Bible Study With Jairus - Acts 12

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 12
The beginning of Acts chapter 12 discusses how after James was killed, Peter was imprisoned and then miraculously rescued by an angel. The end of the chapter talks about Herod being struck by an angel, eaten by worms, and dying because he didn’t give praise to God.
Let’s look at the following verses:
12:21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. (NIV)
12:22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” (NIV)
12:23 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. (NIV)

A member of our Bible study asked the question, “What exactly did Herod say that made God strike him like that?” Is it because what he said was not the word of God? Was it perhaps the word of man which was then exalted by the people as the word of God, so he committed the sin of presumptuousness and was struck by God? Did God tell him what to say but he didn’t give praise to God and was therefore struck down? There are many evil people in the Bible, and many of them were punished. Herod’s demise of being struck by God’s messenger, eaten by worms and dying, is a rare case.

This is a difficult question to answer, because the Bible doesn’t record what Herod said, so we have no way of knowing. If we look at the train of thought in this chapter from the beginning, it may help us understand this question.

Aside from Herod's death being strange, James' death is also hard to understand., When we compare it with Peter's miraculous rescue, James died unjustly. This doesn’t seem fair at first glance. Peter was imprisoned and magically rescued by an angel. Then we have James, who was persecuted and killed by Herod without God intervening at all. Peter, like us, also encountered unjust things. When the Lord Jesus was with His disciples on earth, He told Peter, “When you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” (NIV, John 21:18). This indicates the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God (NIV, John 21:19). Peter’s first question to Jesus was, “What about John?” (NIV, John 21:21). The Lord said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” (NIV, John 21:22). In the end, there was a rumor spreading that John would not die. But John explained that the Lord was not saying that he wouldn’t die. Rather, the Lord was saying that if He wanted him to remain alive until He returned, it was none of Peter’s business. This was a matter between the Lord and John. The Lord said to Peter, "Follow me."
Read More: https://jbwm.org/bible-study-with-jairus-acts-12/