And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
Amaziah's reign ended in flight and murder, and the people of Judah crowned a boy of sixteen in his place. That one verse opens a reign of fifty-two years, which began with God's help and ended in leprosy.
The people had to act because Amaziah's own subjects had killed him. Chronicles supplies the reason that the parallel account in Kings leaves out.
This same unfaithfulness is the cause of Amaziah's tragic death. Our chapter only tells us that they conspired against him at Jerusalem, and that he fled to Lachish. They sent men after him to kill him. They brought him on horses to bury him with his fathers in the city of David. But Chronicles gives us the solemn reason for this drama: "From the time that Amaziah turned aside from following the LORD, they made a conspiracy against him."
The verse says the people took Uzziah and made him king. One writer sees a direct choice by the nation, not a routine handover, and explains why the people were free to make it.
He seems to have come to the throne, not by ordinary succession, but by the direct choice of the people. The Syrians had destroyed the princes toward the close of his grandfather Joash's reign (2 Chron. 24:23), which left the people a free hand… Princes who selfishly "seek their own" things cannot judge rightly. A needy, suffering people turn by instinct to a deliverer. Their choice here of Azariah was a good one, as what followed proved.
His youth made the task harder, and it made the help he received clearer.
He was crowned king when he was only a youth of sixteen. His responsible position was especially difficult for one so young. He filled it well, however, for the fear of God was before his eyes. The history tells us that "God helped him." Indeed, God gave him this help in such a marked way that we read a second time how "he was marvelously helped, till he was strong" (2 Chron. 26:7, 15).
A few lines later his mother is named, and her name carries a hope:
His mother's name, Jah will enable, might show that she had godly expectations for her son, through the help of God. And in this she would not be disappointed.
The same king appears under two names in Scripture, and commentators differ on why. One writer treats the two names as near equivalents:
He is called Azariah — "helped by Jehovah" — elsewhere in Scripture. The names were so close in meaning that both were used for him.
Another writer argues the difference is deliberate:
The meaning of the two names is not exactly the same. Azariah means "Jehovah helps," Uzziah, "My strength is Jehovah." May it not be that Azariah was his real name? After his daring entry into the sanctuary (2 Chron. 26:16-20), he was struck with lifelong leprosy. His name may then have been deliberately changed to the related Uzziah — "My strength is Jehovah" — to mark that the "help" he had received had depended on his relation to the LORD.
The next thing recorded is recovery, not conquest: a city won back for Judah.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, took the throne of Judah when he was only 16 years old and reigned for 52 years. The first thing mentioned about him is the positive good work of building the city of Elath, bringing it back under Judah's authority. This was a good beginning. He did right in the Lord's eyes, as did his father Amaziah in the early stages of his reign.
The chapter that opens so well closes with a king struck by leprosy. The turning point was not hardship but success.
The same evil was in Uzziah as in Amaziah; only it showed itself in a different way. Amaziah's heart was lifted up, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. When Uzziah was strong, he sinned by going into the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar. How often prosperity tests the saints of God far more than adversity does!
- Helped. A boy of sixteen took a throne emptied by murder. The record of his early years is short: God helped him, and helped him twice over.
- Chosen. The people themselves took him and made him king. Their choice, made in a weak hour for the nation, proved a good one.
- Named. Azariah means "Jehovah helps." Uzziah means "My strength is Jehovah." Writers differ on whether the names are simply interchangeable or whether the change marked his fall.
- Begun well. His first recorded act was recovery: he built Elath and brought it back under Judah's authority.
- Strong — and lost. The help lasted "till he was strong." Then that strength undid him: he walked into the temple to burn incense. Prosperity tests more than defeat ever does.
It was he that built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.
Uzziah became king of Judah at sixteen, chosen by the people themselves. The one act recorded of his first years is a building project at a distant port. That small note says a great deal about how his reign began.
Uzziah did not inherit the crown in the usual way. One writer links this to the loss of Judah's princes years earlier:
He seems to have come to the throne not by ordinary succession, but by the direct choice of the people. The Syrians had destroyed the princes toward the close of his grandfather Joash's reign (2 Chron. 24:23), and that left the people a free hand… If princes selfishly "seek their own" interests, they cannot judge rightly. But a needy, suffering people turn by instinct to a deliverer. Their choice of Azariah here was a good one, as the outcome proved.
Eloth (also spelled Elath) was an old harbour with a long history. It had slipped out of Judah's hands generations before Uzziah's birth:
Uzziah built Eloth and restored that important harbour to Judah (2 Kings 14:22). From Eloth and Ezion-Geber Solomon's ships had gone to Ophir (1 Kings 9:26-28; 2 Chron. 8:17-18). Eloth probably became independent too in the days of Joram (also called Jehoram) of Judah, when Edom revolted.
One reference work pins down where it stood:
A seaport town at the far north of the Gulf of Aqaba branch of the Red Sea. It is first mentioned during the wanderings of the Israelites. Later it was part of Solomon's kingdom. Nearby, at Ezion-geber, he had a fleet of ships… Elath is now called Aqaba and is in Jordan. It is that country's only seaport.
The verse says he "built" a place that already existed. One writer takes it as rebuilding and fortifying, and reads it as a sign of what the reign would become:
His first recorded work was the building, enlargement, or fortification of Eloth (Elath), and its restoration to the crown of Judah. That work was an early pledge of the great industrial prosperity of his reign… It was a seaport on the Red Sea, near Ezion-geber (1 Kings 9:26). It must have been a very important trading centre for the extensive trade of his administration.
The port did not stay in Judah's hands:
He recovered Elath for Judah and restored it. This city, and all the territory of Edom it belonged to, had once been under David's rule and part of Solomon's kingdom… After Azariah it did not stay in Judah's hands for long. Sixty-eight years later, Rezin the king of Syria took it back (2 Kings 16:6).
One writer sets this first act beside his father Amaziah's early years:
The first thing mentioned about him is the positive good work of building the city of Elath, bringing it back under Judah's authority. This was a good beginning. He did right in the Lord's eyes, as did his father Amaziah in the early stages of his reign (v. 4).
Another writer traces where that beginning led:
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, walks with the Lord for a long time and prospers. Judah grows stronger, and everything the king undertakes succeeds. "But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction" (ESV; the older translation reads "his heart was lifted up"). He takes the priestly office on himself, and God's hand strikes him with leprosy.
In 2 Kings this same king is called Azariah. One writer explains why both names fit him:
He is called Azariah ("helped by Jehovah") elsewhere. The two names mean nearly the same thing, so either one could be used of him.
- Chosen. The people, not a court of princes, put a sixteen-year-old on the throne. The outcome proved their choice a good one.
- Recovered. Eloth was no new city. It was an old Red Sea port of Solomon's, lost when Edom revolted under Joram. "Built" here means won back and fortified.
- Promising. This first act was an early pledge of the trade and prosperity that would mark Uzziah's long reign.
- Temporary. What he regained slipped away again — sixty-eight years later Rezin of Syria took the port back.
- Unfinished. A good beginning is only a beginning. The same king who won a city back later grew proud in his strength, and God struck him with leprosy.
Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
Three plain facts open one of the longest reigns in Judah's history: a boy of sixteen, fifty-two years on the throne, and a mother named beside him. They raise the question the rest of the chapter answers — what happens to a man who starts well and then gets fifty years of success?
One writer notes how rare this length of reign was, and finds meaning in the mother's name:
His was the longest continuous reign of any of the kings of Judah. Manasseh reigned fifty-five years, but the king of Babylon removed him from the throne and carried him away captive, so his reign was interrupted. His mother's name, Jah will enable, might show that she had godly expectations for her son, by the help of God. And in this she would not be disappointed, for it is said that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done — that is, during the earlier part of his reign.
Sixteen is young for such a weight, and the record shows he carried it:
You may recall that Uzziah was one of the descendants of David who reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. He was crowned king when he was only a youth of sixteen. His responsible position was especially difficult for one so young. He, however, filled it well, for the fear of God was before his eyes, and we learn from the history that "God helped him." In fact God helped him so markedly that we read a second time how "he was marvelously helped, till he was strong" (2 Chron. 26:7, 15).
The same man appears in Scripture under different names, which can confuse a reader moving between books:
Uzziah is a solemn example of a man who walked well until he became "strong." God had not chosen him for priestly service, yet he tried to take it on. His history shows the truth that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 2 Chr. 26:1-23; Isa. 1:1; Hosea 1:1; Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5. He is called AZARIAH in 2 Kings 14:21; 2 Kings 15:1-27; 1 Chr. 3:12; and OZIAS in Matt. 1:8-9.
A long reign is a long test. The same evil that brought down his father appeared in Uzziah too, in another form:
The same evil was in Uzziah as in Amaziah; only it showed itself in a different way. Amaziah was lifted up in heart, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. When Uzziah was strong, he transgressed by going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. How often does prosperity, far more than adversity, test the saints of God! Those who are pretentious and hypocritical are snared and taken. The true but worldly are laid low. The spiritual and true are kept by our faithful God, who will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able to bear, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape (1 Cor. 10:13).
The chapter's whole shape can be put in a sentence:
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, walks for a long time with the Lord and prospers. The strength of Judah is increased, and all the king's undertakings are successful. "But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up"; he takes on himself the priestly function, and is struck with leprosy by the hand of God.
His story warns against letting blessing make a person feel self-sufficient:
God-given prosperity made him strong. But once he was strong, he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and been the witness to his soul of his weakness. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up. He was filled with pride. If pride in him led him to transgress against the Lord his God, we may well be warned against letting it work in our own souls.
Those fifty-two years end at a date Isaiah uses to mark his vision of God's throne — and the contrast is the point:
Why is Uzziah introduced here? May it not be, among other things, to remind us of a contrast? The very best man on earth, the highest ruler of Judah's kingdom, the most honoured man in the world, stands in the widest contrast with THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS. King Uzziah was a leper, and lived outside the camp. This shows us that sinful man, however high in office and dignity, is unfit for the presence of God. Man has no resources at all for cleansing the leprosy of sin. Unless God meets him with healing mercy, he must remain unclean, and unfit for the company of the God of holiness.
- Sixteen — A young king in a hard position filled it well, because the fear of God was before his eyes and God helped him.
- Jecoliah — Her name means Jah will enable. It hints at a mother's godly hopes for her son, and the early reign fulfilled them.
- Fifty-two — The longest unbroken reign in Judah's history. A long life of blessing is a long test. Prosperity tests believers more than hardship does.
- Strong — Strength was the turning point. He thought he could do without the priesthood, his heart was lifted up, and God struck him with leprosy.
- Contrast — In the year he died, a prophet saw the true King. The most honoured man on earth was a leper outside the camp, unfit for God's presence.
And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
Uzziah came to the throne at sixteen and reigned fifty-two years, and his reign opens with God's approval. But that approval is measured against his father Amaziah, and that measure is the hinge of the verse: it praises Uzziah and tells us whose standard he was copying.
This verdict belongs to the start of his life, and that start held real achievement.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, took the throne of Judah when he was only 16 years old and reigned for 52 years. The first thing mentioned about him is the positive good work of building the city of Elath, bringing it back under Judah's authority. This was a good beginning. He did right in the Lord's eyes, as did his father Amaziah in the early stages of his reign (v.4).
Scripture rates the kings of Judah by comparison. One writer lines up the chain of fathers and sons, and marks out the two kings measured by David instead.
Scripture says of Hezekiah, "He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done." God traces his faithfulness back to the example David set. That is all the more remarkable, because it is not said of the kings before him. Jotham "did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah had done" (2 Kings 15:34). Uzziah did "according to all that his father Amaziah had done" (2 Kings 15:3). Amaziah did "according to all that Joash his father had done" (2 Kings 14:3). The Word of God says the same of Josiah as of Hezekiah (2 Kings 22:2), and so confirms that these two kings went back to what was there at the beginning.
Amaziah's own record carries a qualification. It is worth reading before anyone takes him as a model.
"And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart." "Yet not like David his father," Scripture says; "he did according to all things as Joash his father did." The lack of whole-hearted devotion in God's children looks just like this. He let the "high places" stay, and the people sacrificed and burned incense on them.
The account of Uzziah in 2 Kings adds a word about what he left standing.
"Only," the account adds, "the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places" — always the same refrain for Judah, just as the calves of Jeroboam were for Israel.
One writer takes the comparison with Amaziah to include Amaziah's flaw.
Uzziah follows him and does what is right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father did. That is, not with a perfect heart in the first part, and clear failure in the last. The same evil was in Uzziah as in Amaziah; it only showed itself in a different way. Amaziah's heart was lifted up, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. When Uzziah was strong, he sinned by going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. How often prosperity tests God's people far more than hard times do!
The same formula returns one chapter later for Uzziah's son Jotham. A writer asks what it really means to walk in a father's steps.
We may still ask what it exactly means that Jotham walked in his father's steps. We judge it means this: his walk was good as far as it went, but it was not piety, nor obedience, of the highest kind. Of both Hezekiah and Josiah, Scripture says that David their father was their model... David was the man after God's own heart; Uzziah was not, and to remember this is to see the difference... Even believers now fall into the same mistake. They make their parents' walk their standard, or the walk of some other Christians they especially admire, instead of the walk of the only perfect Example.
- Right — Uzziah's reign opens with God's approval. The good was real: he began young, he built, and he did what was right in the Lord's eyes.
- Borrowed — his measure is Amaziah, not David. Only Hezekiah and Josiah went back to the beginning.
- Limited — Amaziah's own record reads "not with a perfect heart," and the high places still stood. The pattern Uzziah copied was flawed at its centre.
- Repeated — the same fault came out again in Uzziah, in a new form. Both men fell when their hearts were lifted up.
- Corrected — take the only perfect Example as your standard. A parent or an admired Christian is good only as far as they go.
And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and in the days that he sought Jehovah, God made him to prosper.
This verse explains why Uzziah's reign began so well: he sought God, and God made him prosper. But a limit sits inside the blessing — the phrase "as long as" — and the rest of his story turns on it.
The verse names a man we never meet again. Commentators prefer the sense the ESV gives: Zechariah "instructed him in the fear of God."
Uzziah did what was right in the sight of the LORD. He sought God in the days of Zechariah. We know nothing else about this Zechariah beyond what verse 5 mentions. He is not the Zechariah of Isaiah 8:2, since the one Isaiah mentions lived much later. The better translation of "who had understanding in the visions of God" is "who was his (Uzziah's) instructor in the fear of God." Then comes the statement "as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper." And this is still true with all of God's people.
Another writer reads the phrase the same way, and adds how little Scripture says about this teacher.
"Understanding in the visions of God" does not mean he had prophetic visions from God. Several ancient translations and early Jewish commentators read it as "who was (his) instructor in the fear of God," which is probably the general sense of the phrase. We know nothing more about this prophet, but his record is on high. The coming "day" will declare what else he did in his life, whether good or bad. And so it will be, reader, for you and me.
The prospering was concrete. It showed in the victories recorded just after this verse.
So, because Uzziah was faithful, God helped him in his victories over the Philistines, Arabians and Meunites (v. 7)... So he became very strong.
The blessing lasted as long as the seeking lasted. One writer notes that the good record covers only part of the reign.
Uzziah takes the throne and does what is right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father did. That is, he does not serve with a perfect heart at the start, and he fails openly at the end. The same evil was in Uzziah as in Amaziah; it only showed itself in a different way... How often does prosperity test God's people far more than hardship does! It traps and catches the pretenders and the hypocrites. It brings down believers who are real but still worldly.
One writer sums the whole reign up in three steps: long faithfulness, then strength, then pride.
Uzziah, the son of Amaziah, walks for a long time with Jehovah and prospers. Judah grows stronger, and everything the king undertakes succeeds. "But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up"; he takes the priest's work on himself, and God strikes him with leprosy.
God gave the strength. The danger came when Uzziah began to feel it was his own.
One would have thought that the very object to be gained by Uzziah was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we want by nature is independence from God. Believers mourn over their weakness, and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. If we did not forget it, we could always say with Paul, "For when I am weak, then I am strong." We need to lose every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
His own name carried the lesson he failed to learn. The line he quotes comes from an older translation, which reads "strength" where the ESV reads "power."
"Strength of Jehovah" was the meaning of his name; and happy would it have been for him had he realised that only in His strength is anyone really strong. "My strength," says He who is "the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8), "is made perfect in weakness."
- Seek — Uzziah set himself to seek God, and every success in his reign starts there.
- Instructed — Zechariah taught Uzziah the fear of God. We know nothing else about him, yet his record stands on high.
- Prosper — the help was real: victories over the Philistines, Arabians and Meunites, and a king who grew very strong.
- As long as — the blessing lasted while the seeking lasted. Writers warn that prosperity tests God's people more than hardship does.
- Strong — the strength was Jehovah's, as his own name said. The moment he counted it his own, he lost it.
And he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod; and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.
Uzziah attacks Judah's oldest enemies. He breaks down the walls of three Philistine cities and builds towns of his own on their land — and the commentators ask why God gave him the strength to do it.
The attack was not random aggression. It answered a raid Judah had suffered generations earlier. One writer traces how patiently God repaid it.
Uzziah turns from building cities for peaceful trade to warfare that pays back a wrong. So he avenged the Philistine invasion during the reign of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16-17), and punished their allies. The record says, "The LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians." That did not excuse their wrongdoing. "God helped Uzziah against the Philistines, and against the Arabians." God used them to chasten His people, and they never knew it. Their own motive was quite different. Eighty years later, God measures out to them the punishment their attack on the land of Judah deserved. This is an important principle. Keep it in mind in any study of God's ways in government, with either men or nations.
Gath and Ashdod were no small targets. Both cities had humbled Israel before.
One of the five royal cities of the Philistines, and Goliath's home city... The ark was carried to this city after it was captured in war (1 Samuel 5:8). David went to Achish king of Gath when his faith in God's protection failed... Afterwards, when he was king and in power, he took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. Uzziah also fought against the place and broke down its walls.
Ashdod was a different case. Judah owned the land on paper but never took it.
One of the five chief cities of the Philistines. Judah was given this city but never conquered it, so it became a thorn in their sides (Numbers 33:55). The Philistines took the ark to this city, and there their fish-god Dagon fell down before it (1 Samuel 5:1-7). Uzziah broke down its wall, and built cities near it.
The verse pairs tearing down with building up. One writer reads both halves as a picture of spiritual work today.
Uzziah made war against the Philistines. If this sounds negative, it was still good work. It speaks of our contending against the mere formality of Christian religion. The name Philistines means "wallowers." They had come from Egypt, as Israel had. But they did not come through the Red Sea, which pictures redemption through the death of Christ. How many people today take the outward place of Christians, yet know nothing of being redeemed to God by the blood of Christ! So we must contend, not against people, but against this formal, empty profession without reality. Uzziah did this, and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. It is far better to break down walls that shelter mere formal religion. But walls that protect the true testimony of God should stay standing. Uzziah also built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines. These were a testimony to God in contrast to Philistine character.
