Nativity Story Characters ~ Herod

Herod was the king of Judea.  We read about him in Matthews gospel.  The three wise men visited him in order to discover the whereabouts of the child they were seeking. Herod was a Jewish king.

Being an educated man and with access to the learned scholars of the land etc, it is surprising that Herod was not more in touch with his roots. 
He felt that the term used in the scriptures "a saviour for all mankind" was a direct threat to hi and saw Jesus as a threat and "not for him" when infact Jesus was coming to the earth as much for him as for anyone else, because God loved Herod too.

Herod made enquireies from the wise men asking where and when the star had appeared and made the pretence of wanting to go and see the baby too, but the wise men were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. 
Herods raging then saw him issue a degree that all male children under the age of two in the vicinity of Bethlehem were to be killed.

Joseph was also warned in a dream of Herods intention and took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape him.