In the past week numerous websites have sprung up declaring that Christchurch’s recent earthquake was God punishing the city for its sin. But as I explained in an earlier post, God’s remedy for sin is not earthquakes, hurricanes or terrorism. God dealt with all our sin at the cross. If God used natural disasters to judge cities, that would be like saying that the cross was an insufficient remedy for sin. Sin is destructive, but it won’t lead to a holy smiting. God is done with sin (1 Pe 4:1). The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him (Is 53:5). The only sin that’ll send you to hell is unbelief in the goodness of God as revealed in Jesus and His work on the cross (Jn 16:8-9).
So if God is no longer in the punishment business, who killed Herod?
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 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. (Acts 12:21-23)
If God is really done with sin, how do we explain this? Herod is a good test case for he is the only person in the New Testament who appears to have been struck or punished by God. Before the cross entire cities and nations were wiped out on account of sin. But after the cross, Herod is the only candidate. (If you’re wondering about Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 or Elymas the sorcerer, see my note in the comments below.) So who killed Herod? I’m going to present the evidence for and against five suspects, then you can decide for yourself. This is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but I am going to make a serious point at the end.
1. God killed Herod
To prove a crime you need to demonstrate means, motive, and opportunity. God certainly had the means and opportunity to strike Herod but He had no motive. “What about Herod’s sin of pride?” I hear you say with indignation. “He had it coming and deserved to get whacked!” Maybe he did, but God does not treat us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10). The truth is we all had it coming, yet God gave His Son as the ultimate sin offering for the whole world. Through Christ He has reconciled the world to Himself and is no longer counting our sins against us (2 Cor 5:19). If God was counting Herod’s sin, it would be bad news indeed for it would mean that the cross was not the perfect remedy for sin that the Bible says it is (Heb 10:12).
“What about God’s righteous demands for justice?” These were fully satisfied on the cross. God is no longer obliged to punish sin because He already has (Is 53:5). “But Herod never repented.” God’s grace does not depend on man’s performance. He still wouldn’t punish him. Remember, the Son of Man came to see and save the lost (Lk 19:10). He came to die for unbelievers like Herod. If Herod went to his grave unrepentant, then, yes, there will be eternal consequences. But men are appointed to face judgment after they die, not before (Heb 9:27). In this post we are talking about Herod’s first death, not his second (Rev 21:8).
God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He had no more reason to strike Herod than He has to strike you. The fact that you’re still breathing despite all you’ve done is testimony to the grace of a good God. You are just one of six billion living witnesses of God’s mercy and grace. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, including Herod. He doesn’t deserve grace any more than you do, but here we are.
Not only is there no motive, but God’s defense (as if He needed one) is supported by an outstanding character witness: Jesus. To interpret the heart of the Father we only need to look at the Son (Jn 14:9). Jesus met plenty of people who were proud like Herod. Some were so full of themselves that they warranted sober warnings: “Woe to you – how will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Mt 23). Yet every sinner that Jesus confronted walked away with the opportunity to repent. Jesus smote none of them and He died for all of them. Was God judging Herod? Jesus says no (Jn 5:22). Although many are quick to blame God for killing Herod, the facts are He had no motive and Jesus said He didn’t do it. Case dismissed.
2. An angel killed Herod
Luke wrote that an “angel of the Lord” killed Herod. In the Hebrew Old Testament, the phrase “angel of the Lord” sometimes referred to the Lord Himself (Ex 3:2, Jdg 6:22). But there are plenty of places in the New Testament where it simply meant an angel from the Lord (Mt 28:2, Lk 2:9). So one possibility raised by my friend Simon Wilson, is that an angel struck Herod. This is not to say that it was the Lord’s will for Herod to be struck. But if saints can act independently of God’s will, why can’t angels? Angels aren’t robots.
Have you ever heard of a Christian acting rashly and doing something dumb for Jesus? How about Peter? In a moment of passion Peter tried to remove the head of the high priest’s servant (Jn 18:10). If Peter can swing a sword in a misguided attempt to defend the Lord’s name, why not an angel? I admit it’s hard to imagine, but as far as I can tell there’s nothing in scripture to rule out this possibility.
