Uzziah Ruled as King For 52 years
February 10, 2023
Commentary
Uzziah, son of King Amaziah, becomes King of Judah at age 16, at the death of his father (vv. 1-3). He ruled 52 years from Jerusalem and during his rule he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath. He obeyed the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done (v. 4). Zechariah was his advisor and taught him to obey God (v. 5). Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful as long as Zechariah was alive. While he was king, he started a war against the Philistines, smashed the walls of Gath, Jabeth, and Ashdod, and then rebuilt towns in other parts of Philistia (v. 6). God helped him defeat the Philistines and the Meunites (v. 7). Even the Ammonites paid taxes to him (v. 8). He became powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him. He built fortified towers at the Corner and Valley Gates (v. 9) He also built defense towers in the desert (v. 10).
He owned a large herd of livestock in the flat lands and had crops and vineyards in the fertile hill country. Uzziah’s army was always ready for battle (v. 11). There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders (vv. 12-13). Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, bows, and stones for slinging (v. 14). Some skilled workers invented machines to shoot arrows and sling stones (v. 15). God helped Uzziah to become powerful and famous all over the world. He became proud and this led to his downfall (v. 16). One day he disobeyed the Lord by going into the temple burning incense. Azariah the priest and 80 other priests followed him into the temple (v. 17) and confronting him for burning incense (v. 18), which only descendants of Aaron were allowed to do. Uzziah was holding the incense burner at the time and became very angry, and leprosy suddenly appeared on his forehead (v. 19). Azariah and the other priests told him to leave the temple immediately (v. 20). Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life and was no longer allowed in the temple (v. 21). Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is written in I and II Kings (v. 22).
Application
Uzziah became a powerful leader, but this led to pride and his downfall. I only want God’s power.
2 Chronicles 26:1– 23 (NET)
1 All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place. 2 Uzziah built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah had passed away.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, who was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what the Lord approved, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah, who taught him how to honor God. As long as he followed the Lord, God caused him to succeed.
6 Uzziah attacked the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory. 7 God helped him in his campaigns against the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal, and the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached the border of Egypt, for he grew in power.
9 Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, Valley Gate, and at the Angle. 10 He built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, for he owned many herds in the foothills and on the plain. He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel, for he loved agriculture.
11 Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle. They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, a royal official. 12 The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600. 13 They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah supplied shields, spears, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous, for he received tremendous support and became powerful.
16 But once he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God. He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. That is the responsibility of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to offer incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have disobeyed and the Lord God will not honor you!” 19 Uzziah, who had an incense censer in his hand, became angry. While he was ranting and raving at the priests, a skin disease appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar. 20 When Azariah the high priest and the other priests looked at him, there was a skin disease on his forehead. They hurried him out of there; even the king himself wanted to leave quickly because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 King Uzziah suffered from a skin disease until the day he died. He lived in separate quarters, afflicted by a skin disease and banned from the Lord’s temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace and ruled over the people of the land.
22 The rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from start to finish, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah passed away and was buried near his ancestors in a cemetery belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.) His son Jotham replaced him as king.