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This essay was written as
a GUARD's Assignment
from
Guard's Class # 8
in my L2L Group
Chapter 8 "One Big Night"
Project # 8 |
Lessons Learned from
“The Dance of Herodias’s Daughter”
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Source: Salome's Dance, Iman Maleki
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In Matthew 14:1-13, a mother told her daughter to dance in front of a
banquet party. Salome was the daughter
(according to Josephus), and she was kind of protecting her mom when she danced. That’s because her mom, Herodias, was married
to her first husband’s brother. That was
a sin for the Jews. John the Baptist
knew this, and he spoke up against it as a sin.
Herodias got mad, and wanted to get rid of John the Baptist to make him
not speak badly about her and her new husband.
She told her daughter, Salome, to dance at the banquet. It was probably a dance where her clothes
were see through or something, and she probably twirked her body a lot in the
dance. Herod liked the dance so much
that he let her have her wish. Salome’s
mom said to ask for John the Baptist’s head to be cut off and put on a
plate. They brought his bloody head to Salome. That was disgusting.
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Source: Onorio-Marinari, Artist
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Salome must have been either being used helplessly by her mother, or she
was a sicko. The Bible says they gave
the head to her. It must have been
really bloody and gross. I would not
have been able to take that head to Herod.
I would not have even asked to cut John’s head off in the first place,
even if my mom asked me to!
The first lesson I learned from this historical story is that you should
not ever dance immorally or immodestly in public. You should save these kind of dances for when
you are married, and in private.
Another lesson I learned was that Herod just let go of his power and
became that squashed marshmallow that Mr. Eric talked about in Guards. That is not right. He liked what he saw so much that he
promised something to her that was
STUPID! "He also swore to
her, 'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom'" (Mark 6:23). She was his daughter. He should have said, “Go get some clothes on,
Daughter.” He should not have stood
there and glued his eyes on her, and his friends were all gaping at her,
staring helplessly. He was their
leader, but he became helpless when he looked at that.
The third thing I learned is that I must close my eyes or not keep on
looking if I am in that situation. When
a woman or girl streaks through a basketball game, or anywhere, I will take Ray Steven’s advice… “DON’T LOOK,
ETHEL!!!!!!!” Looking stains your mind
and makes you choose foolish things.
Proverbs 6:25-29 says basically,
“Do
not desire the dancing girl’s beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you
with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread
(Marshmallow), and an adulteress hunts
for the precious life of the innocent man. Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”
Source: Salome with the head of John,
Bernardino Luini
In conclusion, don’t look at things like immodest girls dancing. It is wrong, and it is only going to go into
your brain and make your mind toxic. You
will want to keep on looking, seeking that kind of thing, and it will take over
until you are dumb and make really dumb choices, like Herod did. When you do it once, that’s not enough, and
it takes over. Take my advice, just
don’t do it. If that has already
happened to you, ask the Lord to help you.
God will forgive you and help you stop.
Note: All images from my 6th Grade Art Appreciation Text- "Art 101 for Young Christians" by Seton Press
