God's Unique Love

There is nothing wrong with having goals for this life whether big or small. In fact, it in many ways is good to set goals for yourself so that you can find more ways to be able to serve God. To be able to put the talents he’s given you to work instead of just burying them in the ground. If God grants you success in such aspirations, though, be prepared for new temptations to come your way. Again, this is not saying that it’s wrong to strive for your dreams. But, it is a warning for all of us to be on alert. There will be temptations in this world no matter what is happening to you, even when you find success.

One of those temptations is a common misconception we find today that if you find that success in this world, it’s God’s way of letting you know that you’re doing well. Many famous preachers out there will tell you have not found success, it means that you’re doing something wrong. However, if you have been doing well, it not only is thanks to God, but you can also give yourself a pat on the back for helping him out.

Looking initially at Uzziah, this not-so-famous king of Israel, his life seems to reflect that line of thinking. When Uzziah was faithful to God, things went well for him. When he wasn’t so faithful, things went poorly. It would be easy to say that this account is proof of this so-called prosperity gospel. But, not so much. Even though outwardly it appeared as if God’s love depended on Uzziah’s actions, God remained consistent with Uzziah. He was good to this man both when he was being faithful, and he was good to him when Uzziah wasn’t doing well. How can we say that, though? Well, let’s take a look at his life.

Not a whole lot of information is found in the Scriptures about Uzziah. But, there’s enough to see how God remained that consistently good Father in heaven for his sake. Before our lesson starts, 2 Chronicles 26 tells us that Uzziah was a man who initially sought the Lord and was instructed in the fear of the Lord. And, during this time, God granted him much visible success. He was quite wealthy with livestock, with tribute, with land, with vineyards. He was renowned for his building projects and for his conquests of war. Uzziah was even able to bring down some of the mighty cities of Philistia.

Uzziah, though, grew proud of himself. Because of what God had allowed him to accomplish, Uzziah even began to think that he knew better than God as is seen here. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.” 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. To us New Testament people, this might not seem like it was all that big of a deal. It seems like Uzziah simply wanted to serve the Lord by burning incense in the temple. God, however, was explicit in his instruction for worship for the Old Testament Israelites. Not just anyone was able to carry out these tasks at the temple like sacrifice and burning incense. It was reserved for a specific tribe of Israel, for the priests from the tribe of Levi. Uzziah, being a king in the line of David, would have thus been part of the tribe of Judah, not of Levi. Again, this might not seem like a big deal. But, this directly opposed God’s will. This was not an act done out of ignorance. His brothers in the Lord confronted him about this and he still would not back down. He thought he knew better than the priests, which meant that he also thought he knew better than God.

But, what did God do to Uzziah? Did he turn his back on him now that he had grown unfaithful? Did God prove to us with his actions that we have to earn his favor? Absolutely not. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. 22 The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.