2 Chronicles 26: Uzziah and the Lesson of Pride

"But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction..." 2 Chronicles 26:16a

Today we turn our eyes to a simple formula: Strength and Blessing - God = Pride and Destruction. We see this formula in the story of Uzziah's life, which we turn our attention to now.

Uzziah was a righteous king of Judah, or at least, he started out that way. He honored the Lord's commands, led the people of Israel well, and because of this, the Lord blessed him greatly. He had much military victory and his fame was known throughout the land. Furthermore, he had many riches and several claims-to-fame. Uzziah had it all going for him. He was faithful to God, and God blessed him--it was that simple.

Yet, this simple pattern he had going for him didn't last for long, because he eventually forgot the God part of the equation. You see, when Uzziah remembered who was providing him with all of his strength and blessing, he did well. However, when idolized his blessings and forgot where they came from, he grew prideful. In other words, he lived out the formula of how strength and blessing minus God equals pride. Thus, in his pride, Uzziah thought that since he had it all going for him, he had the right to enter the temple and make sacrifices in it. However, this was not his function as a king, and to do so was to break the separation of powers that God had set in place. You see, the temple and the sacrifices were reserved for the priests of the land, not the kings. Thus, to walk into the temple was to commit a great iniquity against the Lord, which the priests were more than willing to point out to him. Yet, in his pride, Uzziah didn't want to deal with the conviction, so God judged him by causing leprosy to be upon his forehead. Thus, he lived the rest of his days anything but blessed, as amidst his leprosy he had to live in