“For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” (Isaiah 2:12)
Peter finally made his way into the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where a prayer meeting was in progress. They were praying for his release while he stood at the door trying to get inside and they wouldn’t believe he was there. (Acts 12)
After an angel had loosened Peter from the chains that bound him to two soldiers and led him through the heavily guarded gates, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. He told them to be quiet while he told them how the Lord had taken him out of prison. When he finished talking, he slipped away to a secret place.
The soldiers were upset. Herod commanded they be put to death. Because of what happened to Herod, there is some question as to whether they were executed. Historians say that Herod was looking forward to giving Peter’s head on a charger to the Jews.
When the angel rescued Peter, Herod was embarrassed. To save face, he moved his headquarters from Judea to Caesarea. He tried to detract from his defeat by celebrating a festival in honor of Caesar. On the second day of the festival, he dressed in his royal robe and made an oration. The people shouted,
--It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. (Acts 12:22)
(That cheer reminds me of the attitude people today assume about rock-and-roll stars, actors, and talk show hosts. Some celebrities have started considering themselves to be gods and designed their own religions.)
When the people cried out that Herod was a god, he basked in the joy of the hot air of flattery. While he sat there all puffed with pride on his throne, God sent an angel to strike him down. Indulging in the kind of glory that a man should never receive, he looked up, according to the historian Josephus, and saw an owl perched over his head. He had a violent pain in his abdomen.
--And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. (23)
He died at the age of fifty-three after being king for seven years.
An angel of justice punished proud King Herod on the spot in front of his subjects he was trying to impress. It is not unusual for God to punish unbelieving evildoers on this earth.
We do not have the insight to know when God is doing so; and when we speak on His behalf about the disasters that befall people, we become self-righteous proud people. Judging is not one of our jobs.
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