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Welcome to Day 2306 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom The Characters of Christmas-8\xa0 Herod, The Monster of Christmas \u2013 Daily Wisdom Putnam Church Message \u2013 12/17/2023 The Characters of Christmas \u2013 Herod, the Monster of Christmas Last week, we went on a two-year expedition as we traveled with a caravan of visitors from the east in a message titled,\xa0 Seeking and Finding: The Wise Men This week, we will look at the dark side of Christmas Characters as we analyze,\xa0 Herod, the Monster of Christmas. Let\u2019s read Matthew 2:13-23, starting on page 1498, in your Pew Bibles. The Escape to Egypt 13\xa0When the wise men had gone, an angel\xa0of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.\xa0\u201cGet up,\u201d he said, \u201ctake the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.\u201d 14\xa0So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,\xa015\xa0where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled\xa0what the Lord had said through the prophet: \u201cOut of Egypt I called my son.\u201d[c] 16\xa0When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.\xa017\xa0Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18\xa0\u201cA voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel\xa0weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.\u201d[d] The Return to Nazareth 19\xa0After Herod died, an angel\xa0of the Lord appeared in a dream\xa0to Joseph in Egypt\xa020\xa0and said, \u201cGet up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child\u2019s life are dead.\u201d 21\xa0So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.\xa022\xa0But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream,\xa0he withdrew to the district of Galilee,\xa023\xa0and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth.\xa0So was fulfilled\xa0what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. Every year at this time, our family, as many do, likes to gather around the TV and watch our favorite Christmas movies. Perhaps our favorite is It\u2019s a Wonderful Life, followed closely by A Muppets Christmas Carol, but I also enjoy several other versions of it. \xa0A Christmas Carol is like several Christmas stories...