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The Bible tells us that in the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria for six months in 753 BC (2 Kings 15:8). Israel was now entering upon the last dark period of its history. King followed king in rapid succession, with assassinations as the usual practice of the day.
The life of Zechariah
King Zechariah did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. This is all that is recorded of the last king of the house of Jehu. Iniquity was the order of conduct, and was soon to ruin the nation.
King Zechariah’s was assassinated by Shallum son of Jabesh in front of the people (2 Kings 15:10). An no one arrested Shallum for his crime. Shallum was a murderer, and by a murderer his blood was shed after only a month upon the throne (v. 13,14). The procedure is an indication of the terrible corruption and uncertainty of the era. For human life was cheap and blood flowed freely.
When men forsake the law of the Lord, life is not safe or happy for king or people. Although men sensed the evils around them, they tried to correct evil with evil. As a result, the situation went from bad to worse till the whole nation was overcome by destruction. “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22).
The end of Zechariah
Zechariah was the final king in the dynasty of King Jehu. Because Jehu had obeyed the Lord and destroyed King Ahab’s family (2 Kings 9–10), God had promised that his descendants would rule in Israel for four generations (2 Kings 10:30; 15:12). In the death of Zachariah the prediction was fulfilled, that the Lord would “avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu” (Hosea 1:4); also the forecast that God would “rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword” (Amos 7:9).
The life of this king show the consequences of forsaking the true God and reaping the deadly results. The king had the chance to lead his people away from idolatry to the worship of the Creator. He had the chance to experience prosperity, peace, and victory over his enemies but he refused to submit to God (Deut. 28:1-14).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
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