3. A believer killed Herod
To be correct, Luke wrote that an aggelos or angelos of the Lord struck Herod. A full definition of that word raises the possibility that it could’ve been an angel, a messenger, a pastor or an ordinary Christian. For instance, Luke uses the same word angelos when describing John the Baptist (Lk 7:27), John’s disciples (Lk 7:24), and Jesus’ disciples (Lk 9:52). An angelos is simply a messenger. So now we’re looking for a messenger with a motive. Hmm. Maybe it was Peter – he certainly had motive. Afterall, Herod had tried to kill him so maybe it was self-defense (Acts 12:3). Or maybe Peter got riled when Herod started strutting like a god and he went berserk with a sword again. (This one was rusty, hence the infection that followed.) This led to a huge scandal and so as not to embarrass Peter further, Luke disguised his identity when re-telling the story.
No, I don’t really think Peter did it.
4. The devil killed Herod
I mention the devil simply because Jesus said he’s always a suspect whenever death and destruction are involved (Jn 10:10). Of course if it was the devil, then Luke, the author of Acts, missed the mark by saying it was an angel of the Lord. If Luke was ascribing to God something done by the devil, then he would be making a very Old Testamenty mistake (see Job). In olden times people used to attribute anything supernatural – good or bad – to God. If Satan did something bad, it was because God had allowed it to happen and therefore God was ultimately responsible. If Luke was thinking like this then he was making a huge mistake. But he wouldn’t be alone. To this day there are believers who claim that because God is sovereign everything that happens is His will. Jesus would strongly disagree.
A second way that Luke could’ve misread Herod’s death is by not fully understanding the significance of the cross. He may have been a little confused about what made the new covenant new. Perhaps he thought that God was still smiting people. If so, he wouldn’t be the only New Testament believer who was confused about the covenants. (Ananias, Paul’s healer, still thought you could wash your sins away with water (Acts 22:16)!)
5. Sin killed Herod
I don’t blame the devil for everything that goes wrong in this world. The fact is that sin is probably a far greater killer (Gen 2:17, Rm 6:33). Sin has a single purpose and that is to open the door to death (Rm 5:12). Sin can kill you quick or it can kill you slow but we are naïve if we think of sin as a purposeless thing. Paul warned that if we let sin reign in our “mortal bodies” we will become its slaves and it will lead to death (Rms 6:12-16).
Those of us who have received the gift of righteousness having nothing to fear from either sin or death (1 Co 15:55), but Herod had no such assurance. As a slave to sin he was fair game (Rm 6:16). You might say that sin was crouching at his door desiring him as it did Cain (Gen 4:7). According to Josephus, Herod knew that he was dying on account of the praises of his flatterers. I don’t put a lot of stock in what Josephus says, but his account does accord with Paul’s warnings about sin. Maybe it was Herod’s sin that killed him.
So who killed Herod?
We don’t exactly know and it doesn’t really matter. I didn’t write this to blame Peter, some Rambo-angel or even the devil. I wrote it so people would stop blaming God. My punch-line is this: If God punished Herod by killing him, then Christ’s atoning work on the cross was not perfect and you’re in serious trouble.
But the good news is that He didn’t, it was, and you’re not!
___
Related posts:
- 1 Peter 4:17 – It’s judgment time!
- Seven signs that you might be living under law
- The Christchurch earthquake: Four questions Christians can answer
Note: Herod is the only New Testament character who seems to be linked with divine punishment. What about Ananias and Sapphira? There is no evidence that God killed them. They lied to the Holy Spirit but didn’t die until Peter confronted them. My friend Cornel Marais reckons Peter may have killed them. Afterall, Peter had been impressed with the way Jesus killed the fig tree with a word (Mk 11:21). Peter knew from first-hand experience that the tongue holds the power of life and death (Pro 18:21). And it wouldn’t have been the first time Peter tried to kill someone in the name of Christ (Jn 18:10).
