Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you joined us for today's program. You'll also receive Skip's weekly devotional email to instruct and inspire you in God's Word each week. So sign up today at connectwithskip.com.
That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Well, we've had some great times so far in the Book of Acts.
We've seen some incredible individuals. In Chapter 9, we saw a rabbi who fought God and was converted. His name was Saul of Tarsus.
He fought against God's plan for his life, was trying to fight against the spread of the church from Jerusalem northward into Syria, Damascus. So he fought God and he was converted. In Chapter 10, we read about a soldier named Cornelius, a centurion, who followed God and he was converted. He had a belief in God.
He went through some of the Jewish rituals, had a basic system of belief, and Peter came, was dispatched to his house, shared with him the truth, and he received it. So we have a rabbi who fought God and was converted, a soldier who followed God and was converted. Now, in Chapter 12, we read about a king who fought God and was killed.
Interesting. Saul fought God and he was saved. Herod fights God and he is slain. And why is that?
Well, easy answer. He really ticks God off. And you'll see why by the end of this chapter.
There is not a modicum of repentance in his hardened heart. He exalts himself like Satan did, like the Antichrist will, and he will end his days on the earth by the end of this chapter. Now, there is a theme that we have noted throughout the Bible, and in particular in the book of Acts, and that is the theme that we serve a sovereign God. He is large and in charge. He rules the world and he overrules in the kingdom of men. And there was a king who even came to that understanding himself while he was ruling on the earth named Nebuchadnezzar, who paraded himself around the city of Babylon and looked around and he said, Is this not the great Babylon that I have built? And God didn't take kindly to that earthly king, usurping authority over God's power and sovereignty. And so he let Nebuchadnezzar go insane for a period of time. And when he finally came to, Nebuchadnezzar said, I now know that God rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whoever he chooses.
So a king then, an earthly ruler, is also a steward in governmental work over a people, over a city, over a nation. And one of them is on display in chapter 12 named Herod. Now Jesus did say that he would build his church, right? He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So we are watching Jesus build his church, just like he said he would.
He builds it in Jerusalem. It grows strong, even under persecution. People try to put it out, doesn't work, it grows. It grows northward toward Damascus, as we have already seen. Saul tried to put out that fire, didn't work. Philip has taken the gospel into Samaria and shared with an Ethiopian eunuch who takes it down into Africa. We also saw that the gospel has spread also into Syria toward Turkey in Antioch.
Saul will go back to Tarsus or has been in Tarsus before Barnabas gets him, so it's spreading around. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. At the same time, one of the things we wonder about or struggle with is in the sovereign plan and purposes of God, what role does prayer play? Does it matter if I pray or not? I mean, if God is sovereign and does whatever he wants, then who cares if he hears from me or not or if I ask him for something?
If we live in an evil world and even bad things happen to good people, even God's people, what role does prayer play? Now, you're going to see some of all of these things kind of converging as we get into chapter 12. In verse 1 of chapter 12, it says, Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some of the church. If you know your New Testament at all, you have come into grips with the name Herod on many occasions. Sometimes you read about Herod and you'll scratch your head because you read about Herod somewhere else and it's like, well, he died, but then there he is again, and then he's dead, but there he is again.
He shows up in different places, so we get confused. Now, let me just say, when you see the word Herod, it's a bit like seeing the word Caesar because there's more than one Herod, unfortunately, because Herod, the Herods, the Herodian dynasty was like a whole bunch of really bad dudes. In fact, if I were to categorize the Herod family, it's a messed up family, it's the family who fought against God, and you will see one here fighting against God. So when we read about Herod, we're not reading about the Herod that we saw at the beginning of Jesus' life when he was a baby in Bethlehem. There was a Herod then. So let me just give you a little thumbnail about how confusing the Herodian family is.
Maybe I'll clarify it, maybe I'll make it worse, but my hope is to clarify it. So let's begin with Herod the Great. That's the one we read about at the beginning of the New Testament. Herod the Great was an Idumean.
That is, if you were to look at a map of Israel and go east and south on the area east of the Dead Sea and south, that's the ancient area, Nabataean area, of the Idumeans. So the Idumeans came from a guy named Esau. So remember Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the father, the progenitor of the Idumean kingdom. So he is related, Herod then is related to the Jewish people, but he is not Jewish. But he is in that Semitic family from way back, from Esau. So his dad, Herod the Great's dad, was called Antipater.
And Antipater was Idumean. He had a conversion to Judaism, it is said. Then little Herod was born, Herod the Great.
