We could have wished that the end of Uzziah's life had answered to the beginning; that a reign which began so well, which had so commendable and even distinguished a record, bad closed in light and honour. But it was not to be. That powerful temptation which assails the strong and the victorious proved too powerful for the Hebrew king; he fell beneath its force, and he paid a heavy penalty for his fall. We have—
I. A PAINFUL SPECTACLE in the person of a leprous king. In Uzziah the leper we have one who occupied the highest place in the kingdom brought to an estate which the meanest subject in the realm, who had the hue of health in his cheeks, would not have accepted in place of his own; we have one in whose presence it was once an honour to stand, and whose face it was a high privilege to behold, reduced to such a condition that it was a kindness for any one to be with him, a pain for any eye to regard him, a sacrifice and defilement for any one to touch him; we have a man whose presence once brought highest honour to the home the threshold of which he might condescend to cross, now brought so low that no humblest householder in the land could or would permit him to pass his door; we have a man who did stand foremost in every religious privilege, debarred from entering the outer court of the sanctuary; we have one who had spent his manly energies in all forms of happy and useful activity, shut up in a separate house and secluded from affairs; we have an instance of complete humiliation, and we cannot fail to be affected by it if we dwell upon all that it meant to the unhappy subject of it.
II. AN APPARENTLY HEAVY SENTENCE FOR ONE OFFENCE. We inquire—Why this terrible visitation? And we find that it was because the king invaded the temple of God and attempted, to do that which was not permitted by law. To any one judging superficially, the sentence may seem severe and indeed excessive. It may seem unjust to visit one day's wrong-doing, one act of guilt, with a heavy penalty for life—a penalty that disabled and disqualified, as leprosy did, for all the duties and all the enjoyments of human life. But we have not to look far to find—
III. THE EXPLANATION Or THE SEVERITY. This is twofold.
1. It was of the first importance that the royal power should not presume upon ecclesiastical functions. It was not a mere question between king and priest; that would have been small enough. It was a question whether God should continue to rule, through his chosen officers, over the. nation, or whether the king should set aside the divinely given Law, and practically make himself supreme. To defy and disobey one of the clearest and one of the most emphatic precepts in the Law, and to assume a prerogative which God had strictly confined to the priestly order, was a step that was revolutionary in its character and tendency, that was calculated to overturn the most sacred traditions, and to break up the ancient usage as well as to lessen that sense of the Divine separateness and sanctity which it was the first object of the great Lawgiver to fasten on the mind of the people. It was a daring and a dangerous innovation, which nothing but overgrown presumption would have attempted, and which demanded the most striking and impressive rebuke that could be administered. The sentence was judicial, and was intended to warn all others from acts that were injurious, and from an ambition that was unholy.
2. It was the punishment, not merely of one sinful action, but also of a guilty state of heart. Uzziah would not have done this sacrilegious action if he had not fallen from the humility, which is the first condition of true piety, into a state of condemnable spiritual pride. "His heart was lifted up;" "his heart was haughty, and his eyes were lofty," and therefore he wanted to "exercise himself in things too high for him" (Psalms 131:1). Much success had spoiled him, as it spoils so many in every land and Church. It had made him arrogant, and human arrogance is a moral evil of the first magnitude, displeasing in a very high degree to the Holy One of Israel, utterly unbecoming in any one of the children of men, exposing the soul to other sins, requiring a strong and sometimes even a stern discipline that it may be uprooted from the heart and life. It may be hoped, and perhaps believed, that in the "several house" (2 Chronicles 26:21) in which Uzziah afterwards lived, he learned the lesson which God designed to teach him, humbled his heart before his Maker, and came to bless that pruning hand which dealt so severe a stroke to save the vine from fruitlessness and death.
1. Shrink from intruding where God does not call you. But, more particularly:
2. Recognize the fact that success in any sphere is a "slippery place," and calls for much self-examination and much earnest prayer for humility and simplicity of spirit.—C.
HOMILIES BY T. WHITELAW
2 Chronicles 26:1-15
Uzziah the prosperous.
