Meditations in Matthew Fourteen: the Herods

Herod the Great has passed before us on Matthew’s pages (Matt 2:1–23). We revolted at his “murder of the innocents” (here). His was a cowardly action based on fear of the King born in Bethlehem.

Now, we encounter Herod Antipas (Matt 14:1–12). This member of the Jewish dynasty also performs horrific acts. He takes his brother’s wife, then murders John the Baptist.¹

Such incidents are the underpainting for a prophetic group portrait of the Herods.

We have also viewed the Herods’ portrait from several prophetic angles. Revelation’s Seven Mystic Figures vision shows how Satan was using Herod the Great as his agent (cf. Rev 12:1–6). We discussed this in a previous post (here).

The Herodian dynasty was also Revelation’s Land Beast. The Roman Empire—the Sea Beast—exercised its power in Israel through the Herods. Our Seven Mystic Figures: Land Beast post made this point.²

Daniel’s visions also painted a picture of the Herodian dynasty. In a previous post (here), we suggested it was the “little horn” of Daniel 7. And, Herod the Great was the end-time king who did “according to his will” (Dan 11:36). Our post here showed our reasons for making this identification.

In all these visions, the Herods oppose God as he establishes the messianic kingdom.³ They do so in the “last days” of the Mosaic age. This post will show how Herod Antipas’s murder of John the Baptist reinforces this perspective.

A Word on the “Last Days”

Inmillennialism’s definition of the term “last days” differs from other prophetic models.⁴ We take it to mean the last generation of the Mosaic age (e.g., Gen 49:1; Isa 2:2; Micah 4:1; Acts 2:17; Heb 1:2).

Several terms are synonymous with it: “latter days” (e.g., Deut. 31:29); “their [Israel’s] latter end” (e.g., Deut 32:29); “the time of the end” (e.g., Dan 12:4, 9); “the end of the age” (e.g., Matt 24:3 NKJV); and others.

These terms do not refer to the end of the messianic (or church) age, nor to the end of another future age. Neither do they refer to the end of the created universe. There are no terms “which speak of the end of the kosmos.”⁵

This definition of the “last days” is important to our understanding of the Herods’ role. God had said he would set up the messianic-age church kingdom⁶ during the time of the Roman kings (Dan 2:44). This period coincided with the “last days” of the Mosaic age. 

God had foretold how he would judge Israel during this “last days” period (e.g., Deut 31:29; 32:1–47).

And, this is the period during which the Herods ruled. 

These three climactic themes converge during Israel’s “last days.” God establishes his kingdom. He judges apostate Israel. And, the Herods reign.

John’s Murder: a “Last Days” Event

So, Herod Antipas’s murder of John the Baptist was a “last days” event. Our present passage (Matt 14:1–12) calls attention to this in two ways.

The Context

First, Matthew makes a “last days” connection through the context. “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus” (Matt 14:1). 

The murder occurs after Jesus sent his disciples to preach the kingdom of God to Israel (Mark 6:7–13; Luke 9:1–6). The disciples would not finish this task “till the Son of man be come” (Matt 10:23). This “coming” would end the Mosaic age (Matt 24:1–3, 30, 34). So, this preaching occurred in Israel’s “last days.”

Matthew makes this connection more explicit than Mark or Luke. He places seven kingdom-parables (Matt 13:1–58) between the above commission (Matt 9:35–11:1) and Herod’s murder of John (Matt 14:1–12). As we have seen,⁷ these parables describe the end of the Mosaic age and God’s judgment of Israel. He was about to separate the good from the bad in Israel at “the end of the age” (Matt 13:39 NKJV).

One modern writer sees John’s murder as Herod’s response to this preaching. News of the coming kingdom had a dreadful “effect on Herod Antipas.”⁸ By killing John, Herod rejected the kingdom he preached (cf. Matt 3:1–2).

The context reveals the theme-convergence we mentioned above. God is establishing his kingdom through gospel preaching. He is about to judge Israel. And Herod, as the tool of Satan, murders John the Baptist.

Such were the events of Israel’s “last days.”

The Comparison

Second, Jesus makes a comparison that calls attention to the “last days” setting. 

Consider the prophetic word about John the Baptist. God had said to Israel, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Mal 4:5–6a). God said he would do this “Before I come and have utterly smitten the land!” (Mal 4:6b YLT).