He wasn't so great until he called himself that. But he was the guy who met with the Magi when they were looking for the king of the Jews, asked the Magi to find out who it was because he wanted to come and worship him. And it was that Herod, Herod the Great, who killed all the babies in Bethlehem. Now Herod the Great was a great builder. He was not a great person, but he was a great builder. If you go to Israel today, you will see things that were built by Herod the Great, even the retaining walls of the ancient temple have Herodian stones. There's things that he built like Masada and many fortresses around.
He just was this incredible builder. But he was a horrible character, a horrible person. He married ten times, so he had ten wives. He killed several of them.
He killed several of his children, his own sons. In fact, back in Rome, there was a saying that it's safer to be Herod's pig than it is his son. Now one of the wives that Herod the Great married that he killed was a gal by the name of Miriamna. She was Jewish. She was Hasmonean.
Have you heard that term, Hasmonean? It's actually related to the Maccabees that revolted against the Syrians, and it was that Maccabean revolt that birthed the festival of Hanukkah every year, the rekindling of the temple sacrifices. Well, he married her. Now, unfortunately, he was in a bad mood, and he killed her. And he felt really bad about that, but of course he couldn't do anything because she was dead, but he was Herod, so it didn't matter. He was kind of above the law. And one of her sons he also killed named Aristobulus.
Am I confusing you yet? So we're just on the first one, Herod the Great. So anyway, that's how bad he was. He killed wives, killed sons. And by the way, when he was close to death, Herod the Great ordered all of the most notable citizens of Jerusalem to be imprisoned and upon his death to be executed. Because he knew that when he died there would be no tears shed for him, but he wanted to make sure that when he died there would be mourning in Jerusalem.
That's how whacked he was. One of Herod's sons was a guy named Herod Philip I. Herod Philip I was the husband of a gal named Herodias. So it's bad that there's Herod's, but they're also Herodias. Herodias was the gal responsible for the death of John the Baptist, but not while she was married to Herod Philip. After Herod Philip was another son named Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas ruled up north in the Galilee region. Jesus will stand briefly in one of his trials before Herod Antipas. It was that Herod Antipas that lured Herodias away from Philip to marry him. That's why John the Baptist denounced that Herod, Herod Antipas, and her Herodias.
And it was while she was married to Antipas that she made sure that John the Baptist was killed. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, we want to help you learn more about God's radical love for all people by sending you four booklets by Skip Heitzig that will encourage you in God's abounding love and challenge you to love even the unlovable, just like Jesus did. This resource is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share solid biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Now, let's continue with today's teaching from Pastor Skip. Now after that, there was a guy named Herod Arcalaus who was the ruler of a few territories like Judah, Samaria, Iturea, sort of in the central northern parts. He was a bad egg, evil king.
He got deposed. And in his place, yet another Herod named Herod Philip II. Now he shows up in the Gospel of Luke chapter 3 and it was this Herod that built a city way up north called Caesarea Philippi. If you've ever been to Israel and you've gone to Caesarea Philippi, it was built by Herod Philip II. He built that one. Okay, now I mentioned that Herod the Great.
Let's go all the way back to the really bad egg. Herod the Great killed wives and killed sons. One of his sons was a son named Aristobulus, the son of Miriamne, his favored wife. So Herod the Great kills her and kills him, Aristobulus. But Aristobulus, before his dad kills him, has his own son whom he names Agrippa. So now we have Herod Agrippa and it's Herod Agrippa I that is the Herod of chapter 12 of the book of Acts. Make sense?
It's like hardly, right? So little Herod Agrippa is the son of Herod Aristobulus who died because his dad killed him and killed mom Miriamne. By the way, I said that Herod felt really bad about killing his wife.
He was in a bad mood that day and killed her. And sort of to make retribution, he built a tower and you can still see remnants of the tower that Herod the Great built, the tower of Miriamne by the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. The foundation stones are still there.
Guides will point it out to you. So that's part of the fascinating history. So Herod Agrippa I is this guy. Now we're not done because to kind of complete the whole Herodian set dynasty, there's going to be Herod Agrippa II that shows up later on in Paul the Apostle's life when he stands trial in Caesarea before Herod, Herod the King, and it says Herod Agrippa. But that's not Herod Agrippa I, that's Herod Agrippa II who is the new Herod in town by the time Paul the Apostle gets in prison and will stand trial. So, sorry, verse 1.
See, this is why it takes me so long to get through a chapter. Now about that time Herod Agrippa I stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James, the brother of John, that's one of the chief apostles. Remember, there's Peter, James, and John. This is the first martyr among the apostles, and that is James. He killed James, the brother of John, with a sword, and because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the days of unleavened bread, so when he had arrested him and put him in prison, delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. Herod Agrippa I had been educated in Rome, was familiar with many of the leaders in Rome, the Roman Senate, some of them. He was friends of the Emperor Caligula, a really bad Caesar, and at the same time, though he was friends with him and has now taken over all of the territories that his grandpa, Herod the Great, and his uncle, Uncle Antipas, had, he's sort of taken over all those, and that's under the rule of the Caesar in Rome, the Emperor in Rome. At the same time, he garnished favor with the Jewish people.
