Christian teaching

We are continuing on looking at 2 Chronicles. We have looked at King Asa and King Jehoshaphat earlier this year.

And last week we looked at King Joash and learned about our need to have true commitment to God, regardless of the circumstances or people around us – which he, sadly, did not have.

Today we look at King Uzziah. The title is “The Folly of Pride.” We are looking at how foolish pride is. We are in 2 Chronicles 26. Let’s begin with . . .

Some facts about Uzziah

• He was the 10th descendant of David to take the throne in Judah
• He was 16 when he began to rule – 26:3
• He was also known as Azariah in 2 Kings 15
• He reigned for 52 years – 26:3
• There was also a great earthquake during his reign – Amos 1:1. It must have been quite notable because it was referred to years later – Zechariah 14:5.
• He is also mentioned several times in Isaiah (1:1; 6:1; 7:1)

We begin our story by looking at . . .

Uzziah’s success

And the first thing we see is that it is rooted in his devotion to God. Verses 4-5 say, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord . . .. 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.”

As a young king he had a mentor, Zechariah, about whom we know nothing else, but who taught him to fear God. We also see here that he sought God. And this is the basis of his success, for it says – “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.”

So right up front we are told that God is the source of his accomplishments. Lets look at his success:

1) He expanded the territory of Judah – 26:6-8. We learn already in v. 2 that he built Eloth and restored it to Judah. Eloth was the southern most point of Edom, along the coast of the Red Sea at the tip of the gulf of Aqaba. His father had conquered this area, and so he seems to be just finishing up by building up this port city.

v. 6 – says that he also conquered the Philistines. vs. 7-8 – says that he overcame the Arabians and the Meunites and the Ammonites paid him tribute.

So, He expanded the territory of Judah to much of what it had been during its glory days of David and Solomon. This brought a great deal of prosperity, not just because of tribute paid to him. Uzziah captured and controlled areas of commerce, trade routes along the Mediterranean sea and the Red Sea to Arabia.

2) He was a great builder – 26:9-10. He built up Jerusalem – v. 9. It was  damaged during a war in his father’s reign. And also, perhaps from the earthquake during his reign. He also built up a large farming operation. V. 10 says that “he loved the soil.” He had large herds and he had large tracts of land with farmers and vineyard workers. He also “built towers in the wilderness” – v. 10. These would be fortresses and outposts for his kingdom.

3) He had a large, well equipped army – 26:11-15.

• He had over 300,000 soldiers – v. 13.
• Uzziah gave them fighting equipment, which was unusual. Usually you just brought your own. He gave them “shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.” – v. 14.
• He invented new fortifications to defend the towns of Judah – v. 15.

This was, most likely, the best equipped army Judah, or even Israel, ever had.

There was plenty and peace. This was a real highpoint for Judah; the most success and prosperity the kingdom had since Solomon and Jehoshaphat.

• v. 8 says, “His fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.”
• v. 15 says, “And his fame spread far . . . he was strong.”

And then comes . . .

Uzziah’s fall

If v. 15 ended by saying “he was strong,” now v. 16 goes on to say, “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” What did he do?? V. 16 goes on to say, “He was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” The word “unfaithful” – shows that this was an act of defiance against the Lord, and his commandments.

The altar of incense was right before the holy of holies, the inner sanctum of God. Incense was burnt after the morning and evening sacrifices and symbolized the prayers of the people. Coals from the altar of burnt offering would be taken into the temple and placed on the altar of incencse and then the incense would be burned. This was reserved for the priests to perform– Exodus 30:7-8.

Azariah the priest confronted him along with 80 other priests. And this took courage because their lives were on the line. They caught him “red-handed” with the coals in his cencer about to give the offering.

V. 18 says, “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.’” So God warned Uzziah to stop, but he didn’t listen.

• v. 19 says that “he became angry.” He was unrepentant. He wouldn’t listen.
• v. 19 – and right then, “leprosy broke out on his forehead.”
• v. 20 – Uzziah ran out of the temple, “because the Lord had struck him.”

In his arrogance, he sought to take the place of the priests.  It was not enough for him to be a successful king, he wanted to also perform the priestly duties. But, he not only wasn’t able to function as a priest, because of his leprosy he couldn’t come into the temple anymore and he had to give up at least most of the duties of king to his son, and live in some form of seclusion – v. 21. He sought the priesthood, but even his kingship was taken away.

Lessons on pride

The first one has to do with the source of pride. . . .

1. Pride occurs when you take credit for God’s success in your life. Uzziah was a big success, as we saw. But just as clearly we are told that it was God who made him successful.

• v. 5 – “God made him prosper”
• v. 7 – “God helped him . . .”  
• v. 15 – “he was marvelously helped” by God

Yet, he came to think that he was the source of his success.

In the same way, we experience success in our lives, in our careers, our relationships, our business, our ministry and work for the Lord, and we also are tempted to take credit for the success. To think that it is really us doing all this. And we forget about God.

And so we have to remember what James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” Every good thing in your life is a gift of God.

We also have to remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:7 – “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” If it comes from God, how can we be proud? We are rather to give God the glory.

2. Pride distorts your thinking. Uzziah knew better. There was nothing ambiguous about this situation. Only priests perform the functions of the temple.

But his pride blinded him. He thought he was special, he was different, that the rules didn’t apply to him.  And so he did what was obviously wrong. And he wouldn’t listen to anyone who would stop him, because he knew better.

In the same way, our pride leads us to do and say things that we shouldn’t. We do what we think is right, not what God says is right. And we are unable to be humble before others, to listen to others. We want things done our way, because we know better.  

3. Pride will bring you low. V. 16 says, “he grew proud, to his destruction.” Proverbs talks about this a lot:

• Proverbs 29:23 – “One’s pride will bring him low . . ..”
• Proverbs 11:2 – “When pride comes, then comes disgrace . . ..”
• Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Uzziah experienced all this.

And we have to be careful too. When things are going well, when we are strong, when God is blessing us – we have to be careful. As Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:12 – “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”

We too can become overconfident in our strength. We can start to think that we are the source of our success; we can engage in distorted thinking, so that our success goes to our head, and we stop doing what God says because we know better; or it doesn’t apply to us.

And this is precisely when our downfall is imminent. Just like Uzziah, we will be humbled.

So, as Paul says, let us take heed, lest we fall as well. Let us set aside pride, and give God the glory.

William Higgins