The history covered in the Bible considers the good, the bad and ugly lived experiences of those whose stories are presented in the Holy Book. For example, the religious people who were looking forward to God’s coming Messiah worked tirelessly to kill the Messiah and as if that was not enough, they even considered the testimony of the Messiah’s followers as enough reason for them to die. Yet, day in and out, these religious fanatics were praying and trusting God for a Saviour. The irony of the matter was the fact that when one of their fanatic people had an encounter with Jesus, God’s living Messiah, these Jewish authorities did all they could to kill him. Paul, the man with the testimony of Jesus, the words of life and hope, was considered not fit to life. After facing different trials, Paul was left in prison for 2 years by Felix. The new Roman governor Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” (Acts 25:9). Paul appealed to Caesar and before Festus sent Paul over to Caesar, he made Paul appear before king Agrippa. The focus of this post is Bernice, the incestuous partner of King Agrippa.
A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. (Acts 25:13)
King Agrippa also known as Herod Agrippa II, was the great-grandson of Herod the Great. His father was also known as King Agrippa I and the father died while Agrippa II was a teenager being educated in Rome. Finally, in 48 AD and 53 AD, the new King Agrippa II was given the right to oversee the temple in Jerusalem and ultimately to rule over a larger region northeast of the Sea of Galilee. According to history, Agrippa never married but committed incestuous relationship with his sister Bernice. On the other hand, Bernice married thrice, she was twice a widow and at one time the divorced sister of King Agrippa. At the request of Festus, the case of the righteous Paul was to be determined by the sinful Agrippa and his incestuous sister. On the day of the hearing, “Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.” (Acts 25:23). The irony of this case was that Bernice and Agrippa who were the chief culprit and breakers of the Jewish laws were escorted with great pomp while Paul, the man who was propagating righteousness came in chains (see Acts 26:29).
Bernice and her brother Agrippa were committing incest but they were treated as royalty with pomp and glamor. On the other hand, Paul the apostle was treated as the criminal. Who were the real criminals in this case? Both Bernice and Agrippa were Jews and they knew the laws. Paul even acknowledged that Agrippa was “well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies” (Acts 26:3). Yet, he and Bernice had the boldness to openly defy God laws regarding incest between siblings:
“If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.” (Leviticus 20:17)
Agrippa did not marry Bernice but they had sexual relations and it was not done in secret. It was known by all.
It is quite difficult to understand the lifestyle of Bernice from the 1st century perspective. She married three husbands, two of these men died leaving her as widow and she divorced the last man to have sexual relations with her brother. As much as this post is not targeted to condemn Bernice personally, certain things need to be mentioned. The flaws in her character seemed to have attracted to her a man of her type; her pleasure-seeking and never-ready-to-commit brother. These two were birds of the same feature and they openly expressed their love throughout their Jerusalem and Galilee. Even in the extremely liberal 21st century, “Bernices” don’t always flaunt their lifestyle in public delight. Of course there are some modern day “Bernices” who have taken their lifestyle onto the public spaces and wrongly influencing young women about the notion of love and self gratification.
The author of the book of Acts, Luke, carefully presented Bernice not as the wife of Agrippa because she was not (see Acts 26:30). If you are drawn to the lavish lifestyles of certain women, take time to know and understand what they do and where they are coming from. Don’t envy people whose lives are contrary to the word of God. No matter how powerful, rich and famous they become, they remain sinners until they change their ways of lives and accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
Dear sister, don’t spend time on lifestyles that do not glorify God but rather promote godlessness and immorality. Dear brother, don’t misuse the power and authority you have to promote vile lifestyles. God sees and judges all things.
Come blog with me 