The death of the persecutor - Acts 12:20-23 - N. T. - 

Now Herod was on bad terms with Tyrians and Sidonians. However, they sent a joint deputation which managed to enlist the support of Blastus, the king's chamberlain, and through him negotiated a treaty, since their country depended for its food supply on king Herod's territory. A day was fixed, and Herod, wearing his robes of state and enthroned on a dais, made a speech to them. The people acclaimed him with, 'It is god speaking, not man!', and at that moment the angel of the Lord struck him down, because he had not given the glory to God. He was eaten away with worms and died.                 

Cf. - 2 Maccabees 9:5-28 - O. T. - But the all-seeing Lord, the God of Israel, struck him with an incurable and unseen complaint. The words were hardly out of his mouth when he was seized with an excruciating internal tortures on the bowels of others. Even so he in no way diminished his arrogance; still bursting with pride, breathing fire in his wrath against the Jews, he was in the act of ordering an even keener pace when he suddenly hurtled from his chariot, and the violence of his headlong fall racked every bone in his body. He who only a little while before had thought in his superhuman boastfulness to command the waves of the sea, he who imagined he could weigh mountain peaks in a balance, found himself flat on the ground, with worms and his flesh rotted away while he lingered on in agonising pain, and the stench of his decay sickened the whole army. A short while beforehand he had thought to grasp the stars of heaven; now no one could bring himself to act as his bearer, for the stench was unbearable.     

In consequence he began there and then, in his shattered state, to shed his excessive pride and to come to his senses under the divine lash, for he was tormented with pains all the time. His stench became unendurable even to himself, and he exclaimed, 'It is right to submit to God; no moral should aspire to equality with the godhead'. The wretch began to pray to the Master, who would never take pity on him now, declaring that the Holy City, towards which he had been speeding to raze it to the ground and turn it into a mass grave, should be declared free; as for the Jews, whom he had considered as not even worth burying, so much carrion to be thrown out with their children for birds and beasts to prey on, he would make them all the equals of the citizens of Athens; the holy Temple which he had once plundered he would now adorn with the finest offering; he would restore all the sacred vessels many times over; he would defray from his personal revenue the expenses incurred for the sacrifices; and to crown it all he would himself turn Jew and visit every place where men lived, proclaiming the power of God.                   

Finding no respite at all from his suffering, because God had punished him with his righteous sentence, he abandoned all hope for himself and wrote the Jews the letter transcribed below, which takes the form of an appeal in these terms:

'To the excellent Jews his citizens, Antiochus, king and commander-in-chief, sends hearty greetings, wishing them all health and prosperity. If you and your children are well and your affairs are as you would wish, then I am profoundly thankful. For my part, though prostrate with sickness, I cheerly tender memories of you. On my return from the country of Persia I fell seriously ill, and thought it necessary to make a provision for the common security of all. Not that I despair of my condition, for I have great hope of shaking off the malady, but considering how my father, whenever he was making an expedition into the uplands, would designate his successor, so that in case of any unforeseen event or dis quieting rumour the people of the provinces might know to whom he had left the conduct of affairs and thus remain undisturbed: furthermore, being well aware that the princes on our frontiers and neighbours of our realm are watching for opportunities and waiting to see what will happen. I have designated as king my son Antiochus, whom I have more than once entrusted and commented to most of you when I was setting hereto. I therefore urge and require you to remember past favours both public and personal, and to persist, each one of you, in your existing goodwill towards myself and my son. I am confident that he will pursue my own policy with benevolence and humanity, and will prove accommodating to your interests.'

And so this murderer and blasphemer, having endured the same terrible suffering as he had made others endure, met his pitiable fate, and ended his life among the remote and inhospitable mountains.

Cf. - Matthew 1:20-25 - N. T. - Joseph had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.' Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel, a name which means 'God-is-with-us'. When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.

Barnabas and Saul return to Antioch - Acts 12:24-25 - N. T. 

The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers. Barnabas and Saul completed their task and came back from Jerusalem, bringing John Mark with them.

Cf. - Acts 6:7+; 11:29-30; 12:12+ -

                                                              -  PAGE  116  -

III. THE MISSION OF BARNABAS AND PAUL - THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM - 

The mission sent out

In the church at Antioch......                 -  PAGE  117  -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -                              

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