Tag Archives: King Herod

ACTS THE SEQUEL…DON’T MESS WITH GOD’S GLORY – 24

Bible Study, ,

“After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”

‭‭Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬-24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Peter’s mysterious disappearance from the prison caused no end of a stir. The unsuspecting guards had to pay the price. 

Meanwhile, Herod was on his own mission…he was asked to make peace with the people of Tyre and Sidon with whom he had quarrelled. His speech was so moving on the day that they hailed him as a god! 

Well! That did it! Herod had to learn a good lesson…to his great loss. Never mess with God‘s glory. Never take credit for anything because God is the source of everything. To Him alone belongs all the glory. 

Herod paid the price for his foolishness with his life…not just death but a most humiliating demise. This pompous fool loved the limelight…and the accolades of humans. His pride cost him his life…in a most horrific way… and it will cost the lives of all who follow in his steps. 

If there is anything God hates, it is pride because pride takes the glory from Him and gives it to those whom He created. How can a creature take credit for what he did not do? 

So, God rightfully removed a man who had not respect for Him. Herod would no longer be able to harass God‘s people, although…in His sovereignty, there would be many others in the coming days whom the Father would use to refine the faith of His servants. 

And so, against all odds, God’s Spirit continued to work deeply in human hearts…bringing to faith many who were steeped in paganism. 

To be continued

ACTS THE SEQUEL…EXIT PETER – 23

Bible Study, ,

For a short while, the attention shifted…back to Jerusalem. Peter and his fellow believers became the target. First James, then Peter,  were in the firing line…

“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To please the Jews, Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, who was appointed by the Emperor Claudius as king of Judea, became the proxy for the Jewish rulers. He had James, John’s brother, killed…then he went for Peter.  If he could wipe out the leaders, perhaps the movement would die. 

So, first, James exterminated…then Peter…arrested and put in jail, awaiting the inevitable verdict of “guilty”! For what?

 “He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.”

What kind of trial? The same kind that had condemned Jesus to death…had Stephen stoned…and James slaughtered with a sword? But…Peter had a backup…a body of faithful people who cared about him…a people who believed in prayer…so they appealed to a higher authority. They went straight to mission headquarters…to God the Father.  They prayed…earnestly…all through the night…to the Father…to intervene!

“So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God heard their cries…and acted…with a flourish. He delighted in messing with a corrupt Roman government and an impenetrable prison system. He did it more than once! He sent an angel…a heavenly messenger with heaven’s power and heaven’s authority, to do the impossible. 

Before Peter could blink, he was standing in the street outside the jail, his chains miraculously gone, and all the prison doors open while the guards slept! Just like that, he was free! Was he dreaming? Would he wake up to the same fate that befell his beloved fellow disciple, James…the one who had been Jesus’ companion with him when they walked with Him on earth?

No, it was true. Peter was not dreaming. He was really free! Best he get away from the prison before the guards woke up. The angel who had rescued him was gone…he was on his own now. 

“Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.”

The church was fervently praying, calling on the Lord for help…firmly believing that He wouid answer them. When it happened, they were gobsmacked, incredulous! Well! So much for their faith!

“Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” 

“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭11‬-‭16 NIV‬‬

Isn’t the reaction of these people just typical of human nature and true to life! We pray believing and…when God answers, we are shocked and surprised. We act like our faith was somewhat shaky to begin with…but God answered anyway. How gracious He is and how accommodating to our human frailty! Jesus said that all we need is faith as miniscule as a grain of mustard seed for  Him to answer…and He does.

There we have it… in black and white…their unbelief on record! When Peter stepped through the door, the result was deafening. He has to use hand signals to get their attention. 

“Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

A quick explanation…and then he was gone. In the dead of night…under cover of darkness…Peter disappeared. Luke gives no details. Peter had another mission to fulfil but, for Luke’s purpose…of telling the story of the church from Jerusalem to Rome, the hub of the known world…Peter’s part must fade into the background and Saul/Paul must take centre stage. 

Peter would briefly emerge once more…in Paul’s story in Antioch… in a spat between him and Peter. Peter, still a Jew at heart, was not above correction. He slipped for a moment, back into Jewish scruples. Paul quickly spoke in defence of the gospel of grace. 

“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Even good old Barnabas was caught up in the error. 

Paul, using truth as his weapon, pulled Peter and Barnabas back to reality…and, in the process, made one of the most profound statements in the New Testament…not only a testimony of his own life but also also a directive for the way of life of all believers. 

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, Peter was left to fulfil his ministry to the Jewish arm of the church while the focus shifted to Saul. 

To be continued

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – LUKE’S STORY BEGINS

Bible Study, ,

LUKE’S STORY BEGINS

“During the rule of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest assigned service in the regiment of Abijah. His name was Zachariah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. Together they lived honourably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God. But they were childless because Elizabeth could never conceive, and now they were quite old.” Luke 1:5-7.

