CHAPTER 26

(810 B.C.)

UZZIAH (AZARIAH) SUCCEEDS AMAZIAH

¹Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah (Uzziah is named Azariah in II Kings).

²He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king (Amaziah) slept with his fathers.

³Sixteen years old was Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mothers name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

⁴And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did (the qualifier is, he started well, and ended poorly).

⁵And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the Visions of God (this was not the Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, who lived some years prior; he was murdered by Joash, Uzziahs grandfather; neither was he the Zechariah who wrote the Book of Zechariah; all we know about this Zechariah is what is said here): and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper (what a statement! The words, sought the Lord, mean not only to desire what God desires, but to seek His Face incessantly; this is the secret of spiritual, domestic, financial, physical, and mental victory).

UZZIAHS MILITARY SUCCESSES

⁶And he went forth and warred 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.

⁷And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.

⁸And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly (he was able to strengthen himself, because God helped him).

UZZIAHS BUILDING PROGRAM, PROSPERITY, AND ARMY

⁹Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.

¹⁰Also he built towers in the desert, and dug many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry (the kings partiality looked to agricultural and pastoral pursuits).

¹¹Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, who 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 kings captains.

¹²The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

¹³And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, who made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

¹⁴And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.

¹⁵And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong (this means that God prospered him so greatly that the people marveled; however, when he became strong, he entered into the zone of extreme danger).

UZZIAHS SIN AND PUNISHMENT

¹⁶But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction (with pride): for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the Temple of the LORD to burn Incense upon the Altar of Incense. (His transgression was far more serious than we realize. For him to attempt to burn incense upon the Altar of Incense proclaims the fact that he, in essence, was saying that he did not need a Saviour. The Priest, who alone could offer Incense, stood as a Type of Christ, as a mediator between God and man.

As well, the sin of the modern Church is the sin of ignoring, or else outright denying, the Cross. Christ must be worshipped as the Saviour, and He is the Saviour through the Cross [I Cor. 1:17-18, 23; 2:2]. If Jesus is worshipped or sought after in any other manner, He becomes another Jesus, which God can never accept [II Cor. 11:4; Ex. 25:6; 30:1, 7-8, 34, 37-38; Lev. 16:13].)

¹⁷And Azariah the Priest (High Priest) went in after him (into the Holy Place, where was the Altar of Incense), and with him fourscore (80) Priests of the LORD, who were valiant men (brave men, who would stand up to the king):

¹⁸And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertains not unto you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the Priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn Incense: go out of the Sanctuary (in fact, no one was allowed in the Sanctuary except Priests); for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honour from the LORD God.

¹⁹Then 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 attempted to worship God without the intervention of an ongoing Saviour, the Lord smote him with leprosy. On the forehead of the High Priest was a golden plate with the words, Holiness to the Lord; on the forehead of Uzziah was sinfulness [leprosy]. We must ever remember that Christ is the Source of all things, as it pertains to the Believer, and the Cross is the Means by which all of these things come to us. If we attempt to obtain anything from the Lord by means other than the Cross, we have, in effect, like Uzziah, claimed to be our own Saviour.)

²⁰And 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; yes, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him. (To be frank, he was afraid that the Lord would kill him and, but for the Mercy of God, this is exactly what would have happened. The leprosy started in his forehead, because, as stated, this was where the golden plate was worn by the High Priest, stipulating Holiness. Only Christ fits that designation. Man is holy only as he trusts Christ and what Christ did at the Cross. Upon proper trust in Christ, Righteousness and Holiness are instantly imputed to the individual. Otherwise, there is no Holiness!)

²¹And 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 kings house, judging the people of the land.

DEATH OF UZZIAH

²²Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the Prophet, the son of Amoz, write (Isaiah the Prophet asserts that his prophetic inspiration was in Uzziahs time [Isa. 1:1; 6:1]).

²³So 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 (hopefully he repented, but there is no evidence that he did; the last thing the Holy Spirit said about him was, He is a leper not was, but rather is).