As the Hasmonean (Maccabee) “priest-kings” stood before the Roman General Pompey in 63 B.C., arguing over who should wear the crown, a shadow stood behind them. That shadow was a man named Antipater. He was not a Judean; he was an Idumaean—a descendant of the line of Esau (Edom).To understand the gravity of this moment, you have to look at what the Almighty said about this specific lineage.
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Isaiah 34:5, (KJV), (Yahavah)
5.“For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come
down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.”
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For centuries, this “people of the curse” had been the external enemy, but now, through the cracks in the Hasmonean dynasty, they were invited inside as “advisors.” Antipater didn’t use a sword to take the city; he used the Roman Empire as his shield and the Hasmoneans’ own greed as his ladder. He convinced the weak Prince Hyrcanus II to surrender the nation’s sovereignty to Rome in exchange for a title. By playing both sides, Antipater secured Roman citizenship and paved the way for his son—a man the world would come to know as Herod the Great.
In 37 B.C., the theft reached its peak. Herod didn’t have a drop of royal Judean blood, yet he traveled to Rome and convinced the Senate to name him “King of the Jews.” He returned with Roman Legions at his back, slaughtered the remaining members of the “Old Guard,” and sat on the throne of David. This was the Third Betrayal. The Scepter of Judah—the civil power of the nation—was no longer held by a son of David. It was now firmly in the hands of the people of the curse.
The throne was occupied by a man who was not only a foreigner but was biologically from the line of Esau. The “Inside Job” had now handed the civil government over to the very people the prophets had warned about. With the King’s seat occupied by an Edomite and the Priesthood already a hollowed-out political office, the stage was set for the final act of the third betrayal.
When Herod the Great took the throne in 37 B.C., he knew he had a massive legal problem: According to the Law, a King could not be an Edomite, and a High Priest had to be a Zadokite. To secure his stolen seat, he had to destroy the independent power of the Sanctuary. Herod’s first move was a bloodbath. He executed 45 of the leading members of the Sanhedrin (the high court of the elders). These were the men who held the records of the bloodlines. By killing them, he silenced the “legal department” of the nation that could have protested his lineage.
Herod knew he couldn’t use the local, legitimate Levites who still remembered the Law. So, he went “shopping” for priests who would be loyal only to him. He imported obscure families from Babylon and Alexandria (Egypt)—men who had no local support
and owed their entire careers to him.