Scripture: 2 Chronicles 26 (NASB)
Theme: King Uzziah - The King Who Self-Destructed
1. Reign of Victory - v. 1-15
2. Uzziah's Secret Weapon - v. 1-7 - Being A God Seeker
3. Self-Destruction and Utter Shame - v. 16 - 23
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son King Jesus who came to take away the sin of the world!
This morning, do you know what the names of individuals like Darryl Strawberry, Charlie Parker, Tonya Harding, Bill Clinton and Pete Rose all have in common? It's the same thing that the Roman Empire and the British Empire have in common. And it's the same thing that Biblical characters like Cain, Ahab, King Herod Antipas, Sapphira and Herod Antipas.
It's that all of the above people in some way self-destructed. They all imploded mentally, physically and most important spiritually. For some it was as a result of misusing certain drugs while for others it involved things like apostasy, entering into evil advised relationships, compulsive gambling, petty theft, lack of self-control, greed, anger or lust. Over the years some of them recovered and found healing and wholeness while others went to their grave in further disgrace and shame.
The king that we are going to look at this morning could be added to that list. His name is King Uzziah and we find his story in the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 26. King Uzziah was the ninth king of the nation of Judah ( the 11th in the line of David) taking the throne at the young age of 16 after his father, King Amaziah had exiled and later murdered in the town of Lachish. At the beginning of his reign both he and the nation of Judah were merely a shadow kingdom under the rule of their sister nation Israel to the north.
However, it appears that Israel did not have much to do with either protecting or providing for the people of Judah. We see this by the way Israel allowed the enemies of Judah the opportunity to slice off pieces of their borders. Bible historians tells us that the Edomites, the Philistines, the Egyptians and the Phoenicians each took advantage of Judah's weakness and reclaimed vast amounts of territory. For the first few years of King Uzziah's reign these enemy nation states looted, burned and plagued his people who lived in those border areas. Judah's kingdom was left to fall apart and disintegrate.
All of that began to change a few years into King Uzziah's reign. Determined, the young King Uzziah began to do all he could to lead his nation back into a time of prominence and prosperity. He quickly set plans in action to take the reins of his country firm in hand. One of the first things the young king did was to go and obtain the body of his father and bring him back to Jerusalem to be buried alongside the likes of King David and King Solomon. King Uzziah wanted everyone to honor his father's legacy and then by doing so, begin to respect him as the new King of Judah; the new Son of David. After that was accomplish the young king began a well planned and constructed mission to establish himself and a king that was to be both greatly admired and respected by not only his people but all the nations that surrounded him.
I. King Uzziah's Reign of Victory - verses 1 - 15
As you read about King Uzziah's early years they are filled with success story after success story. History tells us that Uzziah's reign ushered in a new era of prosperity and happiness for the people of Judah. Uzziah began by strengthening the area around his borders and building strong fortifications along those borders. Great military towers were built and troops were commissioned around those towers to protect those areas. All of this construction and relocation of troops warded off any potential attacks while at the same time permitting him to place troops and weaponry in key areas that he would later use to expand his kingdom.
Uzziah also began to rebuild Judah's economic base by reestablishing and promoting key industries. Those industries included raising cattle, sheep and goats along with promoting agriculture (wheat, barley, lentils and peas) and vast productions of native olive oil and wine. All of this required a great many new wells to be built which in turn enabled the construction industry to boom.
Judah's new economic boom lead to the need for new homes, new business and new roads. In a matter of years the whole country was beginning to enjoy a time of peace and prosperity. King Uzziah was also able to reestablish key trade relationships with both his nearby neighbors and some other nations that were far away. Bible scholars tell us that under King Uzziah trade relationships with such distant countries like Arabia, India and Egypt were established bringing even more prosperity to the area.
From all appearances, the nation of Judah was once again enjoying a golden time of God's blessing and favor under the rule of King Uzziah. The people had regained a measure of personal safety, political stability and increased economic prosperity. Everyone loves a leader who can make them feel safe and one that puts a little more silver of gold in their pockets. Uzziah's popularity was rising high not only among his own people but leaders as far away as Egypt were hearing stories of the young wonder king.
