Herod: God Versus Government

So let's turn to Acts chapter 12. About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James, the brother of John, with a sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.

And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, get up quickly.

And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, dress yourself and put on your sandals, and he did so. And he said to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street. And immediately, the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, now I am sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. When he realised this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognising Peter's voice, in her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, you're out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, it's his angel. But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, tell these things to James and to the brothers. And then he departed and went to another place. Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.

Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord. And having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food. On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, the voice of a god and not of a man.

Immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark. This is the word of the Lord. May all be blessed through it. Thank you, Joanne, for that reading.

And the whole of that story in Acts 12, and it's a bit of an R-rated story in some ways, isn't it? The word talks about him being eaten by worms. Yikes. Lots of little kids. You can tune out, kids.

But it might be helpful to leave your Bible open. Brothers and sisters in Christ, in North Korea, the North Korean army were widening the highway between Pyongyang and the port city of Nampo. As part of their work, they were demolishing a vacated house, and in the basement of that house between two bricks, they found a Bible and a small notebook. The notebook contained 25 names, one identified as the pastor, two as assistant pastors, and two elders, and the others were names of members of the pastor's congregation. The soldiers gave the Bible and the notebook to the local branch of the Korean Workers' Party.

And that party called in the military police to investigate, and they eventually tracked down all 25 people, all 25 names listed in the notebook. In November 1996, the 25 were brought to the road construction site without trial. They'd set up four concentric rectangular rows for spectators who were assembled to watch the execution. Five leaders to be executed, the pastors and two elders, were bound hand and foot and then laid on the roadway in front of a huge steamroller used for road making. I'll spare you the details of what happened next except to say that they died.

Before the 20 persons who were accused of being spies and engaging in subversive activities were taken away to a re-education camp, usually called a death camp because very, very few people ever survived. Now, congregation, what I've just described to you is persecution, isn't it? But it's persecution by a government. The book of Acts is not only the story of church growth, and as we've looked at it every time I've been here, we've seen again and again that the church was growing. It's also the story of persecution.

In fact, the book of Acts shows us three different kinds of persecution. There was persecution by individuals, and you and I can relate to that because we've had moments where someone at work has taken a swipe at us for our faith or a neighbour has made life difficult for us because we were Christians. Individuals sometimes persecute the church. Best example of that in the book of Acts is Saul of Tarsus. The church is often also persecuted by other religions, and that happens over and over again in our world today.

If you look at what goes on in some places in Africa, Sudan, some of the other places where Christians are dying at the hands of radical Islamists, then it's very much a picture of what we also see in the book of Acts because in Acts, Stephen the deacon is stoned by the Jewish religious leaders. So it's other religions that persecute Christianity. But here in Acts 12, for the first time, the church is persecuted by a government, by King Herod. The story, friends, in Acts 12 is really the story about a battle between two kingdoms. Often people focus on the prayer meeting in John Mark's house, which is of great interest of course, or on Peter's miraculous escape, which is even more interesting.

The heart of the chapter is really the battle between two kingdoms. The focus is not on the prayer meeting, not even on Peter's escape miraculously, but on that battle that's happening between the two kingdoms. Maybe this morning we don't see that so clearly here, and certainly we don't see it as clearly as we see it in the Old Testament, for example. Could I remind you of Gideon with his 600 soldiers fighting the Midianites? Clearly a battle between God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom.

Or think of King David, before he became king, fighting Goliath. Great battles between those two kingdoms, but here in Acts, hey, it's just about the church, isn't it? And I want to say to you, no, friends, it's not. This is the story of a contest between King Jesus and King Herod. The Herod we meet here is actually Herod Agrippa the First, a puppet king of the Romans.

He comes from a notorious family, and some of us will be aware of that. His grandfather was Herod the Great, who put to death all the babies under two years old in Bethlehem. His uncle Herod Antipas was responsible for the beheading of John the Baptiser. Here under Herod Agrippa, we have for the first time church persecution by a civil authority. But the persecution of the church, congregation, of Jesus is because Jesus identifies with His church.

So it's not just the church being persecuted, it's Jesus being persecuted. Do you see why I'm saying that Acts 12 is not just showing us Herod versus the church. This is King Herod versus King Jesus. It's not first of all about a prayer meeting or a miraculous escape. It's about a battle between two kings.

Now in our text this morning, Herod's motivation for taking on the church becomes very clear. It's totally self-serving. To understand a little better, let me give you a little bit more history. Herod's family were not truly Jewish. Herod the Great, the grandfather, was Idumaean.

