Thursday, June 7, 2012

Uzziah, king of Judah (2 Kings 15:1-7; 2 Chronicles 26)

Uzziah was the son of Amasiah and he began his reign at 16 years old. He had a long reign of 52 years and mostly did what was pleasing to God.

Uzziah sought God's guidance through another Zechariah. Zechariah instructed Uzziah with divine visions.

He fought wars with and defeated the Philistines, Arabs, and Meunites. The Meunites paid him an annual tribute, so the empire of southern kingdom is growing.

He did many public works projects around Jerusalem, including increasing it's fortifications and water supplies.

There was one major blight on his reign. He became proud and although he eagerly sought God, it crossed a line. He entered the inner sanctuary of the temple and burned incense. The high priest and 80 other priests challenged him and told him to leave because he was not a Levite. Uzziah was still holding an incense burner when a spot of leprosy appeared on his forehead. He ran out, but the leprosy remained. He was confined to an isolated room for the rest of his life.

This effectively incapacitated him so his son Jotham took over governorship of the country.

It is sad that he had good reign for a long time and one mistake ruined it. But that said, violating God's ceremonial instructions was a big deal. He actually got off lucky. The sons of Aaron, the first high priest, were struck with a fireball when they violated the rules. Likewise, Eli (Samuel's mentor) lost his legacy as high priest because his kids abused their access to the Tabernacle and Eli did nothing.

There was strict access to God and even the king could not violate it, even if he eagerly sought God.

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