“IT IS WRITTEN”
1. Once upon a time, there was a wicked king
2. This wicked king was married; in fact, he married nine different women.
3. Of these 9 wives, one was his favorite, but she was killed, because of his suspicion.
4. This king was so evil that he had many people killed.
5. According to history, 5 days before his death he ordered that one of his sons be executed.
6. When this king was on his deathbed, he issued another order.
7. He commanded that all the chief men of the Jewish nation be brought to him.
8. When these men were brought together, they were confined.
9. This ruler ordered that these men be locked up until he died.
10. Upon the king’s death, these important Jews were to be killed.
11. The king was not well liked and he knew that he would not be missed.
12. He reasoned that, if chief Jews were killed when he died, at least people would be mourning, when he passed into eternity.
13. The king I am telling you about was in power when Jesus was born.
14. We know him as Herod the Great.
I. HEROD THE GREAT WAS A VERY WICKED MAN. HIS MEANNESS IS FOUND IN BOTH BIBLICAL AND SECULAR WRITINGS.
A. We read about this Herod in Matt. 2.
B. Wisemen had come to worship Jesus.
C. Herod the Great heard about this and did what is recorded in verse 4.
D. Before I read this scripture, I ask that you keep in mind this one thing.
E. When Jesus was born, Herod was about 70 years old.
F. Verse 4 – READ.
1. Herod knew a little something about the Messiah (Christ).
2. Thus he called together the religious professionals and asked questions.
3. The chief priests and the scribes were able to help him.
4.
They knew that the Messiah was to be born in
5. Two questions were important to Herod:
6. Where would the Christ come from and when was the Christ to be born.
7. The “where” question had been answered.
G. Herod still had a question that needed to be answered.
H. From what is said, it appears that Herod saw Jesus as a threat.
I. Jesus was not a threat.
J. At no time was the Lord a threat to Herod the Great.
K. Jesus had no interest in an earthly kingdom. John 18:36.
L. What if the Lord’s kingdom had been earthly?
M. Would this have been a threat to Herod? Absolutely not.
N. By the time Jesus would have come of age to take a physical throne, Herod would have either been dead or too old to continue ruling.
O. In spite of this, Herod decided to take action – v. 8 – READ.
P. God warned the wisemen not to see Herod on their return trip.
Q. Herod realized that the wisemen were not going to help him.
R. This made him mad. Herod was upset. – v. 16 0 READ.
S. The wisemen had told Herod WHEN Jesus was born – v. 7.
T. The scribes and priests had told Herod WHERE Jesus would be born.
U. With this information, Herod ordered that young boys be killed.
V. He hoped that the Christ child could be immediately stopped.
W. His approach tot his situation was “kill the opposition”.
X. For a moment, I am going to stop the development of this material.
Y. There is a piece of information that we need to consider.
Z. When I used to read about the death of the male children 2 and under, I used to think about bodies upon bodies.
1. Others have had a similar mental picture.
2.
3. Going to the “borders” as mentioned does not add that much area.
4. We are dealing with a very limited amount of land space.
5. This fact, plus the fact that only males were killed, does not indicate that thousands of babies were destroyed.
6. Hundreds of dead babies do not fit the picture.
7. If I were to make a guess, I would suggest that there were under 50.
A. The death of 50 innocent children is terrible; very bad.
B. What is being said is not an attempt to minimize the sin.
C. If the picture is 30 and not 3,000, we want to leave the right impression.
D. While I am making a momentary detour, one more thought is important.
E.
John the Baptist came preaching that the
F. First century people were looking for the Messiah.
G.
What did the death of the male children in
H. Did it not put Jesus into a class all by Himself?
I.
The Messiah was to come from
J. All male children from there in a certain age group were killed.
K.
The death of male babies in
L. The deaths we read about made Jesus stand out.
M. This may be another example of how God was able to use a bad situation for good.
N.
While the babies were being killed, Jesus was in
O.
Finally, the Lord was able to come back to
P. There are powerful words in this verse – “When Herod was dead.”
Q. We will come back to these words.
II. BEFORE THAT IS DONE, WE NEED TO QUICKLY GO BACK THROUGH THIS CHAPTER AND LOOK AT WHAT WE HAVE.
A. Verse 5 – READ.
B. Religious men knew that things were “written” of the Messiah.
C.
The Christ would be born in
D. Because this was written, Herod could not stop it.
E. God had a plan. It was recorded, and I was going to happen.
F.
Jesus was born, and born in
G. Another statement which parallels v. 5 is in v. 15 – READ.
H.
God said that He would call His Son out of
I. If God’s Son were killed by Herod, this wouldn’t have happened.
J. For this Old Testament statement to be fulfilled, Jesus had to live.
K.
Jesus did live, and He was called out of
L. Herod the Great thought that he had a great plan.
M. He believed that he could take care of the Christ child.
N. He sent out soldiers and he killed babies. Herod the Great failed and he died.
O. Herod not only failed, he fulfilled God’s word.
P. Verse 17 – READ.
Q. This is another way of saying, “It is written.”
R. What was written? v. 18 – READ
S.
What if you had been a father or mother in
T. You had a newborn son; or a son that was about two.
U. You had nurtured, cherished, and loved your son.
V. You looked forward to seeing him every day.
W. He looked just like you.
1. One day there was a knock on the door.
2. As you opened the door, soldiers barged into your house.
3. They saw your son in his playpen and picked him up.
4. They took him outside and crushed his head.
5. You watched as the young life was snuffed out of his body.
6. In your heart, there would have been “weeping; mourning”.
7. You “would not be comforted.”
8. Herod’s plan and actions fulfilled prophecy.
X. At some point after Herod’s killing of the babies, he died.
III BESIDES NOT LIVING AS HEROD, THERE IS A MAJOR POINT WE WANT TO PICK OUT FROM THIS STORY.
A. If something is written in God’s word, believe it.
B.
God said that His son would be from
C.
God said that His son would be called out of
D. God promised that people would grieve and weep over their children.
E. All of these events happened.
F. Though a king and the king’s forces opposed God’s plan;
G. Though these forces engaged in murder,
H. Though this wicked king engaged in trickery with the wisemen,
I. God’s word was fulfilled and Herod died.
J. God’s word is just as true in our day and time.
K. If scripture says something, it will happen.
1. It does not matter whether or not people believe God.
2. It does not matter whether people are opposed to God.
3. Enemies of God cannot thwart God’s plans.
4. God is not going to be outsmarted or outflanked.
5. What is written in scripture is true, accurate, and dependable.
L. Scripture says many things.
1. It says that when our bodies are laid to rest, we continue to live.
2. The Bible teaches that our existence never ends.
3. That’s true. We cannot cease to exist.
4. Our lives need to be lived with this in mind.
M. The Bible says that there is a devil.
N. It claims that the devil is evil, dangerous, and after us.
O. To some people this teaching is a joke. It’s funny. But it is no joke.
P. When people die and they get to meet him, the laughing stops.
Q. Heaven and hell are spoken of in God’s word.
R. This information is just as accurate as the statements in Mt. 2.
S. There is really a heaven. The Bible says that few will go there.
T. Heaven is not going to be overcrowded.
U. God’s word also refers to a place called hell.
V. This is written, and it is accurate information.
CONCLUSION:
1. Herod chose not to believe what was written.
2. He died, and he died without hope.
3. God’s word continues with us; His word is still written.
4. We can test it; examine it; prove it; and then, based upon what we find, we have a solid basis for believing in it.
5. For those of us who are Christian, when we see the promises of or warnings from God in the Bible, we ought to mentally say, “This is true; right; accurate. I believe it!”