20 Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country. 21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
Commentary
Vs. 20 “Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s country.”
Now were not told why Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon (two principal cities on the Mediterranean coast which were under his rule), however given the enormous egos of such men, and Tyre and Sidon’s ancient history as honoring their rulers as “gods”, maybe they hadn’t yet acknowledged him in such a manner as he had wished? But whatever the reason was, Herod governed them, and he controlled the flow of grain from Galilee to them which they were depended upon. And so, the Scripture says in seeking his good graces they befriended his personal aid a man named Blastus through which they asked for conditions of peace with Herod.
Vs. 21-22 21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
Now according to the KJV Bible Commentary this event was actually recorded in antiquity by the historian Josephus who gives a detailed account of that day (see Antiquities xix.8.2)[1] And so it was Herod being arrayed in royal apparel and sitting on his throne in Caesarea that he gave an oration to them, now while he did so the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” which again Herod may have been seeking from them, or at the very least was himself now completely reveling in, for he did nothing to quell their totally misguided enthusiasm about declaring him a god.
Vs. 23 “Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”
If Herod himself wouldn’t silence the crowds totally misguided enthusiasm about him, and he being such an evil and self-serving person then God in heaven would! Therefore, He sent his angel who struck Herod, because he did not give God glory, (the One who made him, who sustained him, and who would now judge him) because he thought to usurp God’s glory for himself; (in this consider Ezekiel 28:1-10, vs. 9); and this during a time when God was seeking to establish His Son’s Name and Salvation in the earth, whom Herod was now opposing and had even killed one of His chosen apostles. Therefore, Herod was struck by the angel of the Lord and he was eaten by worms and died. Make so mistake about it then mankind’s words are always heard in heaven, just as their deeds are all seen by Him.
Vs. 24 “But the word of God grew and multiplied.”
When God removed Herod He did so, so that Word of God would grow and multiply, and thus With Herod’s demise the Word of God grew and multiplied. Therefore, anyone who exalts themselves above, or sets themselves in opposition to the Word of God, does so to their own peril. And so sometimes God permits opposition to His Word (for a season) so as to make it grown and multiply, and sometimes as with the case of Herod He immediately removes opposition so as to make the Word of God grow and multiply. But whatever God decides it will always make the Word of God grow and multiply!
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
[1]
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible
Commentary (p. 2160). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment