April 1, 2025

#270 - Acts 12.1-4 - James, Peter, and a King Who Wanted Applause

Show Notes
Transcript

⏱️ 0:00 – 1:20 | Welcome & Humor with Noah

Pastor Brian welcomes listeners and Noah joins in-studio.
Playful banter about changing the podcast intro—mentions of Nacho Libre and adding cucaracha sound effects.
Discusses possibly hiring a voice actor and jokes about accents.

⏱️ 1:21 – 3:00 | Setting the Stage for Acts 12

Brian announces the focus will be Acts 12:1–4, with an emphasis on historical and cultural exploration.
A discipleship-driven approach: encouraging Noah and listeners to do their own in-depth study.
Discussion on reading from the Discipleship Guide (Stanley Horton) and Life Application commentary.

⏱️ 3:01 – 5:00 | The Big Picture: Transition in the Book of Acts

Recap of previous chapters: scattering of believers, Peter’s ministry in Joppa and Caesarea, growth of the church in Antioch.
Emphasis on Acts 12 as a literary and theological bridge: Peter fades out, and Paul begins to take center stage.
Mention that Peter will appear only briefly again in Acts 15.

⏱️ 5:01 – 7:50 | Introducing Herod Agrippa I

Acts 12:1 introduces “Herod the King” — this is Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great.
Herod’s family history:
- His grandfather murdered his own son (Herod Agrippa’s father).
- Agrippa was raised in Rome and educated with the emperors, including Caligula.
Agrippa’s life of privilege, manipulation, and influence in Roman society.

⏱️ 7:51 – 11:00 | Political Theater & Herod’s Rise to Power

Herod leveraged Roman relationships to regain political power in Judea.
Took out massive loans and bribed his way into positions of authority.
Spent time in Roman prison—later released and honored by Caligula when he became Caesar.
Eventually ruled over Jerusalem, Judea, Galilee, and Syria—reuniting his grandfather’s empire.

⏱️ 11:01 – 13:20 | A New Nationalistic Zeal Among the Jews

Herod Agrippa’s return as “king” stirred nationalistic pride among Jews.
He played to the crowd—attended festivals, read the Torah publicly, despite only being partially Jewish.
This growing pride led to increased intolerance toward Gentile conversions.

⏱️ 13:21 – 16:00 | The Real Reason Behind the Persecution

Acts 12:1–3 shows Herod began harassing the church to please the Jews.
Triggered by news of Gentile conversions in Antioch (Acts 11:26).
Jewish leaders were outraged; Herod saw an opportunity to gain favor by attacking Christians.

⏱️ 16:01 – 19:00 | Application: When Cultural Pressure Drives Leadership

Herod represents a ruler who sacrifices truth and justice to win approval.
Comparison to modern politics: popularity often trumps righteousness.
A relevant warning about people-pleasing leadership—even in churches.

⏱️ 19:01 – 22:00 | James’ Execution: A Sword, Not a Cross

Acts 12:2 — James, the brother of John, is killed “with the sword” (most likely beheaded).
Beheading was a Roman privilege usually reserved for citizens—Herod wanted to appear merciful.
Points to Herod’s manipulative nature and desire for public approval.

⏱️ 22:01 – 27:00 | The Theological Tension: Why Was James Killed but Peter Spared?

Peter is arrested and imprisoned with the same fate in sight.
Brian poses the age-old question: Why does God allow some to die while others live?
Acknowledges the emotional and spiritual difficulty of unanswered prayers.
Encourages listeners to trust God's sovereignty even when answers don’t come.

⏱️ 27:01 – 30:00 | Historical Parallel: Peter and Jesus Both Arrested During Passover

Acts 12:3–4 — Peter is arrested during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover week).
Draws a connection to Jesus’ own arrest during the same festival.
Encourages study of Jewish feasts (Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits) for deeper biblical insight.

⏱️ 30:01 – 33:00 | Four Squads of Soldiers and Peter’s Imprisonment

Acts 12:4 — Peter is guarded by four squads (16 soldiers) in rotating 6-hour shifts.
Intention: prevent another miraculous escape like in Acts 5.
Herod plans to present Peter publicly after the feast.

⏱️ 33:01 – 36:00 | Study Challenge for Listeners

Brian assigns Noah—and the audience—three tasks:

Study the Herodian Dynasty using tools like Logos and the Lexham Bible Dictionary.
Understand the significance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and its biblical connections.
Investigate the soldiers guarding Peter—Roman or Jewish? How were they selected?

