An Unholy Triad

                                   "It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth."
                                              Thomas Fuller, English Theologian



The family structure is designed by God to be a powerful entity.  If the members of the family are in line with biblical principles and understand and fulfill their God-given roles, it will be a force used for tremendous good in the earth.  If, on the other hand, the members reject God and pursue selfish interests, a family can also be used to bring untold destruction and calamity to the world.  Especially if it is a family who has been given a position of authority and the role of governance.

Such was the family of Herod the Great.  This family was brilliant and gifted in a myriad of ways, and yet all these talents were used to perpetuate evil and wreak unprecedented havoc in the lives of many.  The three family members that are the most notorious are: Herod the Great, Herodias, and Herod Antipas.  It was this evil trio that would continually serve as a battering ram in the life of Jesus and do everything within their power to end His ministry and His life.

Herod the Great was known as a genius and a schemer.  He took advantage of the Roman political unrest to claw his way to the top of the political ladder.  It was during a civil war that he gained favor of Octavian, who later became known as the Roman Emperor named Augustus Caesar.

Herod was a descendant of the Edomites, whose ancestors converted to Judaism.  He was born around 74 B.C. to an Idumean man named Antipater and a woman named Cyprus.  His mother was the daughter of an Arab sheik.

Herod the Great became a Jewish king who governed over Judaea.  Once he became king, he launched an ambitious building program in Jerusalem and in the port city of Caesarea.  He built theaters, ampitheaters, a port, temples, markets, housing, palaces, a wall around Jerusalem and aqueducts. He was a genius in commerce and trading and greatly strengthened Israel's position in the Arab world.

However, he was a tyrant.  He kept order in Israel by using the secret police and using an iron fist.  He kept order in his palace by murdering family members who did not appease his whims.  He killed his father-in-law, two of his sons, and several of his ten wives.  He was a ruthless, brutal murderer who was also known for killing many rabbis.

His ambition was all-consuming.  He was a jealous egomaniac who lived to build monuments to himself.  Over two thousand years later, there are still existing structures in Israel that Herod the Great built.  The most revered of these existing structures is the temple wall mount that still stands from the magnificently restored Jerusalem temple that Herod constructed during his reign.

Jesus was conceived during the rule of Herod and was a young child when he died.  The three wise men met Herod as they journeyed on their way to worship the newborn babe.  It was then that Herod tried to trick the wise men into revealing Jesus' location in Bethlehem when they returned home.  God warned the wise men in a dream to avoid the wicked king, so they chose an alternative route home.

When Herod learned that he was outwitted by the Magi, he was livid.  This is how Matthew describes the event: "Then Herod, when he realized he had been misled by the wise men, was furiously enraged, and he sent and put to death all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that territory who were two years old and under, reckoning according to the date which he had investigated diligently and had learned exactly from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 'A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they were no more" (Matthew 2:16-18).

After a thirty-seven yea reign, this would prove to be one of Herod's last significant acts.  This was his coup d'état, so to speak.  Not too long after Herod murdered all these innocent baby boys, he, himself, died in a gruesome and horrific manner.

However, his evil kingdom lived on.  It was divided among his three sons (that had not been slain by their father).  Herod Antipas was one of those three heirs.


Herod Antipas was definitely a villain like his father.  To make matters worse, he also had a villainous wife named Herodias.  Their vows were made on the shakiest of grounds because Antipas had decided to steal his own brother's wife.  Yet, bigamy was just the beginning for this diabolic duo.

The apostle Mark describes Herodias as  conniving and the instigator that plotted the beheading of John the Baptist. She actually convinced her daughter Salome to sleep with her husband (Herod Antipas) to make it happen (Mark 6:22-25).  Not only did she want John the Baptist's head, but she also wanted it served up on a platter.  Possibly this vendetta was because John the Baptist had confronted her regarding her sexual sin.

Later, during Jesus' ministry, some Pharisees came to warn Jesus that Herod Antipas was trying to kill Him.  This is how Jesus responded, "Go and tell that fox [sly and crafty, skulking and cowardly], 'Behold, I drive out demons and perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish (complete) my course'" (Luke 13:32).

Herod Antipas, along with his soldiers, treated Jesus "with contempt and scoffed at and ridiculed Him; then, dressing Him up in bright and gorgeous apparel, he sent Him back to Pilate" (Luke 23:11).  Ultimately, Herod Antipas would forever be known as the one who stood in judgment of Jesus and was instrumental in His crucifixion.

Before Jesus was ever born, God knew how diabolical this family would be and how Satan would use each one of them for his purposes.  And yet, God was sovereign over every bit of it.  Every prophecy would be fulfilled because God said, "I am watching over My Word to perform it" (Jeremiah 1:12).

No matter how devious, untrustworthy, and bloodthirsty Jesus' opponents were, they would never fully have the upper hand.  They would only have as much rope as God would give them- not a centimeter more.  While this was the darkness that preceded the ultimate Dawn, goodness triumphed over evil.  No demonic attempt could ever diminish the glory and power of God that would occur in the Resurrection.

The legacy of Herod the Great and his descendants will forever be one of atrocity and infamy, especially their unholy triad.  However, for us as believers who cling to the Holy Trinity as our Light and Salvation, we can find hope in knowing that our family legacies will be blessed.  Even if we currently have family members who are not in line with biblical principles and are not fulfilling their God-given roles, take heart, because the Son is faithful to rise in their lives.


                "Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good."
                                                                                                                       Romans 12:21