Now Idumaean is the New Testament word for an Edomite. That means that he was descended from Isaac's other son, Esau. And so in a sense, what we're seeing in this chapter is nothing else but the ancient hostility between Jacob and Edom, between Israel and Edom, between Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom that we see so often in the Bible. But you see, this present Herod's father had married a Jewish princess, Mariamne. And Mariamne had come from a family of Jewish heroes, the Maccabees.

That had got Herod's father, Aristobulus, in trouble. Grandfather Herod the Great saw that marriage to a Jewish princess as an attempt to take the throne. And so Herod the Great murdered his own son to make sure that he held the throne. You see what that meant for Herod Agrippa the First in this chapter. He's an Edomite, but part Jewish.

And he wants to prove himself to the Jews that he's more Jewish than all the other Herods that have gone before him. And so his whole motive in persecuting the church is to ingratiate himself with the Jews. He wants to score some brownie points to get in their good books. Notice verse three in your Bible if you've got it still open. It makes it quite clear.

He's captured James, the son of Zebedee, and killed him. And then we read in verse three, when he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded also to seize Peter. We see it too in his unwillingness to execute Peter during the Passover festivities. The law said no trial, no executions could be carried out during this feast time. And so Herod Agrippa shows the Jewish leaders what a good boy he is by waiting till the Passover's finished.

This chapter of Acts ends by showing us that this Herod Agrippa the First was also a man with a huge ego. When he visits Caesarea to sort out some problems, they hail him as a god. And Herod, we're shown, just laps it up. All glory in the highest to me, King Herod. From the approach that Herod takes, brothers and sisters, in this chapter, we can work out his strategy.

The same kind of strategy that you use when you've got a tiger snake in your backyard. Chop off the head. If you chop off the head, that's the end of the snake. It's finished. And so Herod's reasoning appears to be go for the leadership.

Chop off the head. And it's so often the approach that the enemy takes when it comes to persecuting the church. Get rid of the leaders, annihilate the pastors. It's a strategy that Satan still uses today that was true of the government in North Korea in that story of persecution I began with. The five pastors and elders were executed, and the rest of the congregation, they were imprisoned.

And the reasoning is that if you attack the leadership, you kill the organisation. And so Herod executes the apostle James, the brother of John, with a sword. Now let me remind you, by the way, congregation, that that actually happened in accordance with a prediction that Jesus had made back in Mark 10. That occasion, James and John had come to Jesus and you may recall the story, asking for the highest positions that Jesus had in His kingdom. And then Jesus asked them, are you able to drink the cup that I will drink?

And they said, yes, we're able. And then Jesus said, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink. In other words, they too would be put to death just as Jesus was put to death. And in Acts 12, it happens just as Jesus had predicted. When the Jewish leaders then applaud Herod, he seizes and imprisons Peter as well.

And then we get this ridiculous situation in this chapter in verse four that he's guarded by four squads of four soldiers. Can you imagine that, brothers and sisters? Four squads of four soldiers, a total of 16 soldiers doing rotating shifts. Isn't it incredibly ridiculous? There'll always be four on guard.

In fact, he's constantly chained to two of them and two more guard the doorways. Maybe it's because of Peter's previous escape back in chapter four. In this battle between two kings, it's instructive, by the way, to consider the kind of weapons used in battle. And we've just said that Herod's weapons are physical. I mean, he used a sword.

He used it to kill James, most likely by beheading. Here it's a prison inside a fortress with 16 soldiers. Anyone would think Peter was a terrorist. Well, all he's guilty of is proclaiming the good news about Jesus Christ. But the point is King Herod's weapons are physical.

They're material. He can kill the body, but that's all he can do. And we remember the words of Jesus, do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul. Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And then in contrast, the weapons of Jesus, King Jesus uses spiritual weapons.

One of them is that prayer meeting in John Mark's house, the meeting of the church gathering in prayer. It's a wonderful angle on that meeting in John Mark's house, isn't it? Not just a group of Christians meeting out of sheer desperation. It's a group of Christians engaging in spiritual warfare. Too often, brothers and sisters, we see prayer as a, well, as a kind of a last resort.

You know, the very last thing Christians can do is pray. It's a very poor view of prayer, I think. It's a bit like a young lass who was visiting a Christian home for the first time for dinner, and the father explained before the meal that they were Christians and therefore they said a prayer called saying grace before the meal, and they did that. And when the dad had bowed in prayer, when he finished, the little girl said, we don't do that in our home. My mother's a good cook.