The effect of this campaign outlived Uzziah. Years later, when the weak king Ahaz died, the Philistines took heart again.
The death of Ahaz might well stir the hopes of his neighbours, the Philistines. His grandfather Uzziah had put them down with a strong hand... Now both Uzziah and Ahaz were gone. "The rod of him that smote" the land of the Philistines was "broken." The enemy had learnt to despise Judah in the days of unworthy Ahaz.
From here Uzziah grows strong. One writer sets his failure beside Amaziah's.
The same evil was in Uzziah as in Amaziah; only it showed itself in a different way. Amaziah was lifted up in heart, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. Uzziah, once he was strong, transgressed by going into the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar. How often does prosperity, far more than adversity, test the saints of God!
- Help, not heroics. God gets the credit. He helped Uzziah against the Philistines and the Arabians, so the campaign was His gift before it was Uzziah's win.
- Help settles old scores. Nations God once used to chasten Judah still answered for it. Eighty years on, He repaid the Philistine raid from Jehoram's reign.
- Help reaches into enemy ground. Walls fell at Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. Those cities had held the ark, had been Goliath's home, and had been a thorn in Judah's side. Uzziah built his own towns there instead.
- Help leaves a mark. Years later the Philistines hoped again, because "the rod of him that smote" them was broken.
- Help is the test. Prosperity tests believers more than hardship does. The strength Uzziah gains here is the strength that later led him into transgression.
And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-Baal, and the Maonites.
One short line covers the wars of Uzziah's early reign: God was on his side, and three enemies fell. Why did God help this king, and what became of a man helped so openly?
The Arabians named here had a long history with Judah's kings.
We read of Solomon receiving gifts or tribute from the kings of Arabia. So did Jehoshaphat; but in the days of Jehoram they attacked him, plundered his house, and carried away his wives and some of his sons. Uzziah defeated them.
God had once used these same peoples against Judah. Years later He settled the account.
This is how he avenged the Philistine invasion during the reign of Jehoram, and punished their allies. It says, "The LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians." That did not excuse them for their wrongdoing... They were the unconscious instruments God used to chasten His people. Their motive was entirely different. After eighty years God measures out to them the punishment their attack on the land of Judah deserved.
Writers tie this help to the king's faithfulness.
So, because of Uzziah's faithfulness, God helped him in his victories over the Philistines, Arabians and Meunites (v. 7)... So he became exceedingly strong.
Verse 5 says Uzziah sought God in the days of Zechariah. One writer reads the phrase describing Zechariah like this:
A better rendering of "who had understanding in the visions of God" is "who was his instructor in the fear of God." Then comes the statement: "as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper." This is still true with all of God's people.
The same statement returns later in the chapter.
He was crowned king when he was only a boy of sixteen. His responsible position was especially difficult for one so young. He filled it well, however, because the fear of God was before his eyes. The history tells us that "God helped him." Indeed, God helped him in such a marked way that we read a second time how "he was marvellously helped, till he was strong."
The king's own name pointed to where strength is found.
"Strength of Jehovah" was the meaning of his name. How happy it would have been for him if he had realised that only in His strength is anyone really strong. "My strength," says He who is "the Almighty," "is made perfect in weakness."
One writer turns it on us:
One would have thought that the very thing Uzziah needed was to be strong. But the strength we naturally want is independence of God... We forget that we draw all real strength from the fullness that is in Jesus. Otherwise we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
Writers take the lesson beyond one king and apply it to the whole company of God's people.
What has been the history of the church? Marvellously helped till she was strong, and when she was strong her heart was lifted up... The Spirit of God shows us in Acts the church, few in number, marvellously helped. But how soon the church began to look to itself, to its own resources and greatness, instead of to the Lord. And has this no voice for us? Our blessing is in taking the place of weakness, so that God may help for His own name's sake.
- Sought — Uzziah's victories trace back to one habit. He sought the Lord, and prospered as long as he did.
- Helped — the verse credits the win to God, not to the king's army. The chapter says it of him a second time.
- Repaid — these peoples once plundered Jehoram. God used them, did not excuse them, and repaid their attack eighty years on.
- Strong — his name meant "Strength of Jehovah." Yet when he felt strong, God left him.
- Weak — the church walked the same road. The safe place is weakness, where God helps for His own name's sake.
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah and his name spread abroad to the entrance of Egypt; for he became exceeding strong.
This verse is the high point of Uzziah's reign: gifts from abroad, a name known in Egypt, a kingdom at full power. Commentators read this peak as a warning. The same strength later lifted Uzziah's heart into pride.
One writer traces the king's success back to the years when he sought God.
Uzziah, like his father, made a good start, for "he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 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" (2 Chr. 26:4-5). The king was so successful that "his fame spread even to the border of Egypt" (verse 8).
God had once used the Philistines to punish Judah. In Uzziah's day that turns around.
He waged a most successful war against the ancient foe of Israel, the Philistines. Earlier, under the reign of Jehoram (2 Chron. 21:16-17), as so often before, God had used the Philistines to chastise His people, but now He used Uzziah to punish them for their wickedness. Then the Ammonites brought gifts and Uzziah's fame spread as far as Egypt.
One writer spells out what that strength looked like on the ground.
He "built towers" in Jerusalem, and fortified them. He also "built towers in the wilderness" — the dry steppe-lands west of the Dead Sea — and cut out many cisterns. He did this because "he had large herds, both in the Shephelah" (the low hills between the mountains and the Mediterranean) "and in the plain." He had "farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil." He was an earnest and successful farmer.
His own name should have told him whose the strength was.
"Strength of Jehovah" was the meaning of his name. It would have been a happy thing for him if he had realised that no one is strong except in His strength. He who is "the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8) says, "My power is made perfect in weakness." "When I am weak, then I am strong," wrote one who knew his own utter weakness, and knew that his Lord's strength was enough. "Be strong in the Lord," he warns others as weak as himself. Uzziah prospered, and his prosperity lifted up his foolish heart with pride.
Being strong sounds like the goal to aim at. One writer names what we are really after.
One would have thought that the very thing Uzziah needed to gain was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we naturally crave is independence from God. We find saints grieving over their weakness, and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fulness that is in Jesus. If we remembered that, we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We need to lose every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
Everything in this verse is a blessing. That is where the danger lies.
How often prosperity, far more than adversity, tests the saints of God! The pretentious and the hypocritical are trapped and taken. The true but carnal are laid low. Our faithful God keeps the spiritual and true. He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the temptation He will also make a way to escape (1 Cor. 10:13). Why then are the saints of God mostly poor? Looking only at the weakness of man, not at the power of God, we may answer with another question: who has the strength to overcome the power of riches?
Uzziah's son gets no such list of achievements.
In 2 Chronicles 27:6 there is no mention of Jotham's great army. He "became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God" — older translations read, "because he prepared his heart before the Lord his God." This is the way for the saint to grow in practical strength… Jotham set the Lord always before him, and went on in a steady course of conduct. In the eyes of men he may not have been as mighty as Uzziah, but the Holy Spirit records his name as one who was "mighty" in the eyes of God.
- Sought — Uzziah's fame began where all real strength begins: as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
- Spread — his name reached Egypt while God prospered him; the Philistines God once used to punish Judah, He now punished through Uzziah.
- Strong — the strength showed in towers, cisterns, herds and farms, yet it was on loan from the God whose name he bore.
- Lifted up — the strength we crave is independence from God. When Uzziah felt strong, God left him. Prosperity tests the saints harder than hardship.
- Mighty — Scripture records no army for Jotham, yet calls him mighty, because he prepared his heart before the Lord. That is the strength worth having.
And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the angle, and fortified them.
Uzziah has just beaten the Philistines, taken gifts from the Ammonites, and seen his fame spread as far as Egypt. Now he turns to building, raising towers at three named points on Jerusalem's wall — and commentators ask why those points, and what the building did to his heart.
The three sites in the verse were chosen for a reason. One writer sees them as the weak places in the wall:
He built towers in Jerusalem at points that may have been relatively weak (v. 9). We too need watchtowers in places where the enemy is likely to take advantage of us. He fortified the towers themselves. Every precaution had to be taken to protect God's testimony.
The corner gate was more than a thin spot. Enemies had broken the wall open there in his father's lifetime, and Uzziah built on that ruin:
After that he carried on a great work of restoration. He restored and fortified the northern wall of Jerusalem, which was broken down under Amaziah (2 Chron 25:23).
One writer describes that earlier breach and the lesson in it:
The king of Israel came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, a length of 400 cubits, and took all the gold and silver articles in the house of the Lord. What a lesson this is for us! If we meddle where we have no right, we will find the wall of our separation from the world broken down. Worse still, the precious things belonging to the Lord which we hold in trust will be stolen from us! Let us pay close attention to what Paul wrote to Timothy: "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you" (1 Tim. 6:20).
A tower is not a wall. It is height, and height exists so that someone can see:
The towers were tall structures. Watchmen stood in them to keep a close watch over the surrounding country and to give instant warning if any enemy force came near. These towers of defence stopped the enemies of the people from crossing the borders of Judah unnoticed.
