Luke the physician wrote how, “Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword”, and in chapter twelve and verse three of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “Peter therefore was kept in prison” where we read:
And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.
(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
The verse begins, “And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.” Luke began with the words, “and because he saw it pleased the Jews” which means “and since or on account that Herod observed, noticed and discerned that killing James was agreeable with the people of the Jewish nation by origin, birth or religion”, “he proceeded further” or “Herod repeated and increased his idea” “to take Peter also” which means “to clasp, catch and seize Peter, whose name means a little rock or stone and was one of Jesus' disciples, even so and indeed”. Luke shared how “Herod” noticed how “killing James” was agreeable with the Jewish people, so He increased his idea of persecuting the church leaders and decided to “seize” Peter too.
The verse continues, “(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)” Luke parenthetically added the words, “(then were the days” which means “at that time existed the sunrises to sunset or time period” “of unleavened bread” or “pertaining to unfermented, free from leaven or yeast bread which was used during the paschal feast of the Jews”.). Luke shared how the time of “Herod's” assault on the leaders of the church was during the “paschal feast” when “unfermented bread” was used in the observance.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we discover when “Herod” observed the “pleasure” within the Jewish people because he “killed James” it only motivated him to keep persecuting the church leaders, and he set his eyes on “Peter”. Because this was the time of the “paschal feast” where “unleavened bread” was used, “Herod” thought this was a good time to continue his efforts to satisfy them. God knew this would happen to the believers in Jesus, and persecution against the church continues to this day. Although people have authority over others, it does not mean they will not give an account for how they judge, and woe be to anyone who refuses to receive Jesus as their personal “Lord and Savior”. They will discover He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who shall make every person give an account of their actions toward Him and His believers. (See Romans 14:12)
Next time Luke shares how Peter, “was kept in prison”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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