Herod

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Herod ~ 12.03.06

Matthew 2:1-8 NLT

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We have seen his star as it arose, and we have come to worship him." 3 Herod was deeply disturbed by their question, as was all of Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law. "Where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?" he asked them. 5 "In Bethlehem," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote: 6 'O Bethlehem of Judah, you are not just a lowly village in Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.' " 7 Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. 8 Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"

Matthew 2:12-18 NLT

But when it was time to leave, they went home another way, because God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get upand flee to Egypt with the child and his mother," the angel said. "Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child." 14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my Son out of Egypt."

16 Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier. 17 Herod's brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah: 18 "A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah – weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted – for they are dead."

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When it comes to the Christmas story, it’s safe to say that, although he was a major player in it, King Herod missed that first Christmas.

Yes, Herod’s part, along with that of the Wise Men, didn’t actually occur until a couple years after Jesus’ actual birth. But, it’s still a central aspect of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ incarnation from the glory of heaven and into the earthly realm.

So who was King Herod and what do we know about him?

Herod was known as Herod the Great and lived from 73 to 4 BC.

He was the second son of Antipater, the founder of the Herodian dynasty.
His family rubbed shoulders with the aristocracy of Rome, and thus in 47 BC his father was appointed Procurator (president) over Judea. From this position Herod’s father appointed his son Herod governor of Galilee at the age of 25.
As “friend and ally of the Romans” Herod was not allowed to be a truly independent ruler. However, Rome did allow him to run his own domestic policies.

Herod was a magnificent builder. among other things he built:

A magnificent palace in Masada and two other similar fortresses.
His crowning achievement - the building of Caesarea Maritima (to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi) - a magnificent seaport which Herod named “Caesarea” in honor of the then Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.
Herod also rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and more famously the Temple in Jerusalem (the building was started in 20 BC).

Herod was at times quite generous to the people under his authority:

When times were tough he’d lesson taxes;
In the famine of 25 B.C. he actually melted down his own gold plate to buy corn for starving people.

In the world’s eyes, Herod was quite successful as a king, at least politically. He extended the territories of his kingdom to include areas that are today southern Syria.

But his reign eventually became marred, becoming known as a reign of terror.
“He was…insanely suspicious. He had always been suspicious, and the older he became the more suspicious he grew, until, in his old age, he was, as someone said, ‘a murderous old man.’ If he suspected anyone as a rival to his power, that person was promptly eliminated.” Barclay

He married 10 times, and all his marriages were unhappy; probably because of his paranoia.

He was so paranoid that he executed:

his favorite wife Mariamme I because he thought she was having an affair (though she wasn’t).
his brother-in-law and mother-in-law, as well as his uncle.
three of his 14 children.

When the Roman Emperor Augustus heard of the execution of Herod’s eldest son Antipater in 4 BC, he made his famous comment that it would be better to be Herod’s pig (hus) than his son (huios).
Once when Herod was sick, two popular teachers, Judas and Matthias, encouraged their students to remove the golden eagle (a kingdom seal) from the entrance of the Temple because having it there was technically a violation of the Ten Commandments regarding idolatry.
Herod had both the teachers and the pupils burnt alive.

Just before his death, Herod, realizing that when he died there would be no great mourning for him, sent letters to the major heads of every family in Judaism, demanding their presence in Jerusalem.

He then had them locked up on trumped-up charges and gave orders to his sister that when he died they were all to be executed so that the whole nation would mourn the day of his death, even though the mourning would not be for him.
Fortunately, when Herod died, his sister released the imprisoned Jews and allowed them to return home.

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Quotes on Power

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Abraham Lincoln

“O, it is excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.” William Shakespeare

“Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.”

Edward Abbey

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Acton’s Law

“When a man is intoxicated by alcohol, he can recover, but when intoxicated by power, he seldom recovers.” James F. Byrnes

“It is the magician’s bargain: give up our souls, get power in return. But once our souls, that is, our selves, have been given up, the power thus conferred will not belong to us. We shall in fact be the slaves and puppets of that to which we have given our souls.” C.S. Lewis

As mentioned earlier, though part of that first Nativity story, Herod himself completely missed the coming of Jesus into our world.

Why? Because he was afraid of losing his power; his control.
And, is this not what keeps most people today from wanting anything to do with submitting their lives to Jesus; a loss of power and control?

Scripture tells us Jerusalem was also troubled at the Wise Men’s question, Where is the newborn king of the Jews? (vs.2)

They well knew of Herod’s insane, murderous jealousy of his power, and they knew what type of things he’d do to eliminate any threat to his power.

“Jerusalem shivered as it waited for his inevitable reaction.” Barclay

Herod pretended he wanted to worship Jesus, but in truth he was afraid of this One who was called King of the Jews.

He didn’t want any competition to his throne. When Matthew wrote that Herod was deeply disturbed at the news of a newborn king of the Jews; that phrase (deeply disturbed) in Greek means “agitated, stirred up, shaken up. The word conveys the idea of panic.
Herod panicked because he perceived his power was in jeopardy. Herod had no use for any other King of the Jews.

So, in Herod’s insane attempt to wipe out one child, he had scores of children killed.

God had warned Joseph and Mary about Herod’s plans, and they had fled to Egypt with Jesus

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There’s a question begging to be asked at this point:

Why would God allow so much sorrow at the expense of sending Jesus into the world?

As many are aware, this is the type of question that has plagued people for centuries:

Why would a good God allow such pain and suffering, especially to further His own agenda?

Those questions have been answered in various ways over time by people a whole lot smarter than you and me.

I’d like to answer those questions with another question:

Why would a good God, and a loving Father, allow His sinless, perfect Son to die a heinous death for a world full of sinners?

It’s interesting, and scary, how the enemy of our souls can get us to focus on the injustices to ourselves and others, forgetting:

The greatest injustice ever was Jesus dying for my sins.

God is love, and love can show itself in seemingly contradictory ways at times.

We must not forget what God said:

Isaiah 55:9 NLT

… just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

We must not forget what God did:

John 3:16-17 NLT

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

That’s the essence of Christmas folks:

God’s ways higher than ours;
A father’s love for His Son set aside in His love for mankind.

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Getting back to Herod…

Not only did Herod miss that first Christmas, but the perversion of his earthly power caused a great tragedy; all because of jealous fear.

Proverbs 27:4 NLT

Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but who can survive the destructiveness of jealousy?

There are Herod types even today; maybe even in this room. Herod’s fear was that someone else would take his throne; his power to control. Lots of people are like him.

They don’t want anyone or anything interfering with their career, position, power, ambition, plans, lifestyle, etc.They are not about to let someone else be the king of their lives. They see Jesus as a threat, and so they miss Christmas too.
Just as Herod pretended to want to worship the newborn king, people today can pretend to worship Jesus while in actuality they have no intention of turning over the power and control of their lives to Him.

Ask yourself: Am I like Herod?