Uzziah or Azariah setr out to serve the Lord whole
heartedly, becoming one of Judah’s greatest kings. Unfortunately, even the greatest men are not
perfect, and success and power often leads to pride and sin. II Chronicles 26:16-18 describes Uzziah
falling into thie very trap. “But when he was strong, his heart was
lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and
went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and
with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they
withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee,
Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron,
that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast
trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.”
God had forbideden anyone except the priests to go into the
sanctuary or to offer sacrifices there. Proud
of how he had served God, Uzziah ignored that command, offering sacrifices
himself. The priests reminede him of
God’s command. When Nathan pointed out
David’s sin, he had repented and asked forgiveness. Instead of asking forgiveness, Uzziah got
mad, as II Chronicles 26:19 tells us. “Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in
his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy
even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from
beside the incense altar.”
Because he did not acknowledge his sin and repent. God cause
leprosy to develop in his forehead right in front of the priests. Following the law, they forced him to isolate
himself from the people to prevent the leprosy spreading to other people, as II
Chronicles 26:20-21 tells us. “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; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the
LORD had smitten him. And Uzziah the
king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being
a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was
over the king's house, judging the people of the land.”
For the rest of his life, Uzziah lived in a sanitarium,
separated from the rest of the people, having his son Jotham serve as his
representative. Though he had sinned
and been punished by God, Uzziah never rejected God, and as aresult, even
though he had leprosy and could not rule directly he was respected and was
buried among the other kings of Judah. According to II Chronicles 26:23. “So
Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the
field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper:
and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.”
It was much better than what they thought of some of his
ancestors.
Only God knows how many sincere dedicated men have been
forced out of the ministry because their pride in their success led them into
sin. It is a very real danger for all of
us.
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