The same writer makes that personal:
This treacherous adversary does not always enter our borders at the same spot. Uzziah set up a watch-tower where he thought the foe was likely to break through. So you must think very carefully about where the great enemy is likely to come in — to rob you of your peace and joy, and put you in bondage to some evil habit.
The third site, the Angle, is the point where the wall turns. One writer reads the valley gate through its link with the dung gate, the exit for refuse:
Remember what was said about the link between the Valley Gate and the Dung Gate. It seems this is a part of the truth in which we need to be strengthened: throwing out as refuse everything that the cross of Christ has judged.
Towers, wells, an army, siege engines — the record credits every item to God's help. He was helped until he grew strong. Then something changed:
You would have thought that the whole aim for Uzziah was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we naturally want is independence from God... We need to be stripped of every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt he was strong, God left him.
His next move was not a wall but an altar, and that fall is the warning here:
By God-given prosperity he became strong, but when he became strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and been the witness to his soul of his weakness.
- Helped. Uzziah's building stood on the same footing as his victories. God helped him, so his strength was a gift and not an achievement.
- Weak points. He built where the wall was thin, and towers belong wherever the enemy is most likely to gain ground on us.
- Named points. The corner gate was the very breach opened in his father's day. Once a wall of separation is broken, what God entrusts to us can be stolen.
- Watchmen. A tower is height for seeing; its purpose is early warning, and the enemy does not always come in at the same place twice.
- Strong. The defences that kept him safe made him feel self-sufficient. The strength we naturally want is independence from God, and there God left him.
And he built towers in the desert and digged many cisterns; for he had much cattle, both in the lowland and on the plateau, husbandmen [also] and vinedressers on the mountains and in Carmel; for he loved husbandry.
Scripture rarely tells us what a king farmed. Here it lists Uzziah's towers, cisterns, herds, farmers and vinedressers, and ends by saying he loved the soil. The verse stands at the peak of his reign. So why record his farming at all, and what does this peak have to do with the fall that follows?
Two dangers faced Uzziah's kingdom: hostile raids and dry seasons. He answered both with building work.
The towers were tall buildings. Watchmen stood in them to keep a strict look-out over the surrounding country. They gave instant warning if any hostile company came near. These towers of defence kept the enemies of the people from invading the borders of Judah unnoticed. The wells were not always springs. They were reservoirs or cisterns, and they stored water for the dry seasons, for the livestock and for watering the food-plots.
The place names are not decoration. One writer locates each of them, and links Uzziah's work on the soil to prophecies spoken in his own lifetime.
He also "built towers in the wilderness" — the steppe-lands west of the Dead Sea — and cut out many cisterns. This was "for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah," the low hills between the mountains and the Mediterranean, "and in the plain," east of the Dead Sea. His wealth seems to have been chiefly in livestock and agriculture… He was an earnest and successful farmer. He probably gave special attention to tilling the soil because of the prophecies of Hosea and Amos, who lived at the same time. They spoke of the scarcity that was coming. (See Hosea 2:9; 4:3; 9:2; Amos 1:2; 4:6-9; 5:16-19.)
A king's record usually runs to cities and temples. One writer points out what else Uzziah gave his attention to.
He was concerned, not only for the temple, but also for the welfare of food production in rural areas… As we are told, "he loved the soil." This is unusual for a king, but he deserves credit for the range of his activities.
Everything in this verse is success — and success is exactly where Uzziah failed. Yet this is where his reign broke down.
How often prosperity, far more than adversity, tests the people of God! The pretentious and the hypocritical are trapped and taken. The true but worldly-minded are laid low.
Towers, cisterns and herds all made Uzziah stronger. Another writer asks what kind of strength we naturally want.
One would have thought that the very thing Uzziah needed was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we naturally want is independence from God. We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. If we remembered that, we could always say with Paul, "when I am weak, then I am strong." We need to be stripped of every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
The two works of this verse still have a use: one guards, one feeds. Uzziah did not build his towers at random.
This treacherous enemy does not always cross our borders at the same spot. Uzziah set up a watch-tower where he thought the foe was likely to break through. So you must think carefully about where the great enemy is likely to get in. He comes to rob you of your peace and joy, and to bring you into bondage to some evil habit.
Wells had to be dug before the dry season came. The same writer turns that work into a picture of how to handle the word of God.
While the word of God contains everything you need, you must make its contents your own. It is not enough to have it between the covers of a printed book. You must store it in your memory. You must read it privately and prayerfully… An accurate knowledge of Scripture will help you in your prayers, in your singing and in your worship. Then, as a result of your diligent digging, there will be in your heart a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. It will be an endless supply of refreshment, however dry and barren your surroundings may be.
- Built — Uzziah's towers watched for raiders. His "wells" were cisterns that stored water for the dry season. He built both before the need came.
- Spread — wilderness, low hills, plain and mountains. The verse maps a kingdom whose wealth lay in herds and crops.
- Loved — he loved the soil. He cared for country food supply as much as for the capital. One writer counts that breadth to his credit.
- Strong — this same success undid him. Prosperity tests God's people harder than trouble does. The strength we crave is independence from God.
- Dig — the pattern still holds. Watch the place where the enemy will try to break in. Store up the word of God, so there is water in you when the ground around you is dry.
And Uzziah had an army of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.
Uzziah can now count his soldiers, sort them into divisions, and set named officials over the roll. This army sits inside a reign that began well and ended badly, which raises the question shaping the whole chapter: where did the strength come from, and what would it do to the king who held it?
Uzziah's reign was busy and well run: towers, wells, farms, and now troops. One writer counts the men and the officers set over them, then draws a lesson for the care of God's people:
The force described here did not appear out of nowhere. One commentary follows the order of the chapter closely and notes what kind of army this was:
"And 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… Moreover, Uzziah had a host of fighting men" — a standing army.
The ESV renders the older "a host of fighting men" as "an army of soldiers, fit for war."
Uzziah's strength came to him as a gift. One writer shows what the gift should have done in him, and what it did instead:
By God-given prosperity he became strong, but once he was strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. God's grace towards him should have kept him humble and shown his soul how weak he was. But that was not so. His heart grew proud. Pride filled him. He thought he was strong, and could not endure being dependent on the priesthood.
An army roll is a means, and a means can take the Lord's place. One writer explains what being strong did to Uzziah:
One would have thought that Uzziah's whole aim was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we want by nature is independence from God. God's people mourn over their weakness, and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. If we remembered it, we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." Every resource in ourselves has to be taken away, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
The same writer states the risk in one line:
There is great danger of our putting multiplied means in the place of the Lord Himself; we may go the whole round of means, and forget that they are not the supply.
We expect hardship to be the great test of faith. One writer on this chapter says the opposite:
- Sought — as long as Uzziah sought the Lord, God made him prosper. The army of this verse is a result of that, not its cause.
- Given — his strength was a gift from God. It should have kept him humble by showing him how weak he was.
- Organised — three named men kept the roll of 307,500 soldiers under 2,600 chief officers. Guarding God's people should concern believers just as much today.
- Strong — the strength we want is independence from God. When Uzziah felt strong, God left him. Piled-up means are still not the supply.
- Tested — prosperity tests God's people more than hardship does. God keeps the faithful by making a way of escape.
The whole number of the chief fathers of the mighty men of valour was two thousand six hundred.
This verse counts the 2,600 clan chiefs at the head of Uzziah's army. The real questions are where that strength came from, and what it did to the king who counted it.
The number in this verse sits inside a chain of command. One commentator names the men who organised the army and counts what stood under those chiefs:
Uzziah's varied activities also included an army of warriors. Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah organized them well. Maaseiah was an officer under Hananiah, one of the king's captains (v. 11). The total number of chief officers under their authority was 2,600. Under those officers was an army of 307,500. So Uzziah was well prepared for war. He provided shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and slingshots for all the warriors (vv. 12-14)... We today should be just as concerned for the protection of God's saints from evil.
The muster roll is the outcome of something earlier in the chapter. A summary of Uzziah's reign puts the order plainly — first he sought the Lord, then the kingdom and its army took shape:
At the start of his reign he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord prospered him. He greatly strengthened the kingdom and organised his army well. He was successful against the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Meunites. The Ammonites paid tribute, so his fame spread abroad.
Officers, soldiers, weapons — the chapter piles up resources. One writer warns about what we start leaning on:
There is great danger that we put many means in the place of the Lord Himself. We may go the whole round of means, and forget that they are not the supply.
The same writer names what we are really after when we want to feel strong:
You would think that Uzziah's whole aim was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we naturally want is independence from God... When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
Nothing in verse 12 is a failure. The failure comes when the totals are complete and the king is secure — which is exactly the point one commentator draws about how God's people are tested:
Amaziah's heart was lifted up, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. And when Uzziah was strong, he transgressed by going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. How often does prosperity, far more than adversity, test the saints of God! ... Why are the saints of God mostly poor? We may answer with another question, looking only at the weakness of man, not at the power of God: who has strength to overcome the power of riches?
One commentator asks what that strength did to Uzziah's sense of need:
God gave him prosperity, and he became strong. But when he got to be strong, he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and been the witness to his soul of his weakness. But sadly it was not so; his heart was lifted up. He was filled with pride. He thought he was strong, and could not bear being dependent on the priesthood.
The next reign lists no army at all. One writer finds the lesson in that silence:
In 2 Chronicles 27:6 there is no mention of Jotham's great army; he "became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God." This is the way for the believer to grow in practical strength... In the eyes of man he might not be as mighty as Uzziah. But the Holy Spirit records his name as one who was "mighty" in the eyes of God.
