A Fool Who Defies God
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Intro
Intro
Lots of crazy people. The first to challenge God was Satan.
Even Adam dared to challenge God.
Pharaoh tried to hinder the liberation of Israel and God killed all the firstborn.
In Numbers 21:1-3 God destroyed the Canaanite king Arad.
King Sitton and King 0g of Bashan also experienced God's wrath.
In the book of Joshua we have a list of 31 kings defeated by God (Joshua 12:7-24).
What Solomon wrote is true:
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
that can succeed against the Lord.
Herod. The main character of chapter 12 is a madman named Herod.
In these 3 stories from Acts 12, this king decides to defy God by making victims in the Church.
James has him killed (Acts 12:2). He was John's brother and is the first martyr among the apostles as well as the only one whose death Luke reports.
In Acts 12:3 we read that Herod continues to defy God, putting Peter in prison with the intention of killing him in front of all the people (Acts 12:4b).
Crazy! This is the appellation a man deserves when he decides to oppose God.
The madman's challenges. Herod launches 3 challenges against God:
Herod defies God's omnipotence;
Herod defies God's judgment;
Herod defies God's purpose.
N. 1 - Herod defies God’s omnipotence
N. 1 - Herod defies God’s omnipotence
After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.
All in his power! Herod was convinced that Peter's fate was in his hands.
The cruel monarch had Peter locked up in prison, with 16 soldiers (Acts 12:4) to guard him and bound with 2 chains (Acts 12:6).
Nevertheless, God sent an angel to rescue Peter (Acts 12:7).
The Ark of God. Like Herod, the Philistines thought they had conquered God, but the Lord showed them that no one should dare challenge the omnipotence of the Most High:
After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.
When all seems lost and the wicked have won, the Lord demonstrates all His power by destroying every evil plan.
The kingdom of God is a kingdom of paradox, where through the ugly defeat of a cross, a holy God is utterly glorified. Victory comes through defeat; healing through brokenness; finding self through losing self.
Charles W. Colson; Charles Colson
N. 2 - Herod defies God’s judgement
N. 2 - Herod defies God’s judgement
He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 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.
We can't run away from Him. After the great beating about Peter's release, Herod decides to go to Caesarea to rest a bit.
If we look at these verses leaving out Acts 12:23 where God punishes Herod, we might think that the monarch has managed to escape the wrath of God.
We see him dressed in magnificent and sumptuous clothes (Acts 12:21) being honored by the ambassadors of 2 cities: Tyre and Sidon (Acts 12:20).
Despite this, God's judgment reaches him.
We must not delude ourselves as this world does: God's judgment will find all those fools who dared to challenge him.
Those who will not observe the judgements of God’s mouth shall not escape the judgements of his hand.
Matthew Henry (Nonconformist Biblical Exegete)
The prophet Jonah on the run. Psalm 139:8
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
The prophet Jonah teaches us that if we want to escape God's command, God's judgment will find us:
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.
300 Illustrations for Preachers Sowing and Reaping on a Cashless Toll Road
Denver, Colorado, has an interstate, E-470, that circles half of the city. It is a cashless toll road. Tolls are recorded “either because motorists have a transponder or by photos taken of a driver’s license plate, which generate a bill in the mail.” With video and computer technology, the state of Colorado can now track a driver across the landscape of eastern Denver. They know where you are and how fast you drive. They know how many times you pass a certain tollbooth, and then they send you a bill they expect you to pay.
Paying a toll is one thing; paying for sins we commit is quite another. If you drive on E-470, the government knows. But the government’s knowledge is limited. God knows everything we do, and we will reap what we sow.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
Question. Why God does not judge immediatly the evil people?
N. 3 - Herod defies God’s purpose
N. 3 - Herod defies God’s purpose
When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
Herod dies, the Church advances. At the end of this chapter, the fierce monarch dies in grief along with his wicked purposes, while the Church of God advances in strength.
We may be kings or emperors, yet we can't stop our hair from falling out!
We can rule the whole world, yet like Xerxes we cannot sleep (Esther 6:1).
So how can we oppose God's plan? We will be folls, madmen!
God’s plan will continue on God’s schedule.
A. W. Tozer
Some fools of the last century. Some characters who opposed God, challenging the Lord:
The German philosopher Friedrich stated that the Christian faith is professed by weak people. He spent many years of his life in a precarious state of mind;
Nobel laureate Lewis Sinclair also defied God by slandering Christians. Due to alcoholism, he died in a clinic near Rome;
Nobel laureate Ernest encouraged his generation to live life regardless of God. He committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
Don't be crazy! Herod, Pharaoh, the Canaanite Kings, the Nobel prizes and many madmen died opposing God's plan.
You, on the other hand, with your transformed life, are the demonstration and testimony that no madman can challenge the Lord's purpose.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Leaving in a fearless society. We live in a society that has no fear of God and foolishly stands against the Lord.
The right choice is to give up this absurd decision to rebel against the Lord and accept the good and perfect will of God:
The Lord detests the way of the wicked,
but he loves those who pursue righteousness.
