Wicked Women Of The Bible DevotionsНамуна

Herodias and Salome: Day 6

Painting by Alphonse Mucha titled Salome

Herodias watches with approval as servants weave in and out of the crowd, carrying trays heaped with grapes, figs, dates, sheep tail, gazelle meat, and roasted lamb. Wearing garlands on their heads, the leading men of Galilee toast Herod Antipas with endless cups of wine, wishing him the happiest of birthdays.

Down below, in Herod's dungeon, a man is chained to the wall. His crime? Telling the truth in public, castigating Herod for marrying Herodias, the wife of his half-brother.

Herodias hates John the Baptist for publicly declaiming her relationship with Herod. Though she presses hard for his execution, Herod's sliver of a conscience tells him it would be impolitic and criminal to kill a man without a trial.

But Herodias will not give up. Dressing her daughter Salome (Herod's step daughter) in a costume of glittering gold, she instructs her to perform her most beguiling dance. Herodias is counting on Salome's performance to create the perfect climax for her husband's boisterous birthday party.

With a sultry smile, Salome spins and twirls, extending her arms in a great, expanding circle as she moves across the floor, inviting every man to imagine what it would be like to become her intimate acquaintance. Finally, when she has exhausted every seductive surprise, she comes to rest like a fragrant flower at Herod’s feet.

"Ask me for whatever you want," the king exclaims, "and I’ll give it, up to half my kingdom!"

Herodias instructs her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist.

Though Herod recoils at her request, he cannot face the shame of reversing a public oath. After a few minutes, the executioner returns with a larger platter on which rests the bloodied head of John the Baptist.

Though John will be revered throughout history, Herodias and Salome will be reviled. Before long Herod and Herodias will be forced from power and banished to a backwater of the Roman Empire. Whether her calloused heart led her into yet more wicked schemes or whether it was softened by the loss of power, we will never know. What we do know is that the Lord who judges every heart will surely give her what she deserves, for as the Scripture proclaims, "God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you." (2 Thessalonians 1:6).