People Just Like Us

The King Who Killed Babies

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: PJU

Program Code: PJU190009A


00:02 Were the people in the Bible any different to us today?
00:07 Were ordinary people like you and me
00:22 What can we find out from their lives that would help us?
00:28 Find out with Pr. Geoff Youlden and Rosemary Malkiewycz
00:32 here on People Just Like Us.
00:35 Throughout history there have been powerful people who've been
00:41 willing to do anything to stay in power. But because some are
00:46 jealous and scheming they live without peace. They quickly
00:50 dispose of anyone they think could be a threat to them even
00:55 their own family members. Their behavior is like the one who
00:58 rules their heart, Satan. One such person was Herod the Great.
01:04 A great builder, he was also a great tyrant and schemer. Tell
01:10 us about this man and the power behind him, Pastor Geoff.
01:13 Well, Rosemary, I guess everybody's heard of Herod the
01:16 Great because of his infamous action in killing all the babies
01:20 in Bethlehem.
01:21 I certainly did because when we went to Israel we learned a lot
01:24 about him. He was a great builder.
01:26 Yeah, well there are lots of monuments today to his ability
01:31 to build but not his ability of having a good character.
01:34 That's right. Let me tell you about some things he built
01:39 though because that's what he's known for by many people. He
01:43 built Masada, the fortress and palace of Masada. Here's a
01:49 picture of the model of his palace. Then there's now today
01:54 the ruins that you get to see of Masada. Quite a fascinating
01:58 place. It was a wonderful place that he built there, swimming
02:03 pools and all sorts of things out in the desert.
02:07 He built Herodian. He actually
02:09 moved a whole mountain and built this monument to himself and
02:13 called it after himself. He rebuilt the temple, extended
02:19 the temple and renovated the temple in Jerusalem and built
02:23 a wall around it. Here's part of the wall today and there's a
02:28 model of it in Jerusalem. It was massive and he built that. This
02:35 is the most famous part of the wall, the wailing wall.
02:37 That's what
02:39 everybody knows today. He built Caesarea by the Mediterranean
02:45 sea. (The aqueduct). Well he did those too, but this is the
02:49 amphitheater at Caesarea. You can still, go and see these things.
02:52 And he had a hippodrome there for chariot races. He had his
02:56 swimming pool. He loved swimming pools. But he built the
02:59 aqueduct and that is still standing today where he got
03:03 fresh water, 40 miles, to put fresh water in his swimming pool
03:08 because he didn't like salt water. He builds caldarium's,
03:13 solariums, frigidariums, tepidariums, where people could
03:16 get hot and cold water treatment He built the amphitheater, he
03:20 built the hippodrome. He built massive things that are still
03:23 available for us to see 2000 years later. But he didn't have
03:27 a good character to go with it.
03:29 He certainly didn't and that's what we want to talk about
03:31 today. We do. Rosemary. It is true that when you go to Israel
03:34 today he stands out as a big character but...
03:38 It's the character that's the problem.
03:41 He's not a good man. No. And killing all the babies in
03:45 Bethlehem is an illustration of his character. You know
03:48 one of the things that interests me in the Bible is the contrasts
03:51 that we have with characters in the Bible. I mean you take the
03:56 characters of Cain and Abel, the difference. In the Bible you
04:02 know it's in juxtaposition and it's Jacob and Esau. As you
04:07 think about all of these contrasts, Pharaoh and Moses.
04:10 And how the Bible puts them against one another. And then we
04:14 have Elijah and Jezebel is another illustration. John the
04:19 Baptist and Herod Antipas. Now he's another Herod, different to
04:23 Herod the Great. This is the Herod at the time of John the
04:25 Baptist who took his head off. Then there's Judas and John.
04:30 You know what a contrast there is between those two individuals
04:35 Paul and Nero. And then we have of course the two kings of the
04:40 Jews. One Herod the Great that we were talking about today and
04:45 of course Jesus. Now you have to admit that whatever Herod the
04:52 Great was good at he was certainly good at killing people
04:56 You know, he murdered his three sons and gave the order to kill
05:00 his third son while he was on his death bed of all things. He
05:05 drowned the high priest and the brother of his queen. Then he
05:09 strangled his queen for which he suffered torture and remorse for
05:13 rest of his life.