With each passing year King Uzziah was also able to build up his military base and operations which lead to him being able to defeat the Philistines, the Arabs and forced the land of Ammon to pay him a tribute every year. The land which had been lost was not only regained but enlarged. Judah's standing army now numbered over 307,000 men with a special forces unit numbering 2, 600. King Uzziah's standing army was about the same size of our US Air Force today while his special forces numbered a little more than our Seal Team 6 troops but a little smaller than our Army Ranger group. So, you can see his army was quite formidable at that time and in that region.
Coupled with all of that it appears from verses 14-15 that the nation had either purchased or had invented some of the newest technological weapons available at that time. Judah was now known for its military readiness along with its weapons technology. These new weapons enabled Uzziah's military to hurl either great stones or quite a number of arrows at an enemy at quite a long distance. Suddenly, the nation of Judah was once again seen as a force to be reckoned with militarily, politically and economically.
Israelite King Jeroboam II took notice of all of this and quickly decided that it be to both of their nation's best interest if they came into a peaceful alliance. No doubt the presence of Judah's new military with all those new weapons led the way. King Jeroboam II did all he could to eliminate any animosity or hostility that had previously existed between the two countries since Uzziah's father's defeat by his King Joash. To show his good faith towards the young king and to curry his favor, King Jeroboam II gave part of the land of southeast Syria to Uzziah after his Israelite army had defeated the Syrians and ransacked Damascus.
Everything was looking up for King Uzziah and for his nation of Judah. It appeared that the land was in for a long needed time of rest and prosperity. It appeared as if the People of God were at last going to live peacefully in this land of milk and honey. Everything was going well, the people were prospering and the king popularity and power were growing daily. Truly, Uzziah's reign was beginning to look like one of those golden moments that God had promised His people. King Uzziah was a man after God's own heart.
II. Uzziah's Secret Weapon - He was a God Seeker - v. 1-7
The Bible shares with us that behind all of Uzziah's success was a secret. The Bible tells us that his success was not solely because Uzziah possessed a great measure of charisma, intelligence or wisdom. It was not solely because he was an economic genius, a crafty politician or a military mastermind. Although, I think we would agree that he was in some measure all of those things - King Uzziah was charismatic, and very wise in matters of politics, economics and the military.
The key to all of his success is found back in verses 1 - 7. His success is found in verses 4 - 5 - "He sought God" and "as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper."
In verse 7 we go on to read "And God helped him ..." and then later in verse 15 we read "for he was marvelously helped".
That was the key to all of Uzziah's success. First and foremost the young king was a GOD SEEKER.
First and foremost in his heart he wanted to have a deep relationship with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Above all authority and power the young King wanted to know the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. And in order to do so he did all he could to learn about God, to connect with God and to do all that the LORD asked him to do.
This type of attitude and drive is exactly the one that our LORD JESUS would challenge us all in part of His Sermon on the Mount.
""Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you"" (Matt. 6:31-33).
Before any of the blessings were given to King Uzziah we see that he was a God seeker. He did not seek God only after he was blessed or in order to be blessed. His relationship in the beginning was not some works contract in which he knew if he did A, B and C then the LORD would have to do D, E and F. Uzziah's heart was turned to the Lord and connected to the will of the LORD from the get go.
Now, what exactly did that mean for King Uzziah?
It means that early in King Uzziah's life:
a. He was a man with a humble and obedient heart
b. He was a man that who was dedicated to studying God's Word - to daily reading God's Word and listening to the LORD
c. He was a man who surrounded himself with Great Mentors like Zachariah
d. He was a man who focused on the needs of others - making sure that the people under his rule had the opportunity to be safe and prosper
e. He was a man who did everything he could to stay pure and grow deeper in the LORD.
In the first 15 verses of his story we see a man doing everything right. There is no mention of Uzziah having an arrogant attitude nor is there any mention of him be overwhelmed with desires of lust, greed or power. All we read about is a man verse after verse who is seeking the LORD and who is enjoying the fruits of being in tune with the LORD.
We read about a man who was living out a life that is sung about in Psalms 25:4-5:
"Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your path. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on you I wait all the day."
King Uzziah is living up to the name he was given at birth which means "Jehovah is my Strength". He has this wonderful spiritual mentor and friend named Zachariah. While we don't know much about Zachariah, most Bible scholars believe that he was a priest due to the fact that he was able to understand the visions of the LORD.
