King Herod and Jesus  | History of God 15 (3of5)
Channel: Christian Perspective
Date: 01/06/2021

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This is part 3 of a 5 part bible series on Edom. In this episode we will discuss King Herod and Jesus when the Edomite king was crowned by Rome and came face to face with Jesus
Rome was a small kingdom during Isaiah’s time Rome became a republic in 509BC. Pompey the great defeated Syria in 69BC. Pompey was in Damascus. After Queen Salome Alexandra of Judea died her two sons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II were in a civil war, they met with Pompey the great in Damascus to settle the dispute. Pompey decided he would visit Jerusalem and decide. Aristobulus did not wait for Pompey, he took control of Jerusalem and refused to allow the Roman to enter. Pompey besieged and took Jerusalem and installed Hyrcanus II as high priest and puppet king making Judea a client state of Rome. Antipater the Idumean was his chief advisor.
During the first triumvirate of Rome, Pompey married Julius Caesar’s daughter. When she died in childbirth the triumvirate unraveled into a civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the great. Pompey was defeated and fled to Egypt. Ptolemy XIII assassinated him and handed his head and seal to Julius Caesar who had the assassins put to death. This led to a civil war in Egypt. Antipater the Idumean the advisor to Hyrcanus II brought 3000 men to aid Julius Caesar in the siege of Alexandria. Caesar awarded Antipater by making him the first Edomite governor of Judea.
  Antipater made his sons Herod as governor of Galilee and his son Phasael governor of Jerusalem. Herod the Great the son of Antipater was governor for 2 years before Antigonus the son of Aristibulus II who had been overthrown by Pompey and had made an alliance with Parthia, returned to besiege Jerusalem. Herod fled to Rome for help where he was appointed King of Judea by the Roman senate. Herod returned to Jerusalem supported by Mark Antony of Rome. In order to legitimize his throne Herod married the Hasmonean princess Meriamne, the niece of Antigonus. Herod’s victory over Antigonus at Jerusalem  marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty and the beginning of the Herodian dynasty over Judea. 
Herod was a ruthless tyrant who executed anyone who he saw as a threat to his throne including Meriamne and his two sons by her. He was a great builder, he built onto the temple in Jerusalem for 47 years making it one of the wonders of the ancient world. He built the port city of Caesaria Maritima, Masada and Herodium. He was the Herod mentioned in the gospels who committed the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem after he was outwitted by the 3 wise men.
Julius Caesar named Octavian his adopted son after becoming the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Octavian was named Augustus by the Roman senate. Mark Antony married Octavians sister but was the lover of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. 
Civil war broke out between Octavian and Mark Antony in 31BC. Octavian defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony in a naval battle at Actium. Mark Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt. When Octavian arrived in Egypt, Mark Antony's troops joined Octavian. Mark Antony fell on his sword and Cleopatra committed suicide. 
Herod the Great suffered a slow painful death by disease. His 3 sons were appointed governors by Caesar Augustus. Herod Archelaus was tetrarch of Judea, Herod Antipas of Galilee and Philip of the lands east of the Jordan. in 6AD Archelaus was banished by Rome and Judea became a Roman province governed by a prefect who was Pontius Pilate. The capital was moved from Jerusalem to Caesaria Maritima. 
Herod Antipas ruled Galilee till 39AD he beheaded John the baptist. 
Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great he was educated in Rome. He was jailed by the emperor Tiberius for favoring Caligula to become emperor. When Caligula became emperor he freed Agrippa and made him King of Syria. In 39AD Agrippa has his uncle Antipas banished and took over Galilee. When Caligula was assassinated in 41AD Agrippa supported Claudius as emperor. Claudius awarded Herod Agrippa Judea and Samaria restoring to him basically all the kingdom of Judea once ruled by Herod the Great. 
Agrippa was well liked by the Jews but remembered as a tyrant by the Christians. He persecuted the early church by killing James and jailing Peter. Herod Agrippa was struck down by the angel of God for allowing the people to worship him as a God. This is recorded in Acts ch 12. 
Herod Agrippa II married his sister and was not well liked by the Jews. A procurator named Festus ruled over Judea while Agrippa was educated in Rome. He is king Agrippa who presided over Paul's trial in Acts ch 25.