This week, we are looking at the life of a king who
led the Jewish people named Uzziah. Yesterday, we saw that as a result of the
Lord blessing King Uzziah with prosperity and success in his military battles
against the enemies of the Jewish people; 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. Something that Ezra records for us in 2
Chronicles 26:16. Let’s look at that together:
But
when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he
was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for
he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense
on the altar of incense.
You see, as King Uzziah grew in prominence,
prosperity and power in the world, something happened to King Uzziah. And what
happened was that his heart became so proud that he acted corruptly. Now this
phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally
reads that his heart was so lifted up that he acted in a way that spoiled and
ruined his life. Ezra then reveals exactly how King Uzziah spoiled and ruined
his life.
However, to fully understand what is happening here,
we first need to understand the meaning of burning incense on the altar of
incense. The altar of incense was located in the Temple of Jerusalem, in front
of the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. God
commanded the priests to burn incense on the altar every morning and evening,
the same time that the daily burnt offerings were made.
The incense was to be left burning continually
throughout the day and night as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Being set outside
the veil, the priest would see the smoke penetrate the curtain into the Holy of
Holies even though He could not see past or go past the curtain into the Holy
of Holies. Now, only the high priest was to perform the sacred duty of placing
incense before the Lord on the golden altar.
However, King Uzziah violated God’s command by
entering into the Holy Place of the Temple to burn incense. You see, 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.
Now here is a question to consider: how often can we
find ourselves tempted to act just like King Uzziah? How often can we find
ourselves in a place where we are not satisfied with the prominence, power,
prosperity that the Lord has blessed us with? How often can we find ourselves
in a place where we are tempted to move from humbly trusting and following the
Lord to arrogantly approaching the Lord to say “more”. How often can we find
ourselves in a place where we are tempted to arrogantly attempt to take power
and honor from those around us? Ezra records what happened next in verse 17:
Then Azariah the priest entered after him and
with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant
men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you,
Uzziah, to burn incense to the
LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you
have been unfaithful and will have
no honor from the LORD God."
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. You see, the reason why Ezra
describes these priests as being valiant is because they were courageously
placing their lives in danger in two very specific ways.
First, these valiant priests were putting their
lives in danger by confronting King Uzziah because of the punishment they could
possibly face from King Uzziah. Second, these valiant priests were putting
their lives in danger by confronting King Uzziah because of the punishment they
could possibly face from the Lord if they said or did anything that dishonored
the Lord.
Now Azariah’s statement to King Uzziah, if
communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded
something like this: “King Uzziah, it is not your place to offer up this act of
worship to the Lord. Instead, the High Priest is the one who has been set apart
to offer up this act of worship to the Lord. So King Uzziah, you need to get
out of here, because instead of trusting and bringing honor and glory to the
Lord you are seeking honor and glory for yourself. King Uzziah, your attempts
for power, and glory will result in you receiving no honor and glory from the
Lord.”
Friday, we will see how King Uzziah responded to
being confronted by the High Priest...
No comments:
Post a Comment