Commentary - Acts 12:20-23

Bird's-eye view

This brief but potent narrative serves as a hinge in the twelfth chapter of Acts. Having just recounted the miraculous deliverance of Peter from Herod's prison, Luke now turns to record the ignominious end of the persecutor himself. The contrast could not be more stark. The church, weak and armed only with prayer, is preserved by an angel. The king, strong and arrayed in royal splendor, is struck down by an angel. This is a raw display of the politics of the kingdom of God. Earthly rulers rage and imagine vain things, but God in heaven holds them in derision. The passage is a vivid illustration of a central biblical theme: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Herod's sin is not merely pride in the abstract; it is the ultimate blasphemy of accepting worship, of failing to give glory to God. His subsequent death is not a random tragedy but a direct, swift, and gruesome divine judgment, a foretaste of the final judgment that awaits all who would usurp the throne of God.

Luke, the meticulous historian, includes the political backdrop involving Tyre and Sidon to ground this event in real-world history and to highlight the nature of Herod's arrogance. He was a man who held the power of life and death, not just over apostles, but over entire regions dependent on his economic favor. Yet, for all his earthly power, he was utterly powerless before the God he offended. The story is a solemn warning against the intoxication of power and the flattery of men, and a powerful encouragement to the church that no persecuting authority is beyond the reach of God's sovereign judgment.

Outline

Context In Acts

Chapter 12 of Acts is a microcosm of the conflict that defines the entire book: the kingdom of man versus the kingdom of God. The chapter opens with Herod Agrippa I on a rampage against the church. He kills James the brother of John with the sword, a direct assault on the apostolic leadership. Seeing that this pleases the Jews, he proceeds to arrest Peter, intending the same fate for him after the Passover. The church responds not with political maneuvering or armed resistance, but with earnest prayer (Acts 12:5). The central section of the chapter (Acts 12:6-19) details Peter's miraculous, angel-led escape from a maximum-security prison. This sets the stage for our passage. The same Herod who could not hold one apostle in his dungeon now sits in judgment, puffed up with his own importance. His sudden and horrific death immediately follows, and Luke concludes the chapter by noting, "But the word of God grew and multiplied" (Acts 12:24). The sequence is intentional and theological: the tyrant persecutes, the church prays, God delivers His servant, God judges the tyrant, and the gospel advances. This is how the kingdom of God conquers.

Key Issues

The Politics of Pride

It is crucial that we see this event for what it is: a political clash. But it is a clash between two different kinds of politics. On the one hand, you have the politics of Herod. It is the politics of anger, economic leverage, backroom deals with chamberlains, and public relations events designed to display power and solicit flattery. This is the way of the world. Power is maintained through intimidation and image management. Herod was very angry with Tyre and Sidon, and they knew they were in a tight spot because their food supply depended on him. So they played the game. They bribed an official, sought an audience, and prepared to lay the flattery on thick.

On the other hand, you have the politics of the kingdom of God. This kingdom does not operate by bribing officials or managing public opinion. Its King rules from a heavenly throne, and He dispatches angels to deliver His servants and to execute His judgments. When Herod, a petty tetrarch, allows himself to be addressed as a god, he is committing an act of high treason against the one true King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The response is not a political debate or a military coup; it is a swift, decisive, and utterly sovereign act of judgment. God will not be mocked. A ruler's glory is a borrowed thing, and when he tries to claim it as his own, the true Owner will repossess it, and the man along with it.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Now he was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because their country was fed by the king’s country.

Luke begins with the earthly political situation, showing us the stage upon which the divine drama will unfold. Herod Agrippa I is "very angry" with the Phoenician coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. The Greek word suggests a deep, simmering animosity. We are not told the cause of the dispute, but the effect is clear: Tyre and Sidon are in a precarious position. They were commercial centers, but for their staple foods, they were dependent on the agricultural produce of Galilee, which Herod controlled. An embargo would mean starvation. So they do what politically vulnerable people have always done. They came "with one accord," a united front, and engaged in some strategic lobbying. They "won over Blastus," the king's right-hand man, likely with a hefty bribe. Their request was for "peace," which here means the restoration of normal economic and political relations. This verse masterfully sets up Herod's sense of inflated self-importance. He is the man who has entire cities groveling at his feet. He controls their very sustenance. He is, in his own mind, the master of their fate.

