BY DAWN REED

In the pasta aisle at Food City, I debated which noodle looked most like worms. Spaghetti was too straight, bow tie too lumpy, penne too tubular. I FaceTimed my daughter to ask her opinion. We settled on elbow macaroni. It was for Sunday School.

Our high school class has been studying the book of Acts. Holy Moly, what stories. True stories.

So far, the Holy Spirit has come in a dramatic fashion, Peter has changed from evader to evangelist, thousands have been saved, deacons chosen, Stephen stoned to death, Saul has seen the light, and the gospel is being shared with the Gentiles. It has been an exciting ride, and we are only on chapter 12.

This week we are learning about King Herod.

Looking at three of the Herods, the Acts 12 guy was Herod Agrippa I. His uncle, Herod Antipas, had John the Baptist beheaded (Luke 9:9). His grandfather, Herod the Great, had all the babies two and under killed after Jesus was born (Matthew 2:16).

Acts 12 tells us that Herod Agrippa I had killed James (one of the 12 disciples, brother to John, and very close friend of Jesus) by the sword. He had Peter arrested, guarded by 16 soldiers, and bound by two chains. In the night, he was miraculously released by an angel.

When Herod learned of Peter’s escape, he had all 16 guards executed.

Herod then went from Judea to Caesarea. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They sought an audience with him to ask for peace (verses 19-20).

That day, Herod sat on his throne and spoke to all the people. His words were so impressive they said it was the voice of a god, not of a man, who had spoken. Herod soaked up their praise.

Acts 12:23 tells us what happened next: “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.”

Sunday morning, in Sunday School, we dug into Herod’s saga. What we took home from this bizarre true story:

• There is no god besides God. When He gave us the first commandment, He wasn’t joking: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” That includes making gods of ourselves.
• Pride goes before the fall (Proverbs 16:18).
• We can be confident but not full of ourselves.
• We do not have to walk in our family’s footsteps. Herod Agrippa I was a terrible person who came from a line of terrible people. His family was a mess. Yours may be, too. That doesn’t mean you have to follow their example.

After the lesson, we took pictures of a somber-looking king and glued macaroni all over him to look like worms. We all agreed that being eaten by worms would be a horrific death. My Life Application Study Bible shares: “Accompanied by intense pain, he was literally eaten alive, from the inside out, by worms. It was considered to be one of the most disgraceful ways to die.” Yikes.

I’m hoping the next time these guys and girls eat mac and cheese, they will remember the awful death of King Herod. Most of all, that God is the only God and pride goes before the worms.

Dawn Reed is a newspaper columnist and pastor’s wife in Prestonsburg.