05:14 You know, the son-in-law the king murdered, he actually
05:18 drowned him, had him drowned in one of his swimming pools.
05:21 He had three palaces at Jericho and one of them was where he
05:28 killed his brother-in-law who was the high priest. He was only
05:31 17 years old, but he was so handsome and regal looking that
05:36 Herod felt like he was a threat to his empire, that he may be
05:42 made king because Herod wasn't a real king in the fact of being
05:45 born into the kingship. He was made a king by the Romans and
05:49 so he was afraid all the time he was going to lose that power and
05:53 someone else was going to take his place.
05:54 Well that's typical of Herod because that's why he was
05:57 jealous of the Babe in Bethlehem, killed the babies.
06:00 He was a very insecure man even though he did all these
06:05 buildings, very, very insecure. And these are just a few of the
06:09 crimes and the bloody deeds of this evil king who was
06:14 supposedly king of the Jews at the time when Jesus was born in
06:18 Bethlehem. He had an incurable suspicion, and this is part of
06:21 his character that I find interesting. He trusted nobody.
06:24 And was full of jealousy.
06:26 How could you live like that? I mean it would be so unhappy.
06:32 You would wonder wouldn't you? And finally he developed an
06:34 incurable disease from which he died. And when he was dying,
06:39 Rosemary, Herod was lying in his misery in his ivory palace down
06:44 there at Jericho and he realized that when people heard of his
06:48 death they would rejoice. You know, that would be so happy
06:51 that finally he was dead. So what he did, the evil, conniving
06:56 man that he was, he gave orders that all the representatives of
07:00 the chief families of the land be shut up in the hippodrome
07:05 and at the very moment of his death they were all to be killed
07:10 and his reasoning was that there would be then mourning and
07:15 sorrow in the land.
07:16 Yeah, throughout the country. Isn't it good to know though
07:18 that those who were put in charge of that knew Herod so
07:22 well that they didn't do it. They didn't carry out that wish
07:27 of his. Yes, well so this is the man
07:29 we're studying about today. When the wise men came from the east
07:33 and everybody knows the story, and wanted to worship the
07:36 newborn king of the Jews, he wanted to find out about this
07:41 baby. And when he learned that the baby King was to be born in
07:45 Bethlehem, as the prophet Micah had prophesied, remember, what
07:50 was it? 500 years before. He asked the wise men to come back
07:55 and tell him where he was so that he could supposedly come
07:59 and worship this newborn king.
08:02 But he knew it was going to be in Bethlehem, because that's
08:05 what the Israelites told him, but he just didn't know where.
08:12 Correct. But we all know the story. After giving to Joseph
08:15 and Mary their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh, God
08:18 warned the wise men in a dream not to go back and rather go
08:27 back a different way, not go back via Herod. When Herod
08:31 realized of course that he'd been deceived by the wise men,
08:34 his cruel and criminal mind ordered all babies under the age
08:38 of two to be killed in Bethlehem and the surrounding district.
08:41 Perhaps you know we can begin to imagine the mourning and the
08:47 sorrow that would be taking place in Bethlehem at this time.
08:52 And not only that, it would be a continual reminder to them
08:55 that there were no male children at least in that age group in
08:59 Bethlehem. They were missing. So it's not something that will
09:04 happen and you're upset and it's a dreadful time of mourning. It
09:08 will continue on because there's always a constant reminder.
09:10 Yeah. The one child that he wanted to kill escaped because
09:17 Joseph and Mary had been warned to leave Bethlehem immediately
09:20 and go down to Egypt. And there the child was safe from Herod's
09:24 hands, you remember Rosemary, as Moses was from Pharaoh 1500
09:29 years before that. In fact, it's interesting to read the
09:33 statement in Matthew. I'm sure many of our viewers will know
09:39 the statement, some may not. This is the book of Matthew,
09:42 the second chapter and verse 19 where it says now when Herod was
09:49 dead, if you were living back in those days would be a good thing
09:55 When Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a
09:59 dream to Joseph in Egypt saying arise, take the young child and
10:03 his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the
10:06 young child's life are dead. This verse, to my mind,
10:12 illustrates the age-old struggle that's gone on between right
10:18 and wrong, between good and evil between Christ and Satan, light
10:23 and darkness. Because the kingdom of God and the kingdom
10:26 of Satan are continually at war against one another and really
10:31 the Bible stories are stories that illustrate that war that's
10:37 continually going on and that's why the Bible says here when
10:41 Herod was dead. As I said down through the ages there are
10:48 always some who are the Herod's, who arise against God. But
10:56 always the Herod's die and the plans of God continue.
