The Woman Who Angered God (She Might Just Be Worse Than Jezebel)

now there is one woman in the bible who was consumed by bitterness and this bitterness led her to do a great evil to a man of god herodias king herod's sister-in-law is a woman who had anger and hatred in her heart towards john the baptist in matthew 14 we read about how john had previously rebuked herod by reminding him that it was unlawful for him to be with herodius so herod had him put into prison for herself herodias must have not enjoyed being convicted of sin so she decided to take matters into her own hands matthew chapter 14 verse 6 to 8 says but when herod's birthday came the daughter of herodias danced before the company and pleased herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask prompted by her mother she said give me the head of john the baptist here on a platter i want you to notice how bitterness and anger had so consumed herodias when her daughter danced in front of herod he promised to give her whatever she would request herodius took this as an opportunity to take revenge on john persuading her daughter to ask for john's head on a platter her daughter did as she had requested and as a result john was beheaded it's difficult to comprehend that a disagreement or a word of rebuke from someone else would motivate a person to murder but this is how bitterness works it causes that person's heart to grow cold leading them to become irrational in how they think and behave herodias hated john so much that it clouded her mind and allowed her to take extreme measures in order to satisfy her pride and self-importance she wanted the life of a man of god simply because he disapproved of her actions though we may not be murderers in the physical sense our words thoughts behaviors and actions may be causing a great deal of harm to other people this bitter root can cause us to kill people's hope joy determination and dreams what we say to people and how we treat them can have a negative and long lasting impact on their mental emotional spiritual and even physical health how we treat others comes from what is in our hearts because the bible says in matthew 15 verse 19 for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander sometimes we share our evil thoughts and intentions with others inviting them to play a role in the execution of the sin that's what herodias did not only did she commit the sin of intending to murder john she made her daughter participate in the evil act she used her relationship with her daughter to her own advantage influencing and manipulating her to make an atrocious request which would end the life of one of the greatest prophets herodius's actions are an example of how an ungodly woman can use her position or power to cause destruction however a godly woman influences those around her in a positive way acting as a peacemaker and leading people towards god in the way of righteousness a godly woman considers the outcome of her actions she takes care not to do anything that would displease the lord on the other hand herodius directly opposed god by killing john who was jesus's cousin but most importantly a genuine and righteous man of god she was blinded with evil and did not fear god allowing the darkness in her heart to determine her steps she didn't think of the consequences of her actions she had no regard for god or anyone else but a righteous believer fears the lord and treats his people with love care and respect we can be sure that what herodias did directly offended god because john was a godly man god did not take what she did lightly psalm 116 15 reads precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints so what can we take away from all of this what lessons can be learned through the example of herodias we can clearly see that a resentful heart leads to sin we need to examine the condition of our hearts if we find there is any unforgiveness in us we must let it go we need to forgive that person or those people and choose to forgive them every time we remember what they did or said to hurt us instead of holding a grudge let us turn to the lord and pray for those people asking him to intervene and bring justice where it is needed remember and be encouraged the lord fights for us moses told the israelites in exodus 14 verse 14 the lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace what an encouraging word and a beautiful reminder of how strong our god is when we hand a situation over to him he takes full control as well as being called to forgive christians are expected to be the light of the world in matthew 5 verse 14. the next verse says that the light gives light to everyone in the house and that is what we should strive to do with our influence the power we've been given through the holy spirit should be used to influence everyone around us in a godly way how can we do this by listening to and obeying the voice of god when he asks us to take action where wisdom should be shared we are to give words of godly wisdom and speak scriptural truths where someone we know is contemplating evil we should rebuke it and redirect that person towards the light where there is an opportunity to make or break peace we must choose the peaceful way we must never use our power or influence to commit or promote evil like herodias did what is more we should never oppose the work of god if a righteous man or woman points out a wrong way in us we should heed their advice instead of feeling insulted and letting our pride take over we are called to be humble and to serve not to see ourselves as better than others especially our brothers and sisters in christ let us be supportive and respectful of one another honoring god by honoring each other lastly let's live by paul's words in hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 and 15 which says strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the lord see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of god that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and by it many become defiled [Music] two of the most destructive emotions for a believer are anger and bitterness part of why these emotions are so destructive is that they may go unnoticed until it is far too late hebrews 12 15 says see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of god that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble and by it many become defiled a different translation says watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you corrupting many appreciating a good biblical analogy takes your understanding to a whole other level notice that this verse doesn't even warn us to be cautious of bitterness itself it implores us to be cautious of the root of this bitterness paul was careful and intentional in his use of this analogy let's consider the life of a plant usually we can't see a seed after it has been put into the ground nor its roots but we do see the fruit and flowers when they pierce the earth and come abov