Zechariah’s Cry for Justice vs. Jesus’ Plea for Forgiveness (2 Chron 24:22)

“May the LORD see and avenge!”

Background

We read through four chapters before we find another prayer. In the interim, Jehoshaphat dies and his son, Jehoram, becomes king. He was a terrible king, and we learn more about how bad he was because the writer of Chronicles gives us twice as much information as the writer of Kings. Yet God still preserved the line of David, and upon Jehoram’s death, his son Ahaziah takes the throne. Here, the writer gives us even less than Kings about this ineffective king. When he dies, his mother, Athaliah, becomes Regent. Not only is she not of the line of David, she is not even an Israelite. She attempts to murder all remaining descendants of David, but one child remains hidden in the Temple for six years by his mother and the high priest (Jehoiada). This child is Joash, the son of Ahaziah. Eventually, they pronounced him king and put Athaliah to death.

Those chapters show just how far Israel has strayed from God’s ways. But Joash is a good king at the beginning, though his reign does not end well. While Jehoiada was high priest, Joash restored the palace, kingship, and the Temple to its proper standing.

After Jehoiada died, things went bad quickly, and the prayer sums up the tragedy. The writer, in one paragraph, tells how the Israelites went back to worshiping other gods and repeating the cycle of ages past. Though prophets were sent, no one listened. Finally, the son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, spoke the words of God to the people, asking why they had forsaken God, and telling them that he would forsake them too if they did not repent. For his words, they put him to death. As he died, he prayed the words of the prayer above.

Later, Joash was severely wounded in battle, and his servants used it as an opportunity to put him to death because he had the blood of God’s priest on his hands.