10:59 That's a relief.
11:01 Well it is and I've often thought just as well we do die.
11:06 Imagine if human beings didn't die and the evil people who have
11:11 done such dreadful things down through the ages
11:13 lives eternally.
11:14 Mmm. They just keep on living and as more evil people were
11:23 born they would be fighting each other but they would also be
11:25 confederating together.
11:27 Well it would get worse and worse as they got older
11:28 and older.
11:30 But anyway God has well cared for that. You know, when I
11:32 first began to study the Bible I was shocked, literally shocked
11:37 to find out that the first war that was ever fought was not
11:42 down on this earth, it was actually in heaven. And I wanted
11:46 to read that Rosemary because this struggle as I said, we're
11:50 talking about Herod. This illustrates the age-old struggle
11:57 between good and evil. And this is Revelation 12 and we want to
12:03 pick up in verse 7 where it says this and war broke out in heaven
12:13 Imagine, it says war broke out in Europe.
12:20 Ah, you expect that.
12:21 It would be terrible but it would be terrible to send the
12:23 shudders down your back. But here the Bible says the
12:25 first war began in heaven. Michael and his angels fought
12:29 with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought. Now we're
12:34 very clear. In verse 9 it tells us that the Dragon is the Devil.
12:38 So here Michael, Christ, and his angels fought against the Devil
12:46 who deceived one-third of the angels. So he had quite a lot
12:51 of angels on his side too.
12:52 But there were still two-thirds that were close to God remained
12:57 loyal.
12:58 The text goes on to say, but they did not prevail, nor was a
13:01 place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon
13:06 was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan,
13:10 who deceives the whole world. And that's what we've always got
13:14 to remember that our world is deceived and when we talk to
13:17 people we've got to remember that all of us are deceived.
13:22 Unless we have the enlightenment of God's word we are deceived.
13:27 Our minds have been interfered with.
13:29 And that's where Paul writes that spiritual things are
13:33 spiritually discerned. It's only the Holy Spirit that can give
13:37 you the understanding, because you're not allowing Him to help
13:40 you, you will be deceived by evil.
13:43 Yes, well, we'd better remember that the whole world is being
13:46 deceived. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast
13:49 out with him. Verse 10 goes on to say:
14:10 And so the Bible is very clear here that this war began. So
14:17 what's happening in the world today between good and evil,
14:20 and we see it every time you read the newspaper or listen to
14:23 the television or the radio, wherever we are seeing out
14:27 working the good versus evil. It often appears Rosemary
14:34 that evil seems to triumph, doesn't it.
14:36 It seems that way, but the Bible tells us that that's not the end
14:40 of the story.
14:42 Now, well thankfully this verse goes on to say in verse 13...
14:55 Now this is where the war that began in heaven now comes down
15:01 to this earth and he's persecuted the woman.
15:05 Now in Bible prophecy in the Bible the Bible uses to word
15:09 woman to illustrate the church both good and bad. In fact, in
15:13 Revelation if you read it through there are two women pictured, a
15:17 pure woman which represents His pure church and a harlot, fallen
15:21 woman who represents the fallen church. So there were two in
15:26 contrast.
15:28 And he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child but
15:30 the woman... The male child being Christ.
15:32 That's right, yes.
15:45 Now this is a reference, and we haven't got time to go into all
15:48 the detail now but this is the period of what history referred
15:52 to as the dark ages, the 1260 year period of when the medieval
15:59 church dominated and ruled Europe and the world.
16:04 and that's mentioned in the book of Daniel, the time, times and
16:07 half a time.
