Acts 5:17-21 King James Version (KJV)
17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,
18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

Acts 5:17-21Amplified Bible (AMP)

17 But the high priest rose up and all who were his supporters, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and being filled with [a]jealousy and indignation and rage,
18 They seized and arrested the apostles (special messengers) and put them in the public jail.
19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and, leading them out, said,
20 Go, take your stand in the temple courts and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life which Christ revealed).
21 And when they heard this, they accordingly went into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now the high priest and his supporters who were with him arrived and called together the council (Sanhedrin), even all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have [the apostles] brought.

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation


These are my thoughts, please share yours.

17 They realized that Jesus’ death did not cause this to stop but only caused it to grow more, the Pharisees were the biggest problem earlier. The Sadducees would now try to cause a problem themselves. Are we to see something new coming along and instead of seeing if it is of God and His will we are against it without learning about it?

18 They put them into prison which they had the authority to do, they had authority to even stone them but not to crucify, and they had to go to the Romans for that.

19 The angel brought them out it was not God’s will for them to stay in prison. When we come to Him we come out of our prison of sin. This does not mean God will prevent us from trouble in His name because the disciples would die for spreading His name but that would be later, no matter what the world wants we won’t be stopped from doing His will.

20 This was risking they just got put into prison for this but God brought them out of prison to do this. When gives us further time it should be used to do what He wants of us and not what we want.

21 They did what they were told it did have reaction by those who would not believe. Sometimes serving the Lord may cause bad reactions from other people and it may also more importantly be heard and received by others.