In verse five we read - "in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of the LORD". Possibly, Zachariah served in the same capacity as Joseph did for Pharaoh and Daniel would later for King Nebuchadnezzar. Zachariah was able to understand the dreams and visions that God had either been giving to the young king or to the priest himself.
Now, if this was the case and I think we can safely say that was then we have a vital piece of information here in verse five. It appears that one of the ways that the LORD spoke to King Uzziah was through visions that needed to then be interpreted by Zachariah or through visions that were given solely to Zachariah.
In other words the LORD began to teach King Uzziah early on the importance of having spiritual mentors and relying on others for needed information. While King Uzziah may have been given special revelations he was not given the ability to understand those revelations. He had to depend on the his spiritual mentor Zachariah. Uzziah had to remain humble in knowing that he could not lead his people on his own. In the beginning Uzziah knew full well to be successful he needed God and others to give him advice and spiritual insight.
In other words it made King Uzziah realize that he had to be a part of a great big team. He could not rule all by himself. He could not become arrogant and conceited. He needed the LORD to give him a vision or provide for him a vision and Zachariah to interpret those visions. While King Uzziah may have been one of the most important pieces on God's chess board he had to know that he was not the only piece. It would take all of God's team to bring about victory, peace and prosperity.
All of this is vital in understanding our story. Bible scholar, Dr. Edwin R. Thiele tells us that this was way that King Uzziah lived for the first 40 plus years of his reign. From the age of 16 to well past the age of 57 lived according the principles of a holy life. Uzziah lived a very humble life. He lived a life in which he listened to his spiritual mentors and he lived a life dedicated to following the ways of the LORD.
And for 40 plus years the wonders that the LORD did in and through this man's life were truly amazing. While not as wise nor as prosperous as King Solomon, King Uzziah brought the people of Judah from the ashes of poverty and political ruin to a life of peace and prosperity. All during the time King Uzziah was open to the Lord's leading things in the Kingdom were going right along the way that Moses had prophesied them way back in Dt. 28. Moses looking ahead told the People of Israel that if they obeyed and their future kings obeyed the LORD then the LORD would pour out manifold blessings. Blessings that included all the things that we read about here in the first 15 verses. Blessings of peace, blessings of the land and blessings that lead to lives of prosperity.
If only the story ended right there. If only the story ended for Tonya Harding back in 1989 - 1992. If only the Roman Empire could have stayed the same as it was in 110 AD or the British Empire in 1922. Or if Pete Rose could have made a different decision back in 1973. Or Sapphira and her husband Ananias in Acts chapter five.
But each one of them from those empires to those individuals self-destructed in one way or the other. And that is what we read about in the closing verses and years of King Uzziah.
III. Self-Destruction and Shame - verses 16 - 23
Somewhere around the age of 57 - 58 years of age, King Uzziah decided to self-destruct. He decided to imitate King Jeroboam II who combined the offices of King and High Priest.
Bible scholars tell us that King Jeroboam II desired to possess the title of King of Israel along with the title of High Priest of Israel. He wanted to be the highest political and spiritual leader for the Northern Kingdom. He wanted to sit on both the royal throne in Samaria and wear all the vestments of the High Priest of Baal in Dan and Bethel. He wanted to be the highest one who could come before the altars of Baal (and most likely Ashtoreth as well) and burn sacrifices and offer incense.
The people of Israel welcomed his new office as High Priest with great enthusiasm. They relished in the idea that their king could hold two vastly different offices in his one person. It appears that once King Jeroboam II decided that he was both King and High Priest that his popularity and power rose to even greater heights. He was more than a man, more than a king and more than a high priest. He was all three in one.
But for the people of Judah such an idea was apostasy. It smacked of gross idolatry on the highest level. The Southern Kingdom of Judah had retained their belief that the Lord God Almighty was the One and Only God. All other gods were false gods. Their power if in fact they had any came from the powers of darkness, chaos and death. The people of Judah had decided to be faithful to the teachings of God's Law found in the Torah that had been given to them through the Prophet Moses.
The Torah plainly states that only a male member from the Tribe of Levi could serve as a priest or more importantly as the High Priest. Only one born from the Tribe of Levi would be allowed to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the Lord's Altars. Passages like Exodus 30:30 give strict instructions to this order. Anyone else from another tribe who attempted to do otherwise would be immediately under the death penalty.
