<\/p>\n
\u201cHerod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip\u2019s wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias \u201cadultery.\u201d\u201d (Matthew 14:3\u20134, The Message) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I imagine the conversation went like this:<\/p>\n John:<\/strong> Why are you with Herodias, don\u2019t you know that she is another man\u2019s wife?<\/p>\n Herod:<\/strong> You are right, but she is so beautiful and\u2026<\/p>\n John:<\/strong> She\u2019s not yours to have.<\/p>\n Herod:<\/strong> But she says she loves me\u2026<\/p>\n John:<\/strong> She\u2019s manipulating you. Don\u2019t fall into her trap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I like to think that John shared with Herod the following proverb:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThough the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her words are smoother than oil, in the end she\u2019s as bitter as wormwood and as sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps head straight for Sheol. She doesn\u2019t consider the path of life; she doesn\u2019t know that her ways are unstable.\u201d (Proverbs 5:3\u20136, HCSB) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, Herodias held more power over her lover Herod. He listened to her more than God\u2019s word.\u00a0She really is manipulative. She even gets her daughter to trick Herod into killing John.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when Herod\u2019s birthday celebration came, Herodias\u2019s daughter danced before them and pleased Herod. So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. And prompted by her mother<\/span>, she answered, \u201cGive me John the Baptist\u2019s head here on a platter!\u201d\u201d (Matthew 14:6\u20138, HCSB)<\/em><\/p>\n It is true that Herod committed the sin of adultery, which John addressed. However, Herodias was guilty of the sin of manipulation. Many times, the sin of manipulation precedes other sins (like adultery.) Manipulators use people to get what they want, even when God says that some things (and people) are not ours to have.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Sin of Manipulation \u201cHerod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip\u2019s wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias \u201cadultery.\u201d\u201d (Matthew 14:3\u20134, The Message) \u00a0 I imagine the conversation went like this: John: Why are you with Herodias, don\u2019t you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,6],"tags":[244,903,947,1284,1307,1668,10,1839],"class_list":["post-7375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-matthew","category-simple-thoughts","tag-adultery","tag-god","tag-gospel-of-matthew","tag-manipulation","tag-matthew","tag-religion","tag-simple-thoughts","tag-sin"],"yoast_head":"\n