Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Men of the New Testament: "Herod" by Chris Young - Part 11

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Men of the New Testament: "Herod" by Chris Young - Part 11 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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Good evening.
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Okay, this quarter, as you know, we've been looking at various
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men of the New Testament. And within
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that, we've looked at some really good
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individuals, things, some folks that we can learn
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from. Emulate. And,
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you know, we've looked at John the Baptist, we've looked at Barnabas, we've looked at
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Peter, we've looked at Paul, Timothy,
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John, and a few others as well.
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The ones that we're going to be looking at tonight, you do not
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want to emulate. And so, the assignment
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I was given was Herod. I don't know what I did to somebody
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that made these assignments, but I've got Herod tonight.
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And Herod is not an individual, it's several
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individuals. We're going to be looking at the Herods
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that are mentioned in the New Testament
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tonight. They are part of what you would call
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a political dynasty. You have
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several individuals from the same family that
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ascended to very high positions within
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the government. And we understand that. We've actually
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seen that in our country on a few occasions. What are some
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political dynasties that we're aware of in the United States
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over the years? The Kennedys, right? The Kennedys,
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senator, president,
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Director of Health and Human Services, I guess,
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and some other positions as well, high in government.
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Any others? The Bush family. The Bush family.
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We understand that. 2 presidents and governors and
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all. So we understand the family dynasty
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dynamic. This particular family
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were known as the Herods, the Herodian dynasty.
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And we're going to start in Matthew chapter 2. That's where they
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are first mentioned within the pages of the New Testament,
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Matthew chapter 2.
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We're going to be first introduced to Herod the Great.
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And guys in the sound room, if you will cue up the I
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don't know if you can read that or not, but maybe some of
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you can. But this is the best little flowchart that I was
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able to find that kind of describes this
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dynasty. And it starts off with Herod
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the Great. Now that's the first one that's mentioned in the New Testament,
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but that's not actually the first one in that family. Herod the Great's
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father was a very high official in
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that area in that day and time. But so we're going to start
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off with taking a look at these guys. We're going to look at some scriptures
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that mention them, that talk about them,
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and we're going to see what kind of influence they had
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upon the Palestinian region in that day and time,
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and then also the impact that they had on Jesus
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Christ and then also the early apostles as well and
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the early Christians. So let's go ahead and start off here, Matthew chapter 2.
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Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, and this is
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an account that we've heard over and over again, and after Jesus was born in
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Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
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okay, that one's Herod the Great. He assumed the
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throne there in 37 BC.
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And he says, behold, wise men from the
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East came to Jerusalem. Now, some of the characteristics of Herod
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the Great, anybody know?
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A great builder. Exactly, exactly. That's good.
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Yeah, he was known for his acumen as far as building
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is concerned, especially in areas like Caesarea.
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And, you know, just great buildings. What building in particular
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is he especially known for around Jerusalem? The temple,
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the temple. As a matter of fact,
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he enlarged the temple. He made it just something
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spectacular. And it's kind of interesting if you'll go over,
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kind of just keep your place there, go to Matthew chapter 24,
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you'll kind of see an indication of the majesty of
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this particular building.
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He says, now this is where Jesus and His disciples
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are together, Matthew chapter 24, at the beginning of the chapter. It says, then Jesus
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went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him
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the buildings of the temple. So, it's like they're pointing
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out the grandeur and the majesty and the greatness of
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this temple. And then of course, then Jesus kind of drops this bomb on them
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and says, there's coming a day. And of course they think He's talking
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about the end of time, but He's not talking about the end of time.
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He's talking about the destruction of Jerusalem that would take place less than 40
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years later. He says, there's coming a day
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when this is all going to be leveled. There's not going to be one stone
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left on another. And He says that, do you see all these
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things? Surely I say to you, not one stone shall be left
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here upon another that shall not be thrown down.
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So that goes to show you that by this time, the temple was
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just a thing of beauty. And so back in Matthew
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chapter 2, he says here, the wise men
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from the East came to Jerusalem. What else do we know about Herod
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the Great from maybe historical references, not necessarily from
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Murdered some of his family. His wife,
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her family, and not only that, but I
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think 3 of his own children.
