Diet of Worms

Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
October 2025

In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. ²⁰He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 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. 24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

Last week looked at one of the great miracles of the Bible, the deliverance of Peter at night from a maximum-security prison by an angel. We saw one of the ministries of angels today is to help believers. They are called ministering spirits. They minister to believers.

Today, we are going to see another ministry of angels. It is a more sobering task. Angels do not just guard and protect people; they judge people.

We always talk about guardian angels. We never talk about judging angels. In the Tribulation Period, angels pour out judgment on the earth. Angels sometimes cause people to die. The angel in this chapter made Herod sick and he died.

It was a supernatural death. He didn’t die because of a bad diet or bad genes. It was the result of sin. He was killed by an angelic being. A supernatural being took him out. An angel smites two people in this chapter.

He smote Peter and he was delivered (Acts 12:7). He smote Herod and he dropped dead (Acts 12:23). The same Greek word is used in both cases (πατάσσω). Herod dies in this chapter.

It was a supernatural death. It was a sudden death. It was a painful death. He tortured other people. He caused pain to other people and then he died a painful death. It was a humiliating death, dying with worms coming out of his body. He became worm food.

Today, we are going to talk about the death of a king. It is a chapter about persecution, prayer, protection, pride and punishment. What does this say to us today? Does God still do this today? Does he ever do it to believers?

The character in the story is a man named Herod. He was the last king of the Jews. He was the king of the Jews from 41-44 BC. He was a wicked king. His whole family was wicked. His ancestors were wicked. His cousins were wicked.

The worst king you could think of in the OT was Pharaoh, although there are many other bad ones. He was the first anti-Semite in history. He enslaved the Jews with forced labor camps.

He tried to commit genocide. He ordered that every Hebrew baby boy was to be thrown in the Nile River. He was not only wicked; he was cruel, ordering the death of newborn babies.

Most politicians today are arrogant, but Pharaoh went beyond this and was actually worshipped as a god. People thought he was divine. He had a hard heart. It got progressively harder as time went on.

When confronted with the truth he said, “I don’t know the Lord and I will not let the people go.” He was the symbol of one who denied the true God, resisted the will of God, persecuted the people of God, and actively fought against the program of God.

Herod is the NT Pharaoh. He had the same spirit as Pharaoh. He also persecuted the people of God, fought the will of God and even slaughtered infants.

Once again it was the baby boys who were massacred right after Jesus was born. Herod went beyond that and slaughtered people in his own family. You can read about that in Matthew 2. In Acts 12, he killed his own guards after Peter escaped.

Generations of Wickedness

There wasn’t one man named Pharaoh. There wasn’t one man named Herod. These were family names. They were dynastic names. There were at least five men in the Bible named Herod. Here we need to get a little history.

The first Herod was Herod the Great. He was a mentally unstable demon-possessed king of the Jews who ruled Judea for about forty years. He was a crazy, blood thirsty murderer. He was a monster who slaughtered babies.

He killed his wife, her mother, her brother and three of his own kids. Someone in the day said that it was better to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son. He would not kill a pig to follow the Jewish dietary laws but would then go kill his own family members.

He was also the Herod of the Christmas story. He was on the throne when Jesus was born. Some wise men came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the new king of the Jews who was just born?” and no one knew what they were talking about.

Herod, said, “I don’t know but if you find him, let me know so I can worship Him as well.” They found the baby but did not return back to Herod. When he found out he was double crossed, he was so mad that he killed all of the baby boys two years and under.

He was paranoid about someone taking his throne. He thought he was the king of the Jews. Imagine feeling threatened by some infants. Herod was so threatened that he had them killed.

Herod the Great had ten sons from his many wives. After he died, three of them took over Judea. One of the three was Herod Antipas.

He was the one who cut off the head of John the Baptist and put it on a platter. He also participated in the trial of Jesus. He interviewed Jesus.

The Herod in Acts 12 was Herod number five. He was the grandson of Herod the Great. His name was Herod Agrippa I. He had a daughter who is mentioned in the Book of Acts. Her name is Berenice.

We see her in Acts 25-26. The Apostle Paul stood before her and her brother Agrippa II. They had an incestuous relationship. Agrippa II was the one who said to Paul.

Herod’s Two Sins

Herod I was known for two things. He was known for persecution, and he was known for pride. We see both of them in Acts 12. These are his two sins.

Persecution

Violence ran in Herod’s family. His grandfather was a mass murderer. How would you like to have a grandfather who was a mass murderer. That is like having Charles Manson as your grandpa. “It is time to visit Grandpa Charlie the baby killer.”

Herod’s grandfather was a baby killer. His uncle His uncle Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist. He cut his head off. Now Herod I cuts the head off James.

There was violence in this family. Herod the Great tried to kill Jesus. Herod Antipas killed a prophet. Herod Agrippa killed an apostle.

Some of us may have a family sin. We can’t change the past, but we do not have to continue in the family sin. The cycle of sin can stop with us. Do we have a generational sin that we know of? Do we follow in the footsteps of wicked ancestors?

The first thing we notice about Herod I from the Book of Acts is that he was a persecutor. He was intolerant. He was violent. He persecuted two of the twelve apostles. He killed the first apostle. James became the first apostle to die.

His brother John was the last apostle to die. He went on to be an old man and write five books of the Bible (the Gospel of John, I, II & III John and the Book of Revelation).

Herod began the first persecution of the church by the state. Before this, the church was persecuted by religious leaders. It was persecuted by Pharisees and Sadducees. It was persecution by the High Priest. This was persecution by the state. It was persecution by the Roman government

Up to this time, persecution was done by the religious authorities (chief priest, Sanhedrin). Now, it is being done by the political authorities.