The translation this writer used reads "prepared his heart."
- Helped first. The Lord prospered a king who sought Him. The 2,600 chiefs came after that gift, not before it.
- Helped well. The list shows real order: scribe, officer, captain, chiefs, soldiers, equipment. One writer says we should share that concern to protect God's people today.
- Helped into danger. Many means can take the place of the Lord Himself. The strength we want most is independence from Him.
- Strong, then fallen. Prosperity tests believers more than hardship does. Uzziah grew too strong to bear depending on the priesthood.
- Mighty another way. Jotham's reign lists no army. He became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord — mighty in God's reckoning, not man's.
And under their hand was an army-host of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred, that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.
This verse counts Uzziah's fighting men: 307,500 soldiers under 2,600 officers, raised to help the king against his enemies. The same chapter says twice that God helped him, and commentators ask which help the king was leaning on.
The chapter records help twice over. Before we reach the numbers, we are told that Uzziah sought the Lord, and that the Lord backed him.
He became king when he was just a boy of sixteen. His responsible position was especially difficult for one so young. He filled it well, however, because the fear of God was before his eyes. The history tells us that "God helped him." God gave him this help in such a marked way that we read a second time how "he was marvellously helped, till he was strong" (2 Chron. 26:7, 15).
The numbers are only part of it. One writer lists what else Uzziah made ready, and draws a lesson for us.
The total number of chief officers under the king's captains was 2,600. In turn, under the officers' authority was an army of 307,500. So Uzziah was well prepared for war, having prepared for all the warriors shields, spears, helmets, body armour, bows and slingshots (vv. 12-14). Also, for the protection of Jerusalem he had mechanised devices to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers on the wall. We today should be just as concerned for the protection of God's saints from evil.
Everything turns on one small word: "till." God helped Uzziah until he was strong, and then strength became the danger.
One would have thought that the very thing Uzziah needed to gain was strength. But the strength we naturally want is independence from God. Believers are found mourning over their weakness, and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fulness that is in Jesus. If we did not forget, we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We need to be stripped of every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
An army of 307,500 is a means. The danger is not in owning the means but in letting them take the place they can never fill.
What has been the history of the Church? Marvellously helped till she was strong; and when she was strong her heart became lifted up. … The Spirit of God shows us in Acts a Church few in number, marvellously helped. But how soon the Church began to look to itself, to its own resources and greatness, instead of to the Lord. And has this no voice for ourselves? Our blessing is in taking the place of weakness, so that God may help for His own name's sake.
Uzziah's fall came not in defeat but at the height of his success. Commentators note that this is the usual pattern.
How often prosperity tests the people of God far more than adversity does! The pretentious and the hypocritical are trapped and taken. The true but carnal are laid low. The spiritual and true are kept by our faithful God. He will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able. With the temptation He will also make a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13).
Uzziah's strength ended in a claim to need no priest. One writer presses that warning home to Christians.
Let the example of Uzziah warn them. Through God-given prosperity he became strong, but once he was strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. God's grace towards him should have kept him humble and been a witness to his soul of his own weakness. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up. … We imagine we are above the need of Christ's priestly grace, just because grace has given us some measure of enjoyment of His purpose. How God must hate such pride!
This verse calls Uzziah's army mighty in power. The next king, Jotham, is called mighty with no army at all.
In 2 Chronicles 27:6 there is no mention of Jotham's great army. He "became mighty, because he prepared his heart before the Lord his God." This is the way for the believer to grow in practical strength. … In the eyes of men he might not be as mighty as Uzziah, but the Holy Spirit records his name as one who was "mighty" in the eyes of God.
The ESV renders 2 Chronicles 27:6 "he ordered his ways before the LORD his God."
- Feared — Uzziah became king at sixteen, and he filled the place well because the fear of God was before his eyes.
- Helped — Twice the record says God helped him; the army helped the king, but God helped him first.
- Strong — The help ran only "till he was strong"; the strength we naturally crave is independence from God.
- Lifted up — Strength made him think he could manage without the priesthood. Prosperity tested him harder than any enemy did.
- Mighty — No army appears in Jotham's record. He prepared his heart before the Lord, and that is the strength that lasts.
And Uzziah prepared for them, throughout the host, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and even slinging-stones.
This verse is the high point of Uzziah's reign: a whole army armed, down to the last man. The record admires him, yet the next verses turn dark — so what is careful preparation worth without God?
This equipment comes last in a long list of Uzziah's building, digging, farming and organising. One writer sees a single concern running through it all — protecting what belongs to God:
Every precaution had to be taken to protect God's testimony… His work also included an army of 307,500 warriors, well organised under 2,600 chief officers. So Uzziah was well prepared for war, having prepared for all the warriors shields, spears, helmets, body armour, bows and slingshots. We today should be just as concerned for the protection of God's saints from evil.
The key phrase is "for all the army." Not the officers only, not the elite units — every soldier. Another writer notes the same thoroughness, and then the turn that follows it:
He also saw that his army was fully equipped… But how sad — what is man! After all this good work, pride lifted up Uzziah's heart.
A soldier with a helmet but no shield is still a target. The same rule holds for the armour God gives:
And he must have the whole armour. Missing one piece leaves us open to Satan on that side. The armour must be God's armour, divine in its nature. Human armour will not stop Satan's attacks. Trusting it only draws us into the battle, where we fall to a spirit stronger and more cunning than we are.
There is a second half to this. Armour in the store-room protects nobody.
An army without the equipment it needs to wage war is an army destined for total defeat… Every part of the armour must be put on… But do believers go into God's armoury and equip themselves for war? That is a serious problem.
This verse lists means — the tools of victory. Good means carry a quiet risk. One writer names it in a single line:
There is great danger of our putting multiplied means in the place of the Lord Himself; we may go the whole round of means, and forget that they are not the supply.
The same writer asks what went wrong. Uzziah's problem was not wanting strength; it was the strength he wanted:
You would think Uzziah's whole aim was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we crave by nature is independence from God… We need to be stripped of every resource in ourselves, so that we learn our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself strong, God left him.
So this verse is a warning as well as a commendation. What broke Uzziah was success, not an enemy attack:
Amaziah's heart was lifted up first, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. When Uzziah was strong, he sinned by going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. How often prosperity tests God's people far more than hardship does!
- Helped. Uzziah filled his armouries, but weapons were never the source of his strength — God was.
- Equipped. Uzziah armed every man in the army. God gives the believer's armour on the same terms — no piece left out.
- Worn. A full armoury is not the same as a soldier in armour. Put every piece on, or the gap you leave is the gap the enemy finds.
- Mistaken. Means can crowd out the Lord Himself. We can go the whole round of preparations and forget they are not the supply.
- Strong. The strength we crave is independence from God. Prosperity tests believers harder than hardship, and when Uzziah felt strong, God left him.
And he made in Jerusalem machines invented by skilful men, to be upon the towers and upon the bulwarks, wherewith to shoot arrows and great stones. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he became strong.
Uzziah's reign peaks here: new war machines on the walls of Jerusalem and a name that spread far. Human skill stands on the towers, but the verse says the king was helped — and the next verse shows which of the two he trusted.
The king's own name carried the answer to where his strength came from.
"He was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction." His name meant "Strength of Jehovah." How happy he would have been if he had realised that only in His strength is anyone really strong. He who is "the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8) says, "My power is made perfect in weakness." And a man who knew how powerless he was, and how his Lord's strength was enough, wrote, "When I am weak, then I am strong."
The word behind "machines" is used in another verse about what man invents once he leaves God's ways.
God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions (Ecc. 7:29) or devices: the same word is translated 'engines' in 2 Chr. 26:15. Cain went out from the presence of God and built a city, and his descendants made harps and organs. Men made themselves as happy as they could without God, as in the days of Uzziah.
The same skill runs straight on into the modern battlefield.
Does anything show what man is more than this — first in the wonderful powers of mind God has given him, second in the use he has made of these powers? Uzziah made machines in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and great stones. Is this not an Old Testament preview of modern horrors — the mine, the warplane, the howitzer, the battleship, the submarine, poison gas, and other terrible engines of destruction? Sadly, man's inventive genius runs mainly along this line.
The word "till" marks a limit. The help lasted until he was strong, and strength itself proved to be the danger.
One would have thought that the very object Uzziah had to gain was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we naturally want is independence from God. Believers mourn over their weakness — and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. Otherwise we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We need to be stripped of every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
The verse leaves Uzziah at the top. Verse 16 starts with one small word.
Sadly, look at that next little word! How often we find it in Scripture. "But!" "But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense." How solemn these words are! What a warning they contain to all God's people! When a man's heart is lifted up, and he follows pride, transgression is not far behind.
So which season is more dangerous for God's people: the hard one or the easy one?
How often does prosperity, far more than adversity, test the saints of God! The pretentious and the hypocritical are trapped and taken. True believers who are still worldly are laid low. The spiritual and true are kept by our faithful God. He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but with the temptation He will also make a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13).
The next chapter shows a different road to strength.
In 2 Chronicles 27:6 there is no mention of Jotham's great army; he "became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God." This is the way for the believer to grow in practical strength… In the eyes of man he might not be as mighty as Uzziah, but the Holy Spirit records his name as one who was "mighty" in the eyes of God.
(Older translations read "he prepared his heart before the LORD his God.")
- Helped — his strength was a gift, not an achievement. His own name meant that the Lord was his strength.