It's a low view of prayer, isn't it? Prayer should never be our last resort. Prayer should be the normal thing Christians do. Prayer is a gift of God used as a weapon in the battle against the kingdom of Satan. And so here they hold a prayer meeting recognising Jesus' authority as the ultimate king.

But it's not King Herod, but it's King Jesus who's gonna have the final say. And that's true too for persecution today. It's not the opposers that are gonna win the battle. Jesus is gonna win the battle. How did they pray here in Acts 12?

Well, we're not told, but for the release of Peter, they would have undoubtedly prayed. But as they met, they also realised James had just been executed. In other words, we can't always expect the kinds of outcome through our prayers that we would like. In the second place, the weapons of the kingdom include not only prayer, congregation. Did you notice in this chapter, it also includes angels?

What an amazing thing that is. What an amazing power they have. Let me remind you that Hezekiah in the book of Kings, on one occasion, prayed about a threat the Assyrians were. Sennacherib was threatening to invade Jerusalem and Hezekiah prayed about that. And that night, God sent an angel.

And the result was that by the next morning, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers lay dead on the ground. I find the Bible's teaching about angels as one of those great encouraging things in Scripture. If you doubt that, then go home and read Psalm 91. It's a glorious picture of the care that God gives us through angels. And here in this battle between two kings, the power of Christ, the weapons of Christ includes angels.

One of them is then sent to liberate Peter. Suddenly, he's there in the cell. A brilliant light invades the cell, not just a torch of some fire, but the light of God. The chains fall off Peter's wrists. He's told to get dressed and follow the angel.

And the prison doors opened by themselves, the first ever automatically opening doors in history. Would you believe? And Peter suddenly finds himself out on the streets of Jerusalem, free, liberated by angels. And of course, the sobering thing, friends, is that James was not freed. So was James expendable?

Was James collateral damage in the war between these two kingdoms? We want to say no this morning. Jesus also had a purpose in that because so often, friends, it's been seen in the history of the church that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. But with Peter, we have the inspiring story of God's use of the supernatural, the angels, to bless His people. And the wonderful thing is that Jesus does that in answer to the prayers of His people.

An angel also features at the end of this chapter in that horrible scenario at the end of Herod's life. Herod's had some issues with the people of Tyre and Sidon and they wanted to appease the king. We're told that Tyre and Sidon depended on Palestine for their food supplies. And so Herod turns up at some Roman festivities. On the appointed day, he turns up in his royal regalia and he gives a public speech.

The Jewish historian, by the way, Josephus, tells us he appeared on the stage in a silver robe and in the early morning sun, it produced a dazzling spectacle. And so when Herod got up and spoke to the crowds, the crowd shouted out, this is a god and not a man. And at that point, we again see the power of the kingdom of Christ. Again, an angel appears, but this time it's to strike Herod with a terrible disease so that Herod dies a horrible and slow death. And then we get the contrast in verse 24.

Have a look at it if you've got your Bible, in verse 24, the contrast, but the word of God continued to increase and spread. Wonderful conclusion to the story, congregation. Christ wins. The gospel advances in leaps and bounds. This king who wanted to destroy the church is himself destroyed.

He becomes worm food. Wonderful thing to know that Jesus Christ is victorious in the battle. I think Martin Luther put it very well in the words of that well-known hymn, and though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him, for lo his doom is sure, one little word will fell him. Herod wanted to see the church destroyed, and instead Herod is destroyed.

Reminds me a little bit of the university professor who was lecturing in philosophy and he wrote it on the board during his lecture. He wrote, God is dead. And then underneath it, wrote Nietzsche. And then went out for a lunch break. When they came back, a student had written underneath it, Nietzsche is dead.

God. God always wins in the end. I want to draw your attention this morning to one other thing, brothers and sisters. When someone has it in for you at work because you're a Christian, it's very easy for us to lose perspective, isn't it? To panic.

If we were in a situation in Australia where our government persecuted us, it'd be very easy to lose perspective. Point is that we don't always see these problems of persecution and someone having a go at us in terms of the battle between two kingdoms. And what we need in those moments is a faith perspective to see that it is against Jesus and that Jesus is always going to win in the end. It's only when we look at things with the eye of faith that we see things as they really are. And when we do that, it's hugely comforting.

Let me illustrate what I mean with something from our text showing us that we need the faith perspective and why we need it. Just imagine that you're one of those five Christian leaders in North Korea that were arrested. And so the military police have taken you into custody and you're in a jail cell and you're sitting there and it's your last night, you know that tomorrow morning, they're planning to execute you along with the others. Now think about that and tell me, how would you sleep? Would you sit there worrying all night or would you sleep peacefully?

