The Tragic Mistake of King Uzziah

Brethren, yesterday we finished the seven days of unleavened bread that finishes the spring feasts. The next one around the corner will be in the summertime. That'll be Pentecost. And there's always a time for everything. There's time for Passover, preparing for it. There's time for unleavened bread and preparing for that, removing the leavening. And now that lesson has been learned, hopefully, and we must proceed forward. And so this is a new message. It doesn't have to do with the days of unleavened bread. We've already covered that. God gave us the time, seven days, to meditate on that. But I want to cover a biblical personage, a person that struck me when I read his story in the Old Testament, because it's a real lesson for all of us. It's something that can apply in our lives, and we don't want to end up as he did. He started out well. He had a wonderful sterling record, but toward the end he stumbled and didn't make the cut. And so I was struck by his story and his tragic mistake. And so I'm going to talk to you about one of those biblical kings of Judah. His name is Uzziah. He had a great lineage. His grandfather had been faithful. His father had been faithful. And he started out very faithful. Now, Uzziah is not your typical biblical person that you're going to think about. Who is he? Most of us really don't focus on Uzziah very much at all. But God put that biography, the story of his life, because it's important spiritually for the lessons that it can apply. And just remember what it tells us in Romans chapter 15, in verse 4, Romans chapter 15, verse 4. It says, for whatever things were written before, talking about in the Old Testament, were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. So God did not put any of these stories just on the whim or something capricious at all. It was because there are important spiritual lessons for us. And as you will see, it's a very interesting story, and it has important lessons like I'm mentioning for all of us today. What happened to this good king? What was his mistake? It's important because we can also fall into the same mistake if we are careless. Maybe it's already happened to us, and maybe an awareness of it will help us to change and repent before it's too late.

Now, before I go into the two accounts, because it's found in 2 Kings as well as 2 Chronicles, so it mentions his life in those two books, I want to give you a little bit of background. It will help us understand it better. As I mentioned, he came from the best pedigree you could get. His grandfather, Joash, and his father, Amisiah, had done what was right before God. So you can call him a third generation of righteous person. Not too many of all the kings of Israel, very few. After Saul and then David and Solomon, when it was divided up into the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, basically 20 kings in Israel and 20 kings of Judah, not one is mentioned in the Bible as far as the house of Judah is concerned. Not one of those kings is mentioned as following God's way. And only eight out of the 20 of the house of Judah are mentioned about following God's ways, and even they had a checkered record, as Isaiah is one of those.

Let's go to 2 Kings chapter 14. 2 Kings chapter 14. We're going to start with the summary there. This is the short account. The longest account is in 2 Chronicles, but it says here in 2 Kings chapter 14, let's go into the family lineage first. 2 Kings chapter 14 verse 1. It says, in the second year of Joash, the son of Jehoah has king of Israel. Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, became king. And so here we have Joash, king of Judah.

Amaziah was the son of Joash. And it talks about Amaziah. He was 25 years old when he became king. And he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoadan of Jerusalem. Normally, when the Bible mentions the mother, it's because he did follow a righteous way. And it shows importance of a mother in the family and the children's conversion. If the mother is strong in the faith, many times the children stick to it.

Verse 3. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David. He did everything as his father Joash had done. So he wasn't quite like David as faithful. And he mentions verse 4, the reason. However, the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. And this was prohibited by God. And they were basically taking these old churches that the Canaanites had set up in these peaks of the mountains. And they basically took it over, and then they said, well, let's worship God in these high places. And David did not do that. So then, after it mentions here about his father, let's go to verse 19, what happened to Amisiah. Verse 19, it says, And they formed a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there. So Amisiah, Uzziah's father, was assassinated. Then they brought him on horses, and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amisiah. So in 2 Kings, Amisiah was the normal name, but when he became king, he became Uzziah, which is called the throne name. It's the name when they're already on the throne. And it says, He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his fathers.

