Devotion 4: Christmas Massacre

There are parts of the Christmas story that almost every Christian knows, but there are important details some have never noticed. Many do not know just how intricately Satan worked through King Herod to try to destroy the hope of our Savior and eliminate Christmas. 

Rome was in charge during the time of Christ’s birth. Mary and Joseph had to be counted for tax purposes. Because of their heritage, they had to go to Bethlehem to be counted, and that is where Jesus would be born. Prophecy in the Old Testament, Micah 5:2, said the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. If Rome had not required it, Mary and Joseph would not have been in Bethlehem, certainly not while she was ready to deliver a baby. This fulfilled prophecy is one of the many ways we know that Jesus is the promised Messiah. 

A less-known prophecy concerning the Savior was revealed in Jeremiah 31:15, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” 

When the wise men from the East came to see the baby Jesus, they first stopped in Judea at King Herod’s palace because they were looking for the next great king. They assumed, as I would have, that the king would be born in a palace. Jesus was not there, though. He was not the kind of king they were used to. 

Herod, the local ruler appointed by Rome, was very interested to know who this king was. He was not about to let someone overthrow his rule. He wanted details! He discovered the most likely place the wise men would find the baby king was in Bethlehem. That is where prophecy said He would be born. Herod wanted to destroy this would-be-king but did not want the wise men to know that was his plan. Herod told them to look in Bethlehem, and when they found the baby, they should come back to let him know where the baby was so he could worship this king, too. Of course, that was a big lie. He had no intention of worshiping anyone.   

God ruined Herod’s plans and sent the wise men home a different way, then told Joseph to take Mary and the Baby and flee to Egypt. Herod was furious when the wise men did not return. Not to be undone, he decided how he would solve the problem. He ordered all little boys ages two and under to be murdered. 

This is what that prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15 refers to. Rachel (the wife of Jacob, who became Israel) was weeping for her children because they were no more. The nation of Israel was mourning the death of their baby boys, ages two and younger. This sad prophecy is fulfilled because Herod is trying to destroy something he cannot understand. 

So, why Ramah and not Bethlehem? Ramah was six miles north of Jerusalem, and Bethlehem was six miles south of Jerusalem. King Herod had the male children, aged two and under, in a six-mile radius around Jerusalem slaughtered. It was a vicious attack to kill the King of the world. It was a war to kill Christmas. However, God was not surprised by Herod’s attack. He told about it 600 years before when a prophet named Jeremiah wrote it down.  

The war against Christmas is a spiritual battle. We will become overwhelmed in this spiritual battle if we do not keep our focus on Christ and who He truly is. So, how do we participate in fighting this battle? We need to pray for people in positions of power and leadership that they will not be like Herod, who was overcome with evil, but instead, they will encourage the honor of Christmas within the areas they influence.