II
C H R O N I C L E S
CHAP. XXVI.
This
chapter gives us an account of the reign of Uzziah (Azariah he was called in
the Kings) more fully than we had it before, though it was long, and in some
respects illustrious, yet it was very briefly related, 2 Kings xiv. 21; xv. 1,
&c. Here is, I. His good character in general, ver. 1-5. II. His great
prosperity in his wars, his buildings, and all the affairs of his kingdom,
ver. 6-15. III. His presumption in invading the priests' office, for which he
was struck with a leprosy, and confined by it (ver. 16-21) even to his death,
ver. 22, 23.
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Uzziah's
Prosperity.
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B.
C. 800.
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1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who
was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father
Amaziah. 2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that
the king slept with his fathers. 3 Sixteen years old was
Uzziah when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
4 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did. 5 And he
sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of
God: and as long as he sought the LORD,
God made him to prosper. 6 And he went forth and warred against
the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and
the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the
Philistines. 7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and
against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims. 8
And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even
to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself
exceedingly. 9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the
corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall,
and fortified them. 10 Also he built towers in the desert, and
digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the
plains: husbandmen also, and vine dressers in the mountains, and in
Carmel: for he loved husbandry. 11 Moreover Uzziah had a host of
fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their
account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand
of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. 12 The whole
number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two
thousand and six hundred. 13 And under their hand was an
army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made
war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. 14 And
Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and
helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the
towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his
name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.
We have here an account of two things concerning Uzziah:--
I. His piety. In this he was not very eminent or zealous; yet he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord. He kept up the pure worship of
the true God as his father did, and was better than his father,
inasmuch as we have no reason to think he ever worshipped idols as his father
did, no, not in his latter days, when his heart was lifted up. It is
said (v. 5), He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who, some
think, was the son of the Zechariah whom his grandfather Joash slew. This
Zechariah was one that had understanding in the visions of God, either
the visions which he himself was favoured with or the visions of the preceding
prophets. He was well versed in prophecy, and conversed much with the upper
world, was an intelligent, devout, good man; and, it seems, had great
influence with Uzziah. Happy are the great men who have such about them and
are willing to be advised by them; but unhappy those who seek God only while
they have such with them and have not a principle in themselves to bear them
out to the end.
II. His prosperity.
1. In general, as long as he sought the Lord, and minded religion, God
made him to prosper. Note, (1.) Those only prosper whom God makes to
prosper; for prosperity is his gift. (2.) Religion and piety are very
friendly to outward prosperity. Many have found and owned this, that as long
as they sought the Lord and kept close to their duty they prospered; but since
they forsook God every thing has gone cross.
2. Here are several particular instances of his prosperity:-- (1.) His success
in his wars: God helped him (v. 7), and then he triumphed over
the Philistines (those old enemies of God's people), demolished the
fortifications of their cities, and put garrisons of his own among them, v.
6. He obliged the Ammonites to pay him tribute, v. 8. He made all quiet
about him, and kept them in awe. (2.) The greatness of his fame and
reputation. His name was celebrated throughout all the neighbouring countries
(v. 8) and it was a good name, a name for good things with God and good
people. This is true fame, and makes a man truly honourable. (3.) His
buildings. While he acted offensively abroad, he did not neglect the defence
of his kingdom at home, but built towers in Jerusalem and fortified
them, v. 9. Much of the wall of Jerusalem was in his father's time
broken down, particularly at the corner gate. But his best
fortification of Jerusalem was his close adherence to the worship of God: if
his father had not forsaken this the wall of Jerusalem would not have been
broken down. While he fortified the city, he did not forget the country, but built
towers in the desert too (v. 10), to protect the country people
from the inroads of the plunderers, bands of whom sometimes alarmed them and
plundered them, as ch. xxi. 16. (4.) His husbandry. He dealt much in
cattle and corn, employed many hands, and got much wealth by his dealing; for
he took a pleasure in it: he loved husbandry (v. 10), and
probably did himself inspect his affairs in the country, which was no
disparagement to him, but an advantage, as it encouraged industry among his
subjects. It is an honour to the husbandman's calling that one of the most
illustrious princes of the house of David followed it and loved it. He was not
one of those that delight in war, nor did he addict himself to sport and
pleasure, but delighted in the innocent and quiet employments of the
husbandman. (5.) His standing armies. He had, as it should seem, two military
establishments. [1.] A host of fighting men that were to make
excursions abroad. These went out to war by bands, v. 11. They
fetched in spoil from the neighbouring countries by way of reprisal for the
depredations they had so often made upon Judah, [2.] Another army for guards
and garrisons, that were ready to defend the country in case it should be
invaded, v. 12, 13. So great were their number and valour that they made
war with mighty power; no enemy durst face them, or, at least, could stand
before them. Men unarmed can do little in war. Uzziah therefore furnished
himself with a great armoury, whence his soldiers were supplied with arms
offensive and defensive (v. 14), spears, bows, and slings, shields,
helmets, and habergeons: swords are not mentioned, because it is probable that
every man had a sword of his own, which he wore constantly. Engines were
invented, in his time, for annoying besiegers with darts and stones shot from
the towers and bulwarks, v. 15. What a pity it is that the wars and
fightings which come from men's lusts have made it necessary for cunning men
to employ their skill in inventing instruments of death.
