Obituaries, Part 2

“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church….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.”  Acts12:1, 23

July 19, 2022

“Herod Agrippa I, 10 BC-44 AD, king over Palestine, AD 37-44, the grandson of Herod the Great, passed away recently while delivering a state speech. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his honor to the immediate family.” 

This made-up obituary is designed to tell us that God will not allow His enemies to triumph. Of course, not every strutting, pompous, self-possessed politician dies in such a dramatic way, and with a Spirit-directed public epitaph included. The account of Herod’s death stands in stark contrast to Peter’s refusal to accept worship (Acts 10:26). God alone is to be worshiped. Herod was made an example by what can happen when vain and prideful leaders step over the line of God’s moral law. Enough was enough. His obituary demonstrates God’s power in overthrowing arrogant human self-promotion. The Herods of this world may bark at us and even bite us, God permitting. But God’s rule and power determine our circumstances. Politicians who dance on the graves of the innocent unborn in the name self-proclaimed “personal rights of privacy” have a righteous God with whom they will have to reckon. The moral insanity that has gripped our nation on multiple fronts is a call for God’s people to pray that the word of God will increase and be multiplied throughout our land (Acts 12:24). H

A time to pray: “O Lord God, I pray that the tide of war against babies in the womb will be restrained. Grant wisdom to your church for ways to show mercy and give your counsel to women who seek answers to their pregnancies.”