“Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” (Matthew 14 v 3-4)
Antipas was his name and Herod (King) was the title. His father, Herod the Great, had 8 wives. Antipas was the Herod of Jesus’ lifetime, living in Jerusalem.
Antipas’ heart was in Rome, with his niece, who had been left fatherless by her grandfather (Herod the Great) who ordered the strangulation of her father, Aristobulus and her uncle Alexander. The Great then had her married to another uncle, not Antipas, but Philip.
Antipas visited Rome in AD26 and fell in love with his niece Herodias. They agreed he would divorce his wife, Phaesalis and she would divorce Philip.
So hand in hand they come back to the holy land; Divorced Uncle Antipas and his divorced niece Herodias, very much in love accompanied by his great niece Salome. A picture of family happiness!
The Jews however thought this whole story an abomination and they had the Scripture to support them in Leviticus 20:21 – “‘“If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonoured his brother. They will be childless.”
Right in the middle of this royal scandal is the gospel messenger, John the Baptist.
There are many today who have been arrested, bound and placed in prison because of their belief in the Bible.
If you stand up and call out what isn’t right then there will be a price to pay. Remember the voice in the wilderness? Here he is now, the voice in the prison of the palace. His circumstances changed but His voice remains calling for lives to change, even the King’s. Don’t let anyone take your voice.
Missions Paul 