Murder in Bethlehem
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsHerod issues a decree to kill all the male children two years old and younger.
Notes
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Introduction: Most of us are familiar with Exodus chapter 1. We know the biblical account of how the Israelites were multiplying, and how the Pharaoh of Egypt was concerned that the day might come when the Israelites would surpass the Egyptians.
So, Pharoah came up with a plan that when the Israelite women were giving birth the midwives were ordered to kill all the male children, but let the female children live. How many of us think that his decree was just plain evil? I do!
Now, we know that the midwives feared God, and they didn’t do what the King of Egypt commanded them, but they saved the male children alive. God dealt well with the midwives, and the Hebrew people multiplied and grew very mighty.
In Exodus 1:22 we read,
So Pharaoh commanded his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
We know that one of those male children was Moses (a beautiful child) and that his mother hid him for three months, and then placed him in a basket in the Nile River, and we are told that the Pharoah’s daughter saw the basket, had the basket pulled from the river, investigated the basket, and saw the child and raised him as her own son. She called the child, Moses, which means, drawn from the water.
Moses spent 40 years in the court of Pharoah. He was well-versed in Egyptian.
The bottom line is that Satan’s plan to destroy the Jewish deliverer was thwarted. God prevented the death of Moses from happening. God had greater plans for this baby.
Well, as we come to our text today, we have a very similar account. We have another King who issues a decree to kill male children two years old and younger.
I want to share four “D” words that I want to share with you. Are you ready to receive them? Here they are:
1. Deceived – v. 16
1. Deceived – v. 16
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men
A. Herod recognized the wise men deceived him
The NKJV uses the word “deceived”, whereas the KJV uses the word “mocked”. Herod was mocked by the wise men. He didn’t like it. No one likes to be deceived, especially those who rule with an iron fist. Herod didn’t like that the wise men didn’t come back and report to him their findings. He thought he had an ironclad agreement from the wise men. He believed that they accepted his “lie” and that he too wanted to come and worship the new King of the Jews. No, the wise men didn’t report back to Herod. They went home another way.
I believe that the wise men could smell a rat!
B. Herod became exceedingly angry
Herod was a hot head. Herod was short-fused. Herod was quick-tempered. He was very upset at the wise men. The KJV uses the word “wroth”. He was angry! I can picture in my sanctified imagination that he probably picked things up and threw them, kicked the ca, had someone killed, or even punched his hand through a door. It doesn’t say this in the text – I’m using my sanctified imagination!
Can you picture Herod with steam coming out of his ears? (See slide). This is how mad Herod was. His teeth were on edge. He was very unhappy. Things didn’t go as he had planned!
I must tell you I like it when evil plans are foiled! Praise God that things didn’t work out between Herod and the wise men.
What is the next “D” word?
2. Decree – v. 16
2. Decree – v. 16
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men
A. Herod issued a decree to kill
Who does that? Herod the madman does. Herod the murderer does! Herod the lunatic does! Josephus called him, “a man of great barbarity towards all men.” (Liberty Commentary on N.T.).
“Caesar Augustus once said that he would rather be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.” (Bible Knowledge – Matthew 1:1-16:2). Herod would never touch a pig, so pigs were safe.
As I mentioned in another chapter, he had his wife and two brothers murdered because he accused them of treason. What I did not mention is that he also murdered three of his own sons. But get this, Herod didn’t murder himself, no, he hired others to do his dirty work. Here we have the original, murder for hire.
Whom does Herod have murdered?
B. Herod has all the male children murdered
Do you know what we call the crime of killing a child within a year of birth? We call it, infanticide. Herod wanted all the male children killed. He didn’t want any competition for his throne.
Herod wanted the King of the Jew, Jesus Christ, the Messiah dead.
Where did it all begin?
C. Herod begins Bethlehem and moves out to surrounding districts
Herod ordered that the killing begins in the town of Bethlehem. Remember, it was the Chief Priests and the Scribes who told him where the Messiah was to be born (Based on Prophecy – Micah 5:2). And just so that the Christ child might not escape he widened the killing zone to include surrounding regions.
So, I looked at a map and I saw these towns close by Bethlehem - Bethany, Hyrcania, Herdium, Hebron, and Emmaus. And I might have missed other little villages that Herod’s soldiers passed by on their way to some of these larger towns. One author I was reading said that Herod decree to kill covered every village from Bethlehem to the coast (Rick Renner).
What we have here is what I call, the original killing fields!
Nowhere in Scripture are we told of the number of male children that were killed, but one death is one too many. Wouldn’t you agree with that statement? One death of an innocent child is one too many!
How Many Boys were Murdered?
In the Martyrdom of Matthew, it states that 3,000 babies were slaughtered. The Byzantine liturgy places the number at 14,000 and the Syrian tradition says 64,000 innocent children were killed (Brown 1993:205). Yet Professor William F. Albright, the dean of American archaeology in the Holy Land, estimates that the population of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth to be about 300 people (Albright and Mann 1971:19). The number of male children, two years old or younger, would be about six or seven (Maier 1998:178, footnote 25).
Dr. Warren Wiersbe also suggests that perhaps not more than 20 children were slain. But again, even one child was one too many.
D. Herod has every male child two years old and under was murdered
Herod ordered that all the male children two years and under be killed. He wanted to have a certain time frame covered so that he wouldn’t miss the time frame of the birth of Jesus. Herod wanted him dead.
How many of us would say that what Herod did was pure evil? How many people outside the church would think that what Herod did was awful?
America’s Killing Fields
Herod’s decree to kill was awful – it was sickening! But are you aware that as I speak, here in America, we have murdered over 70 million “innocent babies” through abortion? God have mercy on America!
We have nice names for our killing today. We call it,
· Reproductive rights
· A woman’s right to choose
· Pro-choice
And now in America, we are killing children at full term.
What a very sick society that kills its own children.
Here are some of the people that are promoting abortion and the right to kill one’s baby. (Show pictures, quotes, and video).
Judgment Day will Arrive
Herod did not escape divine judgment, and neither will those who kill the innocent today. Shame on those who kill their babies. You will face judgment before Almighty God.
E. Herod based his calculation according to the time of the arrival of the wise men
Herod was calculating as he used the time frame from when the wise men saw the star to the present, and he figured that the King of the Jews was born somewhere in the two-year time frame. So, therefore Herod decreed that all male children two years and younger be killed.
What is the third “D” word?
3. Determined – v. 17
3. Determined – v. 17
17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
A. Prophecy was fulfilled
Think this through – the death of the male children was “fulfilled”. You see none of Herod’s murders took God by surprise. God knew all along what Herod was planning to do. So, much so that his actions were predicted in the past, and “fulfilled” here in this text.
Charles Spurgeon penned, “Our prince steps along a pathway paved with prophecies.”
People blame God when such evil men commit such heinous crimes. They say things like, “God could have stopped them.” “Why did God allow them to do such evil acts?” “God must not care for His creation – He remains silent.”
We must not blame God for the acts of evil men. If we really believe that God should step in and do something, then I ask, why do we not step in and do something?
Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”
Will we continue to allow evil to spread through our society? Will we stand by and say nothing (do nothing) when over a million babies are killed (murdered) each year in America?
B. This Prophecy was spoken by Jeremiah
The prophet Jeremiah wrote this prophecy some 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah’s prophecy was about the death of Rachel as recorded in Genesis 35:16-20. Rachel gave birth to a son, she called him “Benoni” which means “son of my sorrow”, but Jacob called him, “Benjamin” meaning “son of my right hand.” It is interesting that this incident prophetically relates to Jesus Christ. He is a fulfillment of both names: He was the son of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3), but He is also the son of my right hand (Acts 5:31; Hebrews 1:3).
What became the burial place for Rachel, became the birthplace of the Messiah.
What is the fourth “D” word?
4. Disturbing – v. 18
4. Disturbing – v. 18
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”
A. A voice was heard
A voice was heard in Ramah,
Ramah was a town located five miles from Bethlehem. It was the place where Jewish captives were assembled before they were carried off to Babylon.
So, what sounds were heard in Ramah? The sound of mothers weeping as they watched their children being carried off into captivity. These mothers were because they had no hope of ever seeing their sons and daughters again.
And, when Herod’s soldiers were killing the male boys two years and younger there were also lots of sounds. There is a triple mixture mentioned here. What are they?
B. Lamentations, weeping, and great mourning
These words are so similar, and yet I believe that they build upon one another. I would describe what we are reading here as music that starts softly and ends on a very high note. This is called a crescendo (the loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound).
· Lamentations(Greek, “threnos”, to cry aloud. Loud weeping, wailing. Outward demonstration of an inner grief).
· Weeping – (Greek, “klauthmos”, bewail, wailing). Jeremiah uses the words, “bitter weeping”.
· Mourning– (Greek, “odurmos”, to bewail, wailing, lamentation, mourning). Notice here in this verses that the word, “great” is in front of mourning. There was great mourning taking place in the lives of mothers.
C. Rachel is weeping for her children
Here we are given an Old Testament comparison. Here we have Rachel weeping for her children. The Greek word used here is “llaio” and it carries the idea, “to weep, wail, lament, implying not only the shedding of tears but also every external expression of grief.”
Rachel’s Tomb
Rachel’s tomb is alongside the road as you enter Bethlehem today (See Genesis 35:19). Again, Rachel's weeping represents the mothers of Israel weeping as they saw their sons going off into captivity. Rachel's weeping is also about the male children dying at the decree (law) of Herod the butcher.
D. Refusing to be comforted
If a mother loses a child, you cannot comfort that mother. A loss is a loss, and there is a terrible pain that never stops aching. Talk about a date on the calendar that is never forgotten. Every mother who has ever lost a child knows the date and the time, and they don’t ever forget it.
I have been at the bedside of a mother whose baby was born stillborn. Talk about the inner grief, the aching pain that never numbs. Every year on social media she talks about seeing this child in heaven.
Think with me today about what the mothers of Bethlehem and the surrounding districts must have been feeling. A pain that never dies!
Why?
E. Because they are no more
It has been said that Birth is a magnet – it attaches a mother and a child. There is a bonding that occurs between a mother and her baby. And to remove the baby from the picture, well, it is the most difficult pain in all of life to bear.
So, why is it that we have women today who kill their babies?
Conclusions: As I bring this chapter to a close, I think we need to be reminded that we live in a very fallen world, and we will always have people like Herod, former Governor Cuomo, and Biden who lawfully believe that it’s okay to kill babies. That it is a reproductive right! This is very sick thinking!
So, remember that…
1. We will always have evil people around us.
2. Earthly rulers will decree antigod decisions.
3. Nothing takes God by surprise, and He will use evil for His purposes.
4. Emotions and feelings are God-given. Nothing wrong with lamentations, weeping, and great mourning.
5. Our hope is not found in the world, but what we do see in this world makes heaven look delightful.