Gary Hamrick - A Tale of Two Glories (01/22/2026)
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In Isaiah 39, Hezekiah proudly displays all his treasures to Babylonian envoys instead of testifying to God's miraculous healing, prompting Isaiah to prophesy that Babylon will one day plunder everything and exile his descendants. Yet chapter 40 shifts dramatically to proclaim comfort for God's people and the revelation of God's eternal, incomparable glory—ultimately fulfilled in Jesus—while contrasting it with the fleeting, insignificant glory of man that withers like grass. The key lesson is that we must never touch or claim God's glory for ourselves but live entirely to glorify Him.
Opening Scripture and Prayer
It’s good to see you out today. Let’s look here at chapter 39 and then into chapter 40. Chapter 39 of Isaiah, verse 1 says: «At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory, and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
„Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, 'What did those men say, and where did they come from?'
„'From a distant land,' Hezekiah replied. 'They came to me from Babylon.'
„The prophet asked, 'What did they see in your palace?'
„'They saw everything in my palace,' Hezekiah said. 'There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.'
„And then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 'Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'
„'The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,' Hezekiah replied. For he thought, 'There will be peace and security in my lifetime.'»
Chapter 40—if that seems a weird response, it is, and I’ll get to that in a moment. Chapter 40: „Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
„A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'
„A voice says, 'Cry out.'
„And I said, 'What shall I cry?'
„'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.'»
Let’s pause there and pray. Lord, it’s good to be in your house, and it’s good to just humble ourselves before your word and read Scripture and ask you, Lord, to apply it now to our hearts and to our lives—that we might grow in our faith, that we might become more like Jesus, that we might become more surrendered, Lord. And I thank you for all those who are here today and those who are watching online around the world. We just thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to just be here to proclaim your word, to study, to do what it says.
I thank you, Lord, that you’ve given us the freedoms that we enjoy and how we can come here freely to worship you without fear of harm or the government closing us down. So Lord, we just cherish our freedoms. We thank you, Lord, for your goodness. And we just pray now you use your word to minister to our hearts, challenge, and change us. We pray always in Jesus' name. And everybody said amen.
A Tale of Two Glories
Isaiah 39 and 40—I want us to look at together because these two chapters are really a tale of two glories. They are a tale of two glories. And you’ll notice with me in chapter 40 in particular that it’s a contrast of these two glories: the glory of God and the glory of man.
If you’ll notice there in chapter 40, verse 5, it says, „And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.“
And by the way, the beginning of chapter 40—there’s this whole conversation about one calling in the wilderness, „Prepare the way of the Lord"—that was prophetic for John the Baptist. Because John the Baptist would be the one to present Jesus: «Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.» John the Baptist will present Jesus to the world. And so in that sense he fulfills Isaiah chapter 40: John the Baptist as the one in the wilderness calling and making way for the Lord to be revealed. And Jesus is ultimately the revelation of God’s glory.
Hebrews 1:3 says that the Son is the radiance of God’s glory. So Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. And so God comes in flesh, dies on a cross for our sins. His sacrifice, his revelation—this is why the glory of God is renowned. And so Isaiah mentions the glory of the Lord there in verse 5. And then in verse 6 he also talks about the glory of man. The latter part of verse 6 says, «All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.«
Understanding the Hebrew Word for Glory
Now, the word «glory» in Hebrew is difficult, and it’s even more difficult to explain in English. But I’m going to do my best. And for those of you who like to take notes, here’s the background of the word «glory» in Hebrew. It is the Hebrew word «kabad.» And «kabad» means weighty or heavy. And depending on the context, it can mean something weighty that is good or something weighty that is bad.
For example, depending on the context, it can mean weighty as in burdensome—you know, if there’s something way beyond you that troubles you, it’s burdensome. But that can also be in Hebrew «kabad.» And then it could also be translated in a good way to mean weighty as in important: splendor, honor, grandeur, might.
And by the way, every time «kabad» is used in the Bible to describe God, it’s always used in the good sense. In multiple ways the Bible describes the glory of God. And I’m going to give you just a few examples so that we understand the concept of glory. And then I’m going to take chapter 40, contrast it, and then use chapter 39 to illustrate what Isaiah is saying here.
But for the moment, here’s a few verses to help us understand when the Bible speaks about the glory of God. For example, in Exodus 15, verse 11, it says, «Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?» There is no one with whom we can compare to God.
