Verse 11: “And Peter, coming to himself, said, ‘Now I know truly that the Lord has sent forth His angel and saved me from the hand of Herod, and all the expectations of the people of the Judeans.’”

Now I know: This is an experiential word – not knowing by knowledge, but knowing by experience.

Expectations: Related to desire. There were those in Judea that desired Peter to be put to death.

Verse 12: “Understanding this, he came unto the house of Miriam the mother of John, who was called Mark, which there were many that had assembled and were praying.”

Miriam: Mary

Many that had assembled and were praying: The implication is that more and more people were coming and were praying. Prayer was being offered up around the clock, in a very powerful way.

Verse 13: “Peter was knocking on the door of the gate and a young woman came forth having heard, and her name was Rhoda, and she went out unto the gate.”

Knocking on the door: They had locked themselves up inside and Peter could not get in. Having heard: A word that means to obey, or to do something based upon what has been heard.

Rhoda: Probably a servant girl.

She went out: She responded to the knocking.

Verse 14: ‘She recognized the voice of Peter and from joy she did not open the gate; but she ran inside and proclaimed, ‘Peter is standing at the gate!’”

Peter is standing at the gate: This was a fulfilment of prayer. We have been told, twice, that there was fervent prayer going up around the clock. People were assembling to pray on behalf of Peter, that God would save him. Peter experienced miraculous deliverance.

Verse 15: “But they said to her, ‘You are insane.’ But because she kept insisting thusly that it was, therefore, on account, they said, ‘It is his angel.’”

You are insane: Even though the church was praying fervently, continuously, for Peter’s deliverance they did not really believe -down deep within their souls – that God was going to answer their prayers. Too often we pray but do not have that sure expectation (faith) that God will answer.

That it was: Meaning that Peter was actually there.

Verse 16: “Peter continued knocking on the door, and after they opened it they saw him, and they were astonished.”

Peter continued knocking: It was harder for Peter to get into the worship service than it was for him to get out of prison. God can bring people out of bondage, and He does – all the time, but do we respond to what God is doing? Are we willing to accept these people as sent by God?

They were astonished: When God responded to their expectations they were astonished. That is not the proper response. Our response should be one of thanksgiving. We should expect, with confidence, that God responds to those things that we pray for.

Verse 17: “Giving to them a sign with his hand to be quiet he proclaimed to them how the L-rd brought him out from the prison. He said, ‘Proclaim to James and the brothers these things.’ And he went out and came to another place.”

James: This James was Yeshua’ s brother.

Verse 18: “And it came about in those days not a small disturbance arose in regard to the
soldiers on account of what had happened to Peter.”