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Okay? Why did he do that?
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Fear. Fear of losing power, right? He was intoxicated
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by this power that he had.
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Paranoia, yeah, he was paranoid.
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If somebody was coming up through the ranks, or somebody was
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popular, or politically persuasive,
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and he viewed them as a threat, have them killed.
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That was it. And so, he was known for that.
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Anything else?
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What's that? Absolutely, yeah, we're going to get to that,
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absolutely. Yeah, he killed babies.
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Good politician? Yeah, he was.
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He was a great politician. That's how he assumed the throne.
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He always had a knack for knowing what side
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to be on, how to maneuver himself politically in
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order to maximize his power. Very good politician because
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at the end of the day, The Herods, yeah, they had
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power, but ultimately, really, what were they?
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What's that? They were dictators for sure.
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Murderous dictators. Oh, they were
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Rome's puppets, right? They were basically puppets of Rome, okay?
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And so, with all that in mind,
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take a look at verse 2. Okay, the wise
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men are there. They're saying, where is He who has
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been born King of the Jews?
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For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.
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Now, we always kind of gloss over that particular
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passage where the wise men come in and ask these questions
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and this question here,
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but that was a real risk.
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Because, okay, you've got a guy that's, you know,
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will do anything to stay in power.
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Anybody that questions him is struck dead.
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And these guys are coming in here and say, hey, where is this
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born King of the Jews? Where is he? Where is he?
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So I don't know, they call them wise
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men. I'm not sure how wise that is to go into him and
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bring up somebody else being King of the Jews. In verse
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3, it says, when Herod the king heard this, he was troubled
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and all Jerusalem with him. Why do you think all Jerusalem with him was
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troubled by this, by this question? Hmm?
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What's that? They were afraid of him. They knew what
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he was capable of. They had witnessed for,
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by this point, you know, 35 years or thereabouts,
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what he had done. 'Cause he took the throne in 37
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BC. And so for over 30 years, they had
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witnessed what he would do. And when he had
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gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of
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them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to
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him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus is written by the prophets,
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but you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers
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of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people
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Israel. Reference from Micah 5:2.
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Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, of course,
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he's devising this plan, determined from them
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what time the star appeared. So he did a little calculation here based
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upon the information that he was given, okay?
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He did a little calculation. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search
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carefully for the young child. And when you have found
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Him, bring back word to me that I may come worship Him also. Of course,
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we know that that's not his intention. When they heard the king,
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they departed. Behold, the star which they had seen in the east went
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before them till it came and stood over where the young
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child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great
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joy. And when they had come into the house, 'cause he's in a house by
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this time, they saw the young child with Mary his mother
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and fell down and worshiped him. And when they opened their treasures,
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they presented gifts to him. We know that. Then being divinely warned in a dream,
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that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country
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another way. So Herod's already going to
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have influence over the life of Jesus
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and Jesus' family because they're going to be going to
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another country. Now it says, now when they had departed, behold, an angel
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of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, arise, take the young Child
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and His mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you
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word, for Herod will seek the Child's life the young child to
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destroy him. Okay? When he arose,
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he took the young child. Now, keep something in mind here too.
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Herod is not long for this world at this point. At this point,
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Herod is within just a few months, a year or so from
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dying. Okay? It says, when he arose, he took the young child and his
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mother by night and departed for Egypt. You ever notice anything about
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Joseph? When Joseph is told to do something by God,
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what does he do? Just up and does it, doesn't he? Okay? Doesn't question,
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just does it. And then verse 15,
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and was there until the death of Herod. Okay, so Herod
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passes away, he dies. Now, the historical records say
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that he had some sort of kidney disease,
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and It turned into something—
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well, you can read the historical records on your own time,
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but, you know, don't do it right after you eat,
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okay? So, because it's pretty gross.
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That it might be fulfilled which is spoken by the Lord through the prophet,
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saying, out of Egypt I called My Son.
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Let's see. Now wait a minute here.
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Yeah. Then Herod, When he saw that he'd
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been deceived, now verse 16, by the wise men, was exceedingly angry.