I. A YOUTHFUL SOVEREIGN. (2 Chronicles 26:1-3.)
1. His names. Uzziah, "Might of Jehovah" (2 Kings 15:13, 2 Kings 15:30, 2 Kings 15:32, 2 Kings 15:34; Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 6:1; Amos 1:1; Zechariah 14:5); Azariah, "Whom Jehovah aids" (2 Kings 14:21; 2 Kings 15:1, 2 Kings 15:6, 2 Kings 15:8, 2 Kings 15:17, 2 Kings 15:23, 2 Kings 15:27; 1 Chronicles 3:12);—the former, the designation taken by or conferred upon him at or soon after his accession (Thenius, Bahr); the latter, his name before that event. But if the two appellations should not be regarded as equivalent (Keil), the likelihood is that Uzziah was his personal and Azariah his kingly title (Nagelsbach in Herzog, and Kleinert in Riehm), as the latter, Azri-jahu, is the name he ordinarily bears on the Assyrian monuments.
2. His parents. Amaziah the son of Joash, and Jecoliah of Jerusalem. Of the latter nothing is known beyond her name and residence, except that she had been the wife, and was the mother, of a king. That Uzziah was not his father's firstborn son has been inferred (Bertheau, Ewald, Bahr), though precariously, from the statement that "all the people took him and made him king" (verse 1).
3. The date of his accession. After his father's death, in the fifteenth year of Jeroboam II. of Israel (2 Kings 14:23). The theory that Uzziah's accession should be dated from his father's capture by Joash (Sumner) is not without support from certain circumstances stated in the narrative, as e.g. that Amaziah lived (not reigned) after the death of Joash fifteen years (ch. 25:25), and that Uzziah built Eloth after the death of his father (ch. 26:2), as if he had been sovereign before that event, Nevertheless, it is not adopted by Josephus ('Ant.,' 9.9. 3), and does not appear demanded by the text (consult Exposition).
4. The length of his reign. Fifty-two years—with one exception (ch. 33:1) the longest throne-occupancy of any sovereign of Judah. Its close synchronized with the accession of Pekah to the throne of Israel by means of conspiracy and assassination (2 Kings 15:23-25).
II. A PROMISING RULER. (Verses 4, 5.)
1. A worshipper of Jehovah. "He did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that his father Amaziah had done," i.e. until he declined into idolatry (2 Chronicles 25:14). "He was a good man, and by nature righteous and magnanimous, and very laborious in taking care of the affairs of his kingdom" (Josephus, 'Ant.,' 9.10. 3); but his devotion to religion, while sincere, was, like his father's, imperfect (2 Chronicles 25:2). "The high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places" (2 Kings 15:4). See the confirmation of this in the minor prophets (Hosea 8:14; Hosea 12:2; Amos 2:4).
2. A seeker after God. "And he sought God."
3. A pupil of Zechariah. "Zechariah had understanding," and perhaps gave him instruction "in the vision [or, 'seeing'] of God." That this Zechariah was neither the priest whom Joash slew (2 Chronicles 24:20), nor the prophet who lived in the second year of Darius (Zechariah 1:1), is apparent. That he possessed that special gift or capacity of beholding God in vision which pertained to the prophetic calling cannot be inferred from the Chronicler's statement, "since this beholding of God, of which the prophets were conscious only in moments of highest inspiration, cannot be thought of as a work of human activity and exercise" (Berthcau). Most probably he was one who, like Daniel (Daniel 1:17), "had understanding in all visions and dreams," and who acted as Uzziah's counsellor and teacher.
III. A BRILLIANT WARRIOR. (Verses 2, 6, 7, 8.)
1. The fortification of Eloth. (Verse 2.) His father's conquest of Edom (2 Chronicles 25:11, 2 Chronicles 25:12) had either not been pushed as far as this important harbour-town upon the Red Sea (see on 2 Chronicles 8:17), or the town, though taken, had been given up and not annexed to Judah in consequence of Joash's defeat of Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:23). On attaining to the throne, Uzziah rectified his father's oversight by capturing the town, erecting it into a fortress, and restoring it to Judah. Without it Edom was of little consequence to Judah. This exploit, which happened in the early part of Uzziah's reign, was probably that from which he derived his name Azariah (2 Kings 14:21, 2 Kings 14:22); while its introduction at this stage in the narrative, before the chronological statement which follows it (verse 3), may have been due to a desire on the part of the Chronicler to introduce Uzziah to his readers as the well-known monarch who had conquered, recovered, and fortified Eloth (Berthcau).
