Acts 12:15 (Peter Mistaken for his Angel)

[joejkljkl]

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Other soldiers were guarding the door of the jail. 7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shined in the cell. The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Hurry! Get up!” the angel said. And the chains fell off Peter’s hands. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And Peter did. Then the angel said, “Put on your coat and follow me.” 9 So Peter followed him out, but he did not know if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he might be seeing a vision.10 They went past the first and second guards and came to the iron gate that separated them from the city. The gate opened by itself for them, and they went through it. When they had walked down one street, the angel suddenly left him.

11 Then Peter realized what had happened. He thought, “Now I know that the Lord really sent his angel to me. He rescued me from Herod and from all the things the people thought would happen.”

12 When he considered this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many people were gathered there, praying. 13 Peter knocked on the outside door, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy she forgot to open the door. Instead, she ran inside and told the group, “Peter is at the door!”

15 They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she kept on saying it was true, so they said, “It must be Peter’s angel.”

 

My question: why do you think they thought Peter was his own Angel?

I have a good idea of why this might be but I want to see a bunch of explanations from you all before I tell.

[Ezra]

My question: why do you think they thought Peter was his own Angel?

Since James had just been killed, they assumed that Peter had also been executed earlier than expected (in spite of their prayers), and this was his spirit come to visit them.  Since angels are spirits, that was the only plausible explanation.

[Omegaman 3.0]

I don't know, the word angel, means messenger. Maybe they thought that a messenger had arrived from Peter. I have heard, but I cannot back it up, that it was common folklore among the Jews, that Jews had their own guardian angels, and that if/when they manifested in human appearance, they took on the appearance fo their human charge.

I have also heard, and cannot back this up either, that it was common to think that a persons spirit, could be seen, so if they supposed Peter had died, they might have expected that perhaps.

From the incident where Jesus came to the disciples, walking on the water, they supposed it was a spirit, so clearly they believed in such things.

[D-Dawn]

I am NOT suggesting this is THE answer at all. This conversation just reminded me of something I read about recently...genii.  (The wiki link won't paste correctly for some reason).

 

This was a belief in Roman Mythology. People who lived in/near Rome had to have been heavily influenced by Roman beliefs.

 

I may be WAY off but it's something interesting to ponder just the same.

[joejkljkl]

I am NOT suggesting this is THE answer at all. This conversation just reminded me of something I read about recently...genii.  (The wiki link won't paste correctly for some reason).

 

This was a belief in Roman Mythology. People who lived in/near Rome had to have been heavily influenced by Roman beliefs.

 

I may be WAY off but it's something interesting to ponder just the same.

This is from the genii wikipedia (I know that it's not that credible) page: "The Greeks called their genii, daemons, and believed in them long before the Romans."

We might not want to talk about genii because they may be based on fallen angels.

[D-Dawn]

Joe, I don't disagree with you...the genii concept is false and likely demonic. I'm just wondering if that concept carried over into the first century until believers were more educated in the new Faith.

[Sister]

Joe

 

This happened not long after the death of Jesus.  It also states that John's brother James was killed by Herod.  So the followers of Christ knew the authorities were not mucking around now, but going hard after the Christians and putting them to death, so they were all living in fear, and knew if one of them was captured, they were as good as dead.

 

They knew Peter was captured, and awaiting death.  The fact that they said it must be Peter's angel shows us they thought there was no possible way on earth that Peter would be released out of jail and standing there at their gate, and that he must be dead already if he is there.

 

They would soon find out that the angel of the Lord released Peter.  It just shows us that what seems impossible to man is not impossible for God to carry out.

 

It's really that simple.

[angels4u]

 

6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Other soldiers were guarding the door of the jail. 7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shined in the cell. The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Hurry! Get up!” the angel said. And the chains fell off Peter’s hands. 8 Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And Peter did. Then the angel said, “Put on your coat and follow me.” 9 So Peter followed him out, but he did not know if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he might be seeing a vision.10 They went past the first and second guards and came to the iron gate that separated them from the city. The gate opened by itself for them, and they went through it. When they had walked down one street, the angel suddenly left him.

11 Then Peter realized what had happened. He thought, “Now I know that the Lord really sent his angel to me. He rescued me from Herod and from all the things the people thought would happen.”

12 When he considered this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Many people were gathered there, praying. 13 Peter knocked on the outside door, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so happy she forgot to open the door. Instead, she ran inside and told the group, “Peter is at the door!”

15 They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she kept on saying it was true, so they said, “It must be Peter’s angel.”

 

My question: why do you think they thought Peter was his own Angel?

I have a good idea of why this might be but I want to see a bunch of explanations from you all before I tell.

 

 He was talking about his guardian angel

[Ezra]

I am NOT suggesting this is THE answer at all. This conversation just reminded me of something I read about recently...genii.  (The wiki link won't paste correctly for some reason).

 

This was a belief in Roman Mythology. People who lived in/near Rome had to have been heavily influenced by Roman beliefs.

 

I may be WAY off but it's something interesting to ponder just the same.

Since this incident occurred very far from Rome (Palestine) and the people involved were Jews, that is quite unlikely.  The Jews did believe in spirits and angels visiting men.

[disciplehelovestoo]

IMO, Rhoda, like we so often are, was so keenly aware of the power and authority of men's government that she never considered that the power of God was infinitely greater, and that their prayers of faith in the authority Jesus gave them could set Peter physically free from prison; so she assumed Peter was still in prison even though he stood before her in the flesh.  often times, if we saw in the flesh what we prayed for in the spirit, it would shock us in a similar way because of our natural unbelief that comes from our 5 senses and opposes our belief in God's word; such 'natural' unbelief causes us to be blind to God's power when we get over a cold, or get grace at work instead of being fired - we fail to recognize God's power in 'little' things; and so also fail to recognize His power in 'big' things such as healing from cancer or 'finding' a good job.  we intellectually believe in the power of God, and yet expect the same natural laws that bind the lost to bind us as well...