Weep Between the Porch and the Altar – Part 2

If you haven’t already, I would recommend first reading Part 1 of this series, but to briefly recap, in Matthew 23 Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and their false belief of their own innocence in regards to the slaying of the prophets of old. He then prophesied judgment, saying that they would persecute and kill the messengers he was going to send them, as a way of filling up the measure of their forefathers’ sin “and so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar” (verse 35).

I have chosen to relate this to the story of the priest Zechariah in 2 Chronicles 24 who is described as having been murdered “in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple” (verse 21), but as I mentioned in Part 1, it could also be referring to the prophet Zechariah, although we have no record of him being killed in this manner.

After reading this passage in Matthew 23, I was immediately reminded of Joel’s prophecy in chapter 2 verse 17, which says…

Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

To me there appears to be an obvious connection between this verse and our story of Zechariah, as Joel is calling for the priests to weep “between the temple porch and the altar”, which is the exact same location of Zechariah’s slaying. Now, depending on which view you take on when the book of Joel was written, as well as which Zechariah you believe Jesus was referring to, this can affect how we interpret this passage and connect the dots. Again, as I mentioned in Part 1, I have chosen to take the standpoint that Joel was writing just prior to the Babylonian invasion, which puts him between the two different Zechariahs.

Now, regardless of which of the 4 viewpoints you take of when Joel was written (from the early 9th century BC to the same period as Zechariah the prophet), if we were to go with the view that Jesus was referring to the prophet Zechariah, then it’s possible that Zechariah would have been familiar with Joel’s writings. Also, as was mentioned in Matthew Henry’s commentary, if he was taking sanctuary in the court of the priests from his persecutors, he could have been in the very act of intercession, “weep[ing] between the temple porch and the altar”, crying out for mercy upon Jerusalem just before he was murdered. This is powerful imagery if you were to preach on martyrdom and praying even for your enemies as Jesus did on the cross or as Stephen did while he was being stoned. However, there are a lot of “ifs” in this scenario that don’t make for a very strong connection in this way.

If we take the story of the priest Zechariah from 2 Chronicles 24 who was stoned in the temple court, then again, regardless of the 4 viewpoints of when Joel was written, Joel’s prophecy would have probably come after Zechariah’s murder. In this case, there is a strong reason to believe that this call to intercession was closely linked to the need for repentance for the sins of their forefathers. It seems very symbolic and significant that the Lord would call the priests to weep and mourn and cry out for mercy in the exact location that a brutal act of injustice occurred. This also ties in with what Jesus had against the Pharisees – they were able to acknowledge the sins of their forefathers in slaying the prophets, but they could not identify with them or realize that this same darkness was in their own hearts and acknowledge their need for repentance. Nehemiah was a great example of someone who was able to see the sins of his father, his nation and himself personally, praying…

…let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you. (Nehemiah 1:6)

The Pharisees however, perceived themselves to be innocent of the blood on their forefathers’ hands, blind to the fact that they were about to crucify the very son of God and many of his followers and apostles. In fact, Jesus would ensure that they would be proven guilty and that the state of their hearts would be exposed by his promise to send them prophets and teachers whom they would persecute and kill, thus filling up the measure of the sin of their forefathers. This would seal their judgment for eternity and would occur in response to the cries coming from the blood of every righteous person slain. In Genesis 4:10, the Lord says to Cain regarding the murder of his brother Abel, “Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground”, and Zechariah, as he lay dying, cried out, “May the Lord see this and call you to account” (2 Chronicles 24:22). This is not unlike the prayer in Revelation 6:9-10 of those who had been murdered because of the Word of God, who called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”

So how does this apply to us? The answer to that question is coming in Part 3…