At the church where I serve we
are spending our time together looking at the lives of
kings who were placed in a position of leadership over the Jewish people. And
as we look at the lives of these kings, we are discovering several timeless
truths that have the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives
today.
This week, I would like for us
to pick up where we left off last week. After King Joash’s death in 796 B.C.,
his son Amaziah became King over the Southern Kingdom of the Jewish people,
where he ruled for twenty nine years. However, during his fifth year of his
reign, after abandoning the Lord to worship the false gods of the nation of
Edom, King Amaziah was captured by the army of the Northern Kingdom of Israel,
which was led by King Jehoahaz. The northern army attacked Jerusalem, tore down
a large portion of its defensive wall, and took many of the gold and silver
utensils that were used in the worship of the Lord.
And it is at this point, after
this military defeat, which left the Southern Kingdom of Judea vulnerable and
without a king, that we jump back into the history of the Jewish people in 2
Chronicles 26:1:
And all the
people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen
years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth
and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. Uzziah was
sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in
Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. He did right in
the sight of the LORD according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He
continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through
the vision of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God prospered him.
Ezra,
the writer of 2 Chronicles, brings us into this event from the history of the
Jewish people by introducing us to the next King of the Southern Kingdom of the
Jewish people, a man named Uzziah. In 790 B.C., upon the capture of King
Amaziah, the Jewish people made Uzziah king, when he was sixteen years old. And
for the next ten years, King Uzziah led the Jewish people in the place of his
father.
Then,
in 780 B.C., King Amaziah returned from captivity in the Northern Kingdom after
the death of its king. After returning from captivity, Amaziah and Uzziah
shared the leadership responsibilities of the Jewish people for thirteen years.
However, in 767 B.C., when Uzziah was twenty six years of age, his father
Amaziah was assassinated, which left King Uzziah as King. King Uzziah then
proceeded to lead the Jewish people for an additional twenty eight years, until
his death in 739 B.C.
In
these verses, we see Ezra provide us a summary of King Uzziah’s early days as
king. After the death of his father, King Uzziah was able to recover the city
of Eloth from the nation of Edom. In addition, Ezra explains that King Uzziah
did right in the sight of the Lord. In other words, King Uzziah placed his
confident trust in and followed the Lord.
And
in the early days of his rule, as he was mentored by a man named Zechariah,
King Uzziah sought the Lord. As Zechariah taught young King Uzziah from the
knowledge and understanding that he received from the Lord, King Uzziah
developed a hunger to know more about the Lord. And as King Uzziah pursued the
Lord; as King Uzziah aligned himself with the message and teachings of the
Lord, the Lord responded by bringing prosperity and success to the king and the
nation. We see Ezra reveal exactly how the Lord blessed King Uzziah with
prosperity and success beginning in verse 6:
Now he went out and warred against the
Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the
wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the
area of Ashdod and among the Philistines. God helped him against the
Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites.
The Ammonites also gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border
of Egypt, for he became very strong.
Here
we see the Lord bless King Uzziah with prosperity and success in his military
battles against the enemies of the Jewish people. Under King Uzziah’s
leadership, the Southern Kingdom achieved major military victories over their
hated enemies, the Philistines, who lived west of the kingdom. In addition, the
Southern Kingdom defeated the enemies of the Jewish people who lived south and
southeast of their border.
These
military victories enabled the Southern Kingdom to regain access to an
international coastal highway, which is located here on the map. And as King Uzziah was empowered by the Lord
to achieve these military victories, King Uzziah’s power and fame began to
spread throughout the region. The Ammonites, who are located here on the map,
gave tribute, or a financial gift, to the king as a sign that they were
recognizing the Southern Kingdom’s rule and authority over them.
As
King Uzziah humbly trusted and followed the Lord, the name and fame of the King
spread throughout the region due to the Lord’s activity in his life. But not
only was the Lord blessing King Uzziah militarily against his enemies. We see a
second way that the Lord blessed King Uzziah in verse 9:
Moreover,
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and
at the corner buttress and fortified them. He built towers in the wilderness
and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in
the plain. He also had plowmen
and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the
soil.
Here
we see the Lord bless King Uzziah with prosperity and success as he led the
Jewish people in their domestic affairs. King Uzziah led the Jewish people to
restore the defensive walls and infrastructure that had been damaged as a
result of the attack by the Northern Kingdom during his father’s reign. In
addition, King Uzziah led the Jewish people to build towers that served as
defensive positions and storehouses for grain and goods.
King Uzziah also led the Jewish people to
develop a system of cisterns for the storage of water throughout his kingdom.
And even today, you can go and visit the evidence of King Uzziah’s activities
that have been uncovered by archeologists.
King Uzziah strengthened the economy of the Southern Kingdom through
massive agricultural projects throughout the nation that provided employment
and a stable food supply.
As
King Uzziah humbly trusted and followed the Lord, the nation experienced
prosperity, success and economic power throughout the region due to the Lord’s
activity in his life. We see a third way that the Lord blessed King Uzziah in
verse 11:
Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle,
which entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster,
prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of
Hananiah, one of the king's officers. The total number of the heads of the
households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600. Under their direction was an elite
army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against
the enemy. Moreover, Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets,
body armor, bows and sling stones. In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be
on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great
stones. Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.
Here we see the Lord bless King Uzziah
with prosperity and success by providing and protecting the Jewish people with
a powerful military. Unlike many other armies in this time of history, where
each individual soldier was responsible to provide his military equipment, King
Uzziah provided the Jewish army with the very best equipment.
In
addition, King Uzziah created a military defense around the city of Jerusalem
that was unparalleled at this time in history. King Uzziah made defensive
structures on the walls that surrounded Jerusalem that provided protection as
the soldiers fired arrows or slung large stones to fend off any potential
attack from an enemy.
And
as a result of the Lord blessing King Uzziah with prosperity and success in his
military battles against the enemies of the Jewish people; And as a result of
the Lord blessing King Uzziah with prosperity and success in his domestic
affairs; As a result of the Lord blessing King Uzziah with prosperity and
success with a powerful military, King Uzziah’s fame spread far and wide. Throughout
the known world, King Uzziah was viewed as one of the most prosperous and
powerful people in the world. As King Uzziah humbly trusted and followed the
Lord, King Uzziah grew in power and in prominence in the world.
And
if King
Uzziah’s story had ended there, King Uzziah’s story
would have been a great story. However, King Uzziah’s story
did not end there. Instead, something happened in the life of King Uzziah that
would result in his story taking a turn for the
worse.
Tomorrow, we
will discover what that something was…
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