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And he sent forth and put to death all the male
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children who were in Bethlehem and all its districts for 2
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years old and under, according to the time which he had
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determined from the wise men. And this, we remember
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this account. It says, then was fulfilled what was spoken
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by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, this is from Jeremiah 31:15,
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a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentations, weeping, morning,
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Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted
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because they are no more.
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Okay? So this takes us up to about 4 BC,
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37 through 4 BC was his reign, his reign of
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terror. And it says, now he's dead.
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And it says, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph
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saying, and here Joseph is going to do what he's told again. So Herod
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is dead. He says, arise, Take the young child and his mother and go to
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the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child's life are dead.
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Verse 21, then he arose, here he is,
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complete obedience, took the young child and his mother and came
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into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus,
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so now we have, he's known as Herod Archelaus,
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okay? That'd be the second one, one of the sons of
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Herod the Great. When he heard that Archelaus was
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reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod.
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And what you'll also see is that the kingdom
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was kind of divided up among these sons.
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And so, but Judea was ruled
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by Herod Archelaus at this time. So he was
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afraid to go there, being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into
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the region of Galilee. Galilee. So he's going to head to the region of
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Galilee. Now, so Archelaus is mentioned.
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Not a tremendous amount is mentioned about Herod Archelaus
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in the Scriptures. He only ruled for about 10
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years, from 4 BC to about 6 AD,
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about 10 years. But he was wicked. He was
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mean. He killed his own people.
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But unlike his father, who was politically
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savvy, who was— who had some ruling competence,
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you might say, this guy was incompetent. He was incompetent,
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but he was cruel. And so there was an uprising,
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and Rome replaced him. He was run out of town and
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went into exile. So his reign did not
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last nearly as long. As his father,
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Herod the Great. Okay? So he says, and he came
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and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, and that it might be fulfilled which was
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spoken by the prophets, he shall be called a Nazarene. So it talks about
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this reference where the prophets saying he shall be called a Nazarene.
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Where do you find that? Where is he
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will be called a Nazarene found within the pages of your Old Testament?
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Hmm? It's not. It's not. This is not a specific prophecy.
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It says spoken by the prophets. It's a very general prophecy,
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basically a summarized prophecy, but not a specific
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one. Okay? So now we've looked at 2 of the
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Herods. We've had Herod the Great, evil,
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but accomplished a lot of great things in a physical manner.
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And then his son who's taken over that region
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of Judea and one or two others, also Samaria.
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And, but now he's been ran out of town.
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So we, that's what we have with the first 2,
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the first 2 Herods. Okay? Any questions or comments
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on those 2? Yes, sir.
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Story he had, first Herod the Great. Yeah, that he didn't take out
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the wise men because— yeah, yeah, it's interesting to me.
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He'd go after the kids, the babies. Yeah, but he wouldn't deal with the wise
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men. Right, exactly,
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exactly. That's a good point. Maybe he needed the wise men to find the kid
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first. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, he,
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uh, yeah, but of course he didn't live long, uh, after that.
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Anyway, I mean, he was, and he may have already been struggling with his
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illness as well.
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Yeah, that's right. That's exactly right.
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Right. Right. One other thing I wanted to bring up about Herod.
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What was their lineage, the Herods?
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It's what?
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No. That's right. Okay.
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They were Edomites. They were Edomites. And Edomites
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are descendants of who? Esau. They are
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descendants of Esau. So do you see where that might not mix
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well with the Jewish people?
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Okay. And of course, they were bitter rivals.
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The Edomites, the Jews, bitter rivals.
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And, but the Herods came from,
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that was their lineage, the Edomites. And of course,
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in that area, of course, I mean, they were always at
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each other. Not much has changed in that regard, has it?
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But okay, the next one we're going to is Mark
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chapter 6. Let's go look at Mark's account here.
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And we are going to go to, Herod Antipas.
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Herod Antipas.
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We are going to run into this guy quite
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a bit. And he's
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something else as well. But this account is in,
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I think, 3 of the Gospels. But let's look at the one in Mark.
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Mark 6:14.
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Now King Herod, now this is again Herod Antipas,
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heard of Him. Okay, who's Him?
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Jesus. For His name had become well known.
