Our prideful attempts to take power and honor from others will bring dishonor from the Lord...

This week, we are looking at the life of a king of the Jewish people by the name of Uzziah. Wednesday we looked on as King Uzziah violated God’s command by entering into the Holy Place of the Temple to burn incense. King Uzziah’s growing prominence, prosperity and power, led King Uzziah to proudly believe that he deserved more power.

Instead of humbly trusting and following the Lord, King Uzziah arrogantly believed that he should have the right to approach the Lord. King Uzziah was not satisfied with the prominence and power of a king; King Uzziah also wanted the prominence and power that the High Priest possessed. So King Uzziah’s pride led him to attempt to take power and honor from the High Priest for himself.

As King Uzziah arrogantly entered into the Holy Place to approach the Lord, he was followed by Azariah, who was the High Priest, and eighty valiant priests who served the Lord who confronted King Uzziah for hisselfishness ansd rebellion. Today, we see how King Uzziah responded to being confronted by the High Priest in verse 2 Chronicles 26:19:

 But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him.

King Uzziah responded to being confronted by the priests by being filled with an arrogant rage. You know that arrogant rage that leads people to say things like “how dare you talk to me that way! Don’t you know who I am?” However, as King Uzziah arrogantly and angrily lashed out at the priests in front of the altar of incense, Ezra tells us that leprosy broke out on his forehead.

Now to understand the significance of King Uzziah contracting leprosy, we first need to understand what leprosy is. Leprosy is a slowly progressing, contagious, and incurable skin disease characterized by scabs or crusts and white shining spots appearing to be deeper than the skin.

Now, in the Jewish culture of the Old Testament, leprosy left its victims in a place that rendered them unclean. In other words, a victim of leprosy was not allowed to participate in the life of the community of the Jewish people in any way. Instead, a person with leprosy lived separated from the community as an outcast for the rest of their lives, or until they were healed.

The problem was that no one was ever healed of leprosy. In the Bible, the only people who ever recovered from leprosy were those who were miraculously healed by God. However, in the Bible, people were stricken with leprosy from God as a right and just response to their selfishness and rebellion. And here, as Azariah the High Priest, and all the priests with him, looked on, we see the Lord inflict King Uzziah with leprosy.

In fear for the life of King Uzziah, the priests grabbed the king and rushed him out of the Temple before the Lord killed the King. Ezra then reveals what happened in the rest of King Uzziah’s life in verse 21:

  King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate 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. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first to last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, has written. So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, "He is a leper." And Jotham his son became king in his place.

As a result of King Uzziah’s attempt to take power and honor from others, King Uzziah lived the remainder of his days in dishonor as a leper that was separated from the Jewish people. In 750 B.C., King Uzziah’s son, a man named Jotham assumed the duties of the king as a result of King Uzziah’s leprosy. And for the remaining eleven years of his life, King Uzziah lived in isolation and separation from the Lord and the Jewish people.

Upon his death in 739 B.C., King Uzziah lost the honor of being buried with the kings of the Jewish people. Instead, King Uzziah received the dishonor of being buried in a field that belonged to the kings.  And it is in the in the life of King Uzziah, that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: Our prideful attempts to take power and honor from others will bring dishonor from the Lord.

Just as it was for King Uzziah; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; our prideful attempts to take power and honor from others will bring dishonor from the Lord. Just as it was for King Uzziah, when our growing prominence, prosperity and power results in our hearts being lifted up in pride, we can find ourselves acting in a way that spoils and ruins our lives.

Just as it was for King Uzziah, our growing prominence, prosperity and power can result in us moving from humbly trusting and following the Lord to arrogantly approaching the Lord to say “more”. Just as it was for King Uzziah, when our growing prominence, prosperity and power results in us not being satisfied with what we have, we can find ourselves acting in a way that attempts to take power and honor from others.

However, when we arrogantly attempt to take power and honor from others, the reality is that we are acting in a way that dishonors the Lord. And just like King Uzziah, our prideful attempts to take power and honor from others that dishonor the Lord will bring dishonor from the Lord.

So here is a question to consider: Is your growing prominence, prosperity and power resulting in your hearts being lifted up in pride in a way that is spoiling and ruining your lives?  Is your growing prominence, prosperity and power results in you not being satisfied with what you have but acting in a way that attempts to take power and honor from others?