16-18. Faithfulness Would Have Rendered Wrath Harmless—All this terrible calamity was suffered of God, to humble the pride of the Jewish nation. Their crimes and wickedness had been so great that the Lord permitted the wicked Herod to thus punish them. Had they been less boastful and ambitious, their lives pure, their habits simple and sincere, God would have preserved them from being thus humiliated and afflicted by their enemies. God would, in a signal manner, have made the wrath of the king harmless to His people, had they been faithful and perfect before Him. But He could not especially work for them, for their works were abhorred by Him (The Spirit of Prophecy 2:28).{5BC 1077.2}

16-18. Trofasthed ville have gjort vreden uskadelig.--Hele denne frygtelige katastrofe tillod Gud, for at ydmyge det jødiske folks stolthed. Deres forbrydelser og ondskab har været så stor at Herren lod den onde Herodes straffe dem således. Havde de været mindre skrydende og ærgerrige, deres liv rene, deres levevaner enkle og oprigtige, ville Gud have bevaret dem fra at blive ydmyget og hjemsøgt af deres fjender. På en udmærket måde ville Gud have gjort kongens vrede harmløs for Sit folk, hvis de havde været trofast og fuldkommen for ham. Men Han kunne ikke arbejde på en særlig måde for dem, for deres gerninger vækkede hans afsky. (2SP 28).