The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs
By Dan L. White
Copyright ©2016 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.
Chapter 21
Herod the Great, King of the Jews
So just who was king of the Jews?
When Augustus issued his enrollment decree, Herod was king of Judea: “in the days of Herod, the king of Judea,” Luke 1:5.
This Herod was called Herod the Great. He wasn’t all that great because he had to rule under Augustus. The New Testament refers to several Herods, but Herod the Great only appears early in the gospels. Herod was a little king under a big emperor, but he milked his position for all it was worth.
Mat 2:1-3
(1) Now when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
(2) Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
(3) When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
“Where is he who was born king of the Jews?” the wise men asked.
Herod thought he was king of the Jews. Yet another was born in his kingdom who was also called King of the Jews. Herod was troubled!
Herod the Great wasn’t even a Jew, though he pretended to be. He was from Esau, not Jacob.
Gen 27:41
(41) Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.
Jews were from Jacob. Herod was from Esau, Jacob’s brother. Esau’s descendants were called Edomites or Idumeans. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the Edomites helped him conquer the Jews. That did not endear them to the Jews, or to God, who gave Obadiah this prophecy against them.
Oba 1:1, 9-11
(1) The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle.
(9) Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
(10) For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever.
(11) In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them.
So Herod, the king of the Jews, was from a people despised by the Jews. When Israel told Samuel they wanted a king, they had no idea they would get someone like Herod the Great.
The Maccabees, also known as Hasmoneans or Asmoneans, had forced the Idumeans to be circumcised and to outwardly become Jews. So Herod, the king of the Jews, pretended to be a Jew but he was still an Idumean from Esau.
After the Maccabees lost power, Herod’s father Antipater was made ruler of Israel in 47 BCE.
ISBE article Edom:
Antipater, governor of Idumaea, was made procurator of Judea, Samaria and Galilee by Julius Caesar. He paved the way to the throne for his son Herod the Great. With the fall of Judah under the Romans, Idumaea disappears from history.
Antipater was assassinated in 43 BCE, shortly after Julius Caesar was assassinated. His son Herod then managed to obtain the rulership of Judea.
Herod was at Rome, and through the favor of Antony and Augustus he obtained the crown of Judea in 37 bc. The fond ambition of his heart was now attained, although he had literally to carve out his own empire with the sword. He made quick work of the task, cut his way back into Judea and took Jerusalem by storm in 37 bc.
Once Herod was in power, he immediately eliminated all he thought might be a threat to him.
The first act of his reign was the extermination of the Asmonean house, to which Herod himself was related through his marriage with Mariamne, the grandchild of Hyrcanus. Antigonus was slain and with him 45 of his chief adherents. Hyrcanus was recalled from Babylon, to which he had been banished by Antigonus, but the high-priesthood was bestowed on Aristobulus, Herod’s brother-in-law, who, however, soon fell a victim to the suspicion and fear of the king. These outrages against the purest blood in Judea turned the love of Mariamne, once cherished for Herod, into a bitter hatred. The Jews, loyal to the dynasty of the Maccabees, accused Herod before the Roman court, but he was summarily acquitted by Antony. Hyrcanus, mutilated and helpless as he was, soon followed Aristobulus in the way of death, 31 bc. When Antony, who had ever befriended Herod, was conquered by Augustus at Actium (31 bc), Herod quickly turned to the powers that were, and, by subtle flattery and timely support, won the imperial favor. The boundaries of his kingdom were now extended by Rome. And Herod proved equal to the greater task. By a decisive victory over the Arabians, he showed, as he had done in his earlier Galilean government, what manner of man he was, when aroused to action. The Arabians were wholly crushed, and submitted themselves unconditionally under the power of Herod. Afraid to leave a remnant of the Asmonean power alive, he sacrificed Mariamne his wife, the only human being he ever seems to have loved (28 bc), his mother-in-law Alexandra, and ultimately, shortly before his death, even his own sons by Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus 7 bc.
This cruel man was called Herod the Great. He executed, among others, his ‘beloved’ wife, her mother, and her sons that he fathered. Since Herod appeared to be a practicing Jew, he ate no swine, prompting Augustus to say of him, “I would rather be Herod’s hog than his son,” ISBE article Herod.
