Acts 16:25-28 - Suddenly there was an earthquake

16:25,26

Despite their circumstances, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns. Luke tells us that the other prisoners were listening to them. One can imagine that their reaction would be just to want Paul and Silas to shut up, but that might be wrong. However, it seems that their praising God had a momentous effect, for there was a violent earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations, and the doors flew open and their chains fell off. One can easily spiritualise this and draw a general lesson. We can be in circumstances from which it seems there is no escape for we are so firmly tied in, as Paul and Silas were. But if we praise the Lord then we can be set free, and the seemingly unbeatable circumstances are defeated. A number of the Psalms follow this sort of pattern. It also reminds me of the fourth verse of Charles Wesley’s And Can it Be, which includes the line “My chains fell off, my heart was free”.

16:27,28

Unsurprisingly the jailer was woken up by the events. He had been given strict instructions to keep the prisoners safe in captivity, and now they were free. So he feared that he, and possibly his family, would suffer severe consequences, probably death. So he is about to take his own life. However, the prisoners had not escaped, and Paul assured him of this fact.