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And he said, John the Baptist has risen from the dead,
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and therefore these powers are at
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work in Him. So then Mark goes into,
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okay, here's why Herod Antipas thinks
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that he is John the Baptist risen from the dead.
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Here's what happens. Others said, it is Elijah. And others said,
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it is the prophet, or like one of the prophets. But when
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Herod Antipas heard, he said, this is
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John whom I beheaded. This is
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an interesting passage here. He has been raised from the dead.
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For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of
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John, And bound him in prison for
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the sake of Herodias. Now, we're getting ready to
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be introduced to another Herod, and that is
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Herod Philip I. Okay?
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Now, Herod Philip I is a brother to Herod Philip
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II. Okay? So you had 2 brothers named Philip.
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If you watched television, maybe in the '80s, if you watched Newhart,
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You remember, hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother Darryl. This is my other
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brother Darryl. They had a similar situation going on here apparently.
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But Herod Philip I is mentioned
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here, but just in passing, in passing.
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He says his brother Philip's wife. So basically Antipas
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had taken Philip's wife and had married her
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because John had said to Herod, Okay, this is why John
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was locked up while he was in prison. It is not lawful
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for you to have your brother's wife. Okay, stating the
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obvious, you should not be doing this.
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He had taken his brother's wife, married his brother's wife, and it
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was an unlawful marriage. Therefore Herodias,
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okay, that's the guilty party,
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now married to Herodias, Antipas, held it
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against him and wanted to kill him, but she could
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not. For Herod, now this
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is interesting, for Herod feared John,
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knowing that he was a just and holy man,
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and he protected him. Now,
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why do you think he was protective of John?
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Insurance. Okay. The people. Okay.
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Remember what we said about his father, Herod the Great?
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He come to the throne because he was politically savvy.
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Well, John the Baptist had quite the following, right? So John—
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so there were people who followed him, and so it was
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politically advantageous for Antipas to protect
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him. All right, it says, and when he heard him,
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he did many things and heard him gladly.
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Okay, heard him gladly.
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So he had respect. He had respect for John the Baptist.
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He knew that John the Baptist was just and holy,
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and he listened to John.
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But then in verse 21, then an opportune day came when Herod on
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his birthday, So it's party time here.
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He gave a feast for the nobles, the high officers, and the chief
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men of Galilee. So the who's who, because Antipas,
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keep in mind, is ruling in Galilee,
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the Galilean region, and that's the northern part
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of Palestine in that day. He says he had
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all these important folks assembled here
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for his birthday party. And as part of that party,
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verse 22, and when Herodias' daughter herself
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came in and danced and pleased Herod
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and those who sat with him. So apparently
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Herod was really impressed by this and then
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makes this offer. The king said to the girl, ask me whatever
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you want and I will give it to you. He also
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swore to her, whatever you ask me, I will give you up
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to half my kingdom. So he
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must have really been pleased with what he saw at
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this big event, this birthday party, and just
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makes a foolish statement. Whatever you want
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is yours, up to half my kingdom. So here
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was the opportunity, keeping in mind Herodias is definitely
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not a fan of John. Verse 24, so she went
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out and said to her mother, what shall I ask?
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And she said, the head of John the Baptist.
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Immediately she came in with haste to the king.
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You know, John obviously
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told Herodias what she didn't want to hear. Immediately she
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came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, I want you to give
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me at once the head of John the Baptist
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on a platter. So obviously at this point,
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Antipas is like, uh-oh. And the king was exceedingly
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sorry, yet because of the oaths
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and because of those who sat with him, he did
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not want to refuse her.
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You know, the pressure was on. Had all these important people
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sitting around him at this big party to celebrate him.
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He makes this offer to ask,
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you know, whatever you like. They come back with the request.
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He is boxed into a corner here.
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Immediately the king sent an executioner.
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And commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded
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him in prison, brought his head on a platter and gave
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it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples
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heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in
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a tomb. Okay? Herod Antipas
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reigned, he reigned for quite a while, 4 BC
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through 39 AD. In the region
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of Galilee and one or two other regions in the northern part of
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Palestine. Let's go to Luke chapter
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Luke chapter 3.