How and why? Because he himself had an affinity toward Judaism, and it is said was circumcised and observed many of the rituals and Jewish observances that made the Jews like him, and he wanted to curry favor with them, and one of the ways he did it was to persecute the early church, because the Jews in Jerusalem saw the early Christians as a threat, so in hassling the Christians, the Jews in Jerusalem loved it, so he killed one, and they loved it, so he thought, I'll kill another one. I mean, if they like it that much, and I want to garnish, garner favor with them, then I'll kill another one.
That's what this is all about. So he saw that it pleased the Jews. He proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now, it was during the days of unleavened bread, so he arrested him, put him in prison, delivered him to four squads of soldiers, 16 soldiers.
You might think, well, that's a bit much. It's Peter. It's unarmed Peter. Four squads, it wasn't 16 men at a time. It was four men at a time, two of them that were chained to the prisoner, two of them standing guard, and then every six hours, they would have a new shift. Those are the 16 ones dispatched to him. Still, it could be looked at as a bit much, but remember, Herod probably knows Peter had been in prison in Jerusalem once and escaped, right? They were put in prison, and then all of a sudden, they're out there in the temple preaching, and it's like, you know, I'm going to make sure. I'm going to make sure this doesn't happen again, so 16 soldiers are given to him, intending to bring him before the people, that is, for an execution after the Passover.
Now, that's interesting. Why after the Passover? Well, because Herod knows Jewish law, and Jewish law mandates that you cannot kill, you cannot have capital punishment. First of all, the capital punishment was taken away from the Jews during this time. They had to go through Roman channels to execute somebody, but it was against Jewish law to do that during a high festival during Passover.
Now, you're thinking, wait a minute. Jesus was killed during Passover. Exactly. And the trial of Jesus has been shown and proven on a number of occasions by books and research as being illegal on many fronts. However, it was necessary that Jesus die on Passover to fulfill the Passover. The Passover lamb, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Even though it was never done, and even though it was highly illegal, it fulfilled the type. It fulfilled typical prophecy. So Jesus was killed at Passover, going against all of the laws intact. Herod wanted to make sure that doesn't happen. So James is dead, and Peter's in prison.
Now let me throw something out at you. Peter is going to escape out of prison. If you've read the Bible, you know that's going to happen. James was as dedicated as Peter. I think he loved Jesus as much as Peter loved Jesus. I think he was as godly as Peter was godly.
On some fronts, maybe more. Why is it that one gets killed and the other doesn't? Both dedicated men of God. Now I bring that up because sometimes we're mystified, and I am too. When I see good and godly men or women of God suffer and die, and I see so much potential in them, and I think of great years of service and ministry and influence they could have, and then it seems like they die an untimely, foreshortened death. Foreshortened life and an untimely death. And I go, oh man, I know you're sovereign, Lord, but, and honestly, I have to deal with it. It's not easy to deal with.
At the same time, God said my ways are not your ways. They're above your finding out. So I have to rest right there. I have to stop right there. You're sovereign. You're God.
I'm not. So you have one who gets killed and one who does not. Do you remember, though, when James and John came to Jesus? They had a request, and actually, they didn't have enough guts to ask it themselves. They had their mom ask. Right? She said, you know, my two boys would really love it if in the kingdom, one could sit at your right hand, the other could sit at your left hand.
That'd be really cool. So Jesus said to them, the boys, James and John, are you able to drink the cup that I drink and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Now, they didn't know what they were saying. They didn't exactly know what Jesus meant. He meant his suffering and death. And they said, we are able.
And you remember what he said to them? Indeed, you will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. Now we're seeing that come to pass. I believe this. I believe as a child of God, you are invincible until God's done with you. And then when God is done with you, who wants to hang around anyway?
It's over, it's over. When God says, I'm done, okay, then I'm done. Now the trouble is, I don't always know when that time is.
I'd like to think I do. I wonder at God's timing sometimes. But the Bible says in Revelation 11, there were two witnesses, or there will be two witnesses on the earth during the tribulation period. It says this, when they had finished their testimony, the beast rises out of the abuso, the bottomless pit, comes against them, overcomes them, and kills them.
Really? When? When they had finished their testimony.
That's when. We're glad you listened today, and hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource, the Jesus Loves Them bundle, which comes as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your bundle when you call and get 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the cross. Cast your burdens on his word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
