Stephen, had reached Antioch, where they made known the glad tidings of salvation among the Grecians or Hellenistic Jews; and "the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord."* When the report of these things reached Jerusalem, that church sent Barnabas to Antioch, who rejoiced at seeing the grace of God so illustriously displayed among them; and who, by his own exhortations and discourses, was eminently instrumental in promoting the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom among them. Hearing that Saul was at Tarsus, Barnabas went in quest of him, and having found him, he brought him also to Antioch, where they both continued a whole year labouring with much success in the work of the Lord.

Caius Caligula, whose death has been already noticed, and which took place about this time, was succeeded in the empire by Claudius Cæsar, who, soon after his entrance on the government, bestowed the kingdom of Judea on Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the great (mentioned Matt. ii.), and nephew to Herod the Tetrarch who put to death John the Baptist. Herod Agrippa experienced much of the vicissitude that usually accompanies ambition. He had incurred the displeasure of Tiberius, by whose order he was put in chains and committed to prison. The account which Josephus gives us of this affair is as follows. Before Caius Caligula ascended the throne of the Cæsars, as Herod and he were one day riding together in their chariot, the former, who was anxious to ingratiate himself with the heir apparent to the throne, "wished to God that Tiberius was gone, and Caius emperor in his stead." Eutychus, who drove the chariot, overheard the words, but concealed his knowledge of them at the moment. But some time afterwards, being accused by his master Herod of theft, he discovered the treason to Tiberius, who instantly had him arrested and confined, during the life of the latter. When Tiberius died, Caius not only liberated his old friend, but invited him to his palace, put a crown upon his head, and constituted him king

*Acts xi. 19-22.

of the tetrarchy of Philip, and bestowed on him a chain of gold, of the same weight with the iron one which he had worn during his imprisonment. *

Herod was a professed zealot for the law of Moses and the peculiarities of Judaism, and studied by every means in his power to ingratiate himself with the Jews. He expended vast sums in the defence and ornament of their city; but it was now in his power to attempt a more acceptable service, by exerting his authority against the Christians; and the motives of vanity and popular applause by which he was governed, prompted him to embrace the opportunity. He began by apprehending the apostle James, the son of Zebedee, and brother of John, whom he hastily put to death, and finding the Jews were highly pleased with this step, he caused Peter also to be apprehended and imprisoned, intending to have him executed after the Passover; a period when, by reason of the influx of strangers from all parts to the city, he should have an opportunity of shewing his zeal against this new sect to a greater number of spectators. James indeed had finished his course, and was gone to receive the crown of righteousness from the hands of his divine master in the kingdom of God. But, the work of Peter was not yet accomplished; and though marked out by Herod for a speedy sacrifice, he was still secure. So intent was Herod upon his destruction, that he not only committed him to prison, but loaded him with two chains, and consigned him to the charge of sixteen soldiers, who were to watch him by turns, four at a time, two of them being chained to him, one on either side, and two placed as centinels at the prison door. 'Tis probable that the Jews still recollected how all the apostles had formerly escaped when put in prison, and perhaps they suspected the fidelity of the guards; nor is it unlikely that at their particular request, all these precautions were taken in the case of Peter. We may realize something of the anxiety and concern which must have pervaded the church on this distressing occasion. They had lost Stephen and one apostle; and the life of the great

*Josephus' Antiq. b. 18. ch. 6, § 5. and Wars, b. 1. ch. 9. § 4.

apostle of the circumcision was in the utmost jeopardy. "But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him."

*

How long it pleased God, in this instance, to exercise the faith and confidence of the church, does not certainly appear. It is thought by some, that Peter was apprehended about the beginning of April, or during the days of unleavened bread, which was the beginning of the feast of the passover. That lasted eight days, and they date the transanction in the third year of the reign of Claudius. It was the usual practice of the Jews, during the festival, to indulge in mirth and jollity, and at the end to release the prisoners. On this occasion, however, they were anticipating the high satisfaction, of seeing, as soon as the paschal lamb was eaten and the festival quite finished, the foremost of this sect brought out and put to death. His enemies congratulated themselves in the thought that they had him secure. The next day was appointed by Herod for his being publicly put to death. But the night before he was to have been brought out and slain, the Lord interposed and rescued him out of their hands. Peter, in all probability, knew the time they had appointed for his martyrdom; but he seems to have been in the enjoyment of a serene and tranquil mind, and not in the least alarmed about their machinations. He was sleeping very composedly between the two soldiers, chained by the arm to each of them, when the angel of the Lord came upon him, accompanied by an effulgent brightness, and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly; and his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said, "Gird thyself and bind on thy sandals; and he did so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee and follow me, and he went out and followed him," apprehending that he saw a vision. The prison was in the suburbs of Jerusalem, and when they had passed the first and second watch, they came unto the great iron gate which led towards the city. This opened to them of its own accord, and when the angel had escorted Peter through one street,