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Okay, we're going to have another Another
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Herod mentioned here in verse 1 of chapter
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3. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate
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being governor of Judea, Herod being
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tetrarch of Galilee. A tetrarch is a
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word meaning basically divided in fourths.
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You're over a fourth of a particular
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kingdom, and you can kind of see that playing out there in the in the
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chart. Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,
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his brother tetrarch of Iturae.
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Okay, that's Herod Philip II. That's Herod
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Philip II. And the region
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of Trachonitis, and Lysanias
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tetrarch of Abilene. And so you see another Herod mentioned.
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So now we're up to 5 Herods mentioned within
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the New Testament. Okay, go over to chapter 13 of the book of Luke.
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Chapter 13, Luke 13,
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and let's
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go down to verse 31.
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Okay. All right, so here
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we are. Here Jesus is in the midst of his ministry.
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And so he's in his ministry here,
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and something interesting happens here in verse 31.
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It says, on that very day,
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some Pharisees came, saying to
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him, get out and depart from here, For Herod,
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now this would be Herod, back to Herod Antipas,
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wants to kill you. Hmm.
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So the Pharisees— what I found interesting is
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the Pharisees were the ones coming to Jesus to let him know that.
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What kind of relationship did Jesus have with the Pharisees?
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Yeah, brood of vipers, he called them. And so why
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were the Pharisees so concerned about the welfare of Jesus?
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Competition.
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Competition. Okay. Probably didn't want to stir
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up any trouble because the Romans would come in. Okay,
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didn't want him to stir up any trouble because the Romans would possibly come in.
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They're trying to get Jesus out of their own hair. Yeah, there you go.
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I think, I think you got it. Yeah, trying to get Jesus out of their
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own hair, exactly. So, And he says—
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so here was the response of Jesus, very interesting as well.
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And he said to them, go tell that— and he calls him something,
29:24
fox. You tell that fox, behold,
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I cast out demons and perform cures today
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and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
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Okay? What do you mean by calling him fox?
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What do you think he meant by that? What is
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a fox known for? They are
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clever. They are sneaky. They are
29:53
sly. What else can they be?
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They can be somewhat destructive, right? They can be somewhat
30:01
destructive. He says, behold, I cast out demons.
30:04
And basically, Jesus says, here is the message that
30:08
you can take back. To Herod, okay?
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Alright, let's go over to chapter 23 of Luke, chapter 23.
30:21
Alright,
30:24
and here we're going to be looking at the trial of
30:28
Jesus, and as part of
30:32
that, of course, He goes back and forth between Pilate
30:36
and Herod, So let's go down to verse 6,
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and let's see what Herod's role in this is.
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All right, keeping in mind Antipas is—
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his rule is over that Galilean region,
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but he's going to actually happen to be in Jerusalem
30:57
at this time. So in verse 6, it says,
31:02
heard of Galilee, he asked if the man were a Galilean.
31:07
And as soon as he knew, it's like,
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here, I'm not taking— you deal with him, okay? You deal with him.
31:15
As soon as he knew that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction,
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okay, he sent him to Herod,
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who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
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Antipas happened to be in Jerusalem. So Pilate
31:32
sends him over to him. Now, when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly
31:36
glad. Now, look at this.
31:40
One of the things about him, he had some respect for—
31:44
he wanted to hear from Jesus. He was exceedingly glad, for he had desired
31:48
for a long time to see him, because he had
31:52
heard many things about him And he hoped to see some miracle
31:56
done by Him. So the reason he wanted to see Him,
31:59
he wanted to see what He could do as far as these miracles that
32:03
he had heard about. Then he questioned Him with many words,
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but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests
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and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him.
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Then Herod, with his men of war,
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treated Him with contempt and mocked Him,
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arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent
32:28
Him back to Pilate. Now, look at verse 12.
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I hadn't really noticed this before. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends
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with each other, for previously they had been at enmity
32:42
with each other. So they become friends.
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After all this takes place. So, we see Antipas
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is involved in the trial of Jesus and basically
32:54
treats Him with contempt and mockery,
32:59
okay? So there
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is Herod Antipas, okay? So we've also looked at
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Herod Philip I and Philip II. Not a
33:10
lot is said in Scripture about them. Actually,
33:13
Herod Philip I did not rule over any particular area.