And in Exodus chapter 33, Moses actually asked God, «Can I see your glory?» He just requests of God, «Is it okay if I could see your glory?» And God basically says in Exodus 33, «Listen, you can’t look straight on into my glory. But here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to put you in the cleft of a rock. I’m going to cover your face. I’m going to pass by. You’ll be able to see a glimpse of my glory as I’m leaving you, but not as I’m coming towards you.«
This is what we read in Exodus 33, verse 21: «Then the Lord said, 'There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.'»
And so God manifests himself in some way to Moses—the representation of his glory passing by. He says, «Listen, I’m going to cover your face. You can see a glimpse of my glory as I pass by you, but you cannot see the full extent of it.«
The Bible also talks about God’s glory in 2 Chronicles 5, verse 14, where it tells us that the glory of God filled the temple of God so powerfully, in such a thick way, that the priests could not even perform their duties because the glory of God filled the temple. And it was this mist-like brilliance that was filling the temple, and they couldn’t even see to do their duties.
And in Psalm 24, verses 9 and 10, we read this: «Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.« So on and on in our Bibles, the Bible describes in multiple ways the glory of God.
And just try to get like a working definition so we understand what we’re talking about. The glory of God is basically the manifest infinite splendor and worth of God. Whenever you read in the Bible about the glory of God—it’s used in some context about, always in a good sense for God—it’s speaking about the manifest infinite—because it’s endless—splendor and worth of God.
But then the Bible also talks about the glory of man—certainly not on the same level as the glory of God—but it mentions an aspect of man’s glory. For example, in Proverbs 19, verse 11, which says this: «A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.« And so again, in a good sense, the word «glory» there basically means honor. It is to a person’s honor to overlook an offense.
You ever known people who seem to have the spiritual gift of making a mountain out of a molehill—that there’s just one little thing that is a little offense, and all of a sudden it just becomes this huge blown-out-of-proportion thing? You know, we have to be careful of that kind of thing. And that verse, Proverbs 19:11, reminds us: it’s to your glory—it’s to your honor—to overlook offenses. Don’t, you know, don’t get worked up about everything. Just, you know, give it to God and let it go. It is the glory of a person to overlook an offense.
Also Proverbs 20, verse 29 talks about our glory. It says, «The glory of young men is their strength; gray hair the splendor of the old.« So again it speaks there in terms of honor: that when a guy is young, still has some, you know, some measure of testosterone, their strength is their splendor—it’s their glory, their honor. But in the same verse it speaks about how the gray hair of men is their splendor. What that means is that the older a person gets, the wiser—generally speaking—they become. And that is indicated by their gray hair. You see gray hair—they’re older, but they’re older and they’re also wiser. That’s their splendor. Whereas the splendor of young men is their strength.
The Bible speaks also of our eternal glory in Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:17—Paul says, and I love the way Paul writes this because, you know, here’s a man who was beaten many times, left for dead, shipwrecked, went hungry without food—and he says in 2 Corinthians 4:17, «Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us a glory that far outweighs them all.« There is this glory that we shall experience in the presence of the Lord.
Psalm 73:24 says, «You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.« So there’s a glory that mankind experiences here and eternally in Christ. Even Christians will one day get a glorified body. In 1 Corinthians 15:43, Paul says that our body, when it decays in the ground, is sown in dishonor, but it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
So there are many facets to the idea of glory in the Bible as it applies to God’s glory and as it applies to man’s glory. But here in chapter 40, what we find is a contrast between the glory of God and the glory of man. And so I want us to look at this together. And then we’re going to see how chapter 39 illustrates the contrast for us.
Contrasts Between God's Glory and Man's Glory
So for you note-takers, here’s the first thing out of chapter 40. Number 1: God’s glory is revealed for all to see; man’s glory is limited for some to see. Here in chapter 40, verse 5 again says, «And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.«
The glory of God is revealed in his power. The glory of God is revealed in creation. The glory of God is revealed in commandments. The glory of God is revealed in the cross. In everything that God has done, is doing, and shall do reveals or displays his glory for all to see. That’s why Romans 1 says man will be without excuse on the day of judgment—because God’s glory is visible from that which has been seen, either through his commandments or through his creation or through the cross. God’s glory is constantly on display for all to see.