Luke’s story beings with simple facts. An elderly priest and his wife, Zachariah and Elizabeth, form the focus of the opening paragraph. Why does Luke make special mention that they were a godly old couple? They lived their lives within the boundaries of God’s law and because of that, they both had a clear conscience before God.

Was it that there were others who were not as careful as they were in being honourable in their lives and service in the temple? It is sad that Luke should even have to comment on their blameless lives, seeing that Zachariah was a genuine Levitical priest of the regiment of Abijah. It should have been a given!

Luke states three simple facts about this couple in his opening paragraph; they elderly, they were godly and they were childless. Each of these facts plays an important part in their story and adds to the ‘wow’ factor that makes their contribution so extraordinary.

Being godly prepared them to be chosen parents for Israel’s greatest prophet, John the Baptist. He was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophetic vision in Isaiah 40:3 – “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.’ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill be made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (NIV).

He was to play a brief but crucial role in preparing the way for, and identifying the Messiah. He would be nurtured from birth by faithful parents who would teach him God’s Word and prepare him for his prophetic role.

They were elderly and childless – reminiscent of Israel’s forefather, Abraham, and Sarah, who received the miracle of a child in their old age. Because Zachariah and Elizabeth were beyond the possibility of conceiving a child naturally, they were candidates for God’s miraculous intervention. Why did God choose this way of bringing His ‘Elijah’ into the world? Why not some ordinary village kid whom He could set apart for this ministry?

God had His reasons but it is possible that He would call attention to this special child by allowing him to be conceived miraculously in his parents’ old age. God chose this couple because John needed to be raised by godly parents who would recognise the seriousness of their responsibility.

Luke sets the scene for the entrance of John by describing an impossible situation as the backdrop to the things He was going to do to introduce His Messiah to the world. John’s parents were childless and too old; Jesus’ mother was unmarried. None of these things mattered to God. He would use these very ‘impossibilities’ to enhance the glory of His revelation to the world.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – HEROD ON THE WARPATH

Bible Study, ,

CHAPTER 12

HEROD ON THE WARPATH

“That’s when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He murdered James, John’s brother. When he saw how much it raised his popularity with the Jews, he arrested Peter — all this during Passover Week, mind you — and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.

“All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church was praying for him most strenuously.” Acts 12:1-5 (The Message),

Opposition to the church was turning ugly. Up to this point it was a religious struggle but for some reason King Herod chose to get involved. The evidence points to a man who would do anything to gain popularity, even stooping to murder to “suck up” to the Jews. This was the same Herod who tried to get some entertainment out of Jesus when He was on trial for His life.

Having disposed of James to the delight of the anti-Christian Jews, he turned on Peter, planning a public display of his sadistic power after the Passover. Was he suspecting a rescue attempt by the believers? He set a guard out of all proportion to the possibility of one man making a bid to escape!

But there was another power at work which Herod had not taken into account — the church at prayer! While Peter was asleep under guard in the prison, the church was awake and storming the gates of heaven.

One wonders why James had perished but Peter was given time. Is there a powerful lesson in this story for us? Perhaps James’ death caught the church off guard. It was a surprise attack and the church did not have time to mobilise prayer to save him. Peter’s imprisonment, however, bought them time to respond by entreating the intervention of God for him.

Herod might have had a measure of authority on earth but the church at prayer was a power to be reckoned with. Way back in Acts 4, when persecution first broke out against the apostles, Peter and John, the church was learning how to handle the conflict between the kingdom of God and the dominion of darkness.

They engaged the enemy, not flesh and blood but spiritual forces, with the spiritual weapons at their disposal. In Acts 4 we have a record of their prayer — an affirmation that they understood who was in charge, “your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed”, and who was under attack, and an entreaty that He be vindicated through them. If that was the flavour of their prayer then, it would have been the same now.

This was not so much Peter’s life in danger as Jesus being challenged by an inconsequential little human who thought he was in charge. This was the same spirit in the church that energised David to go after Goliath. He saw the heathen giant’s challenge not as merely against the Israelites but against the God whom the Israelites represented. Because the Israelite army did not see it that way, none of them had the courage to take the Philistine champion on. David was not concerned about his own tender age or inexperience. He knew he was covered by the power of a covenant-keeping God!

The Apostle Paul’s experience was a face-to-face encounter with Jesus to answer for his own actions against Him. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Acts 9:4b (NIV), but he was persecuting the church, not Jesus, so he thought. Likewise, Herod had unwittingly taken Jesus on by attacking church leaders and history would prove that he would come off second best.

The church understood that Jesus identified with His Body so closely that any attack on them was an attack on Him. Prayer that engages God with the right motive, to promote and uphold His honour, is the most powerful force in the world. God will do whatever it takes to intervene for His own sake because His mercy is His glory on display.