Acts 12:18

"There was no small disturbance among the soldiers" Peter is not discovered missing until dawn, which indicates that Peter was probably delivered around midnight and the soldiers did not change shifts until dawn. What we have in this verse is sheer panic among the soldiers as they rush around desperately trying to find the prisoner. This searching is frantic because all these soldiers will lose their lives if Peter is not found (Acts 16:27; Acts 27:42). Acts 12:19 Notice that Herod is given an opportunity to believe. He should have learned that as his grandfather had failed to kill the Messiah, so he had failed. The soldiers are subject to cross-examination and then are executed. Herod refused to believe the obvious, that is, Peter had been delivered by God's own hand. Herod was determined not to believe that. miracle had happened so he deliberately chooses to execute several innocent soldiers. There is also another lesson here. Siding with evil men in power is safe and comfortable until God acts!