Matthew2:19

1: “Herod died”

Josephus’s account of the death of Herod The Great indicates that Herod died being eaten from the inside out by worms. The record also indicates that, because of his disease, he had become intolerable to others and even to himself. This probably refers to a stench that emanated from him because of the worms that had taken over his body. This condition was also very painful.

This was the same fate suffered by Herod’s grandson, Herod Agrippa, because he allowed people to praise him as a god, and did not stop them or correct them. According to extra-biblical historians it was also the fate of Antiochus the IV, who changed his name to Antiochus Epiphanes Ho Theos Victor, which means “Antiochus is God manifest, the victorious one.” However, even during his reign some people called him “Antiochus Epimames,” which means “Antiochus the madman.” You may recall that this was the same Antiochus who sacrificed a pig on the altar of the temple in Jerusalem, an act that was referred to in the prophecy of Daniel as the “abomination of desolation.” It seems like the True God has reserved the punishment of being consumed from the inside out by worms for certain rulers who thumb their noses at Him.

There is beauty and power in the manner in which the Bible makes the simplest reference to events like this. The reader was expected to know about that death of Herod, so it was unnecessary to repeat those details. Indeed, everyone in those days did know all there was to know about the death of Herod for it was talked about by everyone. We are far removed from that time and place, yet God expects us to do our homework and learn as much as we can about the context and background of the things mentioned in the Bible. God expects Gentiles to learn Jewish history well enough to catch the many references to historical events that were specific to the Jews. God does not spoon feed us every bite, rather He gives us the hunger and gives us the tools we need to satiate that hunger. We are blessed to live in a day when such tools for research are more available than ever before. However, we must be careful because one cannot believe everything that is posted on the internet.

God saw how Herod thought he could out-muscle God regarding the prophecy of the birth of the Messiah, and He saw Herod’s wanton cruelty and his unmitigated evil, and He, the true potentate, did not allow Herod to leave this world in a normal fashion. Instead God orchestrated things so that Herod would carry around a well-deserved torture-chamber within his own body. The Jews would forever speak of the death of Herod as a direct act of vengeance from God. The people remembered the long list of his cruelties, and they were pleased by God’s demonstration that He too remembered them all. Herod’s earlier attempts to win the hearts of the people by building them a larger temple and extending its courtyard were unsuccessful because of his unmatched cruelty. God saw Herod’s pride and cruelty and caused him to die a torturous, disgusting, ignoble death, totally unfitting for someone who considered himself to be noble, majestic, even godlike. During his life Herod tried to convince others that he was a HERO, but in the end God proved Herod was only a worm of a man. (No one can tell a story like God can!)