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16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." Matthew 2:16-18
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 2 where we are given three responses to the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem. The Magi demonstrated their faith in the new born king by traveling two years from beyond the Euphrates River. The Jewish religious leaders were just ten miles away from where the Messiah was born and they were indifferent to Him. Then there was Herod who was fearful and so threatened by the Lord Jesus that he sought to eliminate Him.
In Revelation 12, Satan is described as a dragon that was desperate to destroy the coming Child "who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron." In Revelation 12 we learn that Herod was carrying out the desires of Satan. In Revelation 12:4, we read "the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it." Satan was working through Herod to try to kill the Lord Jesus at His birth but to no avail. This only proves that the righteous sovereign plan of God will never be thwarted.
In v.16 of today's passage we read, "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi."
Once Herod realized that he was outwitted by the Magi, he went maniacal. The word translated as "outwitted" is a contraction of two words, "in" and "play" which literally means "to mock someone." Almost every use of this word in the Bible describes the mocking directed to another. Particularly, this word was used to describe the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman soldiers when they mocked the Lord Jesus while He was on His cross. In today's passage, it was Herod's understanding that the Magi mocked him when they departed to their own country without providing him the information he requested. Because of this, Herod was "exceedingly enraged." This word translated "furious" is used only here in the Bible. It signifies to be full of anger and seething with rage.
Herod's anger resulted in him giving the orders "to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under." These children had done nothing deserving of death. Therefore, they were innocent in the sense that Herod unjustly had them killed. The fact that Herod did this stands as a witness to his depravity. Before we get on our high horses, though, we must be careful because such wickedness is within all of us. And, the more that we are aware of this the better. It is only due to the fact that God is in my life that I do not act on the depravity that I find within my soul more than I already do.
Sadly, in our world today, the Herod's of this world are those who support the killing of unborn children through abortion. They are the ones who target young minds for perverse agendas, like transgenderism, and who abuse little children through sexual perversion. When left unchecked evil metastasizes into maniacal chaos bent upon destruction. Of course, this is the agenda of the evil one. In John 10:10 we read, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
In v.17-18 of today's passage we read, "17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'"
The horrible event of the killing of these children fulfilled a prophecy concerning the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem. God didn't cause this to happen, He just knew in advance this would be what Herod would do at this time. Matthew cited Jeremiah 31:15 as is seen here in v.18. Ramah was a city located five miles north of Jerusalem on the border between the Old Testament kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Jeremiah spoke of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin weeping to symbolize all the Jewish mothers who were weeping over their children being taken away in the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. Matthew quoted this passage to point us to the Jewish mothers in Bethlehem who were weeping over their children being taken away from them in death by Herod.
This passage reminds us that it is impossible to avoid the spiritual conflict that is daily raging around us. These Jewish two year old boys and younger did not deserve to die at the hands of a madman, but were murdered nonetheless because he desperately tried to destroy the Lord Jesus who was a threat to his kingdom. In one sense this was the work of a king who wanted to destroy a potential rival, but in another sense, this was the work of Satan who wanted to destroy God’s Son. Amazingly, God yet gave Herod another opportunity to side with the truth.
When the Magi came to Jerusalem and met with Herod, he was given, yet again, an opportunity to repent and to turn to God. The Magi didn’t need to approach Herod. We read later that the star actually came to rest over the very house where the Lord Jesus was located. If they had just kept following the star, they would have eventually found their way to the Lord Jesus. But they entered Jerusalem, and they spoke with Herod. That gave Herod and the spiritually bankrupt religious leaders in Jerusalem another opportunity to get right with God. The grace, mercy, and love of God is only accessed by those who are willing enough to humble themselves before Him. It is these who are the only ones who will enjoy these aspects of God but for those who reject Him, they will experience His wrath.
