King Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, who had been exiled to island of Capri by emperor Tiberius for expressing a desire of having his friend Caligula to be the successor of emperor Tiberius. Tiberius might have thought of some treachery behind this and exiled Agrippa and Caligula to the island of Capri. Agrippa might have died over there undertrial. In his sixth month of his exile emperor Tiberius died naming Caligula as his successor.
As soon as Caligula became emperor, he made his friend Agrippa king over tetrarchy of Philip, son of Herod the Great. In the conflict between jews and greeks, Agrippa sided jews and was successful in abandoning the plan of erecting the statue of emperor Caligula in the temple of Jerusalem.
After the murder of Caligula, the praetorian guards kidnapped Claudius and made him emperor going against democracy. But Agrippa spoke to the Senate and diplomatically persuaded Senate in making Claudius the emperor. In return Claudius made Agrippa a king extending his domain more compared with Caligula. Agrippa made great wealth and strengthened the walls of Jerusalem. May be because of the jews on his side or to strengthen his support from jews, he cut off the head of James, the brother of John and put Apostle Peter in jail and planned to put him on trail in public after the Passover (Book of Acts Chapter 12), on whole Agrippa was against Christians.
From rags to riches, from life sentence(?) to the kingship, Agrippa's stature grew. As his stature grew, his tyranny grew. His judgements over James and Peter is a best example of his tyranny. The sway of his power with jews on his side and above all the support of the emperor made Agrippa a substantial power in the region. This predominance brought arrogance. Out of this arrogance, Agrippa in the city of Cesarea on the second day of games on a certain festival in honour of Caesar, came into the theater at dawn, dressed in a garment woven in silver being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it. Upon the luminesce of the bright light, his flatterers at once addressed him as god. They shouted, "be thou merciful to us, till now we have feared you as a man, from now on we agree that you're more than a mortal". Upon this king Agrippa neither rebuked them nor reject their impious flattery. Book of Acts Chapter 12 reads, "22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 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."" The picture attached, a reconstructed theater is the very place where king Agrippa died instantly.
The resultant of sinful character either ego or arrogance is death. Book of job Chapters 38 and 39 gives us a picture of God's sovereign dominion over everything seen and unseen. In Chapter 40, the Lord challenges, "Would you discredit my justice? ..Do you have an arm like God’ ?" (v8,9). Let's conclude this lesson with a firm belief knowing our true nature as humans can't challenge the sovereignty of God and by accepting His dominance a blessing over us.
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