I know on the surface all of this sounds harsh. However, it is part of the rules that the ancient people of the LORD agreed to abide and live by. King Uzziah himself had written all of this down when he made his own hand written copy of the Torah. He knew intimately the rules and he knew the consequences of the obeying or disobeying those rules.
We don't know what caused this sudden change in King Uzziah. All we know is that over a quick period of time his heart became filled with pride and self-conceit. We don't know if it had to do with the loss of his mother or the loss of his spiritual mentor Zachariah. Perhaps it came as a result of his growing friendship with King Jeroboam II. King Uzziah may have been tempted to see if he could lift up his own popularity by becoming both King and High Priest of YHWH. He had seen what good it had done for King Jeroboam II and may have wanted the same for himself. We don't know for sure.
Perhaps it was a late mid life crisis. People have been known to do some crazy things once they reach a certain age. We don't know what triggered his sudden aberrant behavior but we do know some of the things that can cause anyone to become prideful and arrogant. We can become self-conceited and prideful when:
-We begin to glory in our own self and begin to believe that we ourselves were solely responsible for all of our great accomplishments. We trade in the concept of "team" and begin to focus on the concepts of "I" or "ME ONLY".
- We begin to think that we have risen to greater heights than those around us. We begin to see ourselves resting on a high pedestal with everyone groveling around our feet.
- We begin to think that the world revolves around us and our ideas. Without us people would be lost. They would not know what to think or do. We begin to think that we are indispensable and then later to believe that we are infallible.
-We come to believe that we are the smartest and wisest person in the room. Then we begin to think that we are the smartest and wisest person in any room.
-We come to believe that all the rules only apply to normal people and we are much more than normal. We believe that we live above the rules and regulations. That while they are good they do not apply to us. We have evolved beyond rules, regulations and normal policies.
This became the world in which King Uzziah believed he lived in.
Suddenly, without notice King Uzziah went to the Temple to offer incense on the Golden Altar. First, he went directly to the altar where the animal sacrifices had been burned and grabbed a hold of a pan of glowing coals that were underneath the sacrifice and then ascended into the temple near the Golden altar of incense. Uzziah planned to take those coals and place them in the center of the golden altar between the four horns. Afterwards, he would sprinkle the incense before the Lord as a sweet and pleasing offering.
Twice a day the incense offering was presented to the LORD. It symbolized the purity of the prayers of the people as they gave praise, made intercession and gave thanksgiving for all that the LORD had done for the them and their nation. According to the Rabbis this incense offering was one of the most loved and precious offerings presented to the LORD. Following the offering the priest was to go out to the crowds of people waiting and proclaim the Lord's acceptance and blessing upon them. They were to let the people know that the LORD had heard their prayers. It was a great time of God's blessings and favor.
You can see then why Uzziah wanted to do this. If he could combine the office of High Priest and Kingship then he would in effect be Prophet, Priest and King. He would like Moses of old. He would be the one who enforced the policies, who stood between God and the people and who would then be able to give either a blessing or a curse upon the people depending on his particular mood.
However, Azariah and 80 other priest were not about to allow the King to desecrate or to foolishly cause his own destruction. They stepped in his way to not only keep the purity of the Temple but to save the King's life. They knew that what he was doing would put him under the death penalty whether he was king or not. This was not a temple of Baal and the people of Judah had not decided to serve false god(s).
This was the Temple of the Most High God - this was YHWH's Temple - the Good God of Creation - the One and Only God. YHWH simply could not allow King Uzziah to bring such desecration upon the Temple nor upon himself.
Verse 19 seals King Uzziah's fate. It's one thing to have a single priest like Azariah getting in your way but it's all together different if 80 other priests join in the cause. They reprimanded the king, they pointed out his wrongdoing and they pointed the way towards confession and repentance. All he had to do is to put down the censer, lay aside the incense and back out of the Temple. All would be forgiven. Nothing disastrous would occur. He would be allowed to go back to the palace and regain his position as God's King.
Horribly, that is not what happened. Instead of becoming contrite, King Uzziah became mad. His anger towards God, towards the priests and the situation go the best of him. He refused to back down and as we read in verse 19 the LORD was quick with a stroke of judgment. Leprosy broke out on King Uzziah's forehead.
