Herod is Slain by An Angel of the Lord
God's account and man's account of an incident are quite different. In secular history, Herod as being seized suddenly with excruciating pains in the abdomen. Five days later he died in agony. That is man's account. In God's record, it says “an angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory.” God was very angry with this wicked man. Not only was he making himself a god, he was also responsible for murdering James and attempting to execute Peter. Thus, God smote him in anger. The Book of Acts has a number of themes, and one of the strong themes is the peril of exalting one's self and drawing men to self instead of turning them to God.
Consider these five:
5:36 - Theudas. “Boasting himself to be somebody...to whom a number of men... joined themselves.”
5:37 - Judas of Galilee. “Drew away much people after him... as many as obeyed him... dispersed.”
8:9.10 - Simon. “Giving out that himself was some great one... to whom they all gave heed.”
12:22 - Herod. “It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” And he loved it.
20:30 - Ministers. “Of your own selves shall men arise... to draw away disciples after them.”
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