2 Chronicles 24:20
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.
The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, who stood above and before the people and spoke the warning God gave him to speak. Israel had little heeded the commands of God, and his message was that in transgressing the commandments of the Lord and forsaking Him they could not prosper, because they had forsaken the Lord and He had also forsaken them. His rebuke laid bare the sins of the king, priests, rulers, leaders and people, denouncing the sins of those in authority. It was one of many messages God gave Israel through prophets to reprove iniquity, warn of sin, and call authorities to account.
While the warning was still upon his lips, the apostate king, seized by satanic fury, gave the command for the prophet of God to be slain. Through the instigation of the leaders Zechariah was slain by stoning for delivering God's message. His righteous blood imprinted itself on the very stones of the temple court and could not be erased, remaining as long as the temple should stand. There it bore testimony against apostate Israel, crying to God to be avenged. His testimony and death remained against apostate Israel as an example of the repeated rejection and killing of God's prophets.
Transgressing God's commandments and forsaking Him brings loss of His favor. Those who reject His counsel and reproof, fail to correct their ways, and join themselves to idolaters are left without His special presence and protection and are reduced in power and honor. Refusing reproof, slighting God's warnings, rejecting correction, and killing His messengers brought punishment. Israel's refusal to repent was followed by captivity to a heathen nation.
His murder stands in the line of righteous blood shed from Abel to Christ, filling to overflowing the cup of iniquity. For that the generation that rejected Christ would be held responsible in retributive justice. In Christ's day the Jews lamented their humiliation and condemned their fathers for stoning the prophets sent to correct them. Yet their own priests, elders and leaders cherished the same spirit as those who had slain the prophets and would commit the same crimes against One who showed remarkable power and the influence of God's Spirit.