He is a Leper

As you see from the title, the sermon is about an individual. Title is, He is a leper. The first case of leprosy in Scripture happens to also take place at the first actual healing in Exodus. Exodus 4 and verse 6, the actual first case of leprosy was on actually Moses himself. And he actually then put his arm back in and God healed him because the leprosy was something at that time that was very dreaded and it defined who you were and now usually how long you were going to live. We find other lepers in the Scripture. One of note was Miriam, who actually brought that curse upon herself by questioning her brother and the authority of Jesus Christ.

At that time, we know of Naaman, who actually came down from Syria and was actually healed of his leprosy by going into the River Jordan actually seven times. And we also know about Gehizi. Gehizi, who was actually the servant of Elisha, who decided that he wanted to collect on God's goodness and I think we all learned a lesson from that. So, there are actually two whole chapters in Leviticus concerning leprosy. Leviticus 13 and Leviticus 14 goes into great detail about how a priest is supposed to define and look at one's body to determine leprosy and non-eleprosy. It goes into...I read all of it again this week, and it's very meticulous. Seems a little overboard. And then I had to think about why it was given to the priest. It was part of their job to maintain not only the spiritual welfare of the congregations, but also physically to make sure that no one brought something in that would infect or disease the congregation of Israel.

We see in Luke 17 verse 12 a story of 10 lepers. You don't have to turn there. Most of you know that story, Jesus Christ coming through. Lepers cry out to Christ because they couldn't come near Him. And the 10 cried out, and Christ healed them, and only one came back to thank you.

But I would like you to turn, if you will, I'd like you to turn to Matthew 8. Matthew 8. We have a story of a leper where Christ actually did something here that He was not supposed to do. In Matthew 8 verse 1, why am I going into this leprosy? It isn't about the disease today.

It's about the Melchizedek priesthood and all of us who are training for it. And the lessons we will learn today are not only how to be a priest, but how to be a king. Because the Scriptures tell us that our destiny is to be kings and priests in the coming Kingdom of God. Pretty important stuff. And we know that Melchizedek was the first king-slash-priest, and we are following that order, not the Levitical priesthood.

So in Matthew 8 and verse 1 says, When He came down, this Jesus Christ, after He had given the Sermon on the Mount, He came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean by worshiping. Most of theologians say that He actually fell down on His knees before Christ. But knowing He was a leper, He could not touch Christ. Matter of fact, the cities actually hired someone to walk around before the lepers and say, unclean, unclean, so that no one would come near them, so that they would not be infected as they were.

Said then Jesus put His hand, put out His hand, and He did what you weren't supposed to do. He touched Him. No one was supposed to touch a leper. But Jesus Christ healed Him, reached out with the power and faith. I know for many of the ministers back 15, 20 years ago, it was quite an ordeal, finding out about AIDS and how we would have to anoint them and speak with them and so forth without knowing. Of course, we know a lot more about now than we did. But with Jesus Christ, He was a king and a priest. He followed the order of Melchizedek.

And He put His hand out and touched Him and said, I am willing. Be cleansed. And immediately His leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to Him, See that you tell no one, but go your way. Show yourself to the priests and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them, as is listed actually in Leviticus 13 and verse 14. When you were defined as a leper, when you were titled a leper, your family couldn't have anything to do with you.

You could never touch your children again, never touch your wife, you could never be around anyone, you could never go and worship in a sanctuary like this with the rest of the people. You were ostracized, shunned, and it was something that you had to live with because no longer were you your name, your title, you were a leper.

Similar to growing up in this country, studying American history, you find Benedict Arnold as he was the second greatest general in the colonial army at the time next to George Washington, and he actually turned his back on his country and became a traitor. So no longer do you hear about General Benedict Arnold, you hear what? He's a traitor! He was a traitor, similar to Judas, as that name is laid upon him. These are names that you wouldn't necessarily want to have you remembered by, but I'd like to go, if we will now, go with me to 2 Kings 15 and verse 1.

We have a story of a king, a king of Judah, and he went by two different names. One was King Azaria, and the other was King Uzziah, for the sake that will make it simpler and clearer for us today, I will say King Uzziah. But here is King Uzziah, who becomes king at 16 years of age, taking over from his father, who was actually killed. But the interesting part is that Solomon reigned for 40 years. David reigned for 40 years, which was a long time in the reign of kings in Judah.