And so then we go to 2 Kings verse 25, because it's very interesting. During the reign of Uzziah, Jonah the prophet rose up and gave this prophecy in 2 Kings 14, 25. It says, He restored the territory of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabun, according to the word of the Lord of Israel, which he had spoken through his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet who was from Gath, Heifer. This is the Jonah that wrote the book, the book of Jonah. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel was very bitter, and whether bond or free, there was no helper for Israel. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash. And so God gave them a certain period of peace, even if they didn't deserve it. And it's a time of prosperity. So when Uzziah takes over, there is this period of renewal, a lot of commerce. So Uzziah was able to be blessed with no great invaders at that time. Let's go on to 2 Kings chapter 15 and verse 1. It says, In the 27th year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah, who was Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, became king. He was 16 years old when he became king. Remember, his father was assassinated. And he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem, very long, more than half a century as a king. His mother's name was Jekoliah of Jerusalem. So this must be, again, good child rearing practices, a mother who fears God and helps her children stay in the faith.

And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father, Amaziah, had done. Except 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 Jotham, the king's son, was over the royal house judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Azariah or Uzziah, as you will see, in all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So this is talking about the other book in the Bible, the book of chronicles. So Azariah rested with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. Then Jotham, his son, reigned in his place. If we had only that account, there wouldn't be much to give you about the sermon. But it's 2 Chronicles where you get all the details. Why did he become a leper? What happened here? So now we go to 2 Chronicles 26. It's the following books here. We got 1 Chronicles and then 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles 26 in verse 1. This Azariah is mentioned as Uzziah. 2 Chronicles 26 starting in verse 1. Now all the people of Judah, when the father had been assassinated, took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his father. So one of the great achievements was to take the port of Eloth, which today is called Eloth, right there on the Gulf of Aqaba. It's that port that opens up to the Gulf of Aqaba. And so he was able to establish commerce with Africa, with Arabia, and also with India. Because before that, they just used the Mediterranean Sea. But now they had this Gulf of Aqaba where they could do trading, and this greatly enriched the nation. That's why it's mentioned here as something so important. Then it goes on to say in verse 3, Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jekylliah of Jerusalem. So you see it's the same account of the person. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. And you can add Joash as well, his grandfather. 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 prosper. So here we see a mention of how Uzziah was able to continue in the faith. He had a mentor. The mentor's name was Zechariah, and he was a faithful man, and he taught this young king to follow God. So Uzziah was very fortunate to have an instructor, an example, and also someone who could correct him while he was a young man of 16. So it says here that as long as he followed Zechariah, he remained in the faith. Things were going well.

Verse 6 tells us a little more about his exploits. Now he went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabner, and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities around Ashdod and among the Philistines. So he became so powerful now that the Philistines as enemies, he was able to go in there and basically knock those walls down so they no longer have protection. And he basically said, don't fool with us, or we'll come in here and we'll just destroy your city because you no longer have that protective wall around. And by the way, in the city of Ashdod, archaeological digs there have shown that around the time of Aziah, there was a destruction of this town and the walls. So there's actual evidence during that time of a destruction of the walls there in Ashdod. Verse 7, God helped him against the Philistine. So who did it? God was there. He was following God's way. He was receiving God's favor and help against the Arabians who lived in Gourbal and against the Maimonides. Also, the Ammonites brought tribute to Aziah. He became so powerful that some of these surrounding nations said, we better not fool with him. We better pay him so he won't invade us. And his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong. This was a strong nation. Nobody wanted to mess with King Uzziah.

Then it wasn't just protecting the nation that he did all of this. He set up that key port for commerce so the economy boomed. And then he basically went into these enemy areas and really gave him a thrashing so that they would not invade Israel. He protected his borders. But not only that, but now he started doing building projects inside of the nation to improve their economy, their living conditions. And he says 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. So he made sure Jerusalem was well protected. Verse 10, and he built towers in the desert. So it wasn't just in Jerusalem, but in some of these areas, the border, he actually had towers there where guards could be there to warn of any type of invaders that would come.

