Bible Study Lesson for Acts 12:20-25: Death of King Herod Agrippa

Caesarea, remember, is the city with the famous sea port, where the Roman Centurion Cornelius lived. It was rebuilt by Herod the Great, Agrippa's grandfather. When there were no Roman procurators living there, Herod Agrippa made it his capital. { Show picture of Caesarea from "Atlas of the Bible" pg. 196-197 }

Whether Agrippa leaves Jerusalem and goes to Caesarea immediately after Peter's escape, we don't know, but I can imagine Agrippa would have every desire to "get out of town", as it were, because of how this made him look somewhat ridiculous. Peter, after all, was only a fisherman from Galilee and he was a king!

Read Acts 12:20. Tyre and Sidon are the leading cities of Phoenicia. { Show map from "The Macmillan Bible Atlas", map 249 } As this particular map shows us, they are not part of Agrippa's kingdom, but are near neighbors. They were, however, dependent on the grain fields of Galilee for food. { point out Galilee on map, right next to Phoenicia} In order to survive, they need to be on good terms with Agrippa, so they can trade.

The name Blastus is only mentioned once in the Bible, here. All we know about him is that he was Agrippa's treasurer, and apparently had Agrippa's ear. The leaders of Tyre and Sidon make a good political move by working through Blastus, rather than trying to approach Agrippa on their own.

Read Acts 12:21. As we will read in an excerpt from Josephus' Antiquities, the "appointed day" was a day when Agrippa was holding a festival in honor of Claudius Caesar. It is believed that this was being held in the amphitheater. { Point out the amphitheater on map of "Atlas of the Bible", pg. 196, then show picture of theatre at Ephesus, which would have been similar, pg. 194 }

Read Acts 12:22. It does not say explicitly here why the people were flattering him like this, but from the context it could be instigated by the people from Tyre and Sidon as a way to "butter him up" and make him more susceptible to their negotiations. Remember, also, that the Caesars of that day were treated and worshiped as gods (in Caesarea there was a temple to Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor and Herod the Great's patron.) This festival was probably in part worship of Claudius Caesar, so it is not counter culture to suddenly proclaim this other ruler, this king, also a god.

Read Acts 12:23. Please note that as I just said, other people have proclaimed themselves to be gods (ie. the Emperors) and yet they were not struck down by the One True God for this blasphemy. Why Agrippa here? I think there are two things going on: one he was supposed to have been devote in his practice of Judaism - at least he was while he was in Judea, amidst his Jewish subjects. He undoubtedly looked very "holy" to the Orthodox Jew, yet here he is not only leading a pagan festival in honor of a false idol (ie. Caesar) he goes one step further and allows himself to be called a god. He was a hypocrite of the first order. From what I can tell from Scripture, God always brings judgment on His own "house" first. Secondly, Agrippa may have been struck down in part for his persecution of the church. I haven't done a study on this, but from what I remember, if you run down the list of the Roman Emperors who persecuted the Christians you find that most of them die pretty nasty, horrible deaths.

The story of Agrippa's death is recorded in Josephus, which gives us a slightly different picture of the man. A picture of a man who was not only well liked (remember, the Orthodox Jews liked him and Josephus was Jew), but also one who supposedly repents on his death bed. There are definite similarities between Josephus' account and Luke's here in Acts.

From Josephus, Antiquities 19.8.2 343-361:
"Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea he came to the city Caesarea, which was formerly called Strato's Tower; and there he exhibited spectacles in honor of Caesar, for whose well-being he'd been informed that a certain festival was being celebrated. At this festival a great number were gathered together of the principal persons of dignity of his province. On the second day of the spectacles he put on a garment made wholly of silver, of a truly wonderful texture, and came into the theater early in the morning. There the silver of his garment, being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays, shone out in a wonderful manner, and was so resplendent as to spread awe over those that looked intently upon him. Presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, (though not for his good) that he was a god; and they added, "Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature." Upon this the king neither rebuked them nor rejected their impious flattery. But he shortly afterward looked up and saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, just as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain arose in his belly, striking with a most violent intensity. He therefore looked upon his friends, and said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. But I am bound to accept what Providence allots, as it pleases God; for we have by no means lived ill, but in a splendid and happy manner." When he had said this, his pain became violent. Accordingly he was carried into the palace, and the rumor went abroad everywhere that he would certainly die soon. The multitude sat in sackcloth, men, women and children, after the law of their country, and besought God for the king's recovery. All places were also full of mourning and lamentation. Now the king rested in a high chamber, and as he saw them below lying prostrate on the ground he could not keep himself from weeping. And when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life, being in the fifty-fourth year of his age and in the seventh year of his reign. He ruled four years under Caius Caesar, three of them were over Philip's tetrarchy only, and on the fourth that of Herod was added to it; and he reigned, besides those, three years under Claudius Caesar, during which time he had Judea added to his lands, as well as Samaria and Cesarea. The revenues that he received out of them were very great, no less than twelve millions of drachmae. But he borrowed great sums from others, for he was so very liberal that his expenses exceeded his incomes, and his generosity was boundless."

And after Agrippa dies, what happens to the church? Read Acts 12:24. Regardless of persecution, the church continues to grow and flourish.

Read Acts 12:25. What is this mission? Remember back in Acts 11 that Barnabas and Saul had been sent from Antioch to Jerusalem to bring aid for the believers in Judea during this famous famine. Read Acts 11:27-30. Once Barnabas and Saul leave their gift of monies with the elders of Jerusalem they return to Antioch, taking with them John Mark.

Blessings!

Sources
Josephus. Antiquities
Aharoni & Avi-Yohan. The Macmillan Bible Atlas.
Editors. Atlas of the Bible.
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version