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Uzziah's Sin and Punishment.
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B.
C. 763.
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16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted
up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD
his God, and went into the temple of the LORD
to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah the
priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD,
that were valiant men: 18 And they withstood Uzziah the
king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn
incense unto the LORD,
but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go
out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for
thine honour from the LORD
God. 19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand
to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even
rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD,
from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest,
and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in
his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to
go out, because the LORD
had smitten him. 21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day
of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was
cut off from the house of the LORD:
and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the
land. 22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did
Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 23 So Uzziah slept
with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the
burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a
leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
Here is the only blot we find on the name of king Uzziah, and it is such a one
as lies not on any other of the kings. Whoredom, murder, oppression,
persecution, and especially idolatry, gave characters to the bad kings and
some of them blemishes to the good ones, David himself not excepted, witness
the matter of Uriah. But we find not Uzziah charged with any of these; and yet
he transgressed against the Lord his God, and fell under the marks of
his displeasure in consequence, not, as other kings, in vexatious wars or
rebellions, but an incurable disease.
I. His sin was invading the priest's office. The good way is one; by-paths are
many. The transgression of his predecessors was forsaking the temple of the
Lord, flying off from it (ch. xxiv. 18), and burning incense upon
idolatrous altars, ch. xxv. 14. His was intruding into the
temple of the Lord further than was allowed him, and attempting him to burn
incense upon the altar of God, for which, it is likely, he pretended an
extraordinary zeal and affection. See how hard it is to avoid one extreme and
not run into another.
1. That which was at the bottom of his sin was pride of heart, a lust that
ruins more than any other whatsoever (v. 16): When he was strong
(and he was marvellously helped by the good providence of God till he was
so, v. 15), when he had grown very great and considerable in
wealth, interest, and power, instead of lifting up the name of God in
gratitude to him who had done so much for him, his heart was lifted up to
his destruction. Thus the prosperity of fools, by puffing them up with
pride, destroys them. Now that he had done so much business, and won so much
honour, he began to think no business, no honour, too great or too good for
him, no, not that of the priesthood Men's pretending to forbidden knowledge,
and exercising themselves in things too high for them, are owing to the pride
of their heart, and the fleshly mind they are vainly puffed up with.
2. His sin was going into the temple of the Lord to burn incense,
probably on some solemn feast day, or when he himself had some special
occasion for supplicating the divine favour. What could move him to this piece
of presumption, or put it into his head, I cannot conjecture. None of all his
predecessors, not the best, not the worst, attempted it. The law, he knew, was
express against him, and there was no usage or precedent for him. He could not
pretend any necessity, as there was for David's eating the show-bread. (1.)
Perhaps he fancied the priests did not do their office so dexterously,
decently, and devoutly, as they ought, and he could do it better. Or, (2.) He
observed that the idolatrous kings did themselves burn incense at the altars
of their gods; his father did so, and Jeroboam (1 Kings xiii. 1), an ambition
of which honour was perhaps one thing that tempted them from the house of God,
where it was not permitted them; and he, being resolved to cleave to God's
altar, would try to break through this restraint and come as near it as the
idolatrous kings did to their altars. But it is called a transgression
against the Lord his God. He was not content with the honours God had put
upon him, but would usurp those that were forbidden him, like our first
parents.
3. He was opposed in this attempt by the chief priest and other priests that
attended and assisted him, v. 17, 18. They were ready to burn incense
for the king, according to the duty of their place; but, when he offered to do
it himself, they plainly let him know that he meddled with that which did not
belong to him, and that it was at his peril. They did not resist him by laying
violent hands on him, though they were valiant men, but by reasoning with him
and showing him, (1.) That it was not lawful for him to burn incense: "It
appertaineth not to thee, O Uzziah! but to the priests, whose
birthright it is, as sons of Aaron, and who are consecrated to the
service." Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn incense,
Exod. xxx. 7. See Deut. xxxiii. 10; 1 Chron. xxiii. 13. David had blessed the
people and Solomon and Jehoshaphat had prayed with them and preached to them.
