10. Shallum's evil reign in Israel 15:13-16

Shallum's reign was even shorter than Zechariah's. It lasted only one month (752 B.C.).

Menahem was the commander-in-chief of Jeroboam II's army.⁹⁵He was serving in Tirzah, Israel's former capital. Menahem regarded Shallum as a usurper to the throne. He evidently believed that as commander of the army he should have succeeded Zechariah. Menahem probably attacked Tiphsah in Israel because its inhabitants refused to acknowledge his claim to the throne. He probably hoped that his violent destruction of that town (v. 16) would move other Israelite leaders to support him.

As the history of Israel unfolds, the reader cannot help noticing how increasingly the kings behaved as their Gentile neighbors who had no special regard for God's Law.