Articles

JOHN BAPTIST AND HEROD

When we come to consider the episode of John the Baptist and Herod there are certain questions we must ask ourselves, and answer, in order to bring out the full import of what happened:—

1. Was John Baptist right to condemn Herod for marrying a divorced woman, even though it brought about his violent death? Answer: John was the faithful herald of Jesus, and a prophet, preaching under divine inspiration. We have to accept that his action was justified.
2. Marriages in the world are according to God's law, and therefore recognized as binding and unbreakable.Was condemning Herod for marrying a divorced woman worth losing his head for? Answer: As John was doing God's work in condemning Herod, and other prophets and faithful men have been required to die for the Truth, we have to say, Yes.
3. Herod was not a Jew, and although the family of Herod were supposed to be proselytes to the Jewish Faith, this was only for convenience, and they were in reality idolators, as the Greek legends portrayed on Herodian coins bear witness. He was, therefore, a Gentile, and not under the Law of Moses, nor a follower of John or Jesus. Was it right for John Baptist to condemn such a man? Answer: If marriages outside the Truth are of no consequence, and not recognized by God, then John Baptist was wrong to condemn Herod. But if marriages among people in the world are recognized by God as lawful and right, then John was right to condemn Herod.
4. Why did he tell Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have her"? Did he mean it was not lawful according to the civil law, or according to God's law. Answer: Undoubtedly, he was saying that it was breaking God's law.
5. If it is against God's law for an unbelieving Gentile to marry a divorced woman, is it not much more unlawful for a believer in Christ? Answer: Yes.
6. If refraining from divorce and remarriage are not vital to salvation, why did John bother to condemn Herod, and so lose his head? Answer: Remarriage after divorce must endanger a person's salvation, or John would not have put himself in peril by condemning it.

We see that the case of Herod and John the Baptist clearly proves that marriages in the world are according to God's law, and therefore recognized as binding and unbreakable. A marriage contracted before baptism is just as valid as a marriage in the Truth. Therefore, a divorce before baptism is not recognized as allowing someone divorced before baptism to remarry after baptism. It further proves that if divorce and remarriage is wrong for people in the world, it is much more wrong for brethren and sisters to engage in something for which, because he condemned it, John Baptist was beheaded.