PJP2 “7 PRAISES” - 161211 - SEEKERS (Part 2) SEEKERS 2: Sinners Seeking Ever the Eternal KING of kings Elicits (God's) Reconciliation/Salvation King Herod - The Down Side SEEKER Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."BUT from there you Will SEEK The Lord your God AND you Will Find Him, IF you SEARCH After Him With ALL your Heart And With ALL your Soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you Will Return To The Lord your God And OBEY His Voice. For The Lord your God IS A Merciful God. He Will NOT leave you OR destroy you OR forget The Covenant with your fathers That He Swore to them.".... Just did a short-study via wikipedia.org on King Herod (also known as Herod The Great, or Herod 1). There were actually four King Herods....Herod 1 was the first....he had three sons, who though they had different names, they were all called by Herod as well and a daughter (Salome). Following Herod 1's death, his four children were 'installed' by Rome (since Herod and Family) were all mere puppet rulers under Roman Backing. Doesn't appear (other than the lavish and amazing building projects the Herodian Dynasty undertook) that from a positive standpoint the Herodian Dynasty provided any advancement to mankind's scenario. I did learn that Herod 1 was actually a descendant of Esau (Jacob/Israel's twin-brother who sold his firstborn-birthright to Jacob/Israel for a bowl of stew). Herod 1, as an Edomite (Esau descendant) had an enmity towards the children of Israel. In fact, if you check out God's Prophet Obadiah's record of The Holy Spirit's Inspiration, God The Father pretty much had nothing good to say about the Edomites, or their future....ALL Because of Esau and his Edomite families self-pride. Clearly Herod 1 demonstrates the Edomite characteristic of self-pride by his tyrannical rule. Anyway, the reason for sharing all this back-story is that we're introduced to Herod The Great (Herod 1) as The Magi come looking for the New Born KING of the Jews. In fact, at first blush one might think that Herod The Great is going to Exited, as well, to Meet The New KING of the Jews..... Matthew 2:8 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."And Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem, saying, 'Go and search diligently for The Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship Him.'”.... But, Herod The Great had no intention (even though his word would suggest he did) of going to this threat to 'worship Him'. Check it out..... Matthew 2:16-18 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by The Wise Men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the Time that he had ascertained from The Wise Men. Then Was Fulfilled What Was Spoken By The Prophet Jeremiah: 'A Voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping And Loud Lamentation, Rachel Weeping for her children; she Refused to Be Comforted, Because they are no more.'” Yes, Herod The Great's reaction to our Lord Jesus' First Advent was to lash out in anger (and perhaps even paranoid fear) in the form of the "Massacre of Innocents". Ugh....this is a part of our Lord's First Advent that does indeed cause one to pause and ponder. Yet, even in the midst of this tragedy, wrought by a paranoid, self-absorbed and wicked ruler, God The Father WORKS within/through our human freedom-of-choice, EVEN when the results of our freedom-of-choice is apparent destruction, He Can and Does Bring His Goodness out of the ashes of our defeat. So, Team, my Overall PJP2 Prelude Prayer for us today would be His WORD of Encouragement to us. Regardless of the Herod The Greats that may be lurking around, or the challenges we've created in our LIVES by our own selfish pride.....HEAR our Lord's Blessed WORD to us...... Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."The Lord your God Is In your Midst, A Mighty ONE WHO Will SAVE; HE Will Rejoice over you With Gladness; HE Will Quiet you By HIS LOVE; HE Will Exult over you With Loud Singing.".... Lord Jesus, Encourage us and Empower us to Be Like The Magi, those Wise Men who sought You out. Holy Spirit, Cleanse us of our own "Herodian" pridefulness. Father God, Thank You and Open our Inner Eyes to See You and Your Might Hand, Providing us Your Way of Salvation. In Your Holy Name, Lord Jesus, we Raise our Prayers and Praise....Amen and Amen....jaj