The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 2:7-8,
"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'"
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem looking for "the one who has been born king of the Jews". When King Herod heard about it he became "disturbed'. After Herod consulted the teachers of the law, he found out the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, from a prophecy given by Micah centuries earlier.
However, Herod had no intentions of going to worship the baby Jesus. He attempted to use the Magi to find him and kill him. The Magi had been warned in a dream to not return to Herod after finding Jesus so they returned to their country by a different route.
Rome appointed Herod as king over Palestine (including Israel). The online encyclopedia, Britannica, tells us, "Herod was born in southern Palestine. His father, Antipater, was an Edomite (a Semitic people, identified by some scholars as Arab, who converted to Judaism in the 2nd century BCE)... Thus, Herod was of Arab origin, although he was a practicing Jew." Nevertheless, Herod was always considered a foreigner by the Pharisees and others within Israel.
As a result, politics were front and center in Jerusalem. I would venture to say that where we find spiritual activity, we find politics. A lot of politics. It is my perspective that political activity is the expression of the spiritual warfare that takes place in the spiritual realm, and that a person's politics is the most genuine public expression of a person's spirituality. One's political positions on things tells us a lot about their spiritual condition.
Clearly, Herod felt threatened by the arrival of these Magi claiming the Messiah had arrived in Israel. Since Herod felt he could garner intelligence on who and exactly where Jesus was from the Magi, he must have believed what he heard from the them - at least to some extent.
When Herod realized the Magi had "outwitted" him, he had all the boys in Bethlehem two years of age and under slaughtered. It was an outrageous act that certainly upended a number of political ties and balances established in the politically charged environment. Why did Herod do it? To the extent Herod was "disturbed", he must have been convinced the Messiah had indeed arrived.
Where some historians would have us believe it was an act born of Herod's deteriorating physical and mental health at the time, I don't buy it. There is no question in my mind that the slaughter of the boys in Bethlehem was a futile attempt by the dark spiritual forces ("Team Cain") to thwart God's plan of the redemption of mankind - the very thing the Messiah came to accomplish.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'"
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Magi came from the east to Jerusalem looking for "the one who has been born king of the Jews". When King Herod heard about it he became "disturbed'. After Herod consulted the teachers of the law, he found out the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, from a prophecy given by Micah centuries earlier.
However, Herod had no intentions of going to worship the baby Jesus. He attempted to use the Magi to find him and kill him. The Magi had been warned in a dream to not return to Herod after finding Jesus so they returned to their country by a different route.
Rome appointed Herod as king over Palestine (including Israel). The online encyclopedia, Britannica, tells us, "Herod was born in southern Palestine. His father, Antipater, was an Edomite (a Semitic people, identified by some scholars as Arab, who converted to Judaism in the 2nd century BCE)... Thus, Herod was of Arab origin, although he was a practicing Jew." Nevertheless, Herod was always considered a foreigner by the Pharisees and others within Israel.
As a result, politics were front and center in Jerusalem. I would venture to say that where we find spiritual activity, we find politics. A lot of politics. It is my perspective that political activity is the expression of the spiritual warfare that takes place in the spiritual realm, and that a person's politics is the most genuine public expression of a person's spirituality. One's political positions on things tells us a lot about their spiritual condition.
Clearly, Herod felt threatened by the arrival of these Magi claiming the Messiah had arrived in Israel. Since Herod felt he could garner intelligence on who and exactly where Jesus was from the Magi, he must have believed what he heard from the them - at least to some extent.
When Herod realized the Magi had "outwitted" him, he had all the boys in Bethlehem two years of age and under slaughtered. It was an outrageous act that certainly upended a number of political ties and balances established in the politically charged environment. Why did Herod do it? To the extent Herod was "disturbed", he must have been convinced the Messiah had indeed arrived.
Where some historians would have us believe it was an act born of Herod's deteriorating physical and mental health at the time, I don't buy it. There is no question in my mind that the slaughter of the boys in Bethlehem was a futile attempt by the dark spiritual forces ("Team Cain") to thwart God's plan of the redemption of mankind - the very thing the Messiah came to accomplish.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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