King Herod met an ignoble end for claiming to be equal to God. Are our presidential candidates in danger of going down the same path?Acts 12:23 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.
It’s a gory end to a cruel king. The executioner of John the Baptist and the mocker of Christ finally gets his just deserts. He’s reigned over his people with the same acts of cruelty and control that his father displayed before him. Herod bites the dust in a horrific way and nobody feels pity for the tyrant.
Why does God punish him like this? What finally pushes God over the edge to intervene and cause Herod to die in agony? From Luke’s account, it appears to be pride that has caused Herod’s fatal downfall. He is enjoying the applause of his people for persecuting the Christians. He rides that wave of popularity and makes a wonderful speech. His sycophantic audience proclaims that they have just heard a god speak, but instead of disclaiming this, Herod allows his narcissism to embrace the compliments. And that’s when God acts: Herod is struck down because he is claiming to be divine, something that he would not acknowledge about Jesus, he now claims as his own. It’s the age old temptation that goes back to the Garden of Eden – sinfully claiming to be equal to God.
As I watched the victorious candidates relish their moment of glory for winning the Iowa caucuses, I was struck by their oratorical skills. Each of them had something powerful to say and they expressed it eloquently. However, what I can’t remember hearing was any of them giving thanks to God for what they had achieved. That makes me both worry and wonder about the candidates. Are they getting so powerful that they forget the source of their power?
It will be interesting to see how the rest of this presidential campaign develops. I hope that one of them acknowledges the hand of God in their road to the Whitehouse. Leaders who lead without being led by God can end up ignoring both the wishes of the people and the will of God. Let’s hope and pray that some sort of humility before God will be sincerely evident amongst these politicians in the days to come.
Prayer: Lord God, these are exciting times for our nation, as well as being serious. We pray that a leader will truly rise up who acknowledges Your hand over their lives. Bless us as a nation with strong candidates and great leaders, but remind us that our hopes lie within You, and not with ourselves or our leaders. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
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