Like Saul and David, Solomon and Jeroboam, and Athaliah and the descendants of David — worldly kings try to protect their position by cutting off any competition. Herod got rid of all the Hasmoneans/Maccabees, even though they were his own family, to protect his position.
Herod had been told by the rabbis that he should not be king of the Jews because he wasn’t a Jew. What would you expect Herod to do about that?
The Talmud (Bava Basra 3b-4a):
Herod learned that the Torah requires that a Jewish king may be only a person “from among your brethren” (Deut. 17:15), which implies that a non-Jewish slave like Herod could not become king of Israel. Not surprisingly, Herod became furious at this interpretation that disqualified him from the monarchy. “Who taught this?” he demanded. When he heard that it was the Sages, he ordered that they be killed. Hardly a sage was left by the time his rage had stilled…[1]
In view of all that, it is no surprise whatsoever that when Herod was asked about the birth of he who was born King of the Jews –
He was troubled. Somebody was threatening his position!
Mat 2:1-3
(1) Now when Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
(2) Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
(3) When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Herod was troubled because he was worried about his position, as always. Why was all Jerusalem troubled? You would think that news of the Messiah being born would have made all Jerusalem ecstatic, as the shepherds were. But Jerusalem was troubled, too. Were they worried about what the madman might do?
Mat 2:4-11
(4) Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born.
(5) They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet,
(6) ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’”
(7) Then Herod secretly called the wise men, and learned from them exactly what time the star appeared.
(8) He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
(9) They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.
(10) When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
(11) They came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Opening their treasures, they offered to him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Herod was extremely concerned about this new King of the Jews, so he consulted all the chief priests and scribes. Then he talked with the wise men from the east — secretly — so that no one could warn the new king’s family. Herod, king of the Jews, wanted to kill this new competition, the little boy who was born king of the Jews.
The wise men were led on to the newborn Messiah, who by this time was in a house, not the stable where he was born. To prevent the wise men being fooled by Herod, which would not have been so wise on their part, God gave them a specific warning.
Mat 2:12
(12) Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country another way.
Likewise God warned Joseph, the head of the new little family, to avoid Herod.
(13) Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
(14) He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,
(15) and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
(16) Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
That was Herod the Great. Just as he killed his own wife and sons, so he killed the male children around Bethlehem. Anyone who might remotely be a threat to his position was eliminated, even little baby boys.
Some king the Jews had!
Just as Augustus paved the way for his ultimate replacement by his decree, so Herod the Great diligently prepared for the arrival of the King of the Jews, without even knowing it.
When the second temple was first built, old people cried when they compared it to Solomon’s grandiose temple.
Ezr 3:11-13
(11) They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel. All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahwehs house had been laid.
(12) But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers households, the old men who had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. Many also shouted aloud for joy,
(13) so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard far away.
After returning from captivity in Babylon, Judah did not reach their prior level. They did not have their own kings, they did not have prophets who communicated directly with Yahweh, and they had an inferior temple. The Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandment tablets and the manna and Aaron’s rod that budded were not there. The glory of the rebuilt temple was less than the first.
And that temple stayed that way for about five centuries. Then this prophecy by Haggai came to pass.
Hag 2:3-9
(3) Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Isn’t it in your eyes as nothing?
(4) Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel, says Yahweh. Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, says Yahweh, and work, for I am with you, says Yahweh of Armies.
(5) This is the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit lived among you. Don’t be afraid.
(6) For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;
(7) and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations [KJV – desire of all nations] will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.
(8) The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says Yahweh of Armies.
(9) The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former, says Yahweh of Armies; and in this place I will give peace, says Yahweh of Armies.
The rebuilt temple compared to the first one was in their “eyes as nothing,” yet the glory of that temple would be even greater than the first one. The Desire of all Nations would come to that temple; and Herod the Great, the cruel, conniving tyrant, would expand and beautify the temple that He would come to.
