Today we are going to meet a king who I have spoken about in passing many times in my ministry. His name appears in one of my favorite passages of scripture. We will also meet, sort of, the source of one of the most prominent Old Testament prophetic books, though he is not mentioned in today’s passage. The king is the son of Amaziah, Uzziah and the Prophet is Isaiah. 2nd Kings 15 has a nice and short version of Uzziah’s story. It just tells you that he was struck with leprosy, but 2nd Chronicles 26 goes more in depth.

All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, as king in place of his father. 2 After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and restored it to Judah.

3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. 5 Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.

6 Uzziah declared war on the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia. 7 God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur, and his wars with the Meunites.8 The Meunites paid annual tribute to him, and his fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.

9 Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle in the wall. 10 He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.

11 Uzziah had an army of well-trained warriors, ready to march into battle, unit by unit. This army had been mustered and organized by Jeiel, the secretary of the army, and his assistant, Maaseiah. They were under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials. 12 These regiments of mighty warriors were commanded by 2,600 clan leaders. 13 The army consisted of 307,500 men, all elite troops. They were prepared to assist the king against any enemy.

14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and sling stones. 15 And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.

Wow, I like this guy! He is taking territory that Israel would have had long ago had they obeyed the Lord’s command! He was a great military mind, and he loved to farm! You cannot beat that combination. He had a wonderful reign of 52 years! You will remember Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada that Uzziah’s grandfather Joash had killed when he had gone down the slide of sin. Apparently, Zechariah had a great impact on Uzziah.

There is such a strange turn in Uzziah’s reign when he kind of commits what I would call the sin of Saul. Remember, in 1st Samuel 13, when Saul was waiting to go to battle and Samuel had not arrived yet, Saul offered the sacrifice himself. God had ordained a strict order of worship in the law of Moses, and it was to be followed. In fact, once the 2 sons of Aaron himself were irreverent in burning the wrong incense and they lost their lives. God took very seriously his Levitical worship commands. Here’s what I am talking about with Uzziah:

16 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”

19 Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. 21 So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

22 The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 When Uzziah died, he was buried with his ancestors; his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging to the kings, for the people said, “He had leprosy.” And his son Jotham became the next king.

The first sin we know was not Eve eating the fruit, it was Lucifer’s pride. Pride will always lead to ruin. Uzziah had done so well, and God had blessed him so mightily that he felt he was qualified to do the things in the temple that he was not. Only the lineage of Levi was allowed to be priests and offer the worship ordinances. So, he was struck with leprosy until he finally died. Church, humble yourselves! No matter how blessed we are, all of those blessings came from God! He gave you the ability, favor, and opportunity so that you can be a positive impact for Jesus!

I will close this devotional as I promised, with one of my favorite passages to preach. Isaiah 6:1-8. I love this, and I hope it will impact you as it does me.

Isaiah 6:1 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!     The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

In a year where, outside of that one scene, a very good 52-year reign comes to an end, could you imagine the worry and the fear about what might happen with the next king? We get a taste every four years, right?! But in that moment, God showed Isaiah who was on the throne that matters. He saw God high and lifted up, and the train of his robe was so long and glorious it filled the holiest place on Earth! Then he realized just how unrighteous that he was! That’s why he says in Isaiah 64:6 that our righteousness is like dirty rags in comparison to God. But there is also a beautiful picture of God’s purifying power in the story! Man, I love this passage!

So, I don’t know what the situations are like in your life, but today we learned this:

1)You never know the power of your impact.

a.  Zechariah never saw the fruit of his ministry to Uzziah, but the world did.

2)  Pride is a particularly dangerous sin.

a.  Proverbs 16:8 - Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

3)  God is always on the throne and in charge. He is looking to purify and call His people.

a.  Knowing He is there gives us a confidence that the world does not have. If we are faithful to confess our sins and shortcomings, He is willing to purify and call!

My prayer today is that we as a church say, “Here I am, Lord. Send me!”