Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2-24  Day 205

July 23;     Matthew 2:16;     2/260;      ‘He’s Not the Lord’

Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

The wise men came from the east, following the star that would lead them to the Lord Jesus.  It is said that Daniel, that incredibly godly man, made such an impression on the seekers of God in the east, that they continued to desire to find the God of Israel.  These men went to King Herod to inquire if he knew where the Baby had been born.  The Jewish religious leaders were brought to Herod and they knew from the scriptures that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.  It appears that the religious leaders had no idea that the Messiah had been born, nor did it seem that they were interested in knowing this.  They merely passed on the information from the prophecy.  King Herod was insanely jealous and would seek out and kill anyone who he thought endangered his position.  He lied to the wise men, telling them to find the Baby and then come tell him where the Baby was, so that he could go and worship the Baby as well.  Herod wanted to know so that he could then go and kill the Baby.  After seeing the Baby Jesus, God warned the wise men in a dream not to tell Herod where He was.  They returned home a different way.  When Herod realized this he had all the babies in Bethlehem two and under killed.  This teaches us very clearly that the devil is not omniscient.  If he was, he would have told Herod who and where Baby Jesus was.  Our enemy, satan, lies, telling us all kinds of things about himself that are not true.  Good won.  The Lord knows all.