Recognize Your Smallness - Herod

Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”

Acts 12:21-22

American naturalist and author William Beebe was a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt and often spent time at his home in Cove Neck, New York. The two would go out on the lawn at night and search the skies for a certain spot of light. Roosevelt would then recite, “That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.”

Having made that observation, Roosevelt would grin and say, “Now I think we are small enough! Let’s go to bed.”

It’s easy to recognize a man who does not realize his own smallness. He’s the one with an air of self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction. He’s just like Herod Agrippa I, who paid dearly for his arrogance.

Herod, the grandson of Herod the Great, was known for his terrible treatment of his subjects and his uncontrolled egotism. The latter quality cost him everything.

When a delegation of men from Tyre and Sidon arrived in Jerusalem to meet with Herod, he appeared to them wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne, and began speaking to them. These men either liked what Herod had to say, or more likely, they intended to stroke his massive ego. “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” they cried out, and Herod gladly accepted their adulation.

That day, Herod usurped the worship that God had reserved for himself. Had he been able to give God what was rightfully his, his story would have ended in blessing. Instead, it ended in his death. The last bow he took sent him on a one-way trip to his grave.

God loves to bless you when you give him the praise and worship due to him. That happens more easily when you recognize your own smallness . . . and God’s greatness.