It is not religiously motivated but state-sponsored persecution. Why did he do it? He did it for political reasons. He did it to be popular among people.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover (Acts 12:1-4 NIV).

This persecution was all about politics. He arrested and executed the Apostle James. When saw how people liked that, he arrested Peter, put him in prison but didn’t want to kill him until after the Passover.

That would be bad timing to have a gruesome execution during a sacred religious holiday but after Passover, it would be fine.

That tells us two things. Some like to see other people suffer. On October 7 when innocent Israelis were massacred, many in the Muslim world were celebrating. They were rejoicing. When 911 happened, the same thing happened. The same thing happened with the death of Charlie Kirk.

The other thing we learn is that many politicians are only interested in power. They will say and do what will keep their power. They will say and do what will make them popular. They become followers rather than leaders.

Pride

The second sin of Herod mentioned in Acts is pride. We don’t even think pride is a sin today. In our day, it is a virtue. We have pride days of celebration.

Pride in the Bible is something that God hates. It was Satan’s first sin. It is not just a problem for unbelievers. It is a problem for believers. Some preachers are proud.

Pride is not limited to unbelievers in the Bible. There are two kings in the OT who fell into pride. One was a believer and one was an unbeliever.

The unbeliever was Nebuchadnezzar. You can read about him in Daniel 4. There is another man who was a believer who fell into pride. His name was King Uzziah.

He was a good king. He ruled for 53 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (II Kings 15:3). When he got old, he became proud, and God judged him and gave him leprosy (II Chronicles 26:16-21)

When Pride is Wrong

What exactly is pride? God hates it but what is it? Is all pride wrong? No. The Bible actually uses pride in a good sense (Proverbs 17:6; Galatians 6:4; James 1:9-10).

It is not wrong to have a sense of satisfaction for a job well done or hard work. We talk about pride in our work.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “A person can’t do anything better than eat, drink and be satisfied with their work. I’m finally seeing that those things also come from the hand of God” (NIRV)

Pride is not the same thing as confidence. Having confidence that you are able to do something is not pride.

Feeling good about the accomplishments of others or your kids is not wrong. There is nothing wrong with that kind of pride. People who love the South talk about talk about “Southern Pride.”

When is pride wrong? It is wrong when you think you don’t need God or think you can do things without Him. It is pride when you think you are God and should be worshipped.

It is pride when you do not just have accomplishment but boast in them and think you are better than other people.

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, 24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV)

On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 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. 24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. (Acts 12:19-24 NIV)

Seven Events

What is going on in here? There are seven events in these verses

1) There is a conflict between Herod and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. We are not told what the conflict was between Rome and Phoenicia but they had a conflict.

2) Tyre and Sidon wanted to end the conflict, because they got their food from Rome.

3) They got help from Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant. He has a funny name. He sounds like a super hero or someone who just came out of the bathroom.

He was Herod’s Chief of Staff. They was probably bribed to do this job. He arranged a meeting between the two parties.

4) Herod meets with the people and delivers a speech. He was a politician. He liked to talk. He liked to deliver speeches.

5) After the speech, the people called him a god. They did not say it, they shouted it. Did they actually think he was divine? No.

This was flattery. They were hungry. They needed food. They flattered Herod so they wouldn’t starve. They needed grain.

6) Herod accepted the worship. When the apostles were worshipped by people, they rejected it.

Someone tried to worship Peter in Acts 10. He went to Cornelius’ house and people bowed down to him. He told them to stand up. He said, “I am only a man” (Acts 10:26).

In Acts 14, Paul commanded a man who couldn’t walk to stand up and he did. The people said, “the gods have come down to us in human form” and they worshipped Paul and Barnabas, but they rejected their worship. They said, “We are not gods. We are human like you.”

Herod did not say that. They did but he didn’t deny it. He accepted it.

He liked it. It fed his big ego. He did not give God the glory. Herod committed blasphemy, not by what he said but by what he didn’t say. He pretended to be God. He pretended to be divine.

7) Herod suddenly got sick and died a supernatural death. Herod learned that he is not God. His death is reported, not only by Luke but also by a first century Jewish historian (Josephus).

The Bible is confirmed by secular history. You can actually visit the place today where King Herod gave this oration. History confirms the Bible but they are independent accounts. Josephus does not mention the angel.

He just mentions that he got sick in his stomach and died five days later. Even though he was a physician, Luke focused on the spiritual aspect of this event and saw his death as divine judgment for sin.

Lessons from Herod’s Death

1) If you oppose Jesus, you lose.

Herod fought against God. He persecuted the church. He killed James. He imprisoned Peter but didn’t defeat God’s plan. He couldn’t stop it. Acts 12:24 says, “the word of God continued to spread and flourish” (NIV).

2) If you pretend to be God, you will find out you are not

Herod pretended to be God. Others claimed he was a god and thought he was a god, but he was sick and weak and died, like a mortal man. This passage is a warning to people who go around claiming to be a god. They will eventually see the signs of their own mortality.

3) If you try to steal God’s glory, you lose your own

Herod tried to steal God’s glory. He tried to take glory that belonged to God alone. When he did that, he was no longer the great king that everyone respected and honored. He became weak, sick and dependent on others. He became someone that people pitied and felt sorry for.

4) If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled

God resists the proud (I Peter 5:5 NKJV; James 4:6 NKJV). God resisted Herod.

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled (Matthew 23:12 NIV). Herod was humbled.

Those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4:37 NIV).

God was able to humble King Herod. It didn’t take a lightening bolt from heaven, just some worms, just a stomach bug. He seemed all powerful at the beginning of the chapter, executing apostles. He is completely humbled at the end of the chapter.

Acts 12