Point of Clarification on the Article about King Herod.

Based on the reviews of last week's article, https://scfministry.wordpress.com/2016/12/22/how-did-the-people-of-israel-feel-about-herods-orders/, a need has arisen to clarify some things. So, here I am to set everyone's minds at ease.

First of all, the article was never intended as essential theology. I acknowledge that there isn't really anymore detail on this story in Scripture or extra-Biblical sources from which we can extract. So why did I write it? I wrote it because if there's any piece of essential theology Christians tend to gloss over, it's the Christmas story. We hear it everywhere during Christmas time, to the point where we almost respond like, "Yeah yeah yeah, virgin birth, stables, shepherds, wise men, we get it, moving on..." I honestly believe it's more dangerous to gloss over the beautifully written truth in the Word of God than it is to speculate on things that aren't in Scripture. Therefore, I did this to shock people into thinking for a moment, and it worked!

So, how about I throw out some more points that have been brought up?

One point that was brought up is the possibility that the Roman soldiers might have used a form of force that caused parents to give up their youngest son in order to protect their family. Roman history shows us that they were vicious and brutal. If they didn't kick the door down and drag the baby out, they very easily could have stood outside the door threatening to kill the entire family along with many other cruel and torturous things if they didn't comply. Once again, this is only speculation.

Another point is that certain groups of Jews might have been the ones carrying out this horrific deed. These Jews were known as the Herodians. In Matthew 2:3 it says,

"When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him."

The Herodians considered Herod "King of the Jews" so to them he was either a substitute fulfillment of Messianic prophecy or a sign that the prophecy no longer applied. Either way, there were Jews who wanted Herod to be the rightful king. So, as you can imagine, if magi suddenly show up and ask the king where the real king is, that would be rather troubling. Once again, this is all simply speculation.

In conclusion, I hope and pray that you have had a revitalized interest in studying the history of the Bible as a result of reading these articles. If you have any thoughts on this matter, please leave them in the comment section or message them to me. Thank you all for reading!