From: Kent Hovind
Sent: April 28, 2008
To: Herod
Subject: Do you fear God?
First read: Matthew 3:1-12; 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-28
Matthew 3:1-12 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 14:1-12 “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.”
Mark 6:14-28 “And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. Others said, That it is Elijah. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. 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: For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; And the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swore unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.”
KH: Excuse me, Mr. Herod, sir, you look worried. Are you OK?
Herod the Tetrarch: No, I’m not OK and yes, I am worried. I think I’m making a serious mistake.
KH: What seems to be the problem?
HT: I just ordered my executioner to go cut off John the Baptist’s head. He is in my prison (Mark 6:27).
KH: Why would you order him killed?
HT: Oh, this is such a mess! How do I get in these messes? I should have listened to John. Now I’m really in trouble when I face God.
KH: Well, just call off the execution. If you have doubts, don’t kill a man of God. Jesus said that John is the greatest man ever born of women (Matt. 11:11). Why do you think you have to kill him?
HT: I’ll never have peace in my family if I don’t. My dad, Herod the Great, had several sons. One of them, my brother Philip, is the ruler on the other side of Galilee. He had a really good-looking wife and daughter. His wife Herodias flirted with me and finally left Philip, and I married her. John the Baptist told me this was wrong and that God was not pleased.
KH: Well… he was right. The Bible does have a lot to say about adultery (Ex. 20:14). God hates it. John was just preaching the Truth to you. Why not just listen to him?
HT: I know what the Bible says and I know that John is right, but Herodias got upset at his preaching and wanted me to kill him (Mark 6:18-19). She made life pretty miserable for me around the palace but I wouldn’t let her hurt him.
KH: Why not?
HT: Well, there were several reasons: I feared him (Mark 6:20); I know he is a prophet of God. He’s been preaching around here for a long time.
KH: He seems to preach on a variety of topics besides just the Gospel.
HT: Oh yeah, he preached about the sins of the tax collectors (Luke 3:12-13), the religious leaders (Matt. 3:7-10), and the soldiers (Luke 3:14). If he saw corruption, he preached against it. I spent lots of time talking with him and he always pointed out the evil in my life and administration (Luke 3:19). His preaching did make me change a lot of things (Mark 6:20). I was deeply convicted by his teaching and even considered becoming a believer in the Jesus he talks about. I also fear the people (Matt 14:5)—all of us politicians do! The people think John is a prophet.
KH: Maybe he is. Why are you having him killed?
HT: Well… I fear God—a little (II Kings 17:32, 41). I fear the people even more, and I fear John, but a few minutes ago, at my birthday party, my real fears surfaced.
KH: What happened?
HT: Herodias’s daughter danced for all my birthday guests (Matt. 14:6, Mark 6:22). Everyone really liked it, especially me. I made one of those spur-of-the-moment rash promises that people make when they are burning with lust. I promised to give her anything she wanted, up to half of my kingdom (Mark 6:22-23).
KH: So what did she ask for?
HT: That’s the problem. She asked for John the Baptist’s head. I think her mother put her up to it (Matt. 14:8; Mark 6:24). That’s why I ordered my man to go get it.
KH: Why not first tell her you made a mistake in giving her that promise and tell her no?
HT: I made the promise publicly. I’d look bad in front of my friends if I didn’t do it (Matt. 14:9, Mark 6:26). It might cost me my job at the next election. Plus, I’d certainly have to sleep on the couch for a while—maybe for life.
KH: You will have a man of God killed and destroy his family and ministry because of fear of the people (Prov. 29:25) and to satisfy the lust of your flesh (Gal. 5:16, I John 2:16)? Don’t you fear God?
HT: Yes, but not enough.