21 And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them.

The stage is now set for the main event. It is an "appointed day," a day of ceremony and spectacle. Herod, ever the showman, pulls out all the stops. He puts on his "royal apparel." The Jewish historian Josephus, describing this same event, tells us that Herod's robe was made entirely of silver, and as the morning sun caught it, it glittered in a way that struck fear and reverence into the hearts of the onlookers. He then takes his seat on the bema, the raised platform or judgment seat, the very symbol of his authority. From this position of visual and political dominance, he begins to speak. The whole scene is carefully orchestrated to project an aura of overwhelming power and majesty.

22 And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”

Here we see the fruit of the groveling that began in verse 20. The delegation from Tyre and Sidon, along with the rest of the sycophantic crowd, knew what was expected of them. As Herod's oration concludes, they erupt in a chorus of blasphemous flattery. The verb tense "kept crying out" implies a continuous, sustained shouting. This was not a spontaneous outburst but a calculated performance. "The voice of a god and not of a man!" This was standard fare in the emperor cults of the day, but it was a direct violation of the first commandment. They were not just complimenting his speaking skills; they were ascribing divinity to a mere mortal, and a wicked one at that. This is the pinnacle of man-centered worship, the rotten fruit of a political system built on fear and flattery rather than truth and righteousness.

23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

The divine response is swift and terrifying. The word "immediately" is crucial. There is no delay, no period of warning or probation. The moment the blasphemy is offered and accepted, the judgment falls. An "angel of the Lord" strikes him. This is the same angelic power that delivered Peter from prison, now unleashed for judgment. The reason for the judgment is stated with perfect clarity: "because he did not give God the glory." Herod's sin was not in wearing a fancy robe or giving a speech. His sin was in receiving the worship that belongs to God alone. He heard the blasphemous cries and, instead of rebuking them, he drank them in. He loved the praise of man more than the praise of God. The result is a grotesque and humiliating death. He was "eaten by worms," a condition Josephus describes as a severe and painful abdominal disease, and he "breathed his last." The man who was hailed as a god is shown to be nothing more than a feast for maggots. God demonstrates in the most graphic way possible that there is only one God, and Herod is not Him.

Application

The story of Herod's demise is a stark and enduring lesson for all people, but especially for those in positions of authority. The central temptation of power is to begin to believe your own press clippings, to inhale the incense of flattery until you think you really are the source of the blessings you administer. Every leader, whether in politics, business, the church, or the family, is a steward. Any authority they have is delegated authority, loaned to them by God. The moment a leader begins to think the glory belongs to him, he is standing on the same precipice as Herod.

We must learn to despise flattery, both giving it and receiving it. Flattery is a lie that we tell someone because we want something from them. It is the currency of Herod's court. The church, by contrast, is to be a community of truth, where we speak the truth in love. We are to honor those in authority, but we must never, ever offer them worship. Our ultimate allegiance is to King Jesus, and our ultimate purpose is the glory of God the Father.

And for every believer who has ever felt overwhelmed by the arrogance and apparent invincibility of wicked rulers, this passage is a profound comfort. The Herods of this world have their day. They strut and preen on their appointed stages, and it can seem as though their power is absolute. But God is still on His throne. He has His angels, and He has His worms. He knows precisely how to humble the proud. Our task is not to fret or to engage in political scheming like the men of Tyre. Our task is to pray earnestly, as the church did for Peter, and to trust that the God who judges righteously will, in His perfect time, bring every proud man low, so that His word, and not the word of tyrants, might grow and multiply.