Verse 20
JOASH'S HEARTLESS MURDER OF ZECHARIAH
"And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah look upon it and require it."
These two paragraphs reveal that Joash, at heart, was a true descendant of his evil ancestor Ahab. As long as Jehoiada was available as a wise and able counselor, Joash did very well; but as soon as Jehoiada was dead, the princes of Judah seduced him with their flattery and induced him to reopen the high places with their licentious worship of the pagan idols.
Jehoiada's son Zechariah, under the influence of the Spirit of God, pronounced a severe warning; but the king's response was to honor the conspiracy of the evil princes and order the man of God stoned to death within the court of the temple itself.
Zechariah's prayer that God would see their terrible crime and pronounce a judgment against them was honored immediately.
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