A command of God going back to the time of Moses was that there was only one God to worship and he is a jealous God who would not accept the worship of idols and false gods. King Herod Agrippa found out the hard way that this was a command with teeth…
20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, 21 and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. 22 The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”
23 Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.
24 Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.
Acts 12:20-24 NLT
Herod was an opponent of the Way. He had martyred James and had arrested Peter prior to this vignette. In this case, there was political discord between some people from north of Israel and his kingdom. As might happen, a delegation went to make peace with him. After all, to be reliant on trade for a nation’s wellbeing also means figuring out how to work together and share peace over animosity.
Everything was likely going fine until they called him a god. There is a pattern in scripture in which people who are not God rebuke people who treat them as gods to ensure that the command of God is honoured:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
3 “You must not have any other god but me.
4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
Exodus 20:2-4 NLT
The most recent occasion in which this happened was Peter visiting Cornelius in Acts 10. Cornelius fell at Peter’s feet and Peter pulled him up immediately, saying, “Stand up! I’m a human being just like you!” That’s the correct response. Unfortunately, Herod soaked it in. This was music to his prideful ears.
Now, every person who worshiped idols or received worship as a god did not get struck down in those days. Roman emperors were lifted up as gods. They all died, but not instantaneously the first time they were worshiped falsely. Herod’s death was more immediately related, it would seem, to his opposition to the movement of Jesus’ followers.
He would not give glory to God, so an angel inflicted him with sickness. Meanwhile, we read at the end of our portion, the word of God continued to spread. Nothing was going to get in the way of the word of God spreading. Not Herod. Not anyone else.
Amen.
Marc Kinna
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