Jesus identified John the Baptist as the Elijah of Malachi’s prophecy (Matt 17:10–13). John Gill said “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” of this prophecy refers to

the first coming of Christ, reaching to the destruction of Jerusalem: John the Baptist, his forerunner, the Elijah here spoken of, came proclaiming wrath and terror to impenitent sinners; Christ foretold and denounced ruin and destruction to the Jewish nation, city, and temple; and the time of Jerusalem’s destruction was a dreadful day indeed, such a time of affliction as had not been from the creation, Matt 24:21.⁹

Jesus also used John the Baptist to teach about the messianic-age kingdom. 

Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. (Matt 11:11–14)

John was the greatest prophet in the Mosaic age. But, the least person in the messianic-age kingdom is greater than John.

Here we see God’s judgment of apostate Israel. And his establishment of the kingdom of heaven. And John the Baptist as the transitional figure. His ministry prepared the way for the Messiah and his kingdom. 

Herod killed the greatest prophet of the Mosaic age. It was a “last days” transition murder.

The Herods: a “Last Days” Dynasty

The “last days” reign of the Herods is significant for the kingdom of God. The first Herod rose to power soon after the first Roman king (emperor) came to power. This beginning of the Herodian dynasty was just before the birth of Christ and the start of Israel’s “last days.”

The last Herodian king was ruling when the Temple fell in AD 70. The Herodian dynasty coincided with the “last days” of the Mosaic age. It meets all the criteria needed to qualify as the prophetic Land Beast (Rev 13:11), Little Horn (Dan 7:8), and End-Time King (Dan 11:36).

The following chart summarizes the Herods’ “last days” opposition to the messianic-age kingdom:¹⁰

 

Ruler	Dates of Reign	Region	Significant Actions Regarding the “Last Days”
Herod the Great	37–4 BC	King of Palestine	Rebuilt the Temple (John 2:20); tried to kill Jesus, fearing the birth of a rival king (Matt 2:1–17)
Herod Antipas	4 BC–AD 39	Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea	Killed John the Baptist (Matt 14:1–12); judged Jesus at his trial (Luke 23:7–12)
Herod Philip I	4 BC–AD 34		Husband of Herodias, before Herod Antipas took her (Matt 14:3b; Mark 6:17)
Herod Archelaus	4 BC–AD 6	Ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea	Ruled after the death of his father, Herod the Great (Matt 2:22)
Herod Philip II	4 BC–AD 34	Tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis	Married Herodias’s daughter (Luke 3:1)
Herod Agrippa I	AD 37–44	King of Palestine	Killed the Apostle James, imprisoned Peter (Acts 12:1–11)
Herod Agrippa II	AD 50–70	Tetrarch of Chalcis	Tried the Apostle Paul (Acts 25:13–26:32); ruled when the Temple fell in AD 70

The Herodians supported this dynasty in its opposition to God’s kingdom. They joined the Pharisees in seeking to destroy Christ (Mark 3:6; 12:13; Matt 22:16–18).

Satan—with God’s permission—used this dynasty to oppose Jesus throughout the “last days” of the Mosaic age. It fought against the new kingdom but was unsuccessful. At the end of the Mosaic age, God cast Herod and apostate Israel, over whom he ruled, out of the kingdom (cp. Matt 8:10–12). He did so in the “great tribulation” judgment (Matt 24:21). The Temple’s fall concluded the “last days” of the Mosaic age (Matt 24:1–3). 

Conclusion

Inmillennialism assigns a significant role to the Herodian dynasty. It is a role of resistance to God’s kingdom. 

Let us not allow the Herods to pass unexamined as we read the New Testament. Let us ponder how our Lord defeated their efforts to thwart the kingdom. Let us rejoice that now, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev 11:15).

The “last days” of the Mosaic age have passed. The new day of the messianic age is here!

 

 

1. The image in this post is St. John the Baptist before Herod by Mattia Preti  (1613–1699). This file (here) is in the public domain (PD-US).
2. We summarized the Herods actions as the Land Beast here.
3. We have called this “the messianic-age church kingdom.” Our reasons for this terminology are here, here, and here.
4. A previous post (here) compares and contrasts those models.
5. Richard Chenevix Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953), 214. Greek transliterated.
6. Again, see our definition of this term here, here, and here.
7. See posts 16–21 in our Applying Inmillennialism to Matthew series.
8. A. T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ (New York: Harper, 1922), 78.
9. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 9 vols. (1809–1810; repr., Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989), 6:775.
10. This chart is based on one by John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck (Wheaton, IL: Victor, 1985), 203.