The Lord put a mark of uncleanness right on King Uzziah's forehead, where he could not hide it. It's interesting that the LORD chose his forehead. Behind our foreheads lies our brain, our seat of reason and intellect. It's part of what makes us who we are. The LORD marked King Uzziah in such a fashion to show that his inner most character had been defiled - he had allowed pride and self-idolatry to take over. He had thought that he could become someone greater and more powerful than God would allow a man.
I don't think that King Uzziah was suppose to affected by leprosy. Even though his sin was premeditated I don't think it was to be a life sentence. Others like Miriam and Naaman had been plagued with leprosy but in both cases they humbled themselves, repented and experienced healing. I have to think that this could have happened with King Uzziah and I believe it is what the LORD truly wanted for this son of David.
After all, when you look at his life and how much he desired to walk in the ways of the LORD you just come to the realization that in time God would heal this man if he changed his ways. However, we have no record of his repentance. All we read is that King Uzziah had to exile himself from his palace, from the Temple and live out the rest of his days in a separate house and his son Jotham took over the royal duties.
It is easy to look at such a life and say what happened to this man could or will never happen to any of us. But for any of us who have lived a few years we know how easy it is to slip into a world of pride, arrogance and self-conceit. The Bible tells us that " Pride goes before destruction, a haughty ( or arrogant) spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18.
Thankfully, the Bible gives us some sound advice that can keep this from happening.
1. By always remembering that the God is God
"...Shall the potter be regarded as the clay; that the thing made should say of its maker, 'He did not make me', or the thing formed say of him who formed it, 'He has not understanding?'" - Isaiah 29:16 (ESV)
" ... You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." - Luke 10: 26
2. By always remembering that we are called to be Servants not Lords
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:5-8).
"Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42b-45)
3. Finally, we can daily ask for the Lord's Help
Listen to these two prayers -
The first one was written by Beth McLendon
Almighty God,
I pray this prayer by faith:
Today, my heart will grow in love, compassion, tenderness, and mercy.
I will dwell on godly thoughts.
My thoughts will be more pure, holy, and righteous than they were yesterday.
I declare that the pull of my sinful nature is fading.
Today I give my will to you, Lord, so that you can turn my heart in whatever way you desire.
I will make your desires my desires.
In the mighty name of Jesus I pray,
Amen
Copyright © 2014 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com
and the Second Prayer comes from the pen of Pastor Jim Cymbala:
"Father, help us to humble ourselves before you. Save us from the pride and arrogance that cuts us off from your hand of blessing. Teach us to walk softly each day before you and to never lose sight of your greatness and our need. Amen (The Life God Blesses by Jim Cymbala)
Our story today is rather bittersweet. If we follow King Uzziah's life as it is outlined in the first 15 verses we will find ourselves receiving God's blessings and favor. If however, we allow pride and self-conceit to take over our lives then we will find ourselves out of God's favor and blessings.
I wish today that King Uzziah's life had ended on a better note. But our Bibles are not fairy tales - they are stories about real men and women. Real men and women who in the end are either great examples to all of us of just how amazing our lives can be or warning to us of what can happen if we choose to not follow the ways of the LORD.
This morning as we close let us pray for one another and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Perhaps right now some of us are fighting against the spirit of pride, self-conceit and arrogance. Left to itself those powers will lead us down the path of destruction and failure.
The devil and evil wants to tell you that you don't have to do anything. All you are doing is merely asserting yourself and having confidence in yourself. All you are doing is finally understanding how powerful, how intelligent and how important you are to your family, your job and your friends. All you are doing is finally owning up to what you have know all along - that you are somebody special that happens to have it all together and is just a little bit above everyone else.
It is that thinking that got King Uzziah in trouble and it will get us into trouble as well. Our King Jesus - God in Flesh - knew His identity, His power and His wisdom and yet, He was able to pour out His life for all of us. He was able to obey and listen to His Heavenly Father while at the same time be the greatest leader and servant of all. That is the life the LORD wants all of us to experience. One that acknowledges the Lord as Savior and King of our lives. One that acknowledges that God has gifted us with talents and resources not to be used for our own glory and honor but as ways in which we can help others.
Today, as we close let's listen (sing):
Take My Life (And Let It Be) Chris Tomlin (Contemporary)
or Take My Life and Let It Be | Frances R. Havergal (Traditional)
Altar call/Prayer Time