But we find interesting here that King Uzziah reigned the second longest time of any king in the history of Judah, 52 years. 52 years he reigned. And yet we turn over here to 2 Kings 15 and verses 1 through 5. And in five verses, we see 52 years of his kingdom laid out.

Not much is said. Not much is covered in those years. And that's what caused me to, of course, want to study this. Wow! Here he is, one of the longest reigns in Judean history.

And it can be read in what? Three minutes?

Many others reigned a lot shorter and had a lot more written about them.

So, if we will, let's go there very quickly. 2 Kings 15, verse 1, in the 27th year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, or Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, the king of Judah, became king. He was 16 years old when he became king and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Yekaliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Except, it says that the high places were not removed, the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. Then the Lord struck the king so that he was a leper until the day of his death. So, he dwelt in an isolated house and Jothan the king's son was over the house judging the people of the land. It seemed awfully quick, awfully short history there. And so, I knew the only place we could find besides that would have been in the Second Chronicles. And I'd like you to go there because today I'd like to finish here. I'd like you to comprehend and understand this story of Uzziah and see the lessons that are laid out for us as the future kings and priests of this coming kingdom. Because there are some interesting notes to be taken here, I did a lot of study of at this time. And so, I want us to perhaps understand the lesson that God is laying before all of us today. In 2 Chronicles 26, 2 Chronicles 26, verse 1, it said, Now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amaziah. Amaziah had turned. And so, the people actually accepted his son. Now, we're looking at about 800 to 806 BCE at this time. So, this takes place about 800 years before Jesus Christ comes on the scene. This happened to be about 200 years after King David or King Solomon. But this would have been the great, great grandson of not only David, but also Solomon and Rehoboam as he followed here. So, let's go down and read this, this little history it gives us in 23 verses here. And so, we see Uzziah becoming king at 16 years of age. And verse 2, the very first thing it says here is, He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his father. Elath was a city of the Philistines. As we know, David fought the Philistines. Solomon actually had a bit of a peace time for about 25 years with the Philistines. But, of course, for the last 3,000 years, Philistines, Palestinians, those people that have that area, it's still been a battle. And so, it was at this time because the Philistines still controlled so much of the land east of Jerusalem as they took up near the sea. And all these cities that they constantly battled for and then tried to take over various cities that Judah had. So, he built Elath. It means he restored it because it had been a place they had battled over and he just decided we want to build it up. And Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. And, of course, we already talked about his mother. And he did what was, and here's the thing, right. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 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, do what? Prosper.

Now, it may just be the way they phrase it, but I find that an interesting phrase. Made him prosper.

Anybody ever had to make you prosper?

Made him prosper. He blessed everything that was going on in his life. Because he did what? He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. How about you, future kings?

Are we training and learning to do what is right in the sight of the Lord? And is it possible that God will make us prosper?

It's interesting the way it's laid out there for us. And so in verse 6, Now he went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the walls of Gath, the walls of Jabinet, and the walls of Ashdod, and he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines. So God blessed him, and he just went and said, I'm tired of these people causing our nation issues and problems, and bringing their paganism into Judah and our territory. So let's take it to them, and God blessed him. And these cities, they've been fighting over for decades. And he just went in and took over.

A lot for a 16-year-old young man.

A lot of potential here. Then, verse 7, God helped him against the Philistines.

Can I remind you of David?

Who's this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies of the living God?

Well, maybe there's a little bit of traits that were handed down here.

And then he helped him against the Arabians who lived in Gerbaal and with the Mianites.

And also the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah. And then I want you to think of some... He says, "...his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly." Okay, his fame.

I love what someone wrote one time. There is a great difference between fame and success.

Madonna is successful, but yet, Helen... Madonna is famous, but yet, Helen Keller was successful. It's a big difference in what their goal was or is, and difference of what they sought.

Fame, his fame, was began to be known all around.

And then we see in verse 9, "...and Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate at the valley gate and at the corner buttress of the wall. Then he fortified them." You'll find out by reading chapter 25 that actually his father in his defeat was defeated by Israel. And they came in and took his father prisoner, Amaziah, out on the battlefield and marched back to Judah. And here they're supposed to be their brothers. And Israel's king just tore down the walls of Jerusalem, tore down almost 600 feet of wall, and came in and took prisoners, took all the gold and silver out of the temple, and then took hostages back to Israel.

