Meanwhile... Back in Jerusalem

Acts 12:1 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

In the past few chapters we have seen the growth of The Church into Samaria, Ethiopia, up the coastline, and north into Syria. We ended yesterday with the fact that Jerusalem and Judea were being affected by a great famine.  But that wasn't all that was happening. Christians were being blamed for all the woes, and persecution intensified. But once again, God takes them through all this, as Peter was miraculously delivered, and then Herod, the official representative of the persecution was "taken out" by God.  The bottom line again was this: 24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.  The truth of the Gospel continued to spread and people were coming to Christ.