The Bible says in Psalm 19:1—David wrote, «The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.« Even when Isaiah wrote this book, in chapter 6, when he describes this vision of being in heaven before the throne of God—in chapter 6, verse 3—he says there were these angels that were circling the throne of God, and they were crying out in a loud voice, «Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the earth is full of his glory.«
Psalm 108, verse 5 says, «Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.« But man’s glory is limited. Man’s achievements, man’s accomplishments, man’s notoriety—all that man does will one day be forgotten. We don’t extend our glory around the globe like God does. Even in some of the most remote places in the world, they have an idea of a Creator. But they don’t know you, and they don’t know me. They can behold Creator and creation because God is always on display around the world. But our glory is limited—for only some to see.
The most famous people even understand this. The most famous poet or the most famous author or the most famous singer, celebrity, athletes, movie star—you name it. I mean, they might be known around a good portion of the world. But nobody is known around the world like God is. And even if some famous person is widely known, their glory won’t last forever.
Which brings me to point number two out of chapter 40. Number 2: God’s glory is eternal, but man’s glory is fading. You’ll look again here at verse 8: «The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.« The Word of God—our Bibles, which is the testimony of God’s glory—will endure forever. God’s testimony will endure forever. So therefore God’s glory is never-ending and ever displayed in the universe. Because God has no beginning and no ending—he is eternal—his glory is visible for all to see for all time.
Man’s glory is fading. That’s why, in comparison here in verses 6 and 7, Isaiah says this—the end of verse 6 says, «All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them.«
This passage, by the way, is quoted by the apostle Peter in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 24. Peter says—even in New Testament times—this is not just Old Testament stuff. Peter says even in New Testament times, man’s glory is ever fading. It’s like the flowers of the field—they fall, they fade. The petals eventually fall to the ground, and nobody remembers that flower anymore. You know, that’s the way it is with mankind. That’s why he’s using this as a comparison here. Your glory, my glory—it’s like a flower. I mean, it’s here today, and it’s gone, and nobody remembers it.
I don’t care how many books are written—people will eventually forget. I mean, do you have azaleas at your house? We got some azaleas, and they bloom for like a week, and then they’re done. And then nobody remembers them. And then, if you—by the way—if you’re going to trim your azalea bushes, you got to make sure you trim them right after the flowers fall off, or then they won’t bloom next year. You know, so here they go to all this effort—they bud, they bloom, they show their splendor for like a week—and then they’re done. And that’s basically the way mankind’s glory is: mankind’s fame, mankind’s notoriety—here today, forgotten tomorrow.
I was having a conversation a little while ago with our middle school pastor. And there it is—I think 27, 28, somewhere in there. And in the course of our conversation, I happened to mention—I don’t even remember; I think we were talking about music. And in the course of the conversation, I mentioned Diana Ross. He looked at me like a deer in the headlights and he said to me, «Who’s Diana Ross?» I was like, you know, you don’t know? Come on, you don’t know Diana Ross? «Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough.« Diana Ross. «Baby Love,» «My Baby Love.« Endless Love—Diana Ross. Crickets. Yeah, no idea who she was.
But how sad is this? Her glory has faded. She’s not even dead—don’t tell her we’re having this conversation. But I just—it was remarkable to me. I started throwing out other names: do you know this? And I got depressed. I’m like, what in the world? Our glory is fading like a flower.
Number three: God’s glory is incomparable; man’s glory is insignificant. In chapter 40, verse 12 and on—I mean, I’m just going to read verse 12 and a little bit of chapter 40—but Isaiah spends a lot of time talking about just the incomparable greatness and splendor and magnificence of God in comparison to man. And this chapter is rich with a lot of it. I’m just going to highlight a few verses.
Verse 12: «Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?«
Interesting, by the way—that whole concept of mountains and hills, valleys, the balance of the earth—is what scientists call isostasy. It’s the equilibrium and balance of the earth. And God has wonderfully created the earth in such a way that it doesn’t wobble or spin out of control. He’s got the Himalayas on one side of the earth, and he’s got the Grand Canyon on the other. So it just balances all, and it’s in rotation. Because that’s the way God has made the universe.
You know, I can’t even get the ceiling fan in my office not to wobble. You got to attach little weights on the blades to make sure that it spins just right. And here God has just flung the earth in space to wonderfully rotate without wobbling and without being out of balance. And Isaiah is saying, what man has done that? I mean, man can’t even—you know—balance tires or the ceiling fan. And God has made the whole universe in right balance.
Further down in verse 25, he asks more rhetorical questions: «To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?» says the Holy One. «To whom will you compare me?« There in verse 25—he is incomparable. We can’t compare anything or anyone to God. He has no equal.
