solemnly given thanks to God for his deliverance; for what is won by prayer must be worn with praise; and God must always have the glory of that which we have the comfort of. Peter sent the account to others of his friends: Go, show these things to James, and to the brethren with him, who perhaps were meeting together in another place at the same time.
Having seen the triumph of Peter's friends in his deliverance, let us next turn our attention to the consequences and confusion of his enemies as the result of Peter’s escape The guards were in the utmost consternation upon it, for they knew how highly penal it was to them to let a prisoner escape that they had charge of. As soon as it was day, and they found the prisoner gone, there was a large stir among the soldiers, what had become of Peter; he is gone, and nobody knows how or which way. They thought themselves as sure as could be of him last night; yet now the bird had flown, and they had no idea where he was. This set them together by the ears; one says, "It was your fault;" the other, "Oh No! it was yours;" having no other way to clear themselves, but by accusing one another. Houses were searched in vain for the rescued prisoner: Herod sought for him, to no avail. Who can find someone God has hidden?
The keepers were questioned and dealt with for a permissive escape: Herod examined the keepers, and after finding that they could give no satisfactory account of how Peter got away, he commanded that they should be put to death, according to the Roman law. It is probable that these keepers had been more severe with Peter than they needed to be (Acts 16:24), and had been abusive to him, and to others that had been their prisoners in similar circumstances; and now they are being put to death for something which was not their fault, and by a man who had inspired them to work to plague the church. When the wicked are thus snared in the work of their own hands, the Lord is known by the judgments which he executes. Herod retired: He went down from Judea to Cesarea, to live. His heart was troubled, as a lion disappointed of his prey; mostly because he had raised the expectation of the people of the Jews concerning Peter, he had told them how he would very shortly gratify them with the sight of Peter's head in a charger, which would oblige them as much as John Baptist's did Herodias; it made him ashamed to be robbed of this boasting, and to see himself, notwithstanding his confidence, disabled to make his words good. This is such a mortification to his proud spirit that he cannot bear to stay in Judea, but away he goes to Cesarea.