- Invented — the word for his war machines is the word for the "inventions" men seek out. God gives the skill; man aims it at destruction.
- Famous — the help spread his name far and wide. Good times test believers harder than hard times do.
- Strong — when he felt strong in himself, God left him. "Till he was strong" is followed by a fatal "but."
- Mighty — Jotham grew mighty with no army listed. He ordered his ways before God, and God recorded that as might.
But when he became strong his heart was lifted up to [his] downfall; and he transgressed against Jehovah his God, and went into the temple of Jehovah to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
Uzziah ruled well for decades, then fell at the very top. His strength was God's gift, but when he felt strong in himself he walked into the temple to do a priest's work.
Older translations read "his heart was lifted up" where the ESV says "he grew proud." Commentators trace the collapse to that one root, and note that the king's own name should have warned him.
Whatever the immediate motive, we know the primary cause of his profane deed. The cause was pride — the true "original sin," the ugly parent of every sin that follows, in angels and in men. "He was marvelously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction." His name meant "Strength of the LORD." How good it would have been for him if he had seen that no one is really strong except in His strength… In him came true his great ancestor's proverb: "The prosperity of fools destroys them." And another: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
Uzziah did not fall in hard times. He fell when everything went well, and Amaziah before him fell the same way.
Amaziah's heart was lifted up first, and then he marched straight into defeat and captivity. When Uzziah was strong, he transgressed by going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar. How often does prosperity, far more than adversity, test the saints of God! The pretentious and the hypocritical are trapped and taken. The true, if worldly-minded, are laid low. Our faithful God keeps the spiritual and true. He will not let us be tempted beyond our ability, but with the temptation He will also make a way of escape.
The trespass was not ignorance. Uzziah had Scripture telling him whose work the incense altar was.
How sad was the sudden fall of Uzziah from power and dignity to disgrace and shame! His strength became his downfall. God had marvellously helped him. Yet he forgot that it was God's help that made him strong, and he gave in to his own pride. Did he not have the Word of God to tell him? Only the priests of Aaron's line could enter the sanctuary of the temple to burn incense. Yet he boldly entered there to burn incense.
Other kings had committed sins that look far worse to us. So why does the record single this one out?
"He transgressed." Earlier kings had transgressed too. People might rate idol worship as a worse sin than taking over a priest's job. But God makes special note of this one. That alone should challenge how people judge it. His mention of it, and the judgment that follows, show God's estimate of his transgression. In usurping the office of the priest, he was rebelling against the Lord.
This is not only a king's obituary. The same pattern runs through the church's own story.
What has been the history of the Church? Marvellously helped till she was strong, and when she was strong her heart became lifted up. The saints at Corinth had many resources — people, wisdom and the like. They were tempted to think that by using this wisdom they could refute the unbelievers. The apostle told them, No. It is done only by bringing in the "wisdom of God," which is foolishness to man, and the "strength of God," which is weakness to man… And does this say nothing to us? Our blessing is in taking the place of weakness, so that God may help for His own name's sake.
So is it wrong to want to be strong?
One would have thought that the very thing Uzziah needed was to be strong. Sadly, the strength we crave by nature is independence from God… We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. If we remembered, we would always be able to say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We need to lose every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
One man moved in the opposite direction as he grew older.
Paul went the other way. As the years passed, he felt his own smallness and unworthiness more and more… At one point he gave up the name Saul. From then on he preferred to be known as Paul, which means "little."
- Helped — his strength was God's gift. His ruin began when he forgot who made him strong.
- Strong — strength was the danger point, not the safe point; the moment he felt strong in himself, God left him.
- Lifted up — pride was the parent-sin behind the act, the same sin that fells angels and men.
- Transgressed — taking the priest's place was not a small slip. It was rebellion, and God's judgment shows how He rates it.
- Weak — the way back is downward. Paul grew smaller as he grew older, and blessing rests on those who take the place of weakness.
And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him priests of Jehovah, eighty valiant men;
King Uzziah walked into the temple with a censer in his hand, and the high priest went in right behind him with eighty others. Two questions sit in that moment: what gave these men the nerve to stop a king, and what was so serious about a little incense?
The verse calls these priests men of valor, and the moment called for it. One writer shows how it could have gone the other way:
The king pushed in where he had no right. Azariah stood firm and brave for God's truth and order, and resisted him as he went ahead to burn incense with the censer in his hand. A man who only cared about pleasing those in power would have given way to the king. Not Azariah. He was faithful, and eager to keep the order God had set up. So he went in after the king, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, brave men who could and would use force if they had to. There he speaks without fear, and as one with authority: "Not to you, Uzziah, to burn incense … Go out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed." Among the priests, Azariah stands out. He is honoured for courage that never flinched, where others might have given way. Scripture records no other case like this, whether we look at the king's sin or the priest's faithfulness. God's order in His own temple must stand, even when everything else is in confusion.
To an onlooker, a king offering incense might have looked like devotion. Another writer weighs the act against the law Uzziah already knew:
If idolatry shows how low, ungrateful, and corrupt man is, then Uzziah's going into the temple to burn incense on the golden altar shows proud presumption and defiance of the Lord's authority. He knew perfectly well that burning incense was the work of the priests alone — a duty and privilege for the sons of Aaron and no one else. In Uzziah there was the look, the pretence, of worship. But it was real disobedience, and it treated holy things as common. The king insulted what was holy and the priest stayed faithful, and that is what drove the king out of the temple.
One writer names what was behind the act, and points to the meaning of Uzziah's own name:
It was pride — the true "original sin," the ugly parent of every sin that followed, in angels and in men (1 Tim. 3:6; Ezek. 28:2, 17). "He was marvellously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction." "Strength of Jehovah" was his name's meaning. It would have been good for him if he had seen that no one is really strong except in His strength.
Crown and censer stayed apart in Israel. One writer notes the single exception:
Aaron was never king, and no king in David's line, except the Lord, was ever a priest to God. Only one tried to seize the priest's office, and the punishment he deserved fell on him at once. Because Uzziah tried to burn incense, he was a leper to the day of his death (2 Chron. 26:21). In Israel, the offices of king and priest can be joined in one person only, and that is Christ.
The priests' rebuke was not the judgment. It was a chance to stop, as one writer points out:
If Uzziah had humbled himself at once and left, he might have spared himself the sudden stroke of leprosy. Instead he became furious. Since he was king, he no doubt felt insulted that they rebuked him.
One writer turns Uzziah's fall into a question for anyone enjoying God's blessing today:
Is it true that there are Christians who have reached a point where they no longer need to receive mercy and find grace? If any think they have, they should take warning from the example of Uzziah. God-given prosperity made him strong, but once he was strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and shown his soul how weak he was.
- Strength — God helped Uzziah until he was strong. Then he forgot whose strength it was. His name meant "Strength of Jehovah," and no one is strong except in God's strength.
- Pride — pride is the parent of every other sin, in angels and in men. Here it dressed up as worship, but it was defiance.
- Faithfulness — a man out to please the king would have given way. Azariah and eighty brave men walked in after him, because God's order in His own house must stand even when all else is confusion.
- Opportunity — the rebuke came before the leprosy. If Uzziah had humbled himself and walked out, he might have escaped it. He chose rage instead.
- Christ — no king in David's line was ever a priest except the Lord. Crown and censer meet in Him alone, and no one outgrows the need of His priestly grace.
and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said to him, It is not for thee, Uzziah, to burn incense to Jehovah, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast transgressed; neither shall it be for thine honour from Jehovah Elohim.
Uzziah stands in the temple holding a censer to burn incense, and eighty priests block his way with one sentence: this work is not yours. A king at the height of his power runs into God's plain limit on who may come near Him, and the scene asks what makes worship acceptable.
Azariah's words are not a matter of opinion. The king had the law. The law named the one family who could burn incense. So what looked like devotion was the opposite.
He knew very well that burning incense was the work of the priests alone. It was a duty and a privilege for the sons of Aaron and for no one else. In Uzziah there was the look, or pretence, of worship, but real disobedience and a profaning of the holy things. The king's sacrilege and the priest's faithfulness drove him out of the temple.
The priests call the act a wrong done against God. One writer looks at the whole chapter and traces it further back. He points to what success had done to the king's heart, and even to the meaning of the king's name.
We are not told what motive lay behind this daring act of king Uzziah's… But whatever pushed him to it at the moment, we know the main cause of his profane deed. It was pride… "He was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his own destruction." "Strength of the LORD" was the meaning of his name. He would have been a happy man if he had seen that no one is truly strong except in His strength.
These are the only words the priests speak here, and they say them to the most powerful man in the land. One writer singles out Azariah for standing his ground.
Azariah stood firm and brave for God's truth and order. He resisted the king, who had the censer in his hand and was about to burn incense. A man out to please those in power would have given in to royalty. Not so Azariah… There he says, without fear and as one with authority, "It is not for you, Uzziah… Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong."… God's order in His own temple must be kept, even when everything else is in confusion.
Verse 18 ends before the judgment falls. The king can still walk out. What happens next turns on how he takes the rebuke.
Azariah, the high priest, and eighty other priests followed Uzziah at once. They faced him with the guilt of his action and ordered him out of the sanctuary (vv. 17–18). If he had humbled himself at once and left, he might have saved himself from the sudden stroke of leprosy. Instead, he became furious. Since he was king, he no doubt felt insulted by their reproof.
The priests tell him the act will bring him no honour. Only one Person ever holds both crown and censer together.