2. The war against the Philistines and Arabians. (Verses 6, 7.) These had together invaded Judah upwards of eighty years previously (2 Chronicles 21:16), and Uzziah may have purposed to inflict upon them chastisement for that aggression (Keil); but the assumption is as rational that Uzziah either dreaded or experienced a combination against himself similar to that which had assailed Jehoram, and that, either (in the former case) taking time by the forelock, he fell upon his enemies ere they could strike at him, or (in the latter case), meeting the emergency with courage, he repelled the attacks they made upon him. His success in dealing with the Philistines was complete. He broke down the walls of Gath (see on 2 Chronicles 11:8), which, formerly taken from the Philistines by David (1 Chronicles 18:1), had latterly been recovered, most likely in the reign of Jehoram; the wall of Jabneh, here mentioned for the first time, but probably the town in Judah named Jabneel in the days of the conquest (Joshua 15:11), Jamnia in the period of the. Maccabees, at the present day Jabneh, eighteen miles north-west of Gath, "situated on a slight eminence on the west bank of the valley of Sorek (Wddy es Surar), about four miles from the sea coast" (Warren, in 'Picturesque Palestine,' 3:161); and the wall of Ashdod, one of the principal cities of the Philistines (1 Samuel 5:1), and now a village called Esdud, after which he erected cities in the domain of Ashdod and in other parts of Philistia. In like manner, he was entirely victorious over the Arabians in (Gur-baal—not the city Petra (LXX.), but perhaps the town of Gerar (Targum)—and the Meunims, who dwelt in Mann (1 Chronicles 4:41).
3. The submission of the Ammonites. These, whose settlements lay east of the Dead Sea, and who, in Jehoshaphat's time, had come up against Judah (2 Chronicles 20:1), were now so reduced that they rendered tribute to Judah, as the Moabites did under David (2 Samuel 8:2), and the Philistines and Arabians under Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:11).
4. The extension of his fame to Egypt. Not merely the report of his splendid victories travelled so far as the land of the Pharaohs, but the boundaries of his empire reached to its vicinity. An inscription of Tiglath-Pileser II. shows that the northern people of Hamath attempted to free themselves from the Assyrian yoke by going over to Azariah.
IV. A GREAT BUILDER. (Verses 9, 10.) In addition to the fortress at Eloth and the cities in Philistia, he erected towers.
1. In Jerusalem.
2. In the desert, or wilderness. The place was "the steppe-lands on the west side of the Dead Sea" (Keil); the object, the protection of his flocks and shepherds against attacks from robber-bands, whether of Edomites or Arabians.
V. AN ENTHUSIASTIC HUSBANDMAN. (Verse 10.)
1. An extensive cattle-breeder. He had much cattle in the re,on just mentioned, in the lowland between the mountains of Judaea and the Mediterranean, and in the fiat district on the east of the Dead Sea, from Arnon to near Heshbon in the north. For the use of these animals he hewed cisterns in each of these localities.
2. An ardent agriculturist. He kept farmers and vine-dressers upon the mountains and in the fruitful fields. "He took care to cultivate the ground. He planted it with all sorts of plants, and sowed it with all sorts of seeds" (Josephus).
VI. AN ABLE GENERAL. (Verses 11-15.)
1. He organized the army.
2. He armed the soldiers. For all the host he prepared the necessary weapons for offensive and defensive warfare—for the first, spears, bows, and slings; for the second, shields, helmets, and coats of mail; or perhaps, for the heavy-armed troops, shields, spears, and helmets; and for the light infantry, bows and sling-stones. The mention of "sling-stones," it has been thought (Bertheau), was intended to indicate the completeness of his preparations, as in the late France-German war Marshal Leboeuf declared the French army to be ready for the projected campaign down to the "shoe-buckle." Besides furnishing each soldier with a set of weapons, Uzziah collected a store of such "that he might have them in readiness to put into the hands of his subjects on any exigency" (A. Clarke)
3. He fortified the capital This, which Joash of Israel (2 Chronicles 25:23) had weakened, he strengthened by placing on the towers and battlements of its walls ingenious machines—"engines invented by cunning men"—to shoot arrows and great stones withal, like the catapultae and ballistae of the Romans.
LESSONS.
1. The beneficial influence of parental piety—it tends to reproduce itself in the children.
2. The true Source of all prosperity, whether temporal or spiritual—God.
3. The necessary condition of all permanent prosperity for individuals or communities—religion, seeking God.
4. The unspeakable advantage to kings and subjects of having as their counsellors men who have understanding in the visions of God.
5. The obvious wisdom of sovereigns and their people devoting attention to the cultivation of the soft.
6. The lawfulness, in nations as in individuals, of taking due pre- cautions for safety.—W.
2 Chronicles 26:16-23
Uzziah the leprous.
I. UZZIAH'S TRANSGRESSION.
Pride. "His heart was lifted up." This the inevitable tendency of too much material and temporal prosperity (Deuteronomy 8:13, Deuteronomy 8:14). Exemplified in Amaziah (2 Chronicles 25:18, 2 Chronicles 25:19; 2 Kings 14:9), Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32:31; 2 Kings 18:19-35), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:30-34; Daniel 5:20).
2. The nature of it. "He went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense," i.e. he took upon himself the priestly function of ministering before Jehovah in the holy place. Whether in doing so he conceived himself to be following in the steps of David and Solomon (Thenius, Ewald, Stanley) may be doubted. It is not clear that either of these sovereigns ever offered incense in the sanctuary proper, though they frequently officiated at the offering of sacrifices in the outer court on the occasion of religious festivals (Bertheau, Keil, Bahr). More likely is the view that Uzziah desired to ape the potentates of the world generally, as e.g. those of Egypt, who, as supreme priests (pontifices maximi), with other priests to aid them, conducted temple-worship in honour of the gods. In any case, what he did expressly violated the Divine Law, which reserved the privilege of entering the holy place and ministering therein exclusively for the priests (Exodus 30:7, Exodus 30:8; Le Exodus 16:2, Exodus 16:12, Exodus 16:13; Numbers 18:1-10). The statement of Josephus ('Ant.,' 9.10. 4) may well be authentic, that the occasion which tempted Uzziah to forget himself was the celebration of some high national festival.
3. The aggravations of it. He committed this offence:
II. UZZAIAH'S PUNISHMENT. (Verses 19-23.)
1. Sudden. The Lord smote him (2 Kings 15:5)where he stood, within the holy place, censer in hand, attired in a priestly robe, fuming at Azariah and his eighty assistants, ready, in defiance of one and all, to go through with the unhallowed project he had in hand. Foolish Uzziah! Jehovah, who all the while was looking on (2 Chronicles 7:16; Habakkuk 2:20), simply stretched forth his invisible finger, and the daringly sacrilegious act was arrested. According to Josephus ('Ant.,' 9.10. 4), at that moment a great earthquake shook the ground, splitting the mountain on which the city stood, and making in the temple dome a rent, through which the sun's rays, shining, fell upon the king's face, insomuch that the leprosy seized on him immediately (cf. Amos 1:1; Micah 1:4; Zechariah 14:5).
2. Severe. The leprosy brake forth (or rose as the sun) in his forehead. The same punishment inflicted on Miriam for speaking against Moses (Numbers 12:10), and on Gehazi for lying to Elisha (2 Kings 5:27). The severity of the stroke measured the greatness of the sin for which it fell.
3. Conspicuous. "The chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous." The signs and tokens of this plague had been laid down in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 13:1-59.). Like the mark upon Cain's brow (Genesis 4:15), the spot upon Uzziah's forehead proclaimed him an object of Divine wrath. Many suffer on account of their transgressions whose chastisement is not visible to their fellow-men; that Uzziah's was perceptible to Azariah and his colleagues was a woof of the heinous character of his offence, while it served as a warning to others. One of Jehovah's purposes in inflicting punishment on evil-doers is to convince beholders of the horrible iniquity of sin, and deter them through "the terror of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:11.) from its commission.
4. Humiliating. The priests thrust the stricken king from the sacred dwelling; yea, the king himself "hasted to go out." Moreover, he was henceforth as an unclean person, out off from the congregation of Jehovah (Le 13:45, 46; Numbers 5:2), and, because of the infectious nature of his malady, lodged in "several house," i.e. a lazar-house, or infirmary. As the leprosy, in its spreading, wasting, corrupting, loathsome, contagious, incurable character, was a hideous emblem of sin, so the exclusion of the leper from the congregation, and his isolation from the society of his fellows, was an impressive picture of the fate reserved for unpardoned sinners (Psalms 1:5, Psalms 1:6). It must not, however, be assumed that Uzziah died in impenitence.
5. Fatal. It ended in death, as all sin does (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). Yet sin is not incurable by Divine power any more than leprosy was. As Miriam, Naaman, and the man who came to Christ (Matthew 8:2) were cleansed, so may the sinful soul be renewed (1 John 1:7).
6. Posthumous. Uzziah's punishment followed him after death. His people buried him, indeed, but not in the royal mausoleum, only in its neighbourhood, in the field of burial which belonged to the kings, lest his leprous dust should defile that of his fathers.
LESSONS.
1. The danger of prosperity.
2. The sin of pride.
3. The unlawfulness of will-worship.
4. The certainty that God can punish sin.
5. The hopelessness of those who die in sin.—W.
2 Chronicles
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