⏱️ 36:01 – 38:00 | Wrap-Up & Encouragement

Brian reflects on the importance of using digital tools (Logos Bible Software) for study.
Suggests hosting a Logos training session for church members.
Ends with laughter, a lighthearted exchange, and an open door for listeners to go deeper.

🔁 Call to Action

Study Acts 12:1–4 slowly and prayerfully this week.
Use the Factbook tool in Logos to look up “Herod Agrippa,” “Feast of Unleavened Bread,” and “James the Apostle.”
Share this episode with someone wrestling with questions about God’s justice or the problem of suffering.
Subscribe to The AL Pastor Podcast on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

0:06

You're listening to Al Pastor, the show that helps you love God, love your neighbor and eat more

tacos.

0:14

I'm your host, Pastor Brian, welcome to the show.

Hey, friends, I want to welcome you to today's podcast.

0:23

We're in Acts chapter 12.

I have Noah in studio with me today.

0:28

How you doing, Noah?

I'm doing good.

0:30

Good, good.

So I'm excited for today's episode, but before we get into it, I've been thinking about changing my

0:38

intro.

What do you think should should I keep it?

0:41

You could you could change it.

What?

0:43

But I'm I'm What should I change it to?

That's the question then.

0:47

I don't know, you'd have to do what you did when you first did the podcast and just go through

different samples and and we can and you could do a pour or something.

0:56

Is it because you don't like my intro or is it just getting old now?

Both.

1:01

Can I?

Can I still do I still have to do like a Nacho Libre?

1:05

This was the closest thing to like a Nacho Libre.

Maybe I get some cucarachas in the background or something.

1:12

Totally.

OK.

1:14

And I should hire a voice actor to do the intro for me, right?

Like maybe a British?

1:20

No, not a British guy.

Maybe a Spaniard or something, or somebody from way down South.

1:27

As long as they as long as you can't hear them laughing towards the end of the intro that it works.

Wow, whatever.

1:36

All right, so we are in Acts chapter 12.

I want to kind of set this up a little bit, Noah, because I'm going to take a different approach

1:42

today.

I'm going to focus more not only on you, but those that are listening at home to try to prompt them

1:51

to do a little bit deeper study on their own and use some of the things that are available to them.

And so my first question to you is, how's your, how's your reading going?

2:04

I'm good, I've read and study.

OK, so you've read, you've studied.

2:08

So have you studied the discipleship guide some?

A little bit of the main commentary and then mostly the life application.

2:17

OK, so let's frame that up.

What we mean by the discipleship guide is Stanley Hurt Horton, right?

2:22

Yeah.

So you've read, you've read some of that or all of that or how you doing on it?

2:27

I read some of the Horton.

OK.

2:30

And then you're also supplementing with life application, is that right?

Yeah, OK.

2:35

That is a great resource.

So for those of you at home, because you all have access to Logos Bible software, it's really easy

2:42

to add that resource right into your library.

I mean, some of the things that we have available to us at our fingertips are absolutely amazing.

2:54

So again, I'm going to approach this Noah as kind of probing you, maybe guiding you and pushing you

into some other directions.

3:02

I've been studying this out.

I just had a beautiful, not only yesterday, but even today, beautiful morning studying out not only

3:10

some of Horton and life application, but some other scholars as well.

Here's the first thing that I want to give you that you might not personally pick up on this.

3:19

I want to bring to your remembrance.

What, what have we been?

3:23

What have we been studying the past few chapters?

What is it all been about?

3:29

We've been about the like scattering and the like preaching.

Peter going to Caesarea.

3:38

Yeah, yeah.

So where else?

3:40

So we have Caesarea.

Where else did we?

3:42

Joppa.

OK, Joppa, where?

3:45

Where's another location that we left off at?

Jerusalem.

3:49

Jerusalem.

If we keep going further north, there's another place I'm looking for place called Antioch.

3:56

Yeah, Antioch.

So, yeah, we've been reading about God's expansion of the church.

4:04

Now, as we come into chapter 12, this might not be like, abundantly clear, but there's a reason that

Luke is setting this up.

4:11

We've been focusing, yes, on the expansion of the church, but also primarily on the ministry of both

of two people.

4:18

Who are those two people?

On Peter and wait, what was the question?

4:29

Who are the two people we've been focusing on?

Peter and then who the other person be?

4:37

It would be Saul, the apostle Paul, right?

Yeah.

4:40

The, the, these are the two big hitters, the two big players that are going to be within the New

Testament.

4:46

Obviously the apostle Paul, as we've been reading his saw at this point, yeah, he is going to be the

major player.

4:54

So here in chapter 12, what we have is kind of a curtain call to Peter.

We're not going to hear about Peter anymore.

5:04

One other time.

It's going to be in Acts chapter 15.

5:07

Other than that, in Acts, we're not going to hear of Peter.

Paul is going to take center stage with his ministry into the Gentile world.

5:18

And so this is really important as we see the baton like proverbially speaking, being passed.

So this is one of the things this is kind of a bridge to that.

5:29

All right, go ahead and and read chapter 12, verse one.

Now about that time, Herod the King stretched out his tent to harass someone from from the church.

5:39

OK.

So right now we have an identification of somebody that probably should raise some alarm bells,

5:48

right?

Who is it?

5:52

I'm the grandson of Herod the Grey.

OK, but what's his name here?

5:57

Herod the King.

5:59

Now this when I say this should raise alarm bells.

The last Herod was his his grandfather and that was Herod the Great, as you pointed out.

6:10

Now here's my question to you and there's doesn't mean that you have to be able to answer this or

not.

6:15

What do you know about Herod?

Do you know anything about this Herod?

6:18

Do you know anything about his grandfather?

What do you know?

6:22

The little that I do know is the is the they would just like kill people.

I mean, that would be obvious, I guess.

6:32

Yeah.

But yeah.

6:33

But other than I don't really know that much.

OK, now This is why I'm kind of probing.

6:38

I'm not telling you, Noah, that you've got to do this, but what I'm trying to do is pull out of you

some areas of interest.

6:44

I want to tell you that, at least to me, in my opinion, the story of the what we call the Herodian

dynasty is absolutely fascinating.

6:54

Now, his grandfather was called Herod the Great.

His grandfather killed his father when he was just four or five years old.

7:07

What do you think about that?

He's picturing a toddler killing an adult.

7:11

No, no, no, no, no.

His grandfather killed his father.

7:15

So, so when this Herod, this is known as as Herod Agrippa, OK.

When he was four or five years old, his dad was killed by his grandpa.

7:29

Why?

Why would his grandfather do that?

7:32

He want that.

He want to take control longer.

7:36

That is a very good question.

His grandfather was a very deranged, crazy man.

7:45

So This is why I want to probe you because this is an area that is fascinating.

I'm going to give you just a few details.

7:51

This Herod that we're reading about.

When he was four or five years old, his father was killed by his grandfather.

7:58

He was sent away to be raised in Rome.

He was raised next to like went to school with was friends with tutored, had the same same

8:09

instructors and teachers with the emperor's themselves.

He learned to live a lifestyle of luxury and lavishness.

8:19

There was at one point in his life, although he didn't have the inheritance, the the Herodian

inheritance didn't belong to him.

8:27

Now he had money because of his name.

He had prestige.

8:31

He had access to some of the finest things in Rome, but he didn't have the big, big money.

But because of his name, he was able to do things that many other people couldn't do.

8:43

And there's a story that you can study out if you want to.

He took out a loan of what it'd be the equivalent of $1,000,000.

8:51

And what did he do with that?

He used that money to buy his way into power.

8:57

He would give gifts.

Now, a couple of his friends, one of his friends is by the name of Caligula.

9:03

He was a Caesar of Rome.

That that's like what?

9:07

What is when I say Caesar of Rome, Noah?

What is that come to mind?

9:12

Does what?

What do you think of when I say Caesar?

9:16

Like the ruler of all of Rome.

Like in the Roman Rd. he would be like the God almost of Rome.

9:23

Yeah, he was the supreme, supreme leader.

Like it's this is a big time right here.

9:29

So this is what we would call political theater at its finest.

The people would ascend to the throne.

9:35

They would wonder who would be the heir to the throne.

And as Herod, this young Herod grew up, grew up with Caligula, grew up with a new Caligula's dad.

9:46

There was at one point that he was so friendly with Caligula while his dad was the Caesar that he

made a statement one time as he was riding in a chariot and they were going on a little trip and he

9:59

told somebody, I'm waiting for Caligula's dad to die so Caligula can take the throne.

Well, guess what happened?

10:07

His dad dies.

No, not yet.

10:09

But somebody overheard it and they told on him.

And you know what Caligula's dad did?

10:16

He had his father.

Caligula's dad threw Herod Agrippa in jail.

10:22

He spent six months in a Roman prison and six months later Caligula's dad died.

And guess who took the throne?

10:33

Caligula.

Caligula took the throne.

10:35

He pulls Herod Agrippa out of jail and honors him and puts a gold chain out of his neck.

He had gotten so far in debt at one point in his life he even thought about taking his own life.

10:49

Really crazy story.

Then he was put into power.

10:53

Here's why I'm telling you, you might not pick up on this and I'm not going to give you all the

details, but if you're interested, this is a crate.

11:01

This is a story that is what we'd say made for TV.

Like this is like beyond belief almost.

11:09

This is why I say political theater.

When Israel was ruled, they had not had a king.

11:20

The last time they had a king was his grandfather.

You know who ruled Jerusalem until then?

11:27

Rome.

Rome did Pontius Pilate.

11:29

There was no king.

So when Herod Agrippa came back, they placed him into power.

11:36

And he wasn't over all of all of the region yet, but through a series of events, he actually turned

in his own uncle and got Caligula to like manipulate the situation.

11:51

He took over the empire that his grandfather once had, meaning the regions of Jerusalem, Judea,

Galilee, all the way up into Syria.

12:02

Syrophoenician.

That's why we see him dealing with this.

12:06

This hasn't happened Noah in years that Israel had had a king.

And here's what's interesting.

12:13

We see that as he gets into power, he wants to harass some from the church.

Do you have any thoughts or ideas as to why this might have happened?

12:24

He want to he want to like please the higher ups and like give more like power, authority and like

praise.

12:33

Yeah, not only that.

With the Jewish leaders.

12:35

And all of them, yes, the Jewish leaders and the higher ups.

He wanted to make sure that he he was more concerned with the applause and praise of people than he

12:45

was with doing what was right.

He wanted to maintain everything he had and gain more along the way.

12:53

Yeah, now I want you to think about this because when we look at at the end of Let me find it here,

I'm going to just just read this here.

13:04

Let me see.

It was the end of chapter.

13:16

I believe it's Chapter 11.

Let's see.

13:20

Actually, no.

What?

13:23

Are you looking for?

There was a phrase, maybe it's in Chapter 9.

13:27

Let me look at Chapter 9.

Hold on a second.

13:31

And yeah, it was chapter Chapter 9 and.

Hold on.

13:49

I'm looking for it.

Boy, I should have got this earlier.

13:54

Oh, it's actually, yeah.

Back in 931.

13:57

Listen to this.

This says that then all the churches around Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and were edified.

14:08

And walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Now this was after, OK Remember, they had it like what we call a really tough time with the apostle

14:20

Paul when he was persecuting them.

Remember when they were scattered and then Paul is up on the road to Damascus, gets converted.

14:28

And here is a statement they had.

Notice what it says.

14:32

They had peace and they were edified.

So there had been a period of time when things calm down.

14:39

No persecution.

Now, that doesn't mean they hadn't had any confrontation with the Jews.

14:45

However, something shifts right here as we get into this chapter in chapter #12 So what do you

think?

14:54

Here's this is my question to you, and there's no right or wrong answer here.

No, if you don't know, you don't know it.

14:59

In chapter 12 verse one, it says he stretched out his hand to harass them.

What would be the reason that he would harass them?

15:09

Because because he wanted to make sure that with the Jewish leaders, he was like pleasing them.

You're exactly right.

15:19

Now let's probe even deeper.

Why would the Jewish leaders be telling Herod, hey, we need you to take care of this problem?

15:29

Because they they could with the Jewish leaders, they could go, they could go to the higher ups and

tell them what Herod was doing to like get him on their bedside.

15:42

Yeah, Yeah, that's a that's a really, really good hunch is what I'm going to call it.

Here's here's most likely.

15:49

OK, what happened now?

You remember that news of what had happened in Antioch made its way to Jerusalem, right?

15:56

Yeah.

And what was that news?

16:00

That they were called Christians for the.

That they were called Christians.

16:05

But what was the big deal about Antioch?

Amoah.

16:10

That Gentiles.

Oh the the Gentiles were being saved.

16:15

Yes.

So not only did this news reach Jerusalem to the to the apostles, it started to spread within the

16:23

Jewish community.

And guess what?

16:25

This is unacceptable.

This is like now, now, now Christianity, I want you, I'm going to use the word Christianity.

16:33

The apostles and those that were scattered, they've been preaching the word to who?

The Jews only right to the Hellenists, like Paul came in.

16:42

Remember when Paul had to be smuggled out of Jerusalem?

Why?

16:46

Because he went to the synagogue of the freedmen.

He went to the Hellenist.

16:50

Most likely it doesn't say the synagogue of the freedmen, but most likely he went to them and

started preaching.

16:56

That was bad enough, but now all of a sudden you've got gentiles that are getting saved and they're,

and now think about this.

17:04

They haven't had a king in years.

Now they have a king.

17:09

There is there's there is documented phenomenon.

And again, I'm giving you way too much information here, but I want to encourage you if you're

17:19

interested in this study it out what we call the cultural background, the political background will

part of us getting into the text.

17:28

Noah is saying what would life have been like now?

You're still at a young age.

17:32

You're 14 and I'm relevant, you know, in relevant terms that you think I'm old.

But you know, there's, there's some people that remember different areas of like presidents eras of

17:42

presidents, like you don't remember, like let's say we we you grew up under, let's say Obama.

He the Obama years.

17:53

It wasn't anything that was like, you know, majorly heavy.

But then there's people that are going to reflect back years down the road and they'll say, I

18:01

remember living in the Biden years.

I remember how wacky and goofy things were and how everybody was using pronouns and, you know, the

18:10

all that kind of silly stuff.

Yeah.

18:13

And then there'll be people down the road that'll say, like, maybe one day if the Lord doesn't come

back, Noah, you'll tell your grandkids, well, I lived when Trump was president.

18:22

And let me tell you about when Trump was president, right?

Yeah.

18:26

He made America great, all that kind of stuff.

Now, ultimately, none of this stuff really matters, but it does contribute to a cultural upbringing

18:36

and a cultural psyche in the people here with this king.

The people actually loved this king.

18:44

There was what we would call a nationalistic fervor that had begin to rise within the Jews.

They begin to become proud once again that they were Israelites, that they were Jews.

18:58

They begin to become more bolder.

They begin to posture themselves more politically.

19:04

It's the best way I can describe it to you.

Noah is is when Biden was president, the Republicans were under their thumb like they didn't have

19:14

control of anything.

The Republicans would do everything they could.

19:17

But now that Trump's in he like Trump's, the Republicans are ruling right.

They've got what we call the House and the Senate and now the now the positions have reversed.

19:28

So this is what happens within cultures and societies here.

This is a big deal.

19:34

They have a king.

They're not ruled by Rome, even though they are by default, right?

19:40

Because this king is just a Roman puppet, honestly.

But he has power, he has wealth, he has influence, and he wants to please the people.

19:50

So he hears that Gentiles are getting saved.

And guess what?

19:56

The majority of his people are not pleased.

And so he stretches out his hand to harass those from the church.

20:05

Now, they're also stories about Herod.

We can talk a lot about his life on how he rose to power.

20:11

But the people did love him.

He would go to every, like, think about a public event.

20:19

OK, I'm, I'm going to use this because I just did it.

We had a Little League opening day, right?

20:23

Yeah, so you know, Matt had asked me to go pray.

I went and prayed and all that.

20:28

But this is what politicians do.

They show up at public events.

20:32

Now Herod would show up at public events and festivals and you know what he would do?

He would read the Torah.

20:39

They would say, hey, why don't you come read the Torah?

Did you know that Herod wasn't even a a full-fledged Jew?

20:46

Yeah, he was only partially.

Yeah, he was.

20:48

He was.

Yeah, he was.

20:49

He was a half, half, half, half Jew, I guess we could say, and I don't mean that in a derogatory

way.

20:55

In the eyes of God, there is no, there's no half and halfs.

It's all equality at the foot of the cross.

21:03

But he was this is a very, very interesting man.

So let me tell you now, how might you study this out?

21:12

Well, on your on your Bible software, you have the tool called fact book.

You know what that is right?

21:20

And you'll be able to click on his name.

Now you, you already figured out that he was the grandson of Herod the Great O.

21:28

If you click on his name, it should take you to an entry called the Lexum Bible Dictionary.

And if you have the Faithlife Study Bible, it may even have an entry in there.

21:38

So that's how you would find out a little bit more information about him and then you begin to kind

of piece these things together.

21:45

And it's really not only is it wild again, it's made for TV kind of stuff.

Crazy, crazy.

21:53

All right.

Any thoughts or questions on verse one?

21:56

No.

All right, you're laughing.

21:58

Why are you laughing?

It's because everything you said was interesting was just a long introduction for the first verse.

22:06

Oh well, what do you expect?

This is the ALPA store podcast right now.

22:11

I, I had even I think I had my here's my intentions.

When we came in, I said I'm going to go very, very light.

22:17

I feel like I am going light because I could probably do we could do an hour long podcast.

No joke.

22:24

Well, I know you believe me.

We we could go an hour deep into the paint on Herod, the Herodian dynasty, the psychology, the

22:33

politics, the culture that was going around fascinating.

And what did what all this is doing is showing us there's, there's some points to this.

22:42

OK, but anyways, let's go into verse 2.

We'll, we'll, we'll lighten the load a little bit.

22:47

OK, maybe verse 2.

Go ahead and read it.

22:50

Then he killed James, the brother of John, with with the sword.

Now do you know what that means with the sword?

22:57

Did you read anything about that?

I don't think, I don't remember if it's anything in the commentary, but if it says the sword it does

23:05

that mean it's like a significant sword or something?

Here's what it means.

23:12

At least you picked up on a clue.

It is significant that he killed John with a sword.

23:18

This most likely means that he was beheaded.

So they chopped his head off.

23:23

That's what it means.

Now here's the question, why didn't they crucify him?

23:30

I don't know.

And and if they didn't crucify him, doesn't mean anything that he was killed by the sword.

23:38

And the answer is probably in yes.

Here's what it is.

23:43

We know from history that only if the death penalty penalty was pronounced over you, only Roman

citizens were allowed to be killed by the sword to be beheaded, everybody else crucifixion.

24:00

Now we know that James, the brother of John, is not a Roman citizen, so why do you think he wasn't

crucified?

24:12

Do you have any thoughts?

I don't.

24:16

Well, here's here's the premise.

King Herod now to be beheaded, because that was reserved only for Roman citizens.

24:25

It was actually a privilege.

It was a more suitable way to die versus being crucified.

24:31

Public humiliation.

So it's believed that King Herod wanted to be perceived as being a merciful king.

24:40

I'm a good king.

I'm merciful.

24:43

And even though this Jewish person deserves crucifixion, I'm going to be a nice guy and just behead

him.

24:52

Do you see the twisted nature of this?

And do you see his desire to want to appeal to his public perception and persona?

25:04

And this fits into everything wanting to please the Jews.

All right, verse 3.

25:09

Go ahead and read that.

And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also.

25:16

Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

OK, now verse.

25:22

Now go ahead and read verse #4.

So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to

25:31

keep him, intending to bring him before the people of people after.

Passover.

25:37

Wow.

OK, now Luke's not giving us details, but we know now in this particular instance, when it says he

25:47

killed James, it doesn't mean that he just said, hey, go out and kill him.

No, they had to go arrest him.

25:52

They put him in prison.

They had to bring him before the king.

25:56

He had to have his accusations read to him.

He had to have an opportunity to defend himself, right?

26:04

And there was a process that was involved.

Now it appears as if he, like you could just say, oh, they went out and chopped his head off.

26:10

No, that's not how it worked.

Now I want you to think that Luke is setting up two pictures that I'm not going to be able to give

26:17

you an answer to.

Both James and Peter had been imprisoned.

26:21

Now Peter is imprisoned.

He's he's about to face the same thing.

26:26

There is no the the fate of Peter would have been no different than James.

He would have been brought before he was arrested.

26:35

He had guards, he was put in chains, he was going to be brought in front of of of Herod the king.

He would be asked to defend himself and then judgement would be pronounced.

26:50

So here's the question.

Why?

26:53

Why did God allow Peter to live and James died?

And do you think the church was, once they heard about James getting locked up, do you think they

27:03

prayed for him too?

I think so, yeah.

27:07

Yeah, and why wouldn't their prayers be answered for James, but they were for Peter.

I don't know.

27:15

I think the I think the commentary didn't have it.

I don't think it had an answer either.

27:19

I may be wrong though.

It doesn't.

27:21

It doesn't.

Well, you know what the life application has a little bit on there, but this is this is one of the

27:27

questions of life and This is why I'm pointing this out.

I'm not setting up these questions for you, Noah, because I have a good answer.

27:35

Nothing I say will satisfy this.

This is the age-old question.

27:40

Why?

Like for instance, why did God bless me and not bless these others?

27:44

Or why did God spare this person's life?

But this person like died so randomly.

27:50

Like for instance, we just heard of a huge earth.

I don't know if you heard of it, but there was a major earthquake in Thailand.

27:56

Thousands of people have died, right?

Like the the age-old question, let's say somebody dies tragically in in an accident.

28:07

Why didn't why didn't God spare their life?

Was God judging?

28:12

Is God judging James the brother of John?

Is Peter?

28:16

More favorable answer to this is no to all of that.

The ultimate thing we have to do is place our trust in God and know that he is sovereign.

28:27

We're not going to have all the answers, and so these questions can always be at the forefront of

our minds and I don't know if we're going to have the answer.

28:41

Yeah, this one's a hard question.

It is a question we will wrestle with for the entirety of our lives.

28:49

Now, you don't have to face this question in this sense often.

Very few people actually do.

28:58

Now, me as a pastor, I want you to think when people go through hard times or when there are deaths

that occur, sometimes I'll get called and maybe it's for counsel or maybe somebody is tragically

29:12

passed away and inevitably the question always comes up of why?

Why them and not someone else?

29:19

Exactly, exactly and.

And then you, you, you also get the question of if you think they're in heaven.

29:29

Oh, of course.

And these things we can't answer, right.

29:34

We really can't.

Like, yeah.

29:36

Like, do you think they're saved?

Do you think they're unsaved?

29:39

Or I, I, I don't know.

And here's the here's the other thing.

29:45

The Bible doesn't shy away from this tension.

The Bible's The Bible is is really an incredible and unique collection of books that God is authored

29:59

and God doesn't shy away from these questions.

This is a big question, so tell me the time I want you to notice Peter's locked up and when was it?

30:17

During the during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Yeah.

30:21

When is that, do you know?

No.

30:25

OK.

So that's something that I'm going to encourage you to highlight.

30:30

I do have a.

Highlighter, you do have it highlighted, so that's something you need to study out.

30:34

And then what?

What's the purpose of making this marker in time?

30:38

I'm going to tell you, but I'm also, I'm going to tell you just enough in hopes you're going to

study it out.

30:46

The Day of Unleavened Bread is during Passover.

Passover feast has three titles or or three separate festivals with embedded within it.

30:57

It is unleavened bread.

It is Passover and 1st fruits.

31:01

It all happens during that week.

Now, who else was locked up during this same time?

31:11

The soldiers with them.

Yeah, they were according to verse 4.

31:16

But I'm talking about biblically, historically speaking, was somebody else arrested during the time

of Passover?

31:25

Give me the answer I want.

I want to give you a hint.

31:27

Give me the answer that every kid in children's church always gives when you ask them a question.

I don't know.

31:35

They always, they always say Jesus, right?

Like if you ask a good question, they'll be like Jesus, Jesus, right?

31:42

Jesus, Jesus.

There is a parallel to what's going on with Peter in Jesus right now.

31:50

Peter, like Jesus, was locked up at this same time, imprisoned, put in chains, thrown into a prison.

Interesting.

32:03

Now, verse four, he had arrested him.

He put him in prison, delivered him to four squads of soldiers.

32:09

Do you know anything about that?

But didn't say there would be soldiers guarding for for like 1/4 of the day.

32:19

Yeah.

So if you had four shifts a day, if you divided 24 hours by 4, what would that be?

32:27

How many hours?

24 / 4. 6 exactly So 6 hour shifts with a squad of soldiers and what's the intention here?

32:41

To make sure he didn't escape like the last time.

And then at the end of the verse, he intended to do what?

32:47

Bring him before the people, after Passover, after or after Passover.

Is that what it says?

32:55

Oh, before.

