Uzziah’s Strength and Failure

GOLDEN TEXT: “The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” —Habakkuk 2:20

II CHRONICLES 26:3-5, 16-21

UZZIAH was the grandson of Joash. He came to the throne of Judah upon the death of his father, Amaziah, and at the tender age of sixteen. He reigned fifty-two years. The greater part of this time he showed himself to be a wise, pious, and active ruler. He did not desert the worship of the true God, being much influenced, apparently, by a prophet, Zechariah.

The record is that as long as Uzziah “sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.” (vs. 5) This help from God enabled Uzziah to war successfully against the enemies of Judah, such as the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Mehunims. He forced the Ammonites to pay tribute to him; “and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly.”—vss. 6-8

Uzziah “built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle.” (vs. 10) His cattle ranches were spread out over “both the low country, and in the plains.” He “loved husbandry,” the account states—the marginal translation says “ground.” (vs. 10) In addition to being a king he evidently was a prosperous cattle farmer.

Besides this, Uzziah “had a host of fighting men.” (vs. 11) In this army there were “three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred.” Over this army there were “two thousand and six hundred” officers, or as the record states, “chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valor.”—vss. 12,13

For Uzziah’s time his men were well armed. He equipped them with “shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.” (vs. 14) In addition to this he had “cunning men” invent and build mechanized equipment to be mounted on the towers and walls of Jerusalem, machines to “shoot arrows and great stones withal.”

All of this indicates that Uzziah was a brilliant man, with determination to safeguard the welfare of Judah and make the nation prosperous. And he succeeded. It is believed that under his leadership Judah rose to a position of glory and prestige among the nations second only to that attained under King Solomon. But Uzziah overlooked the fact that much of his success was because the Lord was with him, and because he worked along the lines suggested by Zechariah, the prophet of the Lord.

When Uzziah had risen to a high pinnacle of fame, he was not satisfied to be confined to his own sphere as king, or civil ruler of the people, but attempted to take over the religious rites which belonged to the priesthood. Verse 16 of the lesson says concerning him, “When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.” Exodus 30:7,8, and Numbers 16:40 and 18:7 show that this was a service which was to be rendered only by the priests.

It was because the king’s heart was “lifted up” that he attempted to offer incense. Possibly if he had heeded the instructions of the priest that it was wrong for him to “burn incense unto the Lord,” he would not have been severely punished. Instead he was willful in his wrongdoing, and tried to proceed despite the opposition of the “four score priests of the Lord” who stood in his way.

According to the strict rules which the Lord had made concerning the offering of incense by others than the Aaronic family, Uzziah should have been put to death. Instead he was stricken with leprosy, from which he never recovered. Probably the Lord considered this to be an infliction of the death penalty, slowly imposed. The king had to give up residence in the royal palace and live in a leper’s hut for the rest of his life.

Some might wonder why the Lord made such strict regulations concerning the services performed, first in the tabernacle, and then in the temple. It was because they were designed to illustrate “better things to come,” and had they been changed these illustrations would have been destroyed. During the Gospel age, for example, Jesus is the “High Priest” over his sacrificing followers, who are the under-priests.

We are not instructed to offer animals on literal altars, but are invited to offer ourselves “a living sacrifice.” We do not offer incense on an altar, but instead “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,” just as the typical priests kept the incense continually burning before the Lord.—Rom. 12:1; Heb. 3:1; 13:15;. I Pet. 2:5

Uzziah’s sin was one of presumption. David gives us a prayer as a safeguard against such sins—“Cleanse Thou me from secret faults; keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” (Ps. 19:12,13) Presumptuous sins grow out of small beginnings of pride in the heart.

QUESTIONS

Under what circumstances did Uzziah corns to the throne, and how long did he reign? Was he a good king?

In what ways did the Lord make Uzziah “to prosper”?

What was Uzziah’s great sin, and why was it so displeasing to the Lord?

Why did God forbid all except priests to offer incense?

What prayer did David offer as a safeguard against presumptuous sins?

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