What happens here in Acts 12 is that Peter is in prison and he's chained between two soldiers and he's waiting to be executed the next day, but he sleeps soundly. Did you notice that? Despite being on death row. In fact, please notice verse seven of the text. The angel strikes Peter.

Why does he strike him? Because he's so sound asleep, he needs a good prod from an angel to awaken him. More than that, even when he wakes, he's so drowsy. The angel's got to instruct him, put on your clothes, put on your sandals, wrap your cloak around you. Friends, you can only sleep like that on death row when you know that King Jesus is in total control of this situation and of your life.

The reality of course is we don't always see that. And this chapter of the Bible makes that abundantly clear too, doesn't it? We've got that incredible scene of that prayer meeting in John Mark's house. They're holding a prayer meeting for the purpose of upholding Peter in prayer. Undoubtedly praying that if it's God's will, Peter might be released to them.

And then suddenly Peter's there and he's knocking at the door of the outer entrance and Rhoda, the servant girl, we're told, in her excitement, leaves him standing there. She rushes in and interrupts that prayer meeting by telling them Peter's at the door. And what's the reaction? They treat her as if she's been helping herself to the cooking sherry in the kitchen. You're out of your mind, young lady.

They knew better. Peter was in prison secured by 16 soldiers, no less. And when she insisted it's Peter, they suggest it must be his angel. I'm not quite sure what's meant by that. Many people seem to think it's based on old Jewish superstition that one's guardian angel looked and talked like the person they guarded.

Or maybe Peter's already dead and the guardian angel is now without a job and he's come here to tell them Peter's already been executed. But the point is they rationalise that it can't be Peter. When all along Peter's liberation is the very thing they were praying for. These people at the prayer meeting didn't believe it at first. They lacked that faith perspective and it's only after Peter's constant knocking that they finally opened up and let him in.

Do you see how strong unbelief can be in our lives at times? In fact, it even took Peter some time to come to terms with what was happening. It says in our text, and suddenly he came to himself. He thought he was seeing a vision. Only as the angel disappears and he recognises the streets of Jerusalem does he understand the miracle that has just happened.

We need God to give us the eyes of faith to see Jesus as the victorious King of His church. I find it rather wonderful, brothers and sisters, that this story of the Bible is supported by history. I mentioned Josephus a little earlier, the Jewish historian. He was also a general in the Roman army. And he gives us the same story of Herod's appearance in Caesarea.

And he does it in a little more detail than Luke does here in the book of Acts. He tells us what happened. He tells us that immediately after the people shouted the voice of God and not of a man, that Herod was struck by terrible abdominal pains. So much so that he had to be helped from the platform by two men. He informs us that Herod suffered terribly for five days before he eventually died.

So Josephus is confirming the accuracy of Luke's story. But you see, the Bible gives an added perspective that Josephus couldn't give us, and that is that that terrible death comes as a punishment for Herod's arrogance, setting himself up as a king against King Jesus, wanting to be his own god. And he seals his doom when he refuses to give God the glory that is due to Him. In some sense, that judgment on Herod prefigures the end time judgment that will fall on all of those who oppose King Jesus when He returns. Brothers and sisters, we're living today in an age of increased persecution, and especially in some places from radical Islamists.

The message of Acts 12 this morning is, we can draw comfort from the fact that Jesus wins. Jesus triumphs over all of those who set themselves up against Him. This morning we've been looking at the story of the battle of two kingdoms. That battle is still raging. And I want to suggest to you that it's actually getting worse as we near the end of time.

And you need to ask yourself this morning, whose side of the battle are you really on? Because it's only when you trust in King Jesus that you can be sure you're on the winning team. Let me lead you in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us again this morning that there are only two sides and we can't sit on the fence. We're either on the side of Jesus or on the side of the enemy.

And we thank You for assuring us again this morning that in the end it is always Jesus who wins. And Father, we pray that You'll give our persecuted brothers and sisters that comforting perspective on their situation. Remember especially persecuted Christians in North Korea, one of the worst countries for persecution, but also in Southern Sudan and some other places in Africa, Father, where Christians are being annihilated in large numbers. We thank You, Father, that You are still in control even through those sad situations. And Father, You are building Your kingdom as even today the blood of the martyrs is still the seed of the church.

We give You thanks and praise that You are King Jesus, and that we can serve and worship You. We pray this in Your name. Amen.