Yeah, Before the people after Passover.

33:00

Yeah, before the people after Passover, same thing that they were going to see what Jesus, they're

trying to do it, You know, he, he died so quick but yeah, now I think we're going to finish with

33:15

these 4 verses, OK, because.

Our original plan was to maybe do the whole chapter.

33:21

I know, tell them, tell them at home what I told you when we sat down to do that before we're going

to do this podcast he had.

33:28

Said that with this chapter, it would it mean that it would be like pretty like not that we it would

be to the point where we could do and just knock it out one pack podcast and get ahead.

33:43

That was my desire.

And then I I had thought we were going to do at least through 19, at least is what I thought we were

33:51

going to do.

Well, we made it through verse 4.

33:53

So I want to I want to recap and I want to give you an assignment and hopefully those of you that

are listening at home, number one, so know what you do this, however you want to do it.

34:03

You either type it out, put it in your notes, but I'm assigning this to you is I am I hope I'm not

going to make you do this, but my hope is that you'll get interested in what we call the Herodian

34:16

dynasty and that you'll put to use the tools in your toolbox at that.

We have we have equipped you with when I say we, I'm saying the church Harvin Assembly of God

34:27

because you are equipped with this toolbox, this great tool that you will use it to the best of your

ability and take an interest and study the Herodian dynasty and dive deep into that.

34:38

And the next thing is I want you to get what what I would call a conceptual backdrop to the times

and seasons of what, when and how this was happening.

34:52

I already gave you the majority of it, but I want you to have this solidified in the foundation of

your discipleship journey.

34:59

When the when we say the Days of Unleavened Bread, I'm not questioning you, Noah, so that you can

answer Bible trivia, right?

35:07

And when And so in the future, if you see a phrase like this, the Days of Unleavened bread, all of a

sudden every synapse is firing in your brain, making these hyperlink connections all throughout the

35:23

Bible, like everything starts firing off.

You're going Passover, Passover, unleavened bread, Jesus, the significance, the historical

35:31

background, right?

That's what I want.

35:34

So I want you to, I want you to make sure you know just a little bit about unleavened bread and then

that's about it.

35:43

Maybe you, you might be able to go a little bit deep into these squads of soldiers.

I would ask, I would come back and I would ask you, what type of soldiers are these?

35:54

Would these have been like, here's my question.

Would these have been Roman soldiers?

35:59

Would these have been Jewish temple soldiers?

What kind of soldiers were these?

36:04

Because you know what's going to happen later, right?

What?

36:08

Oh, they're going to get persecuted.

The soldier What happens to the soldiers?

36:12

They're going to die.

36:15

Yep, Yep.

Now that's what we'll close it off with.

36:22

Any thoughts?

Any questions?

36:24

Oh, no.

All right.

36:27

Well, for those of you who are at home, I know there's been, well, I shouldn't say I always say it

right, A little bit of a different podcast, but that's OK.

36:36

I thank you so much for joining us.

I encourage you to do the same thing with Noah.

36:43

And if you don't have access to these resources, reach out.

We need to get going here very soon and schedule a day where we actually have a training on Logos

36:55

where people can better utilize it, not only in.

Why you laughing, Noah?

37:00

Reminds me of those classes Apple.

Those for for people who don't know how to use their iPhone.

37:06

Yeah, a little bit.

But you know what?

37:08

Logos.

It's not complicated, but it can be intimidating for some.

37:12

And some people who have never had it or are new to me.

Exactly.

37:17

So it's kind of like a basic Boot Camp introduction, but not only for like a desktop version, but

also mobile mobile device as well, like iPads or tablets.

37:26

I would need help from my iPad honestly.

Yeah, because there's a lot of tips and tricks that you can be able to utilize.

37:32

So again, thank you so much for tuning in.

I encourage you to do the same thing that I encourage Noah to do.

37:39

And you know, if I have time, otherwise I'll have to table it.

I might go ahead and do a deep dive on the Herodian dynasty because it is fascinating.

37:51

All right, thank you.

Thank you for listening to Al Pastor with Bryan Overturf.

38:03

If you found value in this, please subscribe and get updates.

Most places podcasts are available.

38:10

We're right here on Anchor FM through Spotify, also on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Amazon and

iHeartRadio.

38:19

I hope you'll TuneIn for the next episode.

Until then, we'll see you later.