Second Kings 15:8-12 is a short record of the reign of Zachariah the son of Jeroboam II. He became king of Israel for six months on the 28th year of Uzziah’s reign. Like many of his predecessors, he was also described as one who did “evil in the sight of the LORD….” What Jeroboam I did as the first king of Israel had never rescinded. The kings of Israel, one after another, perpetuated the worship of the golden calves he placed at Bethel and Dan. This had been the root cause that led Israel down the road of sin, king after king.
Nothing
much was said of Zachariah, except that he was assassinated. In a conspiracy
led by Shallum, the son of Jabesh, the people struck and killed him. Shallum,
the key conspirator, having initiated the removal of Zachariah then
seized the throne. Verse 11 tells us that the rest of the acts of
Zachariah were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel.
What
is noteworthy in this paragraph is the fact God is a promise-keeping God and
that He will never fail to fulfill what He has promised. He had promised that
Jehu’s descendents, up to the fourth generation, would sit on the throne.
Though short, Zachariah was the fourth and last of Jehu’s line to ascend the
throne. God gave His word and so it was.
All
Zachariah had was six months on the throne. The fact that there was no public
outcry over his murder shows how weak and useless a king he was. His weakness,
though a great concern, however was not the primary cause of his downfall.
What caused his downfall was his failure to align his life with the LORD. He perpetuated
the idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. One's spiritual
orientation affects life at every level. Our total well-being depends largely
on it. Hence, our relationship with God is the area we all need to guard
zealously.
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