We see evil in our world but deny its existence.  Horrible terrible things occur and we strain to understand. We struggle to find some reason for the evil even when there is no logical rationale.  We search for answers where the answer may simply be there is evil in this world.

We look at the Christmas story and see the beauty of the story.  To be honest, the love of Christmas in many ways fits our ideals about love.  A man and a woman engaged to be married have angels suddenly appearing in their lives.

The first angel informs the woman that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and place a child in her womb.  We skim over the fact her society would have been harsh on a young woman pregnant before the final marriage vows are taken.  She says she is willing to accept God’s will in her life.  We nod.

The second angel comes in a dream telling the man to accept the baby because it is of God.  The man does as he is told.

But in the mist of our beautiful love story, we see evil.  We want to rationalize evil and when we cannot rationalize evil we want to blame God.  We struggle with the evidence of evil in our world.

The Fourth Day of Christmas is the Childermas or the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

The Wise men following the star stop in Jerusalem to ask about where the royal infant they are searching for might be found.  Herod, the ruler of Israel, asks his experts where the Messiah would be born.  They inform him prophecy indicates the birth will occur in Bethlehem.  Herod tells the Wise men to return and tell him where the child is when they find him.  But the Wise men are warned by God not to go back to Herod.  Joseph receives a warning to take the baby and go to Egypt.

Matthew 2:16-

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Herod was known for two major attributes.  He built beautiful buildings—temples, fortresses, and homes.  He killed people.  Herod murdered his sons when they presented a possible threat. Herod was evil

Based on the size of Bethlehem at this time, as many as twenty baby boys died at the hand of Herod.

Journal Exercise

God does not commit evil.  But if you believe God can intervene in our lives, then we have to accept that sometimes God allows evil to occur. Herod killed those babies, but God did not act to prevent it.  We struggle to comprehend why God would allow twenty baby boys to die.  God knew it would happen.  The scriptures foretold this event.  He warned Joseph. Today events occur and we ask why God protects some and allows evil to act in other cases.  What are your thoughts?

The Book of Job details how God allows evil to act in a righteous man’s life.  Job refuses to curse God, but he also struggles to understand why all of this has happened.  His friends accuse him of all kinds of misdeeds as rationale, but he is innocent of what they imply.  God appears to Job and asks Job if he had been at creation when God made the world.  He asks a series of questions that indicate God is greater than any man or woman.  Job’s heart is healed and the evil is undone to some degree.  He grows closer to God, but not once does God explain why He has allowed the evil into Job’s life.  We are not told why God allows Herod to murder these babies.

We may never know why God allows evil to act in this world.  Write your feelings about this as a message to God, but remember who He is and who you are.  Write with reverence asking for the ability to accept there are things we will never understand.

Has God ever allowed evil into you life or the life of someone you know?  Have you had to deal with trusting God that He has a reason for allowing evil to touch your live and that you may never be able to understand in this life.