Verse 26: «Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.«
I mean, this is the God of the universe that we serve. This is the one who is incomparable. But our glory is insignificant.
Hezekiah's Failure in Chapter 39
Now, when you put these three things together—that man’s glory is limited, man’s glory is fleeting and fading, and man’s glory is insignificant—and Isaiah makes this case throughout chapter 40, then you can understand why in chapter 39 Isaiah rebukes King Hezekiah for promoting his own glory instead of the glory of God.
The reason why these two chapters are together is because there’s this message to us that Hezekiah serves to illustrate: that the glory of God is revealed for all to see, the glory of God is eternal, the glory of God is incomparable. And then we come along and sometimes we assert ourselves and think we’re all that. And Hezekiah is a reminder to us that when you consider the glory of God and all of his wonder and all of his magnificence and all of his majesty and all his splendor, how dare any of us touch the glory and think to ourselves that we’ve accomplished this and we’ve done that and we’ve become successful and we’ve earned this and we deserve that.
So look at the story now in chapter 39 with me. There’s this danger, you see, that we can get into when we start to live for our glory instead of the glory of God. So let me summarize what we read in chapter 39, and then I’ll point out a few verses with you.
Hezekiah has just been miraculously healed by God of a terminal illness—that was our study last time in chapter 38. And in addition, God has not only healed him—God has given him a 15-year extension onto his life. This news circulates the known world so much so that the Babylonians—on a map would take up the area of Iraq—the king of Babylon sends an envoy to King Hezekiah in Judah, in Israel, with a letter from the king of Babylon and gifts to celebrate with him this great recovery of this illness that was killing him.
And so here come the Babylonian envoys—gifts and a letter—and they pay tribute here to King Hezekiah: «Wow, we’ve heard, you know—it—people have been tweeting all over the place about how you—and it’s not fake news; it’s real news—we’ve heard that you’ve recovered from this illness. Everybody thought you were dying. And so we’ve come with a letter from the king of Babylon. We’ve come with gifts. And so we just—this is incredible. So we just want to kind of honor you.«
And Hezekiah—here in this moment, you see—in this moment he misses an opportunity. Because in this moment he could be telling them about how God miraculously healed him. And he could be sharing with these pagan well-wishers—because after all, they were foreign people who did not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—he could have been using this opportunity as a witness, as a testimony for what God had done in his life. And they could have beheld the glory of God.
Instead, they ended up beholding the glory of Hezekiah. Because what does Hezekiah end up doing here? Look at verse 2 in chapter 39: «Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses.«
Now, I want you to circle the word or highlight in your Bibles every time the word «his"—the pronoun «his"—is used. «Showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory, and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.«
So they come: like, we heard about this great recovery. Indeed. Do you have time for a tour? Can I show you all of my treasures? Can I show you my storehouses of fine oil and spices and silver and gold? Let me take you to the palace. You have time to walk through the gardens with me? Let me show you all of our weapons. I’m going to take you to the armory. I’m going to show you all of our weapons.
What are you doing, Hezekiah? These people are not just foreigners—these are enemies of Israel who have come in for the moment as a delegation of peace. But otherwise they pose a real threat to Israel. And what’s he doing? He’s showing them around: let me just give you a tour of my palace and all my stuff here.
Now, this is troubling on a few levels. Five times in this one verse—verse 2—the pronoun «his» is used, placing emphasis on Hezekiah’s ownership and glory rather than on God’s ownership and glory.
You’ll notice also in verse 4: the prophet asked him, «What did they see in your palace?« Because I’m sure Isaiah is a little flabbergasted here. He’s like, you just gave these people a tour of everything. You took them into the war room and everything. You opened up your bank account. You showed them how much money. What did you show them? And he says in verse 4, «They saw everything—everything in my palace,» he says in verse 4. «There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.« Nothing—I showed them everything.
And again we go from the pronoun «his» to the pronoun «my"—because he owns it, he believes, and he wants to take the glory for it all.
Now, let me say this: I know that we commonly talk this way when we refer to things—even as Christians. We refer to things that we know really are from the hand of God. But we still talk, you know, normally. So you’ll say things like, come to my house for dinner—even though instinctively as Christians, I hope we all understand that the house we live in is really from the hand of God, right? But we still are going to talk normally: why don’t you come to my house for dinner? You know, I got to get the oil changed in my car.