It’s the same thing with Elymas the sorcerer. Paul said the hand of the Lord was against him but if Paul hadn’t spoken Elymas would not have been blinded for a time (Acts 13:11). Paul is not God. Paul was acting on his own initiative. Smith Wigglesworth and other great preachers have similarly silenced enemies of God. It’s not unheard of.
I can’t prove this , but a likely scenario would have been a disciple in the crowd who was displeased with the governors attitude. Remembering that calling down fire was frowned upon by Jesus he decided on taking out Herod with worms. I don’t think the angel acted on his own accord or that Lord Himself ordered the hit. Truly the power of death is in the tongue of the people and someone whacked Herod that day and the Lord did not prevent the angels gift of worms inside Herod’s body.
In theory I agree with most of what you’re saying, but it seems that there is a lot of speculation in your interpretation. It is a huge stretch to suggest human hands were solely responsible or that an angel in allegiance to God would go against His will. Not saying it’s not possible, only that it is very difficult to make that leap of interpretation from the material that we have. I realize that you are interpreting things through the lens of the cross and trying to bring alignment to what we know to be true about God’s character and what was accomplished in the cross, grave, & resurrection. However, it’s entirely possible for God to have been the culprit so to speak without contradicting the perfect work of the cross. God in His omniscience very likely knew Herod’s heart, and God could very well have known that Herod would never relent in his unbelief and repent of his wickedness. Matthew 12:31 mentions the unforgiveable sin of blasphemy of the Spirit. It could very well be that Herod’s actions, as well as Ananias and Saphira, could have been considered in that category. We do not know, but I do not believe it violates what was accomplished at the cross. I fully agree that all sin was dealt with at the cross, but there is something required on our part: belief, sincere repentance, and confession of Jesus as Lord. This is why we are called to preach the gospel and make disciples. I am only speculating in regard to Herod and do not presume to know for sure, but I trust in God’s perfect goodness and His sovereignty. He has things well in hand, and whatever the truth of the situation, it is certainly a difficult subject. For all we know, it may have simply been Herod’s appointed time because of God’s foreknowledge. There are numerous possibilities for how it all fits, but incompatibility with the cross is only true if you believe the gift of redemption, righteousness, and salvation are appropriated prior to belief. It seems that one is required to be “in Christ” to receive the benefit of the cross. Again, I am only suggesting possibilities. I have no doubt in the perfect work of the cross, and it is my firm belief that however God chooses to deal with various people, He never violates what was accomplished at the cross.
Oh, almost forgot, I like the picture up at the top for this topic. :) Fitting!
If God judged all sin at the cross, then it was all sin – before and since. To say God is no longer in the smiting business is like saying He went to an AA meeting and turned over a new leaf. I find myself giggling at the thought. Well, not exactly. Either God smites or He doesn’t. There is no before and after.
Does saying God killed Herod make it “blame” – or is it simply acknowledging a fact? Does God kill everyone? Or no one? Or some? Death is judgment against sin. Our mortal bodies are all born into sin and all die. God determines when and He is sovereign in His authority – hence the 6th commandment. Anything Peter did or did not do with regard to Ananias and Sapphira was in the power of the Holy Spirit and not Peter acting alone. Side note: The reference to Peter’s action in the garden is (imho) irrelevant because he was not yet fully empowered by the Spirit.
And do angels act outside the will of God? Jude 9 suggests not, even if they have some degree of free will. The very question begs a simplicity which I really don’t think exists.
i love this response sir
Lance, I agree with your analysis of Peter in the garden. Peter had not yet been transformed through the resurrection and Pentecost. I can’t see the Spirit supernaturally empowering Peter to do something against the will of God. Peter “could” have acted in the natural, but I do not think Luke would have portrayed it in the way that he did if that were the case.