And so he was soundly defeated. But here we see now that the son, Uzziah, he built all this back and made it not only what it was, but made it even stronger. And we begin to see such prosperity in the land of Judah that had not been seen since the time of Solomon, because God was blessing the king and he was blessing the nation.

And there is a tie there directly to the priesthood also. But let's go to verse 10. So here, Uzziah also built towers in the desert. Well, why would you build a tower in the desert?

He built many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the low lands and in the plains. And he also had farmers and vine dressers in the mountains. And in the, matter of fact, mine says Carmel, but that's a mistranslation. It actually means in the fertile fields. For he loved the soil. So here, not only was he a good king and also someone who had building projects, but he also loved the land and wanted to see the people prosper, wanted to see the land be able to produce, similar to what Solomon did at the time. And so, with this blessing, he was able to dig wells, because this land is not known for water, so you better have God's blessing if you're going to dig a well. He just didn't dig one well. He dug many. He dug many. And he built these towers, and as I was studying these towers, they were tall towers that could have a watchman out there, even with the farmers, because you have the city of Jerusalem, and then outside the walls you had where the farming land was in the little villages that were on the outside. The problem was that there were always Arabians. There were always raiders. Those who came, and they would steal the crops, they would steal the animals. They would steal anything they wanted. They would wait until harvest time, and then they would come in and, well, I'm not going to work. We'll let them do all the work, and then we'll just steal everything. And this happened time and time again. And so here, King Uzziah said, well, then let's build towers at these villages and so forth so we can have a watchman sitting on top so they can see if somebody's coming from miles away. And then we also found out during these towers they would actually build places to run the stock in behind these towers so that all the animals could be protected, and then they could actually have soldiers who were there to protect the farmers who then felt, wow, we're safe. And this was a project that had never been done before, but he decided it's worth doing. And he loved the crops, and he wanted to see irrigation systems were set up. He began to do things that had never been seen or done before in all of Judea. In verse 11, moreover, Uzziah had an army of mighty men, of fighting men, who went out to war by companies according to the number of their role as Verdu JL and the scribe and Hennoniah, one of the king's captains. So we find here that he put together an army unlike they had had before, and that there were times that they were actually given to keep an eye on not only the stock, but you had certain times you would go out. So many countries, so many nations at the time actually just had the army, and you were on all the time. But here he actually had like a role, so you would serve this time, and then you would get rest, and you would serve this time, and you would get rest, and you you begin to see in Judea that people were feeling good, even the soldiers, about being a military person, and that they weren't worked to death. They weren't always having to spend their time to succeed. In verse 12, the total number of chief officers of the mighty men of Valor was 2,600. So he had three head leaders, then under that were 2,600 officers. And so it was a very disciplined, it was very well-run military. There was training, and it says there, and under their hand was an army of 307,500 that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.

When you go back and study the history, they actually called this a military machine. They moved, unlike Israel had ever and Judah had ever moved before. They protected, they were a step above everything on the planet at the time, which made all the people feel well, feel good. But then something is done here, as it says in verse 14. It said, Then Uzziah prepared for them for the entire army shields. And these were not just average shields. They were the best that had ever been built before. And what do you do when you give an army the best that's ever been made? You make them feel really good about themselves. You make sure that they're just not given whatever the handoffs from the previous war was. And so here he was actually putting the money back into his military. He said, shields, spears, helmets, and body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones. And verse 15, And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and corners to shoot arrows and large stones. You know what's interesting? We're talking about catapults.

Catapults in around 800 BC, which actually showed up, was showing up 400 years before the Greeks were supposed to have invented them, which were eventually used by the Romans. So as Solomon was given great wisdom, and God blessed him, so was Uzziah. Not only his military, so here they had weapons that had not been seen before. It had never been built before. After he was done, they would not be built for another 300-400 years.

You see the blessing when God is behind you?

Agriculture, building projects, military. Everything went right. Everything was going right. This was one impressive king. This was one very intelligent individual, even as a young man. Everything he touched turned to gold because God blessed him. What an incredible king.

But, as they say, some things do not last. So his fame spread far and wide. Remember fame? How fleeting it can be, and how fame can begin to change people that pride. You begin to think that it's you, and you forget. And so many kings, just like Solomon, lost it, didn't he? And now we have the time of Uzziah, who would be promised those wonderful gifts. So his fame spread far, and he was marvelously helped till, it says, he became strong. Till he became strong. What's wrong with that? Don't we want to be strong? Well, let's go down to verse 16. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up. So here we have a king that is beginning to turn. He's beginning to change. And not only this gifted individual, but he can't see.

