Herod the Horrifying

The Holy Scriptures contain the story of God moving closer and closer to His people, executing His great rescue plan to save them. But within the histories of the Bible, one can find some pretty scary stuff. With Halloween coming up, in the spirit of fun, we are going to look at a few “scary” stories from the Bible.

There were several King Herod’s throughout history, and many of them appear in the Bible. Some did horrible things while they were alive and died horrible deaths because of their lives spent in rebellion to God.

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.’ King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem.” (Matthew 2:1-3)

Tthe king is visited by some wise men who are seeking the new king. You may understand why this would be disturbing to hear. So far, nothing too scary—just a possible threat to the throne—but Herod’s lies, deception, manipulation, and murderous tendencies are what make this Herod horrifying.

“Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, ‘Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!’” (Matthew 2:7-8)

Herod sends the wise men to find this newly born king and tells them to report back to him the baby’s location so that Herod can worship him. But Herod has no intention of worshipping this new king and God knew that very well. God warned the wise men not to return to Herod, and an angel warned Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

“Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.” (Matthew 2:16)

This horrible king had every baby boy aged 2 and under murdered! His grandson would continue in his grandfather’s footsteps by living against God. That King Herod would put James to death, making him the first martyr among the apostles, and he would arrest Peter simply because killing James made some Jewish people happy.

“About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.)” (Acts 12:1-3)

But it is how this Herod died that makes this story feel more like a “scary” tale. Herod accepted the praise of his people, as they said he was a god, not a man—and this does not please the one true God at all.

“Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.” (Acts 12:23)

Notice the order of events here: Herod was struck with a sickness, then consumed with worms, then died. Herod was gradually eaten alive by worms.

“Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.” (Acts 12:24)

Evil men have never and will never stop the word of God from spreading. Evil men will never stop the rise of new believers. No matter what scary things we may face in this life, no matter what evil men may rule us, the word of God will continue to spread.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.