Mark 6:14 ¶ 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 shew forth themselves in him. 15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 17 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. 18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. 19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: 20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 21 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; 22 And when 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. 23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto th half of my kingdom. 24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25 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. 26 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. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
14
¶ 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
shew forth themselves in him. 15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others
said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 16 But when Herod heard
thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 17
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.
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy
brother’s wife. 19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have
killed him; but she could not: 20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a
just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many
things, and heard him gladly.
Here
is the power of a bad conscience.
Acts
24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,
Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a
convenient season, I will call for thee.
Leviticus
26:36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into
their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf
shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall
fall when none pursueth.
Modern
versions remove “risen from the dead” in verse 16 based mainly on Sinaiticus
and Vaticanus. This “risen from the dead” lays out literally that there was
indeed a general belief in a physical resurrection, not merely a spiritual one,
although likely the wording was changed for the purpose of obtaining a
copyright rather than an attack on doctrine.
Verse
18 showed that John had been preaching against Herod’s marriage to his
brother’s wife. This simple truth profoundly affected King Herod. This is the
power of the word of God and of preaching it in the streets.
Herodias
would have killed John as Jezebel would have killed Elijah in 1 Kings 19:2.
While Elijah had overseen the execution, though, of many of Baal’s priests in
the previous chapter, John the Baptist had simply called Herodias on her sin.
It was enough to warrant death. Aren’t you glad you live in a country where
criticizing your leaders’ behavior doesn’t result in execution, unless of
course you’re one of the many people who have shot themselves in the head,
twice, like Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Webb who exposed President
Reagan’s Contra project’s relationship with the influx of crack cocaine to the
country in the 80’s, or any number of associates of Bill Clinton who were
murdered or committed “suicide.” Then you might not feel so glad.
Pointing
out a powerful or important person’s wickedness can put an end to a career.
Usually, the pointing is done by a person with as much a load of guilt as the
one being called out, at least in today’s politics. Newt Gingrich, who was
cheating on his second wife at the same time, pointing out Clinton’s marital infidelities
is akin to Stalin calling Hitler a dictator. In the scene here in Mark it is a
true man of God, said to be just and Holy. He was also someone that Herod
wanted to hear and wanted to follow but he was just too spineless in his sin.
You
will see the occasional person in a wicked and sinful lifestyle or job come to
church regularly and soaking in the sermons and teaching. But that person will
be too afraid of his friends, business associates, wife, and family to leave
the sinful lifestyle he’s in. It may cost him money, position, and contacts.
He’ll get “it” alright. He just won’t have the guts to do anything about “it”.
21
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; 22 And when 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.23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt
ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24 And she went
forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of
John the Baptist. 25 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. 26 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. 27 And immediately
the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went
and beheaded him in the prison, 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave
it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. 29 And when his
disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.
Herod
at the great feast was afraid of looking weak. He was afraid of his wife and of
his companions so he murdered a great man of God. He is representative of the
typical high official of today, always checking to see which way the popular
wind was blowing, afraid to cut off the money spigot from his lobbyist friends,
or to hinder the possibility of lucrative speaking engagements after he leaves
office. There’s no telling what he and his companions were thinking as they
watched that young girl dance and it’s probably best not to know. But what we
do know is that like most politicians he was a spineless wimp.
The
kingdoms of this world, at present, are under the operative control of Satan.
2Corinthians
4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
…until
Christ returns physically to take over control…
Revelation
11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven,
saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
So,
the political state of these worldly kingdoms will always be one of wickedness
and evil doings. They are rotten from top to bottom no matter how much
beautiful architecture, art, music, and education they contain.
One
author has spoke of the condition of the poorest of people of today in our
cities quite truthfully;
“The
United States, the greatest accumulation of wealth and power the planet has
ever known… Now has pockets of degeneracy as horrible as anything found in the
poorest nations of the world. From the interstices of our twenty-first-century
cities there oozes a hideous misery.”
(Jared
Taylor in “Paved With Good Intentions”, page 326)
And
from the top levels of our country another type of degeneracy;
“…it
becomes painfully clear that we no longer have a government of the people, by
the people and for the people. Rather, the system of government under which we
labor today is a government of the elites, by the bureaucrats and for the
corporations. This political enterprise that passes itself off as a democracy
is in reality little more than a “pay to play” banana republic, a plutocracy
run by a powerful and corrupt oligarchy from the corporate, military and
political sectors.”
(John
W. Whitehead, “The Corporate Takeover of America—A Government of the Elites, by
the Bureaucrats and for the Corporations” July 9, 2012, The Rutherford
Institute. )
Any
modern day John the Baptist speaking the truth about these people at the
uppermost levels of our country will be chastised, marginalized, set aside,
ignored, imprisoned, have his taxes audited, have child porn downloaded to his
computer through some program like Citrix “Go to My PC” program, or perhaps be
found dead having been shot several times only to have a coroner declare him a
suicide. As a result I am highly suspicious when a whistleblower is found dead,
usually of a suicide, because he “couldn’t take the pressure” like British
Scientist, David Kelly or something illegal is “found” on a someone’s computer
before they are murdered like Dr. Thomas Manton. It may be just a modern-day
Herod taking care of business.
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