HERODIAS, THE PREACHER KILLER


A. "FOR JOHN HAD SAID UNTO HEROD, IT IS NOT LAWFUL FOR THEE TO HAVE THY BROTHER'S WIFE. THEREFORE HERODIAS HAD A QUARREL AGAINST HIM AND WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM, BUT SHE COULD NOT" MARK 6:17-28
  1. When we read the above words, we are forcefully impressed:
    1. To call the story of Herodias a murder story grim and hellishly cruel
    2. It was instigated by Satan the author of murder - John 8:44; I Peter 5:8
  2. There can be but one reason to dwell on the life of Herodias:
    1. To expose Satan's hatred toward the preachers of the word of God; those who expose sin without fear, as John did
    2. Herodias was the embodiment of immorality and hellish hatred to those who denounced her wickedness
B. HERODIAS, THE WOMAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDER OF A PREACHER OF THE WORD OF GOD Scripture References: Matt. 14:3-12; Mark 6:14-24; Luke 3:18-19 Name Meaning: As a member of the Herodian dynasty, perhaps the most despicable dynasty history has known, the name Herodias is but the female form of Herod. The word "Herod" means "Heroic" - not very applicable to the Herodian family Family connections: Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, son of Herod the Great and Mariamme, daughter of Hyrcanus. Her first husband was Philip I, son of Herod the Great and Mariamme. So Herodias married her own uncle, by whom she had a daughter, Salome - the tool of her mother to destroy John the Baptist. We are now ready to make a few observations about Herodias:
  1. Among the Bible characters in God's portrait gallery there are many wicked women:
    1. But surely Herodias stands out among them as the most vile and vicious
    2. She perpetrated and executed the murder of John the Baptist, one of the greatest preachers of truth
    3. She used her sensual and weak-kneed husband to carry out the execution
    4. In this she typifies other women who mastermind the sinful deeds of their husbands Examples: Jezebel used Ahab to slay the prophets and lead Israel to serve Baal - I Kings 17; 18; 19
  2. Herodias was the embodiment of preacher haters:
    1. She used the office of her husband to murder John
    2. Also, she knew what wine would do to her husband and she used that as a tool
    3. But worst of all, Herodias used her little daughter to beguile Herod to have John beheaded; she actually made her daughter a co-murderer
C. IMPORTANT FOR OUR OBSERVATIONS ARE THESE FEW HIGH POINTS
  1. The background to the life of Herodias:
    1. The whole dynasty of the Herodians were by enlarge immoral and cruel - compare Matt. 14:3-12 with Acts 12:1-23; Mark 8:15; Luke 3:19
    2. Picture, if you can, the cold blooded murder of little children - Matt. 2:7-17
  2. Herodias was a willing tool of Satan, the originator of murder:
    1. When a person surrenders the powers of reason to the blinding influence of the lust of the flesh, Satan will take possession for the purpose of destroying
    2. Herodias did just that; she violated a basic law of chastity in marrying her uncle; and in doing that she became fully under the control of Satan -Rom. 6:16
  3. That immoral, hateful female called Herodias pairs well with another of her kind - Jezebel:
    1. Both of them stand out in the female world as beastly, inhuman and to be abhorred by all morally, self-respecting persons
    2. The story of Herodias has been set up in the bible to be a warning signal to all females to beware of surrendering to powers of immorality and sin
    3. Beware of becoming preacher killers
    4. And we must keep in mind that there are different ways to kill preachers; some are slain with the tongue; others are killed with cold-blooded hatred


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