And then it says, he dug many wells, for he had much livestock. So he improved the water supply, because in Israel it's very limited. Both in the lowlands and in the plains, he developed all kinds of aqueducts and wells. He also had farmers and vine dressers in the mountains and in Carmel. This is the southern, not the northern Carmel. For he loved the soil. So he loved agriculture. It's great when you have a king that isn't just sitting there in his palace, but he is out there improving the land, putting wells in, helping grow more crops in the land. People are very appreciative of that. Verse 11, Moreover, Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies, according to the number of their role as prepared by Jetho the scribe and Masiah the officer under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. So he had a very orderly army, ready at any moment to gather together in companies and be able to resist the enemy. The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of Valor was 2,600, and under their authority was an army of 307,500 that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. So again, he fortified. It was a good time, a prosperous time in Israel, and they had a righteous king. Verse 14, Then Uzziah prepared for them for the entire army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings to cast stones. Usually, in many of these periods of time, the soldiers had to procure everything for themselves. But here, the prosperity was such that the king could equip them. So that was a big help. Most people were farmers, but now the king provided them with all the armor and weapons that they needed to defend the country.

Verse 15, And he made devices in Jerusalem, invented by skillful men to be on the top on the towers and under corners, to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped, talking about by God, till he became strong. Something happened at that moment. By the way, if any of you ever get to visit the British Museum over there in London, you will see some wall reliefs from the Assyrian palace. And these are actually made out of marble or very beautiful carvings. And it actually shows one of the cities that Uzziah fortified, Lake-ish, and the Assyrians picture the invasion of the Assyrians taking the city of Lake-ish. And it's so interesting that you will see the wall depiction, and you'll see these Lake-ish being taken. And what do you see? You see devices on the towers where they had these types of ramp parts or wooden platforms. And then outside they would have shields and protection. So the men could actually go out and they had a bird's-eye view. And they could be shooting at the enemies. And you actually see that type of invention that actually is real. It's something that you can see. And anybody wants to look it up? British Museum, the siege at Lake-ish, and watch those towers and see how they had these platforms in place. So everything looked very well at the time until he became strong. And now we're coming to Josiah's terrible and tragic mistake. Verse 8, 16. But when he was strong, oh, he counted his men. He looked how powerful he was. His heart was lifted up to his destruction. So it was heady stuff to be a successful king. And of course, he had all of these sycophants and all of these adulators. And they were saying how wonderful he was. And he started believing he was so wonderful. And that he could take a certain license to do things that it wasn't lawful for him to do. So what he did was he exceeded his authority. He went beyond what God had given him as a king. And it says here, For he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. So here was a king acting like a high priest now, going into the temple area. And he presenting the incense instead of the high priest and the Aaronic priesthood. Now, it is true that all of the surrounding nations, from what we know of history and archaeology, from all the inscriptions, the kings that were in the surrounding areas, they went into their temples and they burned incense to their false gods. That included the Pharaoh in Egypt. It included the king of Babylon, the king of Assyria. It was only in Israel. And you could not have both positions of being the king and being the high priest. God always separated the two. It's a separation of power. You don't combine it because then you have only one person in charge of everything. And of course, if he goes off the deep end, he takes everybody with him. So at least here you had a check and balance that the high priest was in charge of the religious duties. And the king was in charge of the government and the secular forces. So there's always been checks and balances. God hasn't put all power in just one person. And even David, with all that God gave him, David could not be high priest. So none of the kings of Israel had that authority. And no high priest could also be the king at the same time. Only the Messiah would have both positions. And so what happened? Verse 17, So Ezra, the priest, went in after him. All of a sudden the king came with his entourage, and he's out there. He's basically saying, Get out of my way. I'm going to offer incense to God. I'm more important than you. I get now to be a rule or a law into myself.