16:10 In fact it's mentioned several times, yes. So verse 15 says:
16:19 In other words, he was trying to kill the woman and her seed.
16:24 And verse 16...
16:34 And this is a reference, of course, to the people who were
16:38 like Waldenses and the Huguenots in France and the Waldenses in
16:42 Italy and the Albigenses who were faithful to God through
16:47 this period and some of the most gruesome stories that you can
16:51 read are the attacks of this people, this apostate church,
16:57 upon these dear people who endeavored to be faithful to God
17:01 It was the dragon trying to send his flood of persecution and
17:08 death on the people of God.
17:10 Well and once again it's illustrating the age-old problem
17:15 between good and evil. And when we see evil going on in the
17:22 world today we've got to recognize that this is part of
17:25 this war that's going on. Finally it says in verse 17 here
17:34 that the dragon was enraged. Now that word really means very
17:41 angry. Your jugular. You know if you talk to someone and they get
17:43 really angry their jugular sort of sticks out and their face
17:46 goes red. That's what the word enraged means. And with
17:49 the woman, or the church, and went to make war with the rest
17:52 of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and the
17:57 testimony of Jesus. So God identifies his true
18:00 people as in the days right through they were faithful to
18:05 Jesus and faithful to His commandments. In fact in verse
18:14 12 of the same chapter, this is Revelation 12:12 it says,
18:17 Therefor rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Which
18:23 would indicate that there's more inhabitants in the universe than
18:27 merely our world because the rest of them were taught
18:31 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, (plural) and you who dwell in
18:36 them. Why? Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the
18:39 sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,
18:43 because he know that he has but a short time.
18:45 Really the only logical explanation that I think that
18:49 I think that you can give to the situation that we're living in
18:54 the world today, I mean. You tune into the television and
18:58 radio, newspaper and it's the biggest tornado, the most
19:01 destructive cyclone, the worst floods, (and fires) and the
19:08 most terrible fires. In other words these adjectives are
19:10 continually being used to describe events that are
19:14 happening today in the very days that we live and describing
19:20 events that have never happened like that from the fir...Earth
19:23 quakes. There's always been earth quakes, but there's never been
19:25 an earth quake like we are experiencing today.
19:28 And there's never been as many. (Correct) That's the point,
19:31 there's never been as many but there's also never been as huge
19:36 earth quakes (and destructive).
19:39 Yes. And so as we read here the Bible is saying as the devil
19:43 realizes that time is coming to an end and that Jesus, you know,
19:48 is about to return, with a fury of desperation he tries to take
19:57 as many people, kill as many people and destroy their lives
20:00 as he possibly can.
20:01 Because in doing so he gets people to not want to know God.
20:05 When destruction and things come up many people say where is God?
20:10 He must not exist. So if he can bring these things upon people
20:15 he makes them unready for Jesus' return.
20:17 Yes there's a statement over here in the book of Job too Rosemary
20:24 I think is very interesting on this very point. Job 38. That's
20:28 an interesting chapter actually. If you haven't read Job 38 I'd
20:33 like to encourage you to do it. It answers some of these
20:38 questions.
20:39 God says to Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of
20:41 of the earth? And so forth. But here in Job 38:11, it says:
20:56 In other words, we can be encouraged by the fact that the
20:59 devil does not have absolute power and God... this boundary
21:06 just like, you know, the story of Job himself where the Lord
21:09 said you can do anything to Job but you can't take his life.
21:12 And the devil tried everything he could to try to discourage
21:17 Job, but Job was faithful and I think that once again as he
21:21 points out, thus far you may come but no further, the text
21:27 says. He says that for everything on
21:29 this earth; situations that we are living in even the water
21:32 coming on the earth. It can't come farther than what God will
21:36 allow.
