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Judah’s King Uzziah

26 All the people of Judah took Uzziah,[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 

People want leaders.  All the people wanted Uzziah a 16-year-old young man to be the one who told them what to do.

2 After Amaziah the king rested with his ancestors, Uzziah rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah.

Uzziah as a young man began to restore what was broken.  He showed wisdom when he saw what the city needed and took actions to make things better.  When we are given an opportunity to lead, do we consider the condition of the surroundings before we take our seats as leaders?  Do we know the condition or state of who and what we are leading?  Are we prepared to make things better?  Or do we love the idea of being in charge?

3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 

When a leader reigns 52 years as the person in charge, that in itself speaks volumes.  There is something to be said about a person when he can lead people for a long time.  All the people chose him and all the people seemed to be impressed with how he was leading.  People will follow good leaders when they can be found.  I cannot imagine a poor leader lasting that long especially when was unanimously made king.  People will promote you or people will bring you to your end if that thought it necessary.  Although the people of Israel wanted a king, God allowed it.  Most importantly, God is the one who allows, what is allowed.  We may vote, but it is God who makes the decision.

4 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. 

It is always a pleasure to read when a leader does what is right in the sight of God.  We can do right.  Right does not mean you do not make mistakes or you do not do anything wrong; it means you take responsibility for your actions.  It also means you can be corrected.  Doing right means you will change when need be or you will do what needs to be done over.

5 He sought God throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.

Uzziah needed someone to teach him the Word of God.  As long as the teacher taught him what the Word said, he responded by doing things godly.  When people are led by God's Word and are obedient, they do right.  Uzziah sought the Lord, and when he sought the Lord, God made sure the things he looked to him for, was good.

Uzziah’s Exploits

6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Then he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 

7 God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs that live in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 

8 The Ammonites[d] paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for God made him very powerful.

 9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the corner buttress, and he fortified them. 

God gave Uzziah the rightful ownership of what was promised to Abraham.  The world is God's.  Uzziah took back what belonged to God's people.  God supported his effort.  Uzziah did not go to war because he liked conflict, Uzziah knew that what was God's, belong to the people of God.  He did not dream about change, he changed what needed to be different.  When God sees that we are serious about making things right for people, He will fully fund the effort.

 10 Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills[e] and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.[f]

Everyone loves to eat.  Uzziah cared about the food and the people who planted and produced it.  He cared about the cattle. He cared about the ones who sowed the seeds.  Many times the enemy attacked Israel for food.  Uzziah made sure even the cattlemen and the farmers were protected.  He was not a king only of the people, he was also a king over the people.  Uzziah demonstrates what we can glean from to be effective leaders.  Oversee all needs concerning people.  He made sure there was protection for the people and land of  Judah, and it was clear to anyone who wanted to attack them, that they were being watched.

11 Uzziah had an army equipped for combat that went out to war by division according to their assignments, as recorded by Jeiel the court secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. 

12 The total number of family heads was 2,600 valiant warriors.

 13 Under their authority was an army of 307,500 equipped for combat, a powerful force to help the king against the enemy.

Uzziah, like a well-made garment both inside and out proved to be a good manager.  The people he led kept a record of who was who and how many people he had to go to war if needed.

When a leader oversees well it is displayed in what you see and also what you do not see.  The people who worked behind the scene took care of business.  From the farmer to the military personnel, Uzziah was organized.

14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. 

15 He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was wondrously helped until he became strong.

Uzziah had the world's attention.  He cared for the people he led, he was organized and he was creative.  He created military gear that caused others to notice.  Uzziah became famous for his leadership skill and what he produced that other people even nations wanted to see and perhaps reproduce or buy it.

All in all, God prospered a good man.  When we look well to the things or people God allows leaders to oversee, God will promote.  Others will see how to do things that pleases him.  God provided the strenght and wisdom to get the job done. When we do things right, other people will want to know Him/God, through you the conduit of  his supply.

Uzziah’s Disease

16 But when he became strong, he grew arrogant, and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar. 

Uzziah was well known and he knew it.  He did so many things right and now he  has slipped into a self proclaimed master of much, which is being arrogant.  Uzziah forgot God.  When we seem to be good at this or that, we must recognize it is the Lord who prosper us and all glory belong to him.  How did Uzziah slip into this deception?  He took his eyes off God.  When the Word of God is put to the side we will surely be destroyed and all that we've accomplished.

17 The priest Azariah, along with eighty brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. 

81 priest came to Uzziah and told him he was out of order.  Altough you are a lot, you are not everyone or you cannot do everything.  God uses people.  Everyone has a position in God.  God instructed Moses to write who was to do what.  What Moses wrote did not go out of style.  What God said, God meant.  Stay in your place.  You are king.  You are not priest.

The 81 priest knew Uzziah was a good king and wanted him to keep his position.  They hurriedly warned him to stop. 

18 They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord—only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the Lord God.”

The priest used firm words to gain his attention and to show him he was making a mad or bad decision that perhaps will cause his death.  They cared for his well being.  When we are rebuked by people who care, it is for our good.

19 Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the Lord’s temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. 

20 Then Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw that he was diseased on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had afflicted him. 

81 priest stood against the wrong of the king.  When he realized God was against what he did, he ran from doing wrong and was left to live, but with a mark of leprosy indicating God's wrath on his conduct.  The 81 priest who stood against wrong perhaps caused him to live and not die.   It is the righteous who holds back the wrath of God.  When God told Abraham to find him 50 righteous men so that he would spare an entire city, it showed the righteousness of people is most valued.  When we stand for what is right, we cause God to hear and hold back on his anger.

21 So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death. He lived in quarantine[g] with a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the Lord’s temple, while his son Jotham was over the king’s household governing the people of the land.

Uzziah is still king.  But a king never to be seen again by the people he ruled.  He ruled from behind while his son carried out the duties he should have carried out.  God will not tolerate disobedience from any of us.  God is merciful.  He could have destroyed Uzziah's life, but he did not.  A warning from God can save a life.  God has no problem flipping the script.  Uzziah entered the temple one way and exited a differnt man.  

22 Now the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz wrote about the rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end. 

23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the burial ground of the kings’ cemetery, for they said, “He has a skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.