Matthew 1:23: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God with us.'"
The setting is Bethlehem, which is Jesus' birthplace, which falls around the time of our antagonist, King Herod. While the protagonist (Jesus) and the antagonist have not met yet, King Herod is fuming with jealousy. Instead of initially making his hatred of the 'newborn king of the Jews' known, he disguises his desire to kill with these words:
Matthew 2:8: (to the wise men) "...when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!"
This statement coming from King Herod is the equivalent to an Apple employee heading over to Samsung only to "check out how amazing the iPhone X is." Sure, that's probably the only reason. Imagine how bad of a liar King Herod is. Here is a newborn baby, already considered a king of the Jews, and King Herod is disturbed (Matt. 2:3).
Within the first 12 verses of Matthew 2, we can infer Herod's intentions are not healthy. Verse three notes that Herod was "deeply disturbed" when he heard of Jesus' birth. He later tries to cover his hatred by commanding the wise men to find Jesus' whereabouts (v. 8), and we once again get the sense that Herod's intentions are not good when God warns the wise men to not return to Herod
Note: When God says not to return to someone, that person is probably unhealthy for you.
While Herod's track record only gets worse (see Matthew 2:16 and his annihilation of babies), the focus is not on who Herod is, but who God is in the midst of Herod. Pointing out Herod's absolute disgust with Jesus is important to note because his actions during this time would lead anyone to believe Jesus was good as dead. In addition, reading the story without God's intervention in mind would lead us to believe Jesus and his caretakers would never make it out alive with Herod hot on their tale.
Yet, God had other plans, and he would intervene at all costs. Check out all of the recorded times in Matthew 2 alone:
1. "When it came time to leave, [the Wise Men] returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod." (v. 12)
2. "After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,' the angel said. 'Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.'" (v. 13)
3. "When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 'Get up!' the angel said. 'Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.'" (v. 19-20)
4. "But when [Joseph] learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee." (v. 22)
On four occasions, God prevents mighty King Herod's hand from impacting the life of Jesus. Remember, this is the same Herod who ordered all boys between newborn and two years old in and around Bethlehem to be slaughtered, and it was done at his command. This is a powerful king, yet God demonstrates more power in the form of his provision.
Don't we all have our own "Herods" in life? It might be a big, ugly Herod that shows up in the most obvious ways. It might be an inability to pay off bills, a broken relationship, loneliness, depression, suicidal thoughts, abusive relationships, cancer, a struggling loved one, anxiety and doubt, or pornography; it could be a combination of those things. Our Herods come in many forms, some not even listed. These problems and burdens will do anything to destroy you. You sit, helplessly, watching the world around you crumble because of this Herod or these Herods in your life.
Ok, so we have Herods, and they're painful to think about. But we also have God, and his provision and guidance will defeat any and every foe, no matter how colossal, intrusive, and obtrusive they can be. God had a plan to send himself down to Earth as a man to save a dying world, but God also has a plan for you to be victorious, walk in freedom, and live out the glory of our Father.
We have our battles, but God has his provision, and he is scared to provide against our Herods. There is one thing we can do to secure daily victory in the midst of our Herods bearing down hard on us:
Jeremiah 29:13
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart."
Matthew 6:33
"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."
These verses do not promise storms will not happen, and Herods will cease to exist. But it promises two things: you will find God when you look for him and he will provide you with enough, every time. There are dark days when it doesn't feel like God is in your midst. You might wonder if you do have enough. Remember: these verses are promises, and God promises to you and I that he is in our midst and will give us all we need.
Don't fret, his provision is always stronger than our Herods. Nothing surprises him.