ISBE article Herod:
But by far the greatest talent of Herod was his singular architectural taste and ability. Here he reminds one of the old Egyptian Pharaohs. Against the laws of Judaism, which he pretended to obey, he built at Jerusalem a magnificent theater and an amphitheater, of which the ruins remain. The one was within the city, the other outside the walls. Thus he introduced into the ascetic sphere of the Jewish life the frivolous spirit of the Greeks and the Romans. To offset this cruel infraction of all the maxims of orthodox Judaism, he tried to placate the nation by rebuilding the temple of Zerubbabel and making it more magnificent than even Solomon’s temple had been.
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1907 edition, article “Temple, the Second”:
One who did not see Herod’s Temple missed seeing the most beautiful building in the world. It was constructed entirely of polished granite interspersed with dark-colored marble, with beveled edges, set in plaster.
John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Matthew 24:1:
He who has not seen the building of Herod, has never seen “a beautiful building.” With what is it built? says Rabbah, with stones of green and white marble. And there are others say, that it was built with stones of spotted green and white marble.
These, very likely, were the very stones the disciples pointed to, and admired; and were of a prodigious size, as well as worth. Some of the stones were, as Josephus says, “forty five cubits long, five high, and six broad.”
Others of them, as he elsewhere affirms, “were twenty five cubits long, eight high, and twelve broad.”
And he also tells us, in the same place, that there were, “in the porches, four rows of pillars: the thickness of each pillar was as much as three men, with their arms stretched out, and joined together, could grasp; the length twenty seven feet, and the number of them an hundred and sixty two, and beautiful to a miracle.”
At the size of those stones, and the beauty of the work, it is said, Titus was astonished, when he destroyed the temple.
Even though Herod had helped build it, Christ called that second temple his Father’s house and he was extremely protective of it.
Mar 11:15-17
(15) They came to Jerusalem, and Yeshua entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers tables, and the seats of those who sold the doves.
(16) He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple.
(17) He taught, saying to them, Isn’t it written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a den of robbers!
Christ spent much of his time there, in the temple that Herod built.
Luk 21:37-38
(37) Every day Yeshua was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.
(38) All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.
Christ’s disciples marveled at what Herod the Great had brought about.
Mar 13:1-2
(1) As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!
(2) Yeshua said to him, Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.
So who was King of the Jews? Herod, who enlarged the physical temple, or he who was born King of the Jews, who came to the physical temple and who then built the spiritual temple?
Herod the Great, who was so ignoble in his life, met an ignoble end.
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906 edition, article “Herod I”:
Meanwhile Herod was attacked by an incurable disease. Instead of becoming gentler and more merciful, the thought of death only led him to greater cruelty. For an attempt to tear down the Roman eagle from the Temple gate, made, on the rumor of his death, by some young men led by two teachers of the Law, Judah ben Sarifai and Mattathias ben Margalot, forty-two persons, including the teachers, were burned alive. During his sickness Herod meditated only upon ways and means by which he might make the Jews mourn the day of his death. When he had returned from the baths of Callirrhoe to Jericho, he is said to have given orders that upon his death the most distinguished of the nation, whom he had caused to be shut up in the arena of that place, should be slain, so that there might be a great lamentation on his passing away. In his delirium he tried to kill himself, and the palace resounded with lamentations. Antipater, [Herod’s son] whose prison was near, on hearing these cries, concluded Herod was dead and endeavored to bribe his jailer to set him free; but the latter reported it to Herod, who at once gave orders for Antipater’s execution. On hearing this, Augustus said: “It were better to be such a man’s swine than his son”.[2]
Five days after the execution of Antipater Herod died at Jericho, leaving his throne to his son Archelaus. The corpse was transported with great pomp from Jericho to Herodium, where the burial took place. The day of his death was marked in the Jewish calendar as a festival.
Herod the Great, King of the Jews — better to be his hog than his son. He killed off his own family, the little baby boys around Bethlehem, and tried to kill the Messiah. Like a lot of other human kings, he was self-loving to the innermost core of his beastly being. Yet that ignoble man, Herod the Great, enlarged and beautified the temple for the coming of He who was born King of the Jews. And the glory of that temple was even greater than Solomon’s temple, because the Messiah was in it.
Endnotes:
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