It was a very serious matter for anyone to interfere with God's order in His house. It was just as serious for a man to dare to be a priest as well as a king. God had reserved that honour for His own Son (Zech. 6:13).
One writer carries the lesson into the present. He reads Uzziah's intrusion as a picture of a refusal still made today.
For one under the law of Moses, an intrusion into the priesthood was a most glaring act of sacrilege. What answers to it now is the refusal of Christ in His priestly and atoning work as the only way of access to God. This will explain the terrible judgment upon Uzziah.
If the chapter shut the sanctuary against a king, it also shows on what terms anyone comes in at all.
Let us too beware of treating the Lord with unholy familiarity. A humble spirit is always a confident spirit, but it can trust only in the blood of Jesus. It does not rush into God's presence, as the man who is "lifted up in heart" does. We can come there only through the incense of the Lord Jesus. We do not come on the credit of our own graces or devotion, or in the heat of mere human zeal.
- Place. Burning incense belonged to Aaron's sons alone. Uzziah's act looked like worship, but it was disobedience and sacrilege.
- Pride. The cause was not ignorance. Success lifted up his heart, and the man named "Strength of the LORD" forgot whose strength it was.
- Protest. Azariah and eighty priests refused to flatter a king. God's order in His house stands even when all around is in confusion.
- Pause. The rebuke came before the leprosy. If he had humbled himself and walked out, he might have escaped the judgment. He chose anger instead.
- Person. God kept the honour of being both king and priest for His own Son. We come near through Him alone, not on our own devotion.
And Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of Jehovah, beside the incense altar.
Uzziah stands in the temple with a censer in his hand, and the priests have just ordered him out. His answer is rage — and at that moment leprosy breaks out on his forehead, so why does anger at a rebuke bring a judgment this severe?
His anger became a second sin on top of the first. One writer names what set it off:
In the case of Uzziah (2 Chron. 26:19), his anger came from being rebuked for sacrilege, and God punished that sin at once with leprosy. Let us be on our guard against this. It is enough to have committed the sin; but it is far worse, when reproved of it by some servant of God, to add to it by a second, and possibly a third.
There was still a door open when the priests spoke. Uzziah did not take it:
If he had humbled himself at once and left, he might have escaped the sudden stroke of leprosy. But he became furious. Since he was king, he no doubt felt insulted by their reproof.
He held the instrument of worship while defying God's authority:
If idolatry shows how low, ungrateful and corrupt man is, then Uzziah going into the temple to burn incense on the golden altar shows proud presumption and defiance of the Lord's authority. He knew very well that burning incense was the work of the priests alone — a duty and privilege for the sons of Aaron and no other. In Uzziah there was the appearance or pretence of worship, but real disobedience and profaning of holy things. The judgment matched his sin. He dared to take the office of the priest and do what the law forbade him. Now, as a leper, he cannot come into the temple at all. He loses the privilege of an ordinary Israelite, he is cut off from the congregation, and he must live from then on in a separate house.
Uzziah grew strong. One writer asks where real strength actually comes from:
Sadly, the strength we naturally want is independence from God. Believers are found mourning over their weakness — and what do they mean? Is it not that they have no resources in themselves? We forget that all real strength comes from the fullness that is in Jesus. If we did not forget it, we could always say with Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong." We need to lose every resource in ourselves, so that we may know our strength is in Him. When Uzziah felt himself to be strong, God left him.
The disease struck his forehead, not the hands that held the censer. One writer links that place to what was wrong inside him:
The forehead is a common place for leprosy to show itself. Many people today have the plague of leprosy in their heads, yet have not the least idea that they are "utterly unclean." They have their own ideas. They reason things out with their own mind. They trust their own heads instead of the Word of God. Pride, and especially pride of intellect, is the root of the trouble when the leprosy is in the head. Uzziah is a terrible example of this. His pride made him take the place that belonged to the priests alone.
Uzziah could not bear to depend on the priesthood. That makes his fall a warning:
Are there Christians who have reached a point where they no longer need to receive mercy and find grace? If any think they have, let them be warned by the example of Uzziah. God's blessing made him prosperous and strong. Once he was strong, he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and been the witness to his soul of his weakness. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up.
The opposite of Uzziah's approach is not staying outside, but coming in the appointed way:
Let us beware of treating the Lord with unholy familiarity. A humble spirit is always a confident spirit. But a humble spirit can trust only in the blood of Jesus. It does not rush into God's presence the way a proud, lifted-up heart does. We can only come there through the incense of the Lord Jesus. We do not come on the credit of our own goodness, our devotion, or our own emotional zeal.
- Helped. Uzziah's success was God's gift, and it should have kept him humble and reminded him of his own weakness.
- Strong. The strength we naturally want is independence from God; when Uzziah felt strong, God left him.
- Lifted up. Pride took him into the temple with a censer — the appearance of worship covering real disobedience.
- Angry. Rebuke gave him a way out; rage added a second sin to the first. Anger at faithful reproof is a danger to watch in ourselves.
- Leprous. The mark rose on his forehead, where pride sits — and it left him cut off from the temple for life. We come in only through the incense of the Lord Jesus, never on the credit of our own record.
And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; even he himself hasted to go out, because Jehovah had smitten him.
Azariah and the priests look at the king who has come to burn incense, and they see the mark on his forehead. The verse leaves a question: why does the man who forced his way in now rush to get out?
Leprosy in the Old Testament is more than a disease. The law gives it great prominence, and that prominence points somewhere.
The prominence given to leprosy shows plainly that it is a figure of sin. It pictures sin above all in the aspect that shuts the sinner out from the presence of God and from the privileges of relationship with Him... The priests opposed Uzziah in his sacrilegious act, and God struck him with leprosy to mark his uncleanness of heart and his unfitness for the divine presence.
The place where the disease broke out was not random. The forehead says something about the sin behind it.
The forehead is a common place for leprosy to show itself. How many people today have the plague of leprosy in their heads, yet have no idea at all that they are "utterly unclean"! They have their own ideas. They reason things out with their own mind. They trust their own heads instead of the Word of God. Pride, and especially pride of intellect, is the root of the trouble when the leprosy is in the head.
Between the priests' rebuke and the stroke there was a window. Uzziah filled it with anger instead of humbling himself.
If he had humbled himself at once and left, he might have escaped the sudden stroke of leprosy. Instead he became furious. Since he was king, he no doubt felt insulted by their reproof. However, God stepped in at once and struck Uzziah with leprosy in his forehead. When the priests saw this they pushed him out of the place. In fact, he himself knew he had to leave. It was clear the Lord had brought this terrible judgment on him.
Uzziah's action looks small in itself. Its weight lies in whose place he was taking.
Uzziah invaded the priestly office, which did not belong to him. It was a small matter to put some incense on the altar. It was done in self-will and in defiance of the Lord's order and ordinance. It was a rejection of that office which foreshadowed the work of the true priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The same pride can grow in a believer when life goes well.
By God-given prosperity he became strong, but when he became strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God toward him should have kept him humble and witnessed to his soul of his weakness. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up... God expressed His judgment of that pride in him by striking him with leprosy in his forehead. How much then must He hate the pride in us that makes us imagine we are above the need of Christ's priestly grace?
The priests did not only look at the king; they acted. Their faithfulness had a part in driving him out, and that raises a question about who guards the things of God today.
Sacrilege on the king's part and faithfulness on the priest's part drove the king out of the temple. God Himself showed His displeasure by striking him with leprosy. Now, as a leper, he cannot come into the temple; he is cut off from the congregation, and must from now on live in a separate house... Do we not see man's will and order and authority at work in the great house that the professing Christian world has become? Does the Lord sanction this in any way? Sadly, we see man intruding into the things of God — but what true-hearted priest has faith to drive him out?
God shut Uzziah out of His house. He still invites us in, but only in one way.
Let us beware of treating the Lord with unholy familiarity. A humble spirit is always a confident spirit. But a humble spirit can trust only in the blood of Jesus. It does not rush into God's presence the way a man with a lifted-up heart does. We can come there only through the incense of the Lord Jesus, not on the credit of our own graces, or devotion, or the zeal of our own nature.
- Pride starts it. The disease broke out in the forehead, where men trust their own reasoning instead of God's Word. The sin and its sign matched.
- Anger seals it. If Uzziah had humbled himself at the priests' rebuke, he might have been spared. Fury at correction cost him everything.
- The mark shows it. Leprosy pictures sin in the aspect that shuts a person out of God's presence and marks him unfit for it.
- God strikes it. The priests pushed him out, but Uzziah hurried out himself, because he knew the hand on him was the Lord's, not theirs.
- Christ answers it. The office he grabbed pointed to the true Priest, Jesus Christ. The door that shut on him stands open to a humble heart — but only through Christ, never on the credit of our own devotion.
And Uzziah the king was a leper to the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of Jehovah. And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
Uzziah's long and successful reign ends in a few lines: a disease that never left him, a house apart from everyone else, and no more entry to the temple. Why did God's judgment take this shape, and why did God never restore him?
Uzziah had gone into the temple to burn incense, a task God had assigned to the priests alone. One writer draws out how exactly the sentence answers the offence:
The judgment matches his transgression. He dared to take the office of the priest, to do what the law forbade him. Now as a leper he cannot come into the temple. He loses the privilege of an ordinary Israelite, he is cut off from the congregation, and from now on he must live in a separate house. He cannot carry out his duties as king either. In modern language, someone else rules in his place. Jotham was "over the king's household, governing the people of the land."
