Friday, December 2, 2016

Day 3- Matthew 2:4 Herod's paranoia

King James Version

"And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born."

Joseph Smith added some valuable words to this verse starting after the word them.

...he demanded of them, saying, Where is the place that is written of by the prophets in which Christ should be born? For he greatly feared, yet he believed not the prophets.

Joseph's inspired additions to this verse make it as clear as day that Herod did not believe in a God (God the SON) coming down to save Israel. However, he was aware of prophecies about a Messiah. Too many people in our day have less of an understanding of the Old Testament ("the prophets") than wicked King Herod had. Herod was attempting to keep his earthly power, but true followers of CHRIST know that power here is temporary. In this verse the Holy Ghost revealed to Joseph what Herod's true intentions were. Now we can all get a more focused picture of what was going on behind the scenes of the most important birth in history.