He's beginning to be blinded by all the gifts, all the blessings, all the talents he's been given. When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

So he's deciding that God doesn't know what he's doing, and that he's a king, and now he wants to be a priest. But he's no Melchizedek. He's no Jesus Christ.

And we begin to see maybe why God could not put both those things in one person's hand.

And how we will have to prove ourselves that we are qualified to be kings and priests. Because we have the calling. But will we? Will we be like King Uzziah and begin to think we know a little bit more than God? Or in his case, maybe a lot more.

So he wanted to enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense. So what's interesting here is you can find in the antiquity of the Jews by Josephus as he mentions this event, and says, on this day it happened to be the Day of Atonement.

And you also see, it doesn't mention in the scriptures except, of course, in Amos and Isaiah, that the timing of this was one of the largest earthquakes that had ever happened or took place in Judah. Earthquakes so large, so devastating, though it didn't kill many people. They tore down so many altars, tore down so many things. That the only thing that God compares that earthquake with at that time of King Uzziah is the earthquake that's going to take place the day that Jesus Christ sets his feet on the Mount of Olives. You find that in Zechariah 14. He compares it to this time. It shows how big of an event it was. So verse 17, so Azariah, that's the reason we wanted to change his name from Azariah to Uzziah because the high priest in Jerusalem at that time, his name was Azariah. So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were 80 priests of the Lord who were valiant men. So here we see the king and the priest, the state and the state of religion.

Except you have to understand, said 80 valiant priests followed Azariah in there to stop the king. Now you'd say, well, you know, that's 80 against one. Oh no, you had to realize we just read about the military that the king had just given him everything they could want. He had them whatever he said do, they would do. If he said, wipe out this whole priesthood, they would wipe out the whole priesthood and not think anything about it. So you talk about valiant men who knew this was wrong, and they withstood him, knowing they could very easily be slaughtered. Many priests had been slaughtered before for less. But here they stood before this almighty king.

In verse 18, he said, 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. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. You shall have no honor from the Lord God. Then Uzziah became what? Furious. How dare you? How dare you? Do you not realize just how great I am? The power I have? 307,000 men to come in and just wipe you out. He was furious that these priests, who did they think they were? That they could question the king!

Furious. But the king had gone rogue. The king had gone rogue, hadn't he? King was doing things that kings were not to do. Just like at times, kings had to get rid of priests, who when priests wouldn't do what they're supposed to do.

God has a plan for his kingdom, where the kings are the priests. And the kings have a, not only a governing responsibility, but a spiritual responsibility to teach. Why is it so important we know this Bible? Because it says the words live forever. And the kings and priests that I am, future kings and priests I am looking at today, will be teaching from this same word 5,000 years, 10,000 years from now.

These words, these lessons, that's how important it is. And we must understand just how big of a deal this event was. And that's why God had such an earthquake happen. It's never happened since in Judea until hopefully we will all experience that day when Jesus Christ sets his feet on the Mount of Olives and sees that happen. Then, Uzziah became furious. The training you are doing as a king, are you learning to not be furious? Are you learning to be the type of king that's benevolent? Are you learning to govern with love and peace, but also with a firm hand? Are we learning that? Are we learning about being a priest and being able to stand up when no one else will stand? Or knowing the difference between right and wrong, and not being afraid to say it, even in this world where paganism is just accepted as the standard today in the United States of America? Are we kind of embarrassed? Or are we valiant, as this says to us here?

Read an interesting statement many years ago, and I hope all of us, because it stuck with me, I wrote it down. I don't even remember where I came across it. But it says, God has given some of us oars. O-A-R-S. God has given some of us oars.

For we cannot live with or control ourselves with a sale. S-A-I-L. God wants us to have sales, not just oars. But as we can see, He cannot give us sales till we can handle oars. And we are in control of ourselves, and we are the kings and priests that He guess tends us to be. Let's go on as we this up in verse 19. And so, Isaiah had a censoring in his hand to burn incense while he was just walking right up there to the temple, and he was walking inside with a sense. He was like...and he had just been insulted, just been withstood by these priests.

