as did Peter. The night before his anticipated execution, an angel of the Lord aroused him in his Jerusalem prison cell. Chains dropped from his hands and he was to prepare to leave (Acts 12:7-11). Thinking he was still dreaming, Peter followed his angelic deliverer past the first and second stations of th e s tran g e ly sleeping guards and when he reached the main prison gate, the iron bar rier opened automatically. He had become miraculously a free man. In preserving His own people, God sometimes uses human means. Mighty Samson was delivered by his countrymen to the Philistine army. God g ran ted superhuman strength as he easily broke the new ropes. Seizing the fresh jawbone of a donkey, he attacked his foes until 1,000 Philistines lay dead before him (Judges 15:9-16). Samson escaped from Gaza by ripping off the city gates—bolt, posts and all—carrying them away on his shoulders to He bron. That was a distance of 40 miles. What a feat! Not to be overlooked is the heroic story of Queen Esther. Learning of the prime minister’s plot to destroy the whole Jewish race, she went to the Lord in prayer and fasting (Esther 4:16-17). Hazarding her own life, she appeared before the king although not summonded. The Lord overruled the situation so that Ahasuerus accepted his beautiful queen’s invitation to dinner with the foxy Haman (5:1-5). History re cords the way in which God again intervened in the apparently well- laid plans of men. The Jewish race was preserved. Ever since, these orthodox people have observed the annual feast of Purim, continuing to thank God for His deliverance through the human instruments of Mordecai and Esther. P art F ive T here ’ s an interesting illustra tion given by Dr. Walter L. Wil- 32
son concerning John G. Paton who was a missionary to the South Sea Islands. Mr. Paton was suddenly sur rounded by a large pagan war party, bent on taking his life. Muskets were leveled at his head. Realizing that God was his only refuge, Mr. Paton breathed a prayer and waited for the inevitable. The cannibals paused, stepped back a short distance, and then were strangely re s tra in ed . There seemed to be an unseen hand keeping them from the triggers of their guns. Moments later, they dis appeared and John Paton was left by himself. He was delivered out of the dilemma entirely. We recall how that Paul was im prisoned in the city of Jerusalem. Forty of his enemies had vowed to refrain from food and drink until they had seen him destroyed (Acts 23:12-15). Paul’s nephew heard of the conspiracy and reported it to the Apostle as well as to the commander of the fortress. The plotters were foiled when Paul, under heavy guard, was sent to Governor Felix at the provincial capital of Caesarea (23: 23ff). Daniel was another Bible char acter who was permitted to face danger squarely and come out un scathed. He refused to stop praying to the Lord and by decree was hurled into a den of underfed lions. To guarantee maximum security, the Persian emporer caused a g re a t boulder to be placed over the mouth of the lair in which the beasts were kept (Dan. 6:16-17). God preserved this faithful saint, despite the im possible situation. Daniel 6:18-23 shows the powerful testimony which resulted. There will yet be a future preser vation through a period of greatest danger, prophetically speaking, as we read in Revelation 7 of the 144,000 witnesses during the t r i bu l a t ion (Rev. 14:1-5). God is never limited to standard methods for preserving His people in the midst of dangers,
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