And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” 23 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.
24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.
We always lament when someone is cut down in their prime, at the peak of their strength and their power. They may have thought they were invincible as they received praise from everyone around them. This alone can be their undoing. King Herod Aggrippa I was just such a man. He was the king after all. No one could trump his power and the people knew it. They fed his ego with comparisons to the Roman gods. There is one that he could not compare to and that was the God of the Bible. He had tried to stand in his way by killing James the brother of John and imprisoning Peter. In the end, he could not keep James from victory, or Peter from continuing his ministry. It ended painfully for him. Josephus said he writhed in agony for 5 days.
There are people today in the same situation. Politicians are set up for a fall when they feel invincible. Even famous pastors can fall into the trap. Sadly, we are seeing more and more stories of fallen pastors. If someone told me I was awesome enough times, I would start to believe it. If they called me a god, I would start to believe that too. Even a king, Herod, could not stop God. Nothing will. Even a celebrity pastor can do nothing without God. With or without us…
The word will increase and multiply.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church