He reached for more than a king should have, and ended with less than any citizen had.
Uzziah wanted to hold the throne and the altar together. That combination is not open to any son of David except one:
Then priest like Melchizedek, the Lord, like him, is also King. "There shall be a priest on his throne," Zechariah foretold (6:13). Aaron was never king, and no king of David's line, except the Lord, was ever a priest to God. Only one tried to take over the priest's office, and fitting punishment came on him at once. Uzziah, for attempting to burn incense, was a leper to the day of his death (2 Chron. 26:21). The royal and priestly offices can in Israel only be united in the person of Christ.
One writer reads Uzziah's condition as a picture of every person's standing before God:
King Uzziah was a leper, and lived outside the camp. This shows us that sinful man is unfit for the presence of God, however high his office and dignity. It shows that man has no resources at all for cleansing the leprosy of sin. And unless God undertakes to meet him with healing mercy, he must still remain unclean, and unfit for association with the God of holiness. So, at the very start of our subject, we find the humbling hint of man's real character: unclean and far from God. That is true even though he stands in the highest position of society and holds the most exalted office, and even among the most favoured people on earth.
What moved a successful king to do it? One writer looks behind the act to its cause:
But whatever the immediate motive, we know the primary cause of his profane deed. It was pride — the real "original sin," that hideous parent-sin of all later sins, whether among angels or among men (1 Tim. 3:6; Ezek. 28:2, 17). "He was marvellously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction." His name meant "Strength of Jehovah." How happy he would have been if he had seen that no one is strong except in His strength.
The story ends with two facts side by side: a sentence for life, and an honourable grave.
There was no reversing of this as there had been in the case of Miriam (Num. 12:10-15), and Uzziah was isolated for the rest of his life. He could no longer act as king, and could have nothing to do with the temple. His son Jotham took his place as king. We are not told how long he lived after his leprosy broke out. But at his death he was buried among his fathers, which at least recognised his former faithfulness.
One writer turns Uzziah's story into a question for the reader:
Are there Christians who have reached a point where they no longer need to obtain mercy and find grace? If there are any who think they have, let them be warned by the example of Uzziah. God-given prosperity made him strong. But once he was strong, he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and been the witness to his soul of his weakness. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up.
- Cause — pride. Strength undid him, not weakness. His name meant "Strength of Jehovah," and he forgot whose strength it was.
- Crime — grasping. He took the priest's work, which belonged to the sons of Aaron alone. Only Christ holds throne and priesthood together.
- Sentence — loss. The man who wanted the priest's place lost the place of an ordinary Israelite. He lost God's house too, and another ruled for him as king.
- Sign — uncleanness. Leprosy showed that high office cannot make sinful man fit for God's presence. Man has no cure for it; only God's healing mercy can cleanse.
- End — remembered. Unlike Miriam, he never recovered. Yet his burial among his fathers still acknowledged his earlier faithfulness.
And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz write.
Uzziah's reign over Judah closes with a note about records. Isaiah the prophet wrote the whole account, the promising start and the leprous end. That raises two questions. Why was a prophet keeping the royal records? And why did such a bright reign need a "last" as well as a "first"?
Chronicles names the records behind its own history. One writer notes that the prophets did not only use the royal records. They drew them up:
There is no need to say that the prophets plainly declare their inspiration: "The word of the LORD came to them," "Thus says the LORD," and the like. In the history books, such as Kings, the text plainly says that they used the royal chronicles. But the prophets both used them and drew them up — Isaiah is our example — so that we might have them as the word of God.
Do these references to older records weaken the Bible? One writer answers that this is not the main question:
Throughout the books many historical accounts are mentioned that the writer could base his writings on... But for the reader who accepts the Bible as God's inspired Word, these details are not that important. What matters more is that God Himself had the books written to warn us.
His name is part of the story. And it was success, not hardship, that undid him:
It was pride — the true "original sin," the ugly parent of every sin that has followed, among angels and among men... "he was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction." His name meant "Strength of the LORD." It would have been a happy thing for him had he seen that no one is truly strong except in His strength.
His pride took a particular shape. He would not depend on the priests. One writer turns that on the reader:
God-given prosperity made him strong. But once he was strong, he imagined he could do without the priesthood. God's grace towards him should have kept him humble and shown his soul how weak he was. But sadly it did not... And if God showed what He thought of that pride by striking him with leprosy on his forehead, how must He hate the pride in us that makes us imagine we are above the need of Christ's priestly grace?
The same prophet who kept Uzziah's records also described the nation in his final years. And the king's death marked the start of his own ministry:
It was "in the year that King Uzziah died" that Isaiah began his full prophetic ministry. The first five chapters of his prophecy show the moral state of the nation at the close of Uzziah's reign. He was also the official historian of that reign.
Why date a vision of God's glory by a leper's death? One writer sees a contrast:
But why is Uzziah brought in here? Could it be, among other things, to remind us of a contrast? The very best man on earth, the highest ruler of Judah's kingdom, the most honoured man in the world, stands in the widest contrast with THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS. King Uzziah was a leper and lived outside the camp. This shows us that sinful man is unfit for the presence of God, however high his office and dignity.
Commentators differ on how to read Uzziah's burial. Some take the field outside the royal tombs as a lasting mark of disgrace — "they would not lay his leprous body in their 'Westminster Abbey,'" as one puts it. Another reads it more gently:
There was no reversing of this, as there had been with Miriam. Uzziah lived in isolation for the rest of his life. He could no longer act as king, and he could have nothing to do with the temple... but at his death they buried him among his fathers, at least some recognition of his earlier faithfulness.
- Written — Uzziah's acts were not left to rumour. A prophet drew them up, so that we might have them as the word of God.
- Written to warn — God had these books written for a reason. He means to warn us.
- Written in full — "from first to last" takes in the bright start and the ruined finish. God does not leave out the ending.
- Written on his forehead — strength turned into pride, and God marked that pride with leprosy. A man named for God's strength thought he could do without the priesthood.
- Written into the next chapter — in the year this king died, Isaiah saw the true King. The leper shows how unfit the best of men is for God's presence.
And Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the burial-ground of the kings, for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
Uzziah reigned fifty-two years, but his story ends with an explanation instead of a tribute. They laid him in a field beside the royal tombs rather than in them, because he was a leper — so how does a king who began so well end up separated even in death?
The place of his grave was a choice, not an accident. One writer pictures how the nation handled the body of a king they could not honour in the usual place:
They would not lay his leprous body in their "Westminster Abbey," but buried him in a field next to the tombs of their kings — in plain ground, perhaps.
The chapter names the turning point as the moment he grew strong. One writer traces the sin to its root and finds the irony in the king's own name:
Whatever his immediate motive, we know the main cause of his sinful act. It was pride — the true "original sin," the ugly parent of every sin that has followed, whether among angels or among men. "He was marvelously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his own destruction." His name meant "Strength of Jehovah." How happy he would have been if he had seen that only in His strength is anyone really strong.
Jotham's reign is the last note in the verse, but the handover had begun years earlier. One writer links the loss of the crown to the seizing of priestly authority:
He thought so much of his dignity and of his own great importance as king that he, the civil power, seized the religious authority... The Lord judges Uzziah by striking him with leprosy. The priests drove him out of the temple, and he stayed shut out from the congregation of Israel until his death. He was proud of that authority, and he had not given the Lord the honour for it. So it is taken from him and given to his son Jotham years before his death. Uzziah dies cut off from the blessings of God's house, because he had made light of the dignity of the high priesthood — a picture of Christ's — which the Lord had set up there.
Because he reached for what belonged only to the priests, he lost even what belonged to any ordinary Israelite:
The judgment matched his sin. He dared to take the office of the priest, to do what the law forbade him. Now, as a leper, he cannot come into the temple. He even loses the privilege of an ordinary Israelite. He is cut off from the congregation, and from now on he must live in a separate house.
One writer draws a lesson from the date Isaiah gives for his vision of glory:
The chapter tells us that the prophet had this vision of glory "in the year that King Uzziah died." But why is Uzziah brought in like this? Could it be, among other things, to remind us that the very best man on earth stands in the widest contrast with THE KING, THE LORD OF HOSTS? He was the highest ruler of Judah's kingdom and the most honoured man in the world. Yet King Uzziah was a leper, and he lived outside the camp. This shows us that sinful man, however high in office and dignity, is unfit for the presence of God. It shows that man has no resources at all for cleansing the leprosy of sin. Unless God meets him with healing mercy, he must still remain unclean.
One writer turns the story on any Christian who feels past the need of mercy:
Are there Christians who have reached a point where they no longer need to receive mercy and find grace? If any think they have, let Uzziah's example warn them. God-given prosperity made him strong, and once he was strong he imagined he could do without the priesthood. The grace of God towards him should have kept him humble and shown his soul how weak he was. But it was not so; his heart was lifted up.
- Strength — his name meant "Strength of Jehovah." The verse that undid him says he grew proud once he was strong. The gift became the ground of the fall.
- Seizure — strength made him dare to take the priest's office, which the law kept for the priests alone.
- Separation — the punishment matched the sin. He reached past the privileges of an Israelite, so he lost them: shut out of the temple, shut into a separate house.
- Succession — the authority he was proud of passed to Jotham years before he died. Pride cost him the very power he had refused to credit to God.
- Stigma — the separation followed him into the grave. He lay in a field beside the royal tombs, not in them, and "He is a leper" was the last word said over him — a warning to anyone who thinks he has outgrown his need of mercy.