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And Philip II, who was mentioned in Luke 3:1,
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he ruled his area from 4 BC,
33:26
at the death of his father, to AD 34. All right,
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now, let's go to another one.
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Let's go to the book of Acts, and we are going to go to
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Herod Agrippa, who is a grandson of
33:42
Herod the Great, a nephew of Herod Antipas.
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Somebody may know this. Was he the son of one of the sons
33:54
that he killed, that Herod killed? I don't know.
34:00
Let's go to Acts chapter 12.
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Acts chapter 12.
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Now we're going to start looking here at the impact that—
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we've seen the impact that the Herods have had on John the Baptist.
34:19
We've seen the impact they've had on Jesus,
34:24
not only as an adult, but also as a child even.
34:29
Now we're going to see the impact that
34:33
this Herodian dynasty had upon the
34:38
early church and some of the leaders in the early church,
34:40
even the apostles. Chapter 12, verse 1,
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now about that time Herod the king, Herod Agrippa I,
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and he was in charge of the
34:54
area of Judea and Samaria, Which that
34:58
was the job, okay? If you
35:02
were the ruler of that particular area, of all those regions,
35:05
that's the one, that was looked at as the big
35:09
deal. Now about that time, Herod the king
35:13
stretched out his hand to harass some from
35:17
the church, okay? So Christians are being persecuted in an
35:21
organized way. Now, here's where that really
35:25
ramps up, this sentence here. Then he killed James,
35:30
the brother of John, with the sword.
35:34
So he kills one
35:38
of the inner circle, one of Jesus' inner circle of
35:42
the apostles, James. But you know, back in Mark
35:46
chapter 10, Jesus predicts
35:51
this, right? He predicts this. He,
35:54
as James and John are coming to Him, you know, they're going to
35:58
be greatest in the kingdom and want to be the greatest in the kingdom.
36:02
And He says, are you prepared to go through what I'm
36:06
going to be going through? Jesus says, actually, you will.
36:10
Actually, you will. So James experiences that here.
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He says, And remember,
36:17
these guys are real politically savvy.
36:21
He says, and because he saw that it pleased the Jews,
36:24
okay, they're men pleasers, he proceeded further.
36:29
So he kills James. He's going to do the same thing to Peter.
36:32
He seizes Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.
36:36
So when he had arrested him, he put him in
36:40
prison and delivered him to 4 squads of soldiers to
36:44
keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
36:49
The sentence was already in. Peter was going to die, right?
36:52
But Peter gets out because
36:56
of the intervention of the angels, of the angel.
37:01
And so let's go down to verse— let's
37:05
look at verse 18. Okay, so Peter's
37:09
out. He escapes, I guess you'd say.
37:13
Verse 18, then as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among
37:17
the soldiers about what had become of Peter.
37:22
So what does Herod do? But when Herod had searched for him and not found
37:26
him, he examined the guards and commanded that they should be
37:30
put to death. Talk about a bad day at work, right?
37:35
And when he went down from Judea to Caesarea, he stayed
37:38
there. So we see what Herod Agrippa is
37:42
also capable of as well.
37:47
Let's see. Now, starting in verse 20,
37:53
now Herod had been very angry with the people
37:57
of Tyre and Sidon, but they came to him with one accord,
38:00
and having made Blastus the king's personal aide,
38:03
like the king's treasurer, their friend, they asked for
38:07
peace Then here's the reason,
38:10
because their country was supplied with food by the king's
38:15
country. So these particular regions were supplied with food
38:19
that's basically controlled by Herod. So when somebody controls your food supply,
38:24
you're going to want to make friends with them, right?
38:27
So that's what they're trying to do. So on a set day,
38:30
Herod arrayed in royal apparel, here he is in
38:34
all of his Glory, sat on his throne and gave an oration
38:38
to them. I guess that's some sort of fancy speech.
