That is correct. The King Herod of the Bible, who ordered the massacre of the boy babies of two years and younger some 2000 plus years ago, is still living and active. His body may have ceased to exist, but his spirit is very active today….and is becoming stronger. Herod’s spirit of excessive egoism, moral corruption, and an evil vanity remain deeply embedded in the world.

Herod ordered the killing of the babies so as to rid himself of what he perceived as competition for his kingship. As Herod was told by his advisors and by the three visitors from the east, a king had been born whose existence Herod viewed as a threat to himself. Herod did not understand that the baby king was not to be a king in the ordinary sense of earthly kingship. Herod’s only concern was to rid himself of any threat to his crown. Thus in order to satisfy his ego and to secure his authority, he killed numerous defenseless children, bringing anguish to thousands of families. All for no reason other than Herod perceived a threat to his power; a threat, which in reality, did not exist. With Herod’s death, the evil selfish spirit in him did not die; it persisted through the centuries and is thriving in today’s secular world. It is not dead, but is alive and wreaking havoc.

In the so called civilized world of the 21^st century, Herod’s spirit remains active…. even more active than during the 1^st century. Today millions of children, both boys and girls, are killed; yes, over one million are massacred each year in the U.S. alone. The killers of today’s children do not wait for the children to be born; they are killed in the mother’s womb. What is the justification for the current wave of child killings? Often the reason is simply convenience; the convenience of the mother or others who would have to care for the children. People will argue that a perceived need to control population growth is a legitimate reason to kill a baby in the womb. Others may claim that it is necessary to eliminate the baby due to a possible deformity in the child. One can go on and on with all sorts of “reasons” for the elimination of babies. Many will pontificate that freedom of the mother dictates that she can choose to kill her baby. Few are the voices that speak out for the freedom of the baby. Would the baby, if he/she had a voice in the matter, ask to be brutally killed before having the chance to live in the world? The answer certainly would be a resounding NO.

Yes, the spirit of Herod is alive and well…. unfortunately. Whatever name is applied today to the Herodian spirit, in every case, its name is self as in selfishness and brings with it deadly harm to others.