The Sinister Plot to Kill the King

The Sinister Plot to Kill the King (Matthew 2:7-8; 16-18)

⁶ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” ⁷ Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.

The sinful ruler, upon hearing that the real King of the Jews has arrived, begins concocting a sinister plot to eliminate Yeshua. To be effective in the elimination of his rival, Herod has to gather some information. His goal is to develop a profile that can be used to target anyone that might be the actual King. Creating a good profile requires answers to two questions:

• Target Region Question – Where was the King of the Jews born? With this question Herod is trying to narrow the geographical scope of a search. He is also attempting to mitigate the number of people that will have to be killed. It is not that he cares for the people. If he cannot minimize the number of people that have to be killed he will catalyze and invite scrutiny from Caesar Augustus that he would rather avoid.
• Target Age Question – What time did the star appear? With the question Herod is determining the age of the Christ. This information can be used to decide which children will be put to death (Matthew 2:16-17)

Good religious people, even if they have no real interest in the Person or program of God, can give you some great information. They are full of it. Herod knew that the religious rulers could be consulted for the whereabouts of the birthplace of the King of the Jews. To get what he wanted Herod called a secret meeting. Why was it a secret? I see three reasons. First, when people are up to no good they want to remain in the darkness lest their deeds come to the light and be clearly seen (John 3:20-21; Ephesians 5:11-13). Second, people who want to remain in control compartmentalize information so that no one but them has the big picture (Wikipedia, Compartmentalization). Third, because the Sanhedrin has made consulting with the wise men a crime punishable by death, Herod wants to avoid the appearance of conspiring with them to get information. He does not fear execution by the religious leadership but needs to mitigate the appearance of being altogether without regard for Jewish law and customs.

In that clandestine meeting with the religious leaders Herod is told that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. The priests and scribes knew that much; this information had been provided by God through the prophet Micah over 700 years earlier (Micah 5:2). When King Herod got his information he was ready to put the next phase of his evil plot into action – use the wise men to get the exact location of the target. After all, they are really good at using information to find things. Let them finish the work they have begun and use the the results (Matthew 2:16-17). This brings us to the theme of this article.

What God Wants – What part am I playing? Am I a help to God as He brings the King and His kingdom. Or do I (1) harbor a wicked desire to remain in control, (2) have people thinking I am trying to help, while I (3) hinder the work, and (4) plot to harm the workers. God wants me to prayerfully and in light of His Scripture to consider what role I am playing in His work to tell the world about the Son.

This type of self-assessment is part of why the Scriptures were given to us. Instead of looking down over our noses at Herod, shaking our heads in disapproval at the priests, and condemning the other criminals we see in the pages. What does God want? God wants us to use these pages to come to Him with the hard questions about who we really are.

¹¹ Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

In His grip by His grace,
Roderick L. Barnes, Sr.