So that’s normal. All right? It would be unnatural to go around saying, hey, why don’t you come to the house God gave me for dinner that I happen to live in? I need to get the oil changed in the car that God is allowing me to drive. Okay, that’s super spiritual. If you talk like that, don’t talk like that. All right? Just stop that.
I mean, I understand—I hope we all understand—okay, the car I drive, the house I live in, the money in my bank account—everything—it’s really from the hand of the Lord. But we’re going to still talk about it as my house, my car. Okay, we get that.
So I’m not picking on Hezekiah’s words here as to why it is clear that he’s touching the glory and taking ownership for stuff. What we need to look at here is the heart of Hezekiah—which, that’s pretty difficult—how do you know somebody’s heart? Which is revealed by what he says and what he does.
See, you and I can never know what’s in a person’s heart unless they say something or show by action. Then we can see their heart revealed. So Hezekiah’s heart is revealed to us first by what he said in response to Isaiah’s rebuke.
Now look at Isaiah’s rebuke here in verses 5, 6, and 7. Verse 5: «Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 'Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon.'»
All right, now you know why he’s saying this, right? Because he’s saying you’re touching the glory. You’re taking credit for all this stuff. So guess what? There’s going to come a day when God’s going to say, you think it’s yours? Watch—you—it really belongs to me. I’ll allow the Babylonians to come and take it all away from you.
So Isaiah goes on—and at the end of verse 6, «Nothing will be left, says the Lord.« Verse 7: «And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.«
So Isaiah is basically saying, you want to take credit for all this stuff? You think all this stuff is yours? You watch—because one day—and he prophesies here, and it would happen about a hundred and fifteen years later—where God will allow the Babylonians to come ransack the palace of Jerusalem, the temple of Jerusalem—all these things carried off—in a way to show that God is the real owner. You start to touch these things and claim them for yourselves—watch, Hezekiah, what God will do.
And Isaiah goes on to say, and not only will your possessions be carried off, but so will your people—including some of your own descendants, your own flesh and blood. He says to Hezekiah, some of your own grandsons will be singing tenor in the king of Babylon’s palace.
Do you understand this? And here’s how Hezekiah responds. Here’s what he says in verse 8: «The word of the Lord you have spoken is good.« What? And then he adds, «Well, there will be peace and security in my lifetime.« This is good—because all this stuff you’ve just said, Isaiah, means that this is in the future. It doesn’t really affect me right now. So I’m good. I’m good.
No, no, Hezekiah—you’re not good. You’re missing the point here. But what it tells us—revealed through what he says—is that he really is thinking it’s my treasures, it’s my palace, it’s my lifetime. This is good because it’s really all about me.
And it’s not only exposing how he’s touching the glory by what he says, but also by what he does. Does it strike anyone odd when you read this story that the Babylonians pose a real threat to the Jewish people, but for the moment they’ve come as a little envoy of peace who want to give you a letter, who want to send you some gifts—and King Hezekiah takes the opportunity to show a foreign nation that poses a real threat everything that he has: all the silver, all the gold, all the spices, all our weaponry—everything. He shows them everything.
Let me tell you—this would be the equivalent of, on a very small scale, you know that there’s a neighborhood thief where you live. You invite him over to your house. He comes, shows up: hey, I heard you got sick, and I just wanted to bring you, you know, a pound cake here. And I heard about your recovery. Hey, thank you very much. While you’re here, do you have time for a tour of my house? Well, actually, I do. Let me show you my bank account. Let me give you my passwords. Here’s my social security number. Here’s the code to the alarm system on my house. Here’s where I hang the car keys in case you’re ever interested in my car. Thanks, and have a good day.
What are you doing? Why would you show somebody these things? I’ll tell you why he showed them these things: because he was blinded by his own glory rather than enraptured by the glory of God. He was blinded by his own glory: let me show you all my stuff. Let me show you all my accomplishments. Let me show you all my achievements. Let me show you what I’ve done. And this becomes his downfall.
When you become more impressed with your splendor than the splendor of God, you and I are in trouble.
The Example of Herod Agrippa
We see actually this illustrated in the New Testament with another king. His name was King Herod Agrippa I. He was a puppet of the Roman Empire, and he was put in place over the province of Judea to keep watch on the Jewish people.
And in Acts chapter 12, it tells us that on one occasion when King Agrippa was in Caesarea by the sea—which was the main place that he lived; the Herods would only go down to Jerusalem during the feast times—Herod Agrippa I, the guy we’re talking about in Acts chapter 12, was the grandson of Herod the Great who had all the baby boys killed during the time of Jesus. He was the nephew of Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded. So this guy is in that family line.
So here he is in Acts chapter 12. Herod Agrippa I—he’s probably in the theater; it doesn’t specifically say—and he’s giving this public speech to the people of Caesarea. But the Bible says that he’s wearing his royal vestments. And Josephus, the first-century Roman historian, wrote about this event also. And Josephus said that Agrippa’s royal robes were made of silver material—kind of like sequins. And when the sun glistened—this is Josephus writing—and when the sun glistened against the royal robes, he sparkled and glowed, giving the appearance of divinity.
And so here’s what the Bible says in Acts 12, verse 22: when the people saw him glistening—in Acts 12:22—they shouted, «This is the voice of a god, not of a man.« So here’s King Agrippa—he’s talking, he’s giving the speech, and he’s glistening. The sun is reflecting off of his brilliant silver royal vestments, and the people are mesmerized. And he’s glowing. He’s glowing. And so they start to ascribe divinity to him: you’re like a god. You’re not a man—you’re a god. And they start worshiping him.
And at this moment, Agrippa should stop and say, no, no—wait, I’m not God. That’s got to be reminiscent of Jacob. I’m just a king. But instead he’s like, mmm, I like this. I like—what did you call me? I didn’t hear you. What? You’re like a god? Say it again. You’re like your God—I can’t hear you. You know, and that goes on.
And so in Acts 12:23 it says, «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.« What more needs to be said about that? I mean, the moral of the story is don’t touch the glory. I mean, you know, worms are kind of really the lowest on the food chain. So when God decides I’m going to kill you by letting worms eat you—that’s like the lowest of the lowest of the food chains. That’s how you’re going out. And that’s what God did with King Agrippa because he touched the glory.
On one of our trips to Israel, Ronny—our tour guide, longtime friend of ours—now in the middle of the tour, he gave me this coin. And it’s an ancient coin. And the coin was minted by that very king in Acts chapter 12—King Herod Agrippa I. And he said, «I want you to have this.« And it was actually on a—it was in a medallion on a chain. So he gave it to me. And I was very appreciative. And it was the oldest thing I own—like 2,000 years old.
And so Terri later said to me, «You’re not going to wear that, are you?« Like, why not? She goes, «It’s—you know—that’s kind of a bad story in Acts chapter 12. And you’re not going to put, like, King Agrippa around…« And I said, you know, actually it’s a good reminder around. But I don’t wear it all the time. I don’t have it on right now. But it’s just a good reminder: don’t ever touch the glory, or you might die from worms.
Living for the Glory of God
But it’s something important for us always to consider. Why? Because Psalm 115, verse 1 says, «Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory.« Not to us, not to us, O Lord—but to your name be the glory.
Isaiah 42, verse 8 says, «I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.«
In Revelation 14:6 and 7, John says, «Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he said in a loud voice: 'Fear God and give him glory.'»
In 1 Corinthians 10:31, we are reminded, «So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.« Build your business for the glory of God. Raise your kids for the glory of God. Use your gifts for the glory of God. Watch your speech for the glory of God. Manage your money for the glory of God. Love your spouse for the glory of God. Live your life for the glory of God. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
In the 17th century, some English and Scottish theologians got together and they penned what is commonly called the Westminster Shorter Catechism. And one of the defining lines of the catechism that these theologians came up with kind of summarizes what we’ve been talking about today. And it says this: «The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.«
May all that we do—everything about our lives—bring glory to God Almighty. And may we always be careful never to touch the glory.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray together. Father in heaven, we’re grateful that you would visit us here today through the pages of your word—that we might be reminded of your magnificence, of your splendor, of your greatness, of your manifest infinite splendor and worth—your glory.
And we pray, Father, that everything about our lives would reflect your glory—that we wouldn’t try to touch it for ourselves, that we wouldn’t lay claim to things for the sake of our own ambition. But that we would recognize every accomplishment, every achievement, every success, every dollar we have in our bank account, every possession that is in our care has come from you and is for your glory.
Help us, Lord, to be mindful that as we live our lives, may everything about our lives bring glory to you. Forgive us, Lord, when we touch the glory. Thank you for your grace if you don’t strike us down like you did Herod Agrippa. Forgive us, Lord, when we attempt to take ownership or glory in the things that we’ve done.
May all glory be yours, Lord. Not to us, O Lord, not to us—but to your name be all the glory. We pray in Jesus' name. And everybody said amen. Amen.