Dear Gramps,
In Matthew 23:35 Jesus said that Zacharias was slew between the Temple and the altar.
“When Herod’s edict went forth to destroy the young children, John was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zacharias caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey. When his father refused to disclose his hiding place, and being the officiating high priest at the Temple that year, was slain by Herod’s order, between the porch and the altar, as Jesus said.” (Teachings, p. 261. Compare Matthew 23:35.) The Bible Dictionary makes reference to 2cronicles 24:20-24,but this is another Zacharias not the father of John the Baptist. For which of Zacharias Christ was reffering for??? One lived 800 years B.C.
Marco
Dear Marco,
The man referred to in 2 Chronicles was Zachariah. (spelled with an “h” not a “s”) He was the son of Jehoiada, a priest in the days of Joash who began his reign at the age of seven. Zachariah was stoned in the courtyard of the Temple because he called the people to repentance. They had forsaken the Lord and served idols. There was a second Zachariah the son of Jeroboam, who was the last king of Israel from the lineage of Jehu. Zachariah only ruled for six months and was slain by Shallum.
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was slain between the porch and the altar of the Temple as recorded in Matthew 23:35 for not disclosing his son’s hiding place as you quoted from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I am not sure why the reference to Zachariah is given in the Bible Dictionary under Zacharias. In Luke 11, the Lord speaking to the Pharisees and Lawyers, stated: 50 “That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.” The blood of both Zachariah, the son of Jehoiada, and Zacharias would be required of that generation. This could be the reason for the reference to both under Zacharias in the Bible Dictionary.
Gramps