And while he was angry...so not only was he furious, now he was even angrier, you know, because, get out of my way! While he was angry with the priest, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priest in the house of the Lord beside the incense altar. When it actually is given in the original Hebrew, it actually is translated that this leprosy, as he's standing there with this, you know, his robe, his crown, and everything here standing before the priest with the censoring in his hand, that actually says that leprosy rose from him, which explains, as they were explaining in the article, that it was probably all consuming him, and just came up and rose till it came up on his forehead.

And they actually described it as a spot of like dead skin, white soft pussy that would just fall off if you think of this, what is this, TV show, living dead night, what's that called, walking, see, you should know what that is. I've never seen it, but I've seen the commercials, and it's enough. And, you know, just stuff falling. I mean, that's what this is. This was something that the priests were like, and of course, the king couldn't see it. He was angry, how dare them, and all of a sudden they're looking.

And by this time, probably over his entire body.

And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked at him, and there on his forehead was leprous. So they thrust him out of the place. Indeed, he also hurried to get out because the Lord destroyed him. I'd say by that time now, he began to see, was skin just falling off of his hands that held that sensor? Was things beginning to fall from his forehead as dead skin and mucus and various things came before his mouth as he was spitting them out, as he was beginning to, what in the world? Because God was not there to play. What a lesson for us. God didn't call us to play. This is serious with God because we represent the future. This king represented the future, and he turned his back and said, King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death, verse 21. He dwelt in an isolated house because he was a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord, no more to go worship. He was cut off. Isn't it interesting? To the temple of God was a king who came to the temple, an arrogant king, and left a humble leper.

All happened one day. A person's life changes one day. A destiny that he had been promised, everything he'd been given changed in one day. You know, that can happen to any of us. Hmm?

Have too much to drink tonight in a car and decide you're just going to run down to the store to get another bottle of wine, and you hit someone and kill them. Not their fault. It's yours. You didn't mean to. Your life forever changes in one moment, one day. Good lesson for us.

God did not want this to happen to King Uzziah, and neither does he want anything to happen to any of us so that we cannot fulfill our destiny. We cannot fulfill what God wants us to fulfill, even at this time in life today. His story says that King Uzziah lived 10 more years as a leper in this place by himself. Ten years! Not being able to see your family, not being able to spend time around anyone. The occasional servants, as they actually had sticks back then, had long sticks that they would actually serve food with. And they actually had wooden plates, real thin plates that the people would eat off, not the nice bowls that were able to be used by so many people. And these long sticks would then run food into the king, at which time then they would come pull it back out and burn that stick and burn those things that they had eaten on. Water was something that lepers craved since their body was just deteriorating off of their bones. And they desired water, but then they would only be able to take so much water and be able to run it into them in this way, even though he was the king. So let's go and wrap this up today. It's not a long sermon. And in verse 22, it says, Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah from first to last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, were the king's. So Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial, which belongs to the kings. Instead of being buried in a tomb, as the kings were, the good kings, and he was considered a good king, minus the mistake.

But they could not put that because people went to visit these tombs, and it was leprosy. So they actually had to bury him in a field near where the great kings were then buried in large tombs. Except, they said there was a problem here because he was a leper.

That they actually had to burn everything about him. His clothes, his anything that he had in that house. This was the king's mansion. They had to come in and destroy it, burn it, and they burnt everything off of his bones. So there was nothing left, so that then they felt like they could then put it in a box and bury it in a field.

And they buried it so that no one at that time or even to this day knows where he's buried in that field. It was such a disgrace, such an abomination to be a leper, and that this was a king because of what he'd done. So it says then, in verse 23, So he rested with his father, they buried him with his fathers in a field, a burial that belonged to the king. For they said, He is a leper. He is a leper. Not he was a king. He was a great man. He was a kind father. He was a wonderful husband.

No. He invented all these things. He was one of the brightest minds of his time, and yet all he is known for is he is a leper.

The two lessons in one, a king and a priest. Brethren, how will you finish?

He started out great, but he finished bad.

He is remembered by his finish, not by how he started. Samson is remembered by his finish, not that much from where he started. What will we? How about you? As a king and priest in the future, will you be remembered how you finished? Will it be like King Uzziah? Or will it be that there lies a saint?

Or here is a king and a priest.

We have the choice. We can gain this world, but lose the one to come. We make that choice every single day when we get out of bed. God has called us, he has sanctified us, he has blessed us, and he wants to glorify us.

It's up to us.

Let's make sure that we don't gain this world and lose the one to come.