21:37 Yes. And then we see how, you know, we've been talking about
21:41 the cosmos and the universe, the fight that began in heaven, then
21:46 the world fight, but also there's a fight going on inside
21:50 every person's heart. That's right. And it says here... then
21:55 we see how the devil brings this very real battle into everyone's
22:00 life. We've all been inside of us. A part of our nature that
22:07 is like Herod's. You know, we're talking about Herod. Because
22:11 what evil Herod did is not just unique to Herod. No that's right
22:16 We all have that part of our nature. It may not be as
22:19 developed thankfully as Herod's was, but nevertheless we all
22:24 have a part of us that responds to evil. These evils in the
22:32 world appeal to people. That's why when it comes to getting
22:35 people to attend sports and things that are not of
22:40 really eternal consequence, you have no problems.
22:43 It's very easy for us as human beings because we're in the
22:49 great controversy, the devil has taken control of this human
22:53 heart through Adam and Eve giving in to his temptation.
22:57 It's very easy for us to have jealousy, to have envy, to have
23:04 malice towards people and bitterness, and all those nasty
23:08 characteristics because that's what the devil wants us to have
23:13 and that's his nature. Whereas because Christ came, because
23:19 Jesus came and died for us He has actually given us the
23:21 opportunity to be set free from that and to regain God's
23:26 character which Adam and Eve had at the beginning. And that's
23:30 what God wants for us all. He wants us to have the victory
23:32 over our evil character through the indwelling of the Holy
23:37 Spirit. And we can have that. But as we are in this world
23:42 we allow the devil to have that control. It's only through God
23:47 that we can have any victory over that.
23:50 You know, I like that text in Philippians chapter 4 and verse
23:54 8 where it says: Finally brethren, whatever things are
24:01 true, you know, whatever things are noble, whatever things are
24:07 just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely,
24:12 whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue
24:14 and if there's any praise, Paul tells us to think on these
24:20 things. And the more we think about the very things that you
24:24 were talking about, the evil, the carnal, the negative, the
24:29 more we become like it. All of us have a bias that way. It's
24:34 easy to go that way. But God doesn't want us to dwell upon
24:40 those things. But if we think about the pure, the good, the
24:46 wholesome then we become like that.
24:48 They have found through science now that has an impact on our
24:52 minds and on our whole being to change us. If we think on
24:58 those good things it can change our bad attitudes into good ones.
25:03 I have two verses that I really find very important to me
25:08 in my life. And it's Ephesians chapter 4 verses 31 and 32. So
25:16 well go from 31 and 32. So Ephesians 4:31-32. And it says:
25:22 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger clamor, and evil speaking be put
25:31 away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another,
25:36 tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God in Christ
25:40 also forgave you. So this is basically what you were just
25:44 saying, think on these good things as Paul writes in
25:49 Philippians, here in Ephesians he's saying the same thing but
25:52 in a different way. Leave all those negative things behind
25:55 all those evil traits of character and let God put
26:00 those good things in you.
26:01 Yes, you know that statement, be kind to one another. You know
26:07 in families and in life how much better it would be if we were
26:14 kind to one another. It would be a happy place.
26:15 Well it would be. Forgiving one another. Of course, you know,
26:21 all of us do the wrong things and sometimes people
26:24 misinterpret what we're doing. They put an interpretation
26:30 which is not
26:31 correct, but formulate an attitude and these things
26:37 develop. But God tells us that He pointed out, Rosemary, by His
26:41 grace and through His power God can give us victory over sin and
26:46 over malice and over being critical and over those
26:50 attributes that make bitterness and anger and clamor and evil
26:57 speaking. All of those things we can get victory over. I think
27:02 that's the exciting thing about it. The Gospel isn't that really
27:07 when you think about it. The Gospel is not just a feeling you
27:10 know that we're Christians and it's a theory. No, no, no, no,
27:13 It's a living experience.
27:14 The Gospel changes lives. If it doesn't change your life, you
27:18 haven't really got the Gospel.
27:22 That's the good news. That's the exciting news. As we summarize
27:27 Rosemary, God doesn't want us to have the nature of Herod.
27:31 That's right. He wants us to have the nature of Christ and
27:35 He promises that two-thirds of the angels on His side and the
27:38 Holy Spirit and the Godhead, that we can live a life of
27:42 victory and overcoming.
27:43 That's right. So I hope that in today's lesson, today's
27:48 stories that you have learnt that God wants to change you
27:51 See you next time.


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Revised 2019-11-19