“Then immediately, an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.”

 

This scripture speaks of Herod Agrippa I. Agrippa was a terrible ruler and terrorist to the entire land. In his line of reigning despots was a grandfather (Herod the Great) who killed the children trying to get rid of the promised king – Jesus.

 

Agrippa’s father was then Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist and was an enemy to Jesus and all believers as well as a vicious ruler over the Jewish people.

 

One of the darkest days in history was that fatal night when Herod the Great ordered and thus brutally murdered the children in Bethlehem along with anyone who tried to stop the massacre. It’s quite probable that people that witnessed that night in Bethlehem were still living in that region of the grandson, Agrippa. That would mean that they were also there at the beheading of John the Baptist and the heinous crimes of state against the Carpenter’s Son.

 

Right under the noses of these wicked rulers, were the miracles of Yeshua prominently displayed, and the compassion of the Creator was victoriously overcoming the designed hatred of the systems – strategies – of evil.

 

Historically speaking, after Herod Antipas got deported, and his son, Herod Agrippa, was made king, there were probably still parents alive whose children were murdered by Herod the Great – this new Herod’s evil grandfather. The people had been under the corrupt rulership of Herod’s for at least four generations.

 

And yet the recipients of the Herods’ torturous rulership were still alive while this Herod Agrippa I was ruling in his inherited pompous pride.

 

He made quite a speech that day. He may have been patronized a bit by the crowd, but he accepted their praise and perhaps their manipulative flattery. His ego reigned over any proper sense of leadership. Like the others before him, this Herod served himself and not the people he governed. He missed the point of life altogether. It cost him his life, and justice was served by “an angel of the Lord.”

 

This Herod allowed his ego to reign with sovereignty over his thought life. Protecting himself and doing whatever made him feel good was his ruling paradigm. This leader/king paraded himself powerful, making every excuse in the book as to why he should be a tyrant.

 

Some of the same extreme thinking and behavior can be in any person of leadership. Parenting, supervision, teaching, pastoring, or mentoring can have egomania that is harmful to all concerned.

 

I feel that this scripture is a much-needed look into the justice that prevails in God’s dynamic Kingdom. Without a cleansing of the heart, all leadership is egotistical false authority instead of servitude. Both following and leading must be love-based.

 

Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding are not prerequisites to be a leader.

 

In the short story of Agrippa’s life, worms are a figure of speech that portrays the decay of the body – the decay of life. Worms do not signify life abundantly.

 

Jesus came to give us a “zoe” kind of life. {zoe = Greek for superfluous life given by God alone}. ((John 10:10 NKJV; “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life “zoé” and that they may have it more abundantly.”  John 10:10 Amplified Bible; “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance – to the full, till it overflows.”))

 

The cleansing process can be complicated if you hold onto your ego with pride of ownership or fear the disappearance of your identity. Cleansing your speech is a good beginning, but knowing that there is life in putting the egotism to death is the path to a peace-filled life without strife and antagonism with the heart of God in all matters.

 

Then there is the praise release that we have available by honoring the Presence and the works of the Lord. All things come from Him. All that I have belongs to Him. All that I am is undoubtedly His as well. The Lord never strokes my ego, and I need not try to stroke His. I cannot patronize nor flatter the Creator of all that exists. His truth prevails – always. Thanksgiving with sincere gratitude for His providence will unite heaven with earth. His providence is all wisdom and knowledge, power, glory, and strength.

 

Giving glory to the Lord cannot become some religious phrase or rote statement, but a heartfelt thesis proclaimed by the one whose ego is removed from the factor and is not ashamed to give the glory where the glory is due.

 

You see, “the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I am come that you might have life, {zoe} and that you might have it more abundantly.” – Jesus Christ ((ibid; John 10:10))

 

This Jesus-kind of love-based life is the opposite of the worms. (You need worms for fishing, maybe. You might need some worms for the garden, too.)

 

Pride-filled egomania of your identity crisis is something you don’t need. Those worms that decay your life one morsel at a time are not what you want or need.

 

When your focus is upon your leadership, then the only person you are genuinely serving is you.
When your focus is upon the people you are serving, then you are too busy building a safe-haven for the people so that they may prosper.
Neither you as the leader nor the people you serve ought to focus on your great leadership. That’s where worms congregate. 

 

The scripture should be a word of warning to the politicians of our day. You know the ones who say they are serving the public but are actually working their politics with themselves in mind and would never bring any hardship to themselves on behalf of the people they should be serving. Thus, they invite patronage and flattery and will do anything needed for the vote, for the money, for the power. Worms are inevitable.

 

The end never justifies the means. Never. Only love justifies.

 

Abstain from these evils. Work with the Holy Spirit on your own heart.

 

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” ((Jude 20))