Uzziah might have done this, and it would have been to his praise; but as for
burning incense, that service was to be performed by the priests only. The
kingly and priestly offices were separated by the law of Moses, not to be
united again but in the person of the Messiah. If Uzziah did intend to honour
God, and gain acceptance with him, in what he did, he was quite out in his
aim; for, being a service purely of divine institution, he could not expect it
should be accepted unless it were done in the way and by the hands that God
had appointed. (2.) That it was not safe. It shall not be for thy honour
from the Lord God. More is implied: "It will be thy disgrace, and it
is at thy peril." The law runs expressly against all strangers that came
nigh (Num. iii. 10; xviii. 7), that is, all that were not priests. Korah and
his accomplices, though Levites, paid dearly for offering to burn incense,
which was the work of the priests only, Num. xvi. 35. The incense of our
prayers must be by faith put into the hands of our Lord Jesus, the great high
priest of our profession, else we cannot expect it should be accepted by God,
Rev. viii. 3.
4. He fell into a passion with the priests that reproved him, and would push
forward to do what he intended notwithstanding (v. 19): Uzziah was
wroth, and would not part with the censer out of his hand. He took it ill
to be checked, and would not bear interference. Nitimur in vetitum--We
are prone to do what is forbidden.
II. His punishment was an incurable leprosy, which rose up in his forehead
while he was contending with the priests. If he had submitted to the priests'
admonition, acknowledged his error, and gone back, all would have been well;
but when he was wroth with the priests, and fell foul upon them, then
God was wroth with him and smote him with a plague of leprosy. Josephus says
that he threatened the priests with death if they opposed him, and that then
the earth shook, the roof of the temple opened, and through the cleft a beam
of the sun darted directly upon the king's face, wherein immediately the
leprosy appeared. And some conjecture that that was the earthquake in the days
of Uzziah which we read of Amos i. 1 and Zech. xiv. 5. Now this sudden stroke,
1. Ended the controversy between him and the priests; for, when the leprosy
appeared, they were emboldened to thrust him out of the temple; nay, he
himself hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him with a
disease which was in a particular manner a token of his displeasure, and which
he knew secluded him from common converse with men, much more from the altar
of God. He would not be convinced by what the priests said, but God took an
effectual course to convince him. If presumptuous men will not be made to see
their error by the judgments of God's mouth, they shall be made to see it by
the judgments of his hand. It evinced some religious fear of God in the heart
of this king, even in the midst of his transgression, that, as soon as he
found God was angry with him, he not only let fall his attempt, but retired
with the utmost precipitation. Though he strove with the priests, he would not
strive with his Maker. 2. It remained a lasting punishment of his
transgression; for he continued a leper to the day of his death, shut
up in confinement, and shut out from society, and forced to leave it to his
son to manage all his business, v. 21. Thus God gave an instance of his
resisting the proud and of his jealousy for the purity and honour of his own
institutions; thus he gave fair warning even to great and good men to know and
keep their distance, and not to intrude into those things which they have not
seen; and thus he gave Uzziah a loud and constant call to repentance, and a
long space to repent, which we have reason to hope he improved. He had been a
man of much business in the world; but being taken off from that, and confined
to a separate house, he had leisure to think of another world and
prepare for it. By this judgment upon the king God intended to possess the
people with a great veneration for the temple, the priesthood, and other
sacred things, which they had been apt to think meanly of. While the king was
a leper, he was as good as dead, dead while he lived, and buried alive; and so
the law was, in effect, answered, that the stranger who cometh nigh shall be
put to death. The disgrace survived him; for, when he was dead, they would not
bury him in the sepulchres of the kings because he was a leper, which
stained all his other glory. 3. It was a punishment that answered the sin as
face does face in a glass. (1.) Pride was at the bottom of his transgression,
and thus God humbled him and put dishonour upon him. (2.) He invaded the
office of the priests in contempt of them, and God struck him with a disease
which in a particular manner made him subject to the inspection and sentence
of the priests; for to them pertained the judgment of the leprosy,
Deut. xxiv. 8. (3.) He thrust himself into the temple of God, whither the
priests only had admission, and for that was thrust out of the very courts of
the temple, into which the meanest of his subjects that was ceremonially clean
had free access. (4.) He confronted the priests that faced him and opposed his
presumption, and for that the leprosy rose in his forehead, which, in
Miriam's case, is compared to her father's spitting in her face, Num.
xii. 14. (5.) He invaded the dignity of the priesthood, which he had no right
to, and for that he was deprived even of his royal dignity, which he had a
right to. Those that covet forbidden honours forfeit allowed ones. Adam, by
catching at the tree of knowledge of which he might not eat, debarred himself
from the tree of life, of which he might have eaten. Let all that read it say,
The Lord is righteous.
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