The Madness of King Herod

By David Ettinger

The Murderous Edict
The orders went out: “Kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who are two years old and under. Do not spare a single one. This is my will!”

Herod’s counselors and officials were shocked, but knew they shouldn’t have been. They knew firsthand of Herod’s exploits. Even so, this was a new low even for a lunatic who had spent his political career lowering the standards of treachery, vulgarity, and inhumanity.

Herod fancied calling himself, “the king of the Jews,” a title not earned but thrust upon him by the Senate in Rome. An Edomite – a descendant of Isaac’s son Esau, NOT Jacob – Herod was made ruler of the Roman provinces of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. Reigning for 37 years, he jealously guarded his coveted title, destroying anyone he believed was out to take it from him. Among the most infamous victims of his wretched wrath was his beloved wife Mariamne I, and two of his sons, Alexander and Aristobulus.

Just imagine his discomfort when a company of Persian visitors – Magi, as they were known – marched conspicuously into Jerusalem asking anyone who would listen, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2).

It did not take long – within the day, in fact – for news of this strange group’s presence in the city to reach Herod’s burning ears. “Born king of the Jews!” he likely thundered, his insane anger echoing throughout the halls of his ornate palace. “BORN king of the Jews!” he may have bellowed once more, his officials knowing disaster was imminent. “I am king of the Jews; there is no other! What do these foreigners mean, ‘King of the Jews’?”

Despite his objections and outrage, he understood the difference between being made king, as he was, and being born king, which he most definitely was not.

A Desperate Despot
Yes, Herod, a very disturbed man to begin with, was now seething with jealousy. When the citizens of Jerusalem caught wind that he was deeply enraged, they became nervous and fearful. After all, this man had his own children executed for treason. This was the man of whom the Emperor Augustus had declared: “It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son, for his pig has more of an opportunity of living a long life.”

Herod knew immediately what he must do: stamp out all evidence of this new king’s existence. In fact, Herod put little thought into his decision; destroying his perceived enemies was his natural inclination. He also knew he needed a little help in ascertaining the whereabouts of the one “born” king of the Jews and summoned the chief priests and teachers of the law, and asked them where the Messiah – for Herod knew exactly what the Magi meant when they used the term “king of the Jews” – was to be born.

This was a simple matter for Israel’s religious leaders; they knew the prophecy front and back: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).

“Not if I can help it,” we can well imagine Herod fuming. “Not if I can help it!”

Secret Meeting
Herod’s mind was a patchwork of jealousy, fury, confusion, fear, and paranoia. He summoned the Magi to a secret meeting and asked them just when it was that they first saw this “star” – this divine heavenly light, the Shekinah – that guided them to Jerusalem. They told Herod it had been 18 months ago at least, and they had been traveling and searching ever since.

Eighteen months; eighteen months, Herod mulled with wicked calculation. The madness of his evil thoughts now saturating his mind. He already knew what he was going to do.

“Very well then,” he smiled cunningly at the Magi. “My advisors tell me the child you are looking for is in Bethlehem. Therefore, go to him in peace, worship him, then return to me with word of his exact location so that I, too, may worship him” (Matthew 2:8, paraphrased).

A few days later, however, Herod received news that the Magi had left Israel by a different route and were now well out of his jurisdiction. Furious, he gave manic voice to his demented plan, and with murderous abandonment, spewed forth the decree calling for the death of all of Bethlehem’s boys age 2 and under. We can well imagine the maniacal machinations of his mind: By slaying ALL of the children, I am guaranteed that this threat to my throne will be eliminated.

Too Late, Herod
But unbeknownst to Herod, his “enemy” was already safe from danger as the young king, Jesus, and his parents, Mary and Joseph, were in Egypt, having been warned by an angel to flee there until Herod was dead. In seeking to satisfy his own will, the pagan Herod had inadvertently fulfilled that which the God of Israel had proclaimed 750 years earlier through the prophet Hosea: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1).

Just as Israel had become a nation in Egypt and had been called out of it, so too would her Messiah come out of Egypt – an “identifying” connection of sorts between the new King and His original subjects, the citizens of Israel. (By living in and then departing from Egypt, Jesus was echoing the footsteps of His people.)

Tragically, Herod had his way with the children, about 25 innocents losing their lives in the lightly populated environs of Bethlehem. But in the greater picture, Herod had “forced” Israel’s Messiah, God’s Son, into Egypt, exactly where God wanted Him.

Herod died a short time later, his final major act used by God to fulfill ancient prophecy. Without even knowing it, Herod had succumbed to the will of God.

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Tagged: Ancient History, Christ the Lord, God's Divine Plans, King Jesus, The Birth of Christ, The Christmas Account

Posted in: Ancient Israel, Bible personalities, Bible study, Bible teaching, Christ's Deity, Christianity, Christmas, God's Divine Plans, Jesus the King, Men of the Bible, New Testament, Old Testament, prophecy, The Birth of Christ, The Coming Messiah