2Chronicles 24.17-22 “17
But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to
the king, and the king listened to them. 18 They abandoned the house of the
LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath
came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. 19 Yet He sent prophets to
them to bring them back to the LORD; though they testified against them, they
would not listen. 20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God
has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not
prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.’” 21 So
they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to
death in the court of the house of the LORD. 22 Thus Joash the king did not
remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered
his son. And as he died he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!””
In todays reading, the chronicler records
for us the death of Jehoshaphat, the ascension of his son Jehoram and his death
(2Chronicles 21). After Jehoram dies, his son Ahaziah becomes king and
makes an alliance with Jehoram of the Northern Kingdom (2Chronicles 22.01-07), and most of the line of David is then murdered which
leads to Athaliah, Ahaziah’s wicked mother (2Chronicles 22.08-12). Jehoiada then sets
Joash on the throne of the Southern Kingdom (2Chronicles 23.01-11), Atahaliah is
killed (2Chronicles 23.12-15) and Jehoiada and Joash led a spiritual reformation (2Chronicles 23.16-24.16). Jehoiada dies and Joash kills the son of Jehoiada (2Chronicles 24.17-22), and the Arameans (modern day Syria) invade and defeat
the Southern Kingdom (2Chronicles 24.23-27).
Joash started out well under the
spiritual guidance of the priest (kohen), Jehoiada.
But, as soon as Jehoiada was dead,
he began to listen to the advice of officials who were not God-fearing, and
thus the worship at the Temple started to wane and was replaced by the people
worshipping Canaanite fertility gods (Asherim/Astarte/Ashtoreth and other idols)
(2Chronicles 24.17-18). This action then caused the wrath of the LORD, but in
His mercy He sent to the people prophets to speak against this false idolatrous
religious system (2Chronicles 24.18-19).
After the prophets, then God sent
Zechariah (the son of Jehoida the priest who helped install Joash as king in 2Chronicles 23.01-11) to tell the people that because they had forsaken God, He
was going to forsake them (2Chronicles 24.20).
God routinely sent prophets to His
people to warn them of their sin and upcoming judgment (Nehemiah 09.26;
Jeremiah 07.25-26; Jeremiah 25.04-05; Jeremiah 26.05; Jeremiah 44.04-05)
Jesus confronted the Jews about
the way that they and their ancestors treated the prophets from God (Luke 11.47-51; Luke 16.31) and even
told a parable that is similar to the stoning of Zechariah in Luke 20.09-15.
These words by Zechariah made the
people so upset that they stoned Zechariah in the courtyard of the Temple! Even
Joash took part in the murder of Zechariah (2Chronicles 24.21)!
As Zechariah was dying, he
pronounced a curse on the king (2Chronicles 24.22). The very next year, the curse that
Zechariah spoke came to fruition, when the Arameans (who were outnumbered)
invaded Judah and killed many of the leaders, plundered the land, and Joash was
murdered (2Chronicles 24.23-27).
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