To the high priest's credit, he stood his ground. So Ezraiah the priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, valiant men. Stand up to the king. You can get your head lopped off real quick. But no, they were the ones that had the religious responsibility. And the king had the secular responsibility. And 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.

Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. In other words, you are sinning. You shall have no honor from the Lord God. This is not going to please God at all. And then, on top of Uzziah's presumptuousness to do something like this, now he got into a fury. He lost his temper. These men were trying to prevent him from making even a graver mistake.

And he just went right ahead, had a temper tantrum. It says, Then Uzziah became furious. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. So here's this spoiled king who thought, well, I'm a law to myself. Now I can change doctrines. I can change the laws of God. We've seen that happen before, where somebody gets filled with pride and power and things. They can change God's laws. And by the way, let's look here and keep a finger in 2 Chronicles 26.

And let's go to number 16, because this same situation happened back in the time of the book of Numbers. Numbers 16 and verse 10. Numbers 16 verse 10. This is the chapter of Korah's rebellion. He was a Levi. Korah was. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to be a priest as well. Not only officiate and help, but he wanted to be like the sons of Aaron. And so in Numbers 16 verse 10, it says, And he has brought you near to himself, you and all your brethren, Moses is talking, the sons of Levi, with you.

And are you seeking the priesthood also? So some people, it's never enough. Not enough power. They want to be over more. And that's the same ways we learned about Satan. He wasn't satisfied with his position and filling it. No, he wanted to have more authority. And so Korah did the same thing. And of course, they were destroyed.

In verse 39, this is the conclusion of the matter. It says, So people forget we are subject to God's law. It doesn't matter what position you have. We're all under the same laws. Nobody has a right to violate them or change them. We can just choose whether to obey them or not, to be faithful or not. And so in 2 Chronicles 26, here's the end of the story of Isaiah in verse 19. Then Isaiah became furious, and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry, see, that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

That's where God said, this person is not redeemable. And the punishment came right on him. He says, a leprosy broke out on his forehead. Before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altered, he had gone all the way into the temple. And as Uriah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked at him, and there on his forehead he was leprosy. He started turning white. The forehead was becoming scaly white, and that leprosy was spreading. And as you know, leprosy is one of the most terrible diseases. It will cover your whole body, and eventually you'll lose your feeling on your members, and eventually it will all just start falling off.

He says he was a leper, so they thrust him out of that place. Was he still mad? I don't think so. He was shocked. He didn't think God was going to intervene. He didn't know who he was working for. Indeed, he also hurried to get out. Yeah, he knew he'd made a big mistake, because the Lord had struck him.

Just like the leavened bread puffs up, he had that leavening inside of him, that pride, that vanity. And did he ever pay a price? King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death.

He dwelt in an isolated house, because this is contagious. And so he couldn't even have people over, because he was a leper. For he was cut off from the house of the Lord, then Jotham, his son, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

Now the rest of the Acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos, wrote, because Isaiah was a contemporary of Uzziah. Verse 23, So Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial, which belonged to the kings. For they said, he is a leper. And so he wasn't even buried with the plots of the king of Israel. He was buried on an adjacent field. And it's very interesting if you look it up in the internet. Back a couple of years ago, they actually found what they call an epitaph, which is the tombstone with the words, Here are the bones of Uzziah. Do not touch.

And so that was back, they say, around the time of Christ. So apparently the bones were shifted to another place where they said, here we moved them to this place, but it's Uzziah. And he was a leper. Don't touch this place. So it's a warning. So what lessons can we learn? There are four lessons from his life that we can learn. Number one is the importance of having a mentor. Too bad Zachariah was not around during that time. He would have told him, don't do this. Bad idea.

And so Zachariah was an instructor, an example, a corrector when necessary. And we need mentors to guide us. Maybe it's your pastor, maybe it's an elder, a deacon, a close friend in the church that really cares about you. Not for their benefit, but for your own. Have a mentor. Check things out before you are going to make a big decision. Sometimes it can be damaging to you. I'm not talking about what color your house should be painted or what kind of car color. It used to be that used to, some ministers even micromanage people that way. We're not talking about this. But something that has to do with spiritual values might be good to consult. The last message of encouragement that I've had several mentors in my life, and Victor Kubik is one, and before him it was Dennis Luker. Leanne Luker can attest to that. I was at his home when he got real sick and ended up in the hospital, but I tell you it was an honor to be there with him. And the last message of encouragement that Dennis Luker gave us as part of the Council of Elders at that time, and the church as a whole. I'll never forget that last message. It was titled, Seven Spiritual Reasons Why the Church Will Thrive in the Work It is Doing. Seven Reasons Why the Church Will Thrive in the Work It is Doing. I thought, how can anybody tell us that, yeah, we're going to go forward and it's going to thrive? He had that confidence, and he gave us seven reasons. Number one, because we love God with our whole heart, and God's love never fails. First Corinthians 13, 2 through 8. Number two, because we look to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior to guide us. Matthew 28, 18 through 20. By the way, I didn't know whether Leanne was going to be here or not. I had already prepared this before. Number three, because we are totally committed to do the work of God as long as He gives us life. John 4, 34. Number four, because we strongly desire to grow spiritually and truly love one another. He believed in the church. He believed in all of us. John 13, 34. Number five, because of the fervent prayers and support of the many brethren around the world. James 5, 15 through 16. Number six, because of our incredibly faithful pastors and hundreds of elders steadfast in serving the brethren. We have approximately 400 elders in the church serving around the world. And number seven, because of an incredibly talented and dedicated staff of workers. Romans 16, the list of the co-workers in Christ. So we need mentors like that. Number two, the second lesson. God blesses those that submit totally to Him and obey His holy laws. God blesses those that submit totally to Him and obey His holy laws.

Number three, remember success is conditional. Huziah, spoiled by his success, took on more authority than what was given. So it's not just starting well, but it is ending well that truly counts. And humility is the antidote to pride. Hebrews 3 verse 12. Hebrews 3 verse 12.

Through 14.

It says, Verse oil.

One another daily.

We have a partnership with Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. See, there's an if there. It's conditional. It's not automatic. In the fourth lesson and final one, there is always room for repentance. Huziah ended up staying in that house. We don't read like many others who repented, who turned back to God. No, it just says he was in there isolated, probably full of bitterness. Oh, people have ostracized me. Look at all I could have done. Me, me, and me. But it is never too late to admit mistakes and to repent. Other kings did so. David is a great example. He committed very grievous sins, but he repented. He can't turn back to God, and he was forgiven. We have Rehoboam, Solomon's son. He didn't start out very well, and when he was punished, he repented. God did not bring about many of the curses upon him. And then we have Manasseh, one of the worst kings. But he repented, and God brought him back from a prison where he'd been captured and brought back. And God even healed Hezekiah. He had sent Isaiah to tell Hezekiah, he's going to die from this disease. And Hezekiah started pleading with him, and guess what? God said, he has been a faithful servant. I will have mercy on him. And Isaiah was already leaving the palace, and God said, turn around, go back and say you're going to be healed. I heard you. I heard your repentance. I heard your cries, and I'm going to grant you 15 more years. And he did.

Therefore, brethren, we have gone over the life of King Uzziah. And there are many lessons to be learned. Now we have to apply them in our lives. Do we seek out a good mentor, or we think we don't need anybody? We can decide on our own. Do we truly believe God blesses us if we fully submit to Him? Do we avoid getting prideful? Do we humble ourselves before others? And finally, do we believe there is always room for repentance? It's never too late to change course. Brethren, our spiritual lives can depend on our answers. And we can learn from the mistakes of others, like the mistakes of King Uzziah. And be able to then be one of those that avoided falling into a terrible mistake.