* See Benson's First Planting of Christianity, ch. 5. § 6.

and delivered him completely out of the hands of his enemies, he departed from him.

In the morning, Herod found himself disappointed of his prey! The guards were examined, but being unable to give a satisfactory account of their prisoner, he commanded them to be put to death. It is not improbable that Herod might suspect a miraculous interposition in this instance; but to punish the guards as if they had been guilty of conniving at his escape, was the likeliest method to stop further inquiry, and prevent the people from suspecting any thing extraordinary in the affair.*

Herod did not long survive this event. He lived and died a monument of the instability of human greatness. He was much devoted to his Roman masters, and had a taste for their magnificence. This induced him to celebrate games and shows at Cæsarea in honour of the emperor, at which times he laboured to display the utmost of his grandeur. His pride was farther flattered by an embassy from Tyre and Sidon. Those cities had incurred his displeasure, but as they chiefly drew their subsistence from his dominions, they were compelled to supplicate peace, which, though they had highly offended him, they obtained by their interest with Blastus his chamberlain. The king appointed a day on which to receive their submission, when he appeared in the theatre with a splendour that dazzled the eyes of the spectators. He addressed himself to the ambassadors in a pompous oration, suited, we may suppose, to give them the highest idea both of his power and clemency. When he had ended, he heard his praises resound from every quarter; the multitude shouted, "It is the voice of a god and not of a man." His vain heart was elated with this impious compliment, which, considering that Herod professed the knowledge of the true God, displayed an awful instance of pride and impiety. The angel of the Lord smote him with an irresistible, though invisible stroke, because he gave not God the glory; and while surrounded with the fancied insignia of majesty, and in the midst of their idolatrous acclamations, he was seized with excruciating pains, "worms bred in his putrified flesh and devoured * Acts xii. 1–19.

him alive." In this wretched condition he continued five days, and then expired an awful instance of God's just judgment, who resisteth the proud, and will not give his glory to another.*

While these things were transacting in Judea, the church of Antioch increased greatly, both in number and in gifts. For besides the stated office-bearers of bishops and deacons, which were common to all the churches, this at Antioch had several eminently gifted persons, as prophets (or exhorters), and teachers (or ministers of the word); among whom were Barnabas and Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, and Saul. By means of a certain prophet who had come down from Jerusalem to Antioch in those days, the Lord was pleased to intimate his will that, among other things, a season of scarcity was approaching which would severely affect the disciples in Judea; an event which, accordingly, took place in the latter end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth year of the reign of Claudius, as is noticed by Josephus, Eusebius, and Orosius. In this calamitous event, we have a signal display, not only of the care of the blessed God over his people, in revealing its approach by the ministry of this prophet, and thus giving them an opportunity to provide against it, at a time when many of the Christians in Jerusalem had forsaken all for the

* The account which Josephus gives of the death of Herod, coincides wonderfully with that given by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, except that the former goes more into detail, and has particularly taken notice that the king himself could not but acknowledge the hand of God in his sufferings, and now flattering and unjust the acclamations were, which ascribed divinity to him, a mortal being, now seized with a disease which would quickly hurry him out of the world.

He left behind him a son called AGRIPPA, then seventeen years of age, before whom Paul afterwards appeared and made his well known apology for Christianity, and thereby "almost persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian." He also left two daughters who are noticed in the New Testament, viz. BERNICE, who was married to Herod, king of Chalcis, her father's brother, being sixteen years of age; and DRUSILLA, who was afterwards married to the governor Felix.

After the death of Herod Agrippa, the kingdom was again reduced to a Roman province, and then the persecution of the Christians, for a while, abated.