Again today we encounter a great deal of contrasts in the reading. We see the greatness of Uzziah and Jotham set next to the horrid abominations of the acts of Ahaz, which are then made right through the work of King Hezekiah in the first year of his reign. In many ways, the narrative that we read today is much like the narratives that we have been reading through out the history of the Kingdom of Judah. Some of the kings are good, and some are bad. When the kings do what is right in the eyes of the Lord there is a great deal of blessing and prosperity that comes about in Judah. However, when the kings do not do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, calamity ensues enemies attack, and the king is even forced to take articles from the temple of God and use them to pay tribute to other nations, a fitting image of exactly what is happening spiritually in these times too. Rather than giving to the Lord in worship, turning their hearts towards God and using that which has been set up for them to worship God in the temple, the evil kings turn their hearts towards other God and use what they have been given to serve them. It is very fitting then, albeit sad, that the temple itself, which is their center of worship, is stripped, broken apart, and sent off to other lands.
King Uzziah’s Pride
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Today’s reading also includes a warning in the narrative of King Uzziah. He is a great king and does incredibly awesome things for the Kingdom of Judah. He follows God and and in return, God makes him strong. All Judah’s enemies are subdued and the kingdom is blessed with great abundance in every way. Yet we see in Uzziah’s foolish acts towards the end of his life, that in his strength he forgets the ultimate source of all that he has been given. One might think that he is trying to offer incense out of the goodness and love of his heart to God who has made him strong, and that may very well be true. However, in those days the law of the Lord was very clear about who was allowed in the temple, especially inside the temple, and who was allowed to offer sacrifices of that nature. Even the person with the best intentions in Judah who wasn’t a priest was not allowed to be in there doing that. This was an act for the priests who served as mediators for God. The priests were set apart for this service as we read in Exodus and Leviticus. Under no circumstances was Uzziah allowed to do this and, in reality, he is dishonoring God in this act.
The warning then comes in his punishment. Rather than being repentant and leaving the Temple of God, Uzziah gets angry. The Lord’s response is sad, but clear. Uzziah, not recognizing who it is that has made him strong, and not being repentant in his sinful action, is struck with leprosy and thus cut off from the Lord and from the people that he is ruling. He is made permanently unclean, an unfortunate punishment for the prideful sin that he commits. In many ways Uzziah is the poster child for the phrase “pride goeth before the fall”
The Kings of Judah
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The other narratives in today’s reading play out in a variety of different ways in Judah’s history. Some would say that Ahaz is the worst king of Judah, which is mostly appropriate to date, and we see what that evil and turning away from God gets the people of Judah. He even goes so far as to burn his son as an offering, an act that is described in the Bible as nothing less than a complete and total abomination in the sight of God. Unfortunately though, Ahaz does not go down in history as being Judah’s worst king ever. However, even in this instance we see that God is faithful in bringing His people back, despite the calamity that falls upon them. This comes in the form of King Hezekiah, whose life we read about starting today and will continue tomorrow…
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- Day 111: 2 Kings 18-20; Hezekiah, King of Judah (orcministries.wordpress.com)
- 2 Chronicles 26 (asorensen.wordpress.com)
- 2 Chronicles 27 (asorensen.wordpress.com)
- 2 Chronicles 29 (tabernacleofgod.wordpress.com)
- Day 110: 2 Kings 15-17; Destruction and Exile of Israel (orcministries.wordpress.com)