EATEN BY WORMS. Can you think of a worse way to go?
This was God’s judgment on one evil ruler and it’s guaranteed that every wicked person will suffer some type of awful fate.
But what did King Herod do? After killing the Apostle James and imprisoning Peter, he gave a speech, believed he was God, then “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” (Acts 12:23).
Pride got the best of him. His God-hating ways caught up to him. Every single person who shakes their fist at the Almighty will perish.
“There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30).
This is good news for those who have suffered under tyrants. They will experience God’s retributive justice.
Do you think Hitler isn’t paying for his crimes against humanity? How about Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, who between them murdered over 60 million of their own citizens? How about Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, that ruthless dictator of North Korea? Putin? Xi Jinping?
Want to know what God thinks?
Read a bit of Psalm 2:
“The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
‘Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.’
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
‘I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’”
Yes, no matter how powerful that tin pot leader was, one day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
No one can fight God and win. “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord (Romans 12:19).
Philosopher Friedrich Nietsche declared that “God is Dead.” His battle against God drove him insane. Now, Nietsche is dead.
Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis hated God, wrote “Elmer Gantry” about an alcoholic evangelist/womanizer. He died in Rome as a hopeless alcoholic.
Ernest Hemingway bragged, “I have fought in revolutions, I have tumbled women and have satisfied my desires, and I stand as living testimony to the fact that you can sin and get away with it.” 10 years after writing that, he blew his head off. Saddam Hussein was found down a spider hole and hanged. Osama bin Laden was shot and killed as well as one of his sons.
“For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (Psalm 1:6)
No tyrant will get away being a tyrant. Not even you.
Where are you with God? If you have not yet given your life to Jesus, then you, too, are shaking your fist at Him in defiance and will find yourself on the bitter end of God’s divine justice because of your sin. All of us are guilty. We have all been born with a tyrant’s heart. Our sin is cosmic treason against a holy God. We all deserve God’s justice because of our own rebellion.
But he made a way for you today to be saved from God’s wrath. Put your faith and trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. He died, was buried, and on the third day rose again. Repent of your sin and read your bible. Find a good church that teaches the Bible. (I can recommend one!)
When you do that, you are a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Now, isn’t that a lot better option than being eaten by worms?