For the fourth day of Christmas we read Matthew 2:4
When he {Herod} had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
So Herod didn't know that Bethlehem was to be the birth place of the Messiah. But he did know, or at least suspect, that the King that the Wise Men were seeking was the Messiah. The one promised by God. He may have been reciting prayers that the Messiah would come three times a day. Jews of that time did, and Herod may have held to the forms of Judaism.
So he assembled the Cheif Priests and teachers of the law for information. Did they have real respect for his office? Did they go to him under compulsion? We don't know. We have no idea what these men thought of Herod or the Romans who set him over them. All we know is that they obeyed his summons -- willingly or not.
And we know that Herod did not know the answer himself. In depth scripture study was not his thing. But he was no dummy either. He knew where to find answers.
There is not much meat in today's verse, really. But I believe that every word of scripture is there for a reason and worth meditating on.
Anyway,
Merry Christmas!!
When he {Herod} had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
So Herod didn't know that Bethlehem was to be the birth place of the Messiah. But he did know, or at least suspect, that the King that the Wise Men were seeking was the Messiah. The one promised by God. He may have been reciting prayers that the Messiah would come three times a day. Jews of that time did, and Herod may have held to the forms of Judaism.
So he assembled the Cheif Priests and teachers of the law for information. Did they have real respect for his office? Did they go to him under compulsion? We don't know. We have no idea what these men thought of Herod or the Romans who set him over them. All we know is that they obeyed his summons -- willingly or not.
And we know that Herod did not know the answer himself. In depth scripture study was not his thing. But he was no dummy either. He knew where to find answers.
There is not much meat in today's verse, really. But I believe that every word of scripture is there for a reason and worth meditating on.
Anyway,
Merry Christmas!!
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