One of our choices (there are three today!) for the Gospel reading for Mass is the story of the Flight to Egypt and the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents (St. Mt. 2.13-15, 19-23). For those of you who don't remember the story, after the Magi stopped by to visit Herod the Great (who had ruled Judaea up to the beginning, sort of, of the common era...the dates being a slippery slope), Herod, with the paranoia common to all rulers of the era (bolstered by the fact that no matter how paranoid, everyone actually was out to get them), commanded the slaughter of all male children in Bethlehem two years of age and under to eliminate the hidden rival to not just his rule but that of his dynasty.
Historical record aside, rulers in the past have committed MUCH worse to consolidate their hold on a less than willing country (look to English history if you want something closer to home than the Middle East...deadly political chicanery is pretty ecumenical in its scope). The thing to remember here is that Herod, like many other political figures of whatever stripe, was concerned about holding onto power in the here and now over institutions and things that are by their very nature transitory. The Herodian dynasty, despite his best efforts, is no more. The Ancien Régime of France was toppled some time ago. While the Kingdom of England (or the others in the Union) still exists, the current dynasty is only the latest of many and it too will wither. Great countries, empires, and democracies despite our best, our worst, our most true or devious efforts will wane and disappear into dust.
In his efforts to fight what was in effect a losing battle, Herod would have snuffed out humanity's chance for redemption from its real enemy and for partaking in life eternal. However, St. Joseph, heedful of a warning in a vision, packed up the Blessed Mother and the Holy Infant and took them out of harm's way, to allow Our Lord Jesus to grow to maturity and eventually fulfil His purpose to redeem all creation from Sin and Death, those things that make dynasties wither, empires crumble, and all of us eventually fall into the shadows.
Herod was concerned about what turned out to be inconsequential, and in doing so further spread the disease and disaster of Sin and Death in the world. One might say if only he knew Jesus posed no threat to his throne, Herod would not have spared him, but I don't believe that to be so. Herod was blind to the eternal truths of God, more focused on holding onto transient earthly power than to focusing on what really matters for any ruler temporarily in charge of any land, matters of peace, righteousness, and justice. So just as Jesus was delivered from the teeth of an unjust regime obsessed with its own power, Jesus survived to later deliver us from the teeth of an even more unjust regime obsessed with out obliteration and death.
Mosaic of the mothers of the slain Innocents of Bethlehem, 11th Century, Chora Church, Istanbul