Paul, in thinking about your topic regarding the earthquake, I had a thought that helped bring new perspective to this topic that I think might allow for compatibility of sorts. Whether a believer or unbeliever, people choosing to not act in alignment with God opens the door for Satan to have his way regardless of what God prefers, but even in that, God works all things for the good of those who love Him. This would bring agreement to the whole Satan/destroyer and God/lifegiver contrast. I think of it in terms of the apostle Paul’s expression of the “old” versus the “new”, whether we feed the “flesh” or the “spirit”. I don’t think it’s an issue of punishment or judgment so much as belief versus unbelief and whether we are living in agreement with God’s reality, kind of like the post you made recently regarding our experience of healing. I think there is more to this that I may be missing, but my brain is still processing it.
i HAVE A RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE,
When God does something its not to be taken lightly, there is a huge and clear powerful reason. The original article is not good interpretation. When it comes to Devine things we was tread carefully.
The bible declares that Herod was struck by an angel of God not a messenger of Satan or a human being. It does by no means diss-anull the power of the cross. The power of the cross is of grace and mercy. But the only ones that live in this ARE “as many as those that receive Him”, and “they that receive (Lambano) abundance of grace shall reign in life”. Think of this, when christians die by crash or some tragic event does that meAn that the grace of God failed or His mercy or protection? No. The blessings of the cross are fully appropriated by our tongue, this rudder. For by our words are we justified or condemned. our mouth our words as the bible says “is a tree of life”. life and death is still in the power of the tongue. so if Gods grace does not fail and his protection and promises then why these tragic events? The answer is easily found in the word. So just because Christ died on the cross does not mean anyone is out of danger. Death reigned in Herod. The wages of sin is death. This wage is still in operation but christ took it for the whole world meaning salvation is AVAILABLE. To as many as receive by their free will. ONE MUST RUN TO THE CROSS, NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. In the old testament sin was on Gods people Israel in time of moses and 1st born was going to be killed but only the blood of jesus by the passover feast saved all that were under the blood. Not because of israel’s righteousness for they were not. Herod was not under the blood and certain times we see angels executing judgement. this particular angel was of God. The angel smote him. It was judgement. In the bible as the children of israel left egypt God was light to them but the other side was darkness to the egyptians, and this was not talking about sunlight daytime and night-time. it was the move of God.
God is merciful to all but it does not clear the guilty outside of the cross. Jesus took the guilt punishment for all. But it must be received not taken for granted. What HEROD DID WAS FULL FORCE AGAINST THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, that time also the word of God was moving mightily and great power was evident, so Herod clearly knew who he was resisting and by his not giving God glory means God expected him to but he chose complete rebellion. If he does not gather then he scatters. His final prideful action was the end of his own line. That day was his life required, meaning declared to end. Though if he repented mercy would stop that judgement. Judgement is still there for God is just and christ took it for those that would receive, and this message is available to the whole world. Yet each man must humble their heart for today is the day of salvation.
I hope this shed light. When God does something its not to be taken lightley, there is a huge and clear powerful reason.
In case of Ananias and Sapphira, note it was Peter who handed it out to them. He himself lied and denied the Lord 3 times (http://www.revivalorriots.org/archives/1820). Having heard Peter’s story, the good news, and tasted the powers that is to come…. maybe there is none for them left. And Herod being a high ranking government official, heard also the good news.
Note also the one who handed the 10 commandments murdered a man….
There is a sin which is not forgiven and it seems that Herod did this sin.
Matthew 12
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
If it were true that judgment comes early for those who commit the unforgiveable sin, God would have to kill thousands of people every day. Yet the wicked and the proud live on in their unbelief. You may be interested in this post on the unforgiveable sin.
Worms killed him.
I came across this article as I was searching for the scripture where Herod was killed.My freind and I were having a discussion about a paticular celebrity and I ended up talking about this event in the bible. I Love when I see the word being discussed intelligently, and in Love, not trying to belittle any one but rather to enlighten. I agree with both Lance and Brandon’s take on this. I too believe that when God does something it’s not to be taken lightly and this story always stuck out to me because i do/use to (not as often now) a video blog where I encourage others via the word of God. I’m always careful to give God the Glory, especially if others seem to be praising me for anything that I might have said. I also wonder if Herod’s position had anything to do with why he was “struck?” People on a daily basis don’t give God Glory for what he’s done and they are not killed. I know he’s not a respector of person’s but do you believe that because of the position that a person holds or title he carries God requires more? Just thinking out loud and would like to hear what others think about this thought.