Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

to this man’s opinion, he commanded that they should cast every male child, which was born to the Israelites, into the river, and destroy it … that if any parents should disobey him, and venture to save their male children alive, they and their families should be destroyed. 3

Pharaoh was afraid that a future Hebrew son would eventually bring down the kingdom of Egypt. The same was true with Herod, who set out to kill all infants under two years of age in and around Bethlehem. Herod was an egotistical narcissist who was threatened by any individual who could take his position of authority. He murdered his wife and two of his sons. 4 When he was informed that an infant king was born in Bethlehem, he eventually marshaled Roman soldiers to initiate a house to-house search in and around Bethlehem and slay all infants under two years of age (Matt. 2:16). This Herod built a fortified palace atop a small mountain near Bethlehem for his personal tomb. This palace, called Herodium , which still exists today, was first positively identified in 1838 by Edward Robinson, who compared his observations with those of first-century Jewish-Roman historian Flavius Josephus. The palace fortress once reached close to 199 feet high and was surrounded by double concentric walls accented by four cardinal point towers. 5 While Herod’s egotistical desire for power and recognition appears to be the reason for the slaying of