Acts 12:23, commentary and pictures

The verse concerns Herod Agrippa I, who persecuted the church to please the Jews, executing James and imprisoning Peter. Not long after at Caesarea he appeared in dazzling royal apparel and accepted the people's wild shout that his voice was that of a god and not of a man, with triumph and gratified pride though he knew he deserved none of it. Immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, the same angel who had awakened Peter to free him, and he was eaten of worms and died in agony while still receiving praise as a god. The stroke came because in pride he took worship as a god instead of giving God alone the glory, and as divine displeasure for his crimes against God's servants. The apostle was freed while his persecutor was laid low, and the news spread widely to bring many to believe, showing that absorbing human praise is an offense to God and a lasting snare.

Herod's Prideful Exaltation

The man struck down was Herod Agrippa I, ruler of Judea under the Roman emperor Claudius and tetrarch of Galilee, father of Agrippa II and a more powerful monarch than his son. He was a professed proselyte to the Jewish faith, apparently very zealous for the ceremonies of the Jewish law. He persecuted the church of Christ to obtain the favor of the Jews and to make secure his offices and honors, spoiling the houses and goods of believers and imprisoning leading members of the church, executing James the brother of John with the sword and then imprisoning Peter also.

Not long after Peter's deliverance Herod went to Caesarea for a festival designed to excite admiration and gain applause, attended by pleasure-lovers with feasting and wine-drinking. On a set day of self-glorification he appeared with great pomp in royal apparel on his throne, in a robe sparkling with silver and gold and glittering robes that caught the sun and dazzled beholders. He swayed the assembly by his majesty and eloquent oration.

The people, their senses already perverted, were dazzled and charmed and wild with enthusiasm. They declared no mortal could look or speak as he did, shouting that his voice was the voice of a god and not of a man, and that while they had respected him as ruler henceforth they would worship him as a god. Herod accepted that idolatry and worship as his due, though he knew he deserved none of their praise, with his heart bounding with triumph and his countenance glowing with gratified pride. His splendor and eloquence could not protect him from what followed.

By accepting homage he knew he did not deserve and by putting sinful, erring man where God should be, he violated the command against having other gods and completed the measure of his guilt. His guilt is heightened by contrast with Christ, whom the same Jews had rejected with the cry Away with Jesus, crucify Him. They refused to receive Christ because coarse and often travel-stained garments covered a heart of divine love, and failed to discern the Lord of life and glory under a humble exterior though His power was revealed in works no mere man could do, while they were ready to worship as a god a haughty king whose splendid garments covered a corrupt, cruel heart.

Divine Judgment and Witness

Immediately a mandate came from heaven, and the angel of the Lord smote Herod because he gave not God the glory. It was the same angel who had struck Peter to wake him and rescue him from prison, now laying low Herod's pride with a different, fatal stroke. The blow fell swiftly while he was still receiving praise as a god before a great multitude, even before the admiring shouts had died away, as swift and terrible vengeance in mortal disease. Neither his splendor nor his eloquence nor the crowd's worship could protect him. His body, which he had displayed in shining apparel, was eaten by worms and putrefied while he was still alive, and he died in great physical and mental agony, a horrible and sudden, painful death under God's retributive justice.

The judgment came because in pride he exalted himself and accepted the people's worship as a god instead of giving to God alone the glory and honor that belonged to God. It was also a sign of divine displeasure for his crimes against God's servants, including the martyrdom of James the apostle and the persecution of Christ's followers and of Peter. His attempt against God's servant was an act against God's power that ended in his humiliation and defeat, making clear that God, whom he had defied as a persecutor, ruled over him. His downfall stands in contrast with Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison and death, the apostle of Christ being freed while his persecutor was struck down. News of this contrast and of the judgment spread widely to other lands and helped bring many to believe in Christ.

Absorbing the praise and glory of men is an offense to God, forbidden among His people. It creates a taste for human praise and self-glorification that becomes a snare while life lasts, leaving a sense of loss and lack of appreciation when such stimulation is missing.