Rachel's Weeping?

When the evil King Herod sent soldiers to kill all the male boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years of age and younger, the Bible says his brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet, Jeremiah. "A cry was heard in Ramah - - weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead" (Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 31:15). Have you ever wondered what that verse meant?
If you recall, Rachel was the wife of Jacob (Genesis 29:14-30), and Jacob was the grandson of Abraham. Jacob was the father of twelve sons who would make up the twelve tribes of Israel. Ramah is fairly close to Bethlehem and was the place where Rachel (who is the symbolic mother of Israel), was buried around the year 1,600 B.C. (Gen.35:16-20). Approximately 1,000 years after Rachel's death (587 B.C.), Ramah became the gathering place where the Babylonian soldiers rounded up the Jews, chained them, and deported them to Babylon (II Kings 24:10-16; 25:11&12; II Chronicles 36:17-21).
Jeremiah, the prophet, was alive at the time so many Jews were chained and scattered throughout the Babylonian Empire. He witnessed this event and he noted (Jer.31:15) how the mother of Israel (Rachel) had to be figuratively weeping from her grave as her children were being led away from the land of Promise. And now, as the child of Promise is exiled to a far away land (Egypt), Matthew connects the story of Rachel's figurative sorrow in the Old Testament as her children were led away to Babylon, with the sorrow of the mothers in Bethlehem who have just lost their sons.
700 years before the birth of the Messiah, Isaiah wrote, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine" (9:2). The apostle John wrote about Jesus, "The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it" (John 1:4&5). It is important that we note what neither Isaiah or John said. Neither of them indicated the darkness disappeared with the coming of the Light. We all know that. We are confronted by evil all too often. The weeping was real that night in Bethlehem when the Devil used Herod to carry out his dark deed. Herod may have had his way for a day, but every Herod is eventually doomed. With the coming of the Light, God sent a message. Evil is defeated. It has yet to be totally eliminated, but it will. Regardless of how the world attempts to remove Christ from Christmas and put out his light, the days of evil's reign are limited. God's entrance to earth in a manger was a spiritual invasion of the darkness far greater than the Allies invasion of Normandy in World War II. The prophecies are true! The Savior is real! The King will return! And when he does; EVERY knee will bow, some in worship and some in fear. When he does; EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, some in praise and others by force (Philippians 2:9-11). No wonder the angels were commissioned by God to sing that news to the shepherds. And now, God has commissioned you and I to share that news with the whole world. Will we?