THE RISE AND FALL OF KING UZZIAH
Text: II Chron.26: 4, 5, 16a
Intro: The biblical account of King Uzziah is a classic example of what happens to a man who gets too big for his spiritual britches.
Uzziah’s ascension to the throne had no doubt filled the hearts of the people of Judah with renewed hope. The last two kings of Judah had started well enough, but after a while, had led the kingdom back into idolatry, bringing judgment upon the nation. As a result, both of the former kings, Joash and Amaziah, met their death due to conspiracy.
Like his father and grandfather before him, Uzziah began his reign well. He showed much promise as a godly ruler that would lead Judah back to God and the restoration of God’s blessings. But over the years, as God blessed Uzziah, a secret enemy began to invade his heart ever so subtly. So subtle was this enemy that Uzziah likely wasn’t aware of what was happening to him until he had been dealt the fatal blow.
What was this subtle enemy that defeated Uzziah, you say? Basically, he let his V.I.P. status go to his H.E.A.D. In other words, Uzziah became proud and haughty. Somewhere amidst all the blessings, he lost sight of the fact that God was the source of his power, popularity, and prosperity.
Pride is a killer. It will kill your spiritual growth. It will kill your intimacy with the Savior.
Why is pride so spiritually fatal? It is because pride moves one to focus on self instead of Christ. Pride enthrones self rather than the Savior. That condition can produce but one result: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov.16: 18).
As we look into the life of King Uzziah today, we must be warned that God’s blessings can have the unintended result of pride if we are not careful. We must stay alert; ever staying focused on the true source of every blessing—God Himself.
Theme: Uzziah’s prideful defeat is made sadder by:
I. UZZIAH’S SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE
A. He Became King As A Youth.
II Chron.26: 1 “Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.”
NOTE: One can only imagine how insecure a sixteen-year-old boy must have felt knowing that a whole nation was looking to him for leadership. No doubt this prompted him to seek God’s face often, and depend upon God for leadership and guidance. But that’s precisely what made him a good king.
B. He Reigned As King Many Years.
II Chron.26: 3a “Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem…”
NOTE: It’s very sad to think about the fact that Uzziah started his reign in humbleness and humility and ended his reign in humiliation. As long as he remained humble before God, he prospered. But the moment pride took over, it brought fifty-two years of blessing to a halt. Pride can destroy what humility and dependence upon God has built up.
II. UZZIAH’S SUCCESS IN SPITE OF TROUBLES
II Chron.26: 4 “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did.
5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.”
NOTE: Notice that the basis of Uzziah’s success was the fact that he was humble and obedient before God. As long as King Uzziah stayed focused and dependent on God, he prospered in all that he did.
A. He Prospered In Battle.
II Chron.26: 6 “And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.
8a And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah…”
NOTE: As long as Uzziah walked with God, God fought his battles. Folks, we need to remember that we need to maintain a close relationship with the Lord Jesus if we are to be victorious in the spiritual warfare. James speaks of this when he says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4: 7).
B. He Prospered In Building.
1. He built cities in the land once occupied by the enemy.
II Chron.26: 6b “…and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.”
2. He built many fortifications.
II Chron.26: 9 “Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
10a Also he built towers in the desert…
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15a And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal…”
C. He Prospered In Bounty.
1. He had many sources of water supply.
II Chron.26: 10b “…and digged many wells…”
2. He had many cattle.
II Chron.26: 10c “…for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains…”
3. He had many fields and vineyards.
II Chron.26: 10d “…husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.”
4. He was bountiful in reputation.
II Chron.26: 8b “…and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.
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15b …And his name spread far abroad…”
III. UZZIAH’S SUFFERING BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSION
A. His Pride Was The Beginning Of His Downfall.
1. He had become proud of his greatness and strength.
II Chron.26: 16a “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction…”
2. He had forgotten that God was the source of his greatness, strength, and success.
II Chron.26: 7a “And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians…
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15b …for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.”
NOTE: [1] One might think that after receiving so many blessings from God that Uzziah would never have fallen prey to sinful pride. But perhaps this descriptive statement about pride will help.
Pride is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks. And it flourishes in good soil: The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness.
David Rhodes.
[2] The danger of receiving blessings from God is that if we’re not careful, somewhere in the midst of all the goodness we begin to believe that we are receiving God’s blessings because we’ve got it all together—we’re a notch above the rest—pride.
[3] A man once noticed how easy it is to forget from whom our blessings have come, when he said:
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.
A. Lincoln, Proclamation of a day of National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer, 1863.
B. His Pride Was The Basis Of His Demise.
1. He was struck with a dread disease.
II Chron.26: 16b “…for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men:
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God.
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.”
NOTE: As I mentioned at the outset, “Pride is a killer.” One man in history learned that lesson the hard way.
During the Battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War, Union general John Sedgwick was inspecting his troops. At one point he came to a parapet, over which he gazed out in the direction of the enemy. His officers suggested that this was unwise and perhaps he ought to duck while passing the parapet. “Nonsense,” snapped the general. “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist--.” A moment later Sedgwick fell to the ground, fatally wounded.
Today in the Word, August 30, 1993.
2. Uzziah died in humiliation and dishonor.
II Chron.26: 20 “Then Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him.
21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
Theme: Uzziah’s prideful defeat is made sadder by:
I. UZZIAH’S SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE
II. UZZIAH’S SUCCESS IN SPITE OF TROUBLE
III. UZZIAH’S SUFFERING BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSION
