Acts 12:11

And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a truth, that the Lord hath sent forth his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

As in the sacred records throughout the New Testament, God left here a nail where the unbeliever can hang his hat. "When Peter was come to himself ..." Ah, does not that mean that this event never really happened, but that Peter dreamed it? Not at all; but what is meant is that Peter's deliverance was so fantastic and contrary to all natural things that he found it nearly impossible to believe it himself until the press of events brought him to the full realization of what had happened, yes, HAPPENED. Profane history records Peter's deliverance thus:

Herod Agrippa I was popular with his subjects, and his brief reign marked the peak of their material felicity. He did all in his power to crush the nascent Christian church, and after executing James the son of Zebedee, he arrested Peter, WHO ESCAPED FROM PRISON![5]

The only explanation of that escape from prison is that of Luke in this chapter. The stupid and unreasonable conclusion by Herod that his own soldiers had released Peter was the only alternative to such a supernatural deliverance as actually occurred; and Herod's execution of his own guard proves only how determined that evil ruler was to deny the true explanation of Peter's escape. Not very long after this, God would deliver another message to Herod which he would find no way to deny.