- 142-
Jehovah was once more forsaken for that of "groves and idols, and wrath came upon
Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass" (2 Chronicles 24:18).
And although the LORD sent them prophets to bring them again unto the LORD,
they not only would not give ear, but actually at the commandment of the king, and
in the very house of Jehovah, shed the blood of Zechariah, which, according to
Jewish legend, could not be wiped out, but continued to bubble on the stones, till the
Assyrians entered and laid low the sanctuary thus profaned. And even before that, the
army of Hazael, though greatly inferior in numbers, defeated that of Judah, desolated
and despoiled the land, and laid siege to Jerusalem. The Syrian army was, indeed,
bought off, but the hand of God lay heavy on the king. Stricken down by disease he
was murdered in his bed by his own servants, and they the sons of strangers. Thus
had inward and outward decline come to Judah also. And darker and yet darker
gathered the clouds of judgment over a land and people which had "forsaken
Jehovah, the God of their fathers."
(^)