And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. 4 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
6 He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. 10 And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. 12 The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Uzziah's Pride and Punishment
16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, 18 and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” 19 Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy[a] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. 20 And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. 21 And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. 23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place. 2 Chronicles 26 ESV
All the people took Uzziah. He did that which was right, like his father had done before him, and like his grandfather he had a good mentor. He was taught by Zechariah, and as long as he sought the Lord, he prospered. There is no law against doing good, exercising self control, and even those who have not found the Lord nor given Him the whole of their heart, have often found the blessing of the principles. Those who may not appreciate all of the ten commandments, have learned the benefit of some. Thou shalt not, may go against that natural depravity, man's desire to do anyway, but he appreciates or likes the idea of his own life being spared, others being honest with him, not being cheated or lied about. Some may even find such a code desirable in themselves, their own golden rule, a measure to attain to. What happens when your mentor passes, your audience changes? Now that you are old and retired, looking back upon the walls you have repaired, the enemies you have pushed back? You have listened to the people in the outskirts and provided them with towers of defense. You have invented and installed new weapons of warfare. Almost like wisdom you have nurtured agriculture, but truly you were given a passion for the dirt. Where does the praise belong?
“I have lived long enough to observe that the greatest faults that are ever committed by professedly Christian men are not committed by young people. Most painful is it, to me to remember that the worst cases of backsliding and apostasy that I have ever seen, in this church, have been by old men and middle-aged men, – not by young people; for, somehow or other, the young people, if they are truly taught of God, know their weakness, and so they cry to God for help; but it often happens that more experienced people begin to think that they are not likely to fall into the faults and follies of the young; and I care not how old a man may be – even if seven centuries had passed over his head:, – if he began to trust in himself, he would be a fool, and soon he would have a grievous fall.” (Spurgeon)
I can be, have been and most certainly will be wrong, often if ever, and whenever I have done well or seen the fault of another, pride has always whispered to me. You think her your friend because she tells you how hard you have labored and how much you deserve this. There is no one so under appreciated as you, and she, like all flatterers, is really just a spider, a Venus fly trap or a crocodile underneath the mirror of the water. Uzziah cannot honor himself enough, and there is a place that he has been forbidden to go, a tree that he cannot eat the fruit from, for in that day, what will happen? He watches the priest, who must only come from the tribe of Levi, the sons of Aaron, take incense to burn on the altar of incense. Other kings burn incense in their gardens, in Israel anyone can be a priest that buys his way into it, I am a great king, a good man, I have observed the law and ruled well over God's people. I don't need anyone to offer up incense on my behalf. I am worth a hundred of these priests, and I shall extend my honor, stand on my own merit, no, but no, I read this, and there is only one place that feels right to finish this. I shall understand this better with my face pressed against the ground, crawling till my head hits that tree, not daring to look around, I smell the metal of bloody feet, and now I see why I needed someone else to be the priest. I realize that every prayer that makes it to the ear of God must come through Christ. He is the only Priest that was also the perfect prophet and King. You would take away Christ's honor, belittle the Holiness of God, look down upon the honor He has already bestowed upon you, not only to be made in His image, to be granted the warning of the priests, but also that of king. It is not enough for you, who did not make yourself? You come in thinking yourself worthy, but look at your forehead, you do not belong here. The state of your heart has now become the state of your face. Now you will know that you are unclean and only God makes clean. You use to come thus far, but now you cannot enter the house of the Lord, and if you are healed, to verify your healing, you will have to be approved by a priest. The Lord resist the proud.
All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Isaiah 66:2
And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Revelation 8: 3-4
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