38:43
And the people kept shouting. So they're
38:46
wanting to get on his good side, and so they're
38:50
really pouring it on thick. The voice of a god
38:54
and not of a man. And then immediately an
38:59
angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory
39:03
to God So he was soaking in all this admiration,
39:07
all this praise, all, oh, you're not a man,
39:10
you are a god. And he's there arrayed in all of his
39:15
garb. And he says he did not give glory
39:18
to God. And as a result, he was struck dead
39:22
and was eaten by worms and died.
39:28
But look what happens. This is interesting. But the word of the
39:32
Lord, but the word of God grew and multiplied.
39:36
As great as they— as great as all these guys thought that
39:40
they were, and as great as the people were telling them that they were,
39:46
the Word of God still continued to grow and to
39:49
multiply. So we see— so what kind of problem
39:53
did Herod Agrippa have? Pride problem,
39:56
right? Pride. I had written down some passages
40:00
of Scripture here. Take a look at— Proverbs chapter
40:04
6. You know, pride's a very serious thing.
40:09
And the book— Solomon in the book of Proverbs makes
40:12
that extremely clear. If you look at Proverbs chapter 6,
40:16
starting in verse 16, it says, 6 things the Lord hates,
40:19
yes, 7 are an abomination to him. What's the first one?
40:23
Proud look, okay? A lying tongue.
40:30
Look at this list and look at the screen, you know, a lying
40:34
tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
40:37
okay? A heart that devises wicked plans,
40:41
feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks
40:45
lies, and one who sows discord among brethren, okay?
40:49
Describes these guys pretty well, huh?
40:52
Look at Proverbs 16:18.
40:56
Proverbs 16 and verse 18,
40:59
here Solomon writes, Pride goes before destruction
41:03
and a haughty spirit before a fall.
41:07
Agrippa found that out the hard way.
41:11
18 and verse 12, chapter 18 and verse 12,
41:16
Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before
41:20
honor is humility. So I don't
41:24
think it gets much clearer than that. It's very clear what
41:29
God thinks of pride, not only in what he writes, but what he demonstrated
41:34
in his treatment of Herod Agrippa I.
41:38
Okay?
41:41
Alright, any questions up to this point? Has the bell rang yet?
41:45
No? Okay. Alright. Let's go to Herod Agrippa II.
41:50
Herod Agrippa II.
41:54
Now, Herod Agrippa I, he only ruled for
41:57
3 years, from AD 41 to AD 44,
42:02
and then his son comes along,
42:05
Herod Agrippa II, and a little bit of a time
42:09
lag there, AD 55 to 66.
42:12
He ruled for approximately 11 years. Go over to Acts
42:16
chapter 25, Acts chapter 25,
42:22
and you'll see, I won't read this whole thing
42:26
here, but if you'll recall, this is where Paul asked
42:31
to appeal to Caesar, and he's ultimately
42:34
granted that request, but not before
42:39
He is— he gives— makes a
42:42
little speech here to Herod Agrippa II.
42:47
And basically what Paul does here, he tells him his
42:51
background, his history. And he says,
42:55
you know, at one time I was a Pharisee, and at one time
43:00
I persecuted the church, those that
43:04
were Christians. I was heavily involved in
43:08
their persecution. And then he recounts what happened on
43:12
the road to Damascus. And basically,
43:15
he proclaims to him the gospel. And we
43:19
know from chapter 26 and verse 28,
43:23
there's a saying in there that we're all very
43:26
familiar with. Agrippa says, he says to
43:30
Paul, After Paul goes through several
43:34
verses here of explaining his road to salvation,
43:39
he says, you almost,
43:43
you almost persuade me to
43:46
become a Christian, okay?
43:51
You almost persuade me to become a Christian.
43:55
Not quite. Not quite, but almost.
43:59
Okay? So I don't know if
44:05
the Herods became a little softer and gentler by this point, but he
44:09
says, you almost persuaded me to be a Christian.
44:13
So there are your 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Herods
44:18
mentioned in the New Testament. I don't know if I could give
44:23
you any, you know, major lessons from this other than don't
44:28
be like these guys. Don't be like these guys. So, all right,
44:32
any comments or questions as we finish up tonight? I was
44:36
just saying, talk about family dynamics, right? Yeah,
44:40
absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
44:44
All right, thank you all and have a good evening.