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King Herod(Left) appears in the Gospel according to Matthew, which describes an event known as the Massacre of the Innocents. According to this account, after the birth of Jesus, some magi from the East visited Herod to inquire the whereabouts of "the one having been born king of the Jews", because they had seen his star in the east (or, according to certain translations, at its rising) and therefore wanted to pay him homage. Herod, as King of the Jews, was alarmed at the prospect of a USURPER(a person who takes a position of power or importance illegally or by force.).
Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the "Anointed One" was to be born. They answered, in Bethlehem, citing Micah 5:2. Herod, therefore, sent the Magi to Bethlehem, instructing them to search for the child and, after they had found him, to "report to me, so that I too may go and worship him". However, after they had found Jesus, they were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod. Similarly, Joseph was warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, so he and his family fled to Egypt. When Herod realized he had been outwitted, he gave orders to kill all boys of the age of two and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity. Joseph and his family stayed in Egypt until Herod's death, then moved to Nazareth in Galilee to avoid living under Herod's son Archelaus.
Herod Antipas(Center) was a SON of King Herod, who had become king of Judea, and Malthace, who was from Samaria. His date of birth is unknown but was before 20 BC. Antipas, along with his full brother Archelaus and his half-brother Philip, were educated in Rome.
Antipas was not Herod's first choice of heir. That honor fell to Aristobulus and Alexander, Herod's sons by the Hasmonean princess Mariamne. It was only after they were executed (c. 7 BC), and Herod's oldest son Antipater was convicted of trying to poison his father (5 BC), that the now elderly Herod fell back on his youngest son Antipas, revising his will to make him an heir.
Antipas faced more immediate problems in his own tetrarchy after John the Baptist – in 28/29 AD according to the Gospel of Luke (or 27 AD, if the co-regency of Augustus and Tiberius is included in Luke's reckoning of time, for which there is some evidence) – began a ministry of preaching and baptism by the Jordan River, which marked the western edge of Antipas' territory of Perea.
The New Testament Gospels state that John attacked the tetrarch's marriage as contrary to Jewish law (it was incestuous, as Herodias was also Antipas' niece, but also John criticized the fact that she was his brother's wife in Mark 6:18, lending credence to the belief that Antipas and Herodias married while Herod II was still alive), while Josephus says that John's public influence made Antipas fearful of rebellion.
John was imprisoned in Machaerus and EXECUTED according to Matthew and Mark, Herod was reluctant to order John's death but was COMPELLED by Herodias' daughter (unnamed in the text but named by Josephus as Salome), to whom he had "promised any reward she chose" as a result of her dancing for guests at his birthday banquet.
Herod Agrippa(Right) was a King of Judea from 41 to 44 AD. He was the last ruler with the royal title reigning over Judea and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last King from the Herodian dynasty. The grandson of Herod the Great and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice, he was born Marcus Julius Agrippa, so named in honor of Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. He is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles 12:1 (Acts 12:1): "Herod (Agrippa)" Josephus states that he was known in his time as "Agrippa the Great"
Christian and Jewish historiography take different views of this king, with the Christians largely opposing Agrippa and the Jews placing little precedent toward the Judean kings installed by Rome. The "King" Herod mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12 (Acts 12:1–23), is identified as the same person as Herod Agrippa (though the Herod mentioned in Acts 13:1 refers to Herod Antipas). The identification is based in part on the description of his death, which is very similar to Agrippa's death in Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews 19.8.2, although Josephus does not include the claim that "an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms." Further evidence is the identification of the ruler in Acts 12:1 as "Herod the King," since Agrippa is the only Herod who would have had authority in Jerusalem at that time.
The description of Herod Agrippa as a king who persecuted the Jerusalem church, having James, son of Zebedee, killed and imprisoning Peter, stands in contrast with Josephus' account of a kindly man. According to Josephus, he was a milder ruler than his grandfather Herod the Great. Christian scholars argue that the biblical account makes sense given that Agrippa had been raised with a strong Jewish identity. Agrippa would resent a movement begun during his absence from Judæa that tried to declare a man as divine
In Matthew 2, King Herod the Great(the Father) authorized to kill all of the male babies, hoping that JESUS would be among the casualties. In Matthew 14, Herod Antipas(the SON, also known as the Tetrarch) authorized the be-heading of John the Baptist, who is was the 2nd Cousin of JESUS, the Christ. Matthew 26/27, Herod Antipas officiated the "Kangaroo" trial of JESUS. In Acts 12, Herod Agrippa,( the Grandson), authorized the killing of followers of the "JESUS movement"
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There are 2 things to consider: There is a "HEROD" in every generation, whose job is to kill anything associated with Jesus, the Christ. The next thing I want you to notice is there is always the "same family" that raises the most HELL in and against your church. You already know when the same mess breaks out in the church, you already know WHO & WHAT NAME(s) is/are attached to it.
Some families believe they have been CALLED to keep HELL going in your church. There is a "HEROD" in everything generation within every church. They will never bother you until you start making a difference for Jesus, the Christ.
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