Remember that He is in Control

So far in Acts 1-11 we have seen Jesus witnessed to in Jerusalem, and then, with the help of persecution, throughout Judea and Samaria. Soon in chapter 13 Paul and Barnabas will begin taking the message of Jesus "to the ends of the earth" in their first missionary journey. But in between these two sections comes the interesting account in chapter 12 of Herod's persecution of the church, James' death, Peter's miraculous escape and then Herod's death at the hand of God. What is going on here? God is being shown to be sovereign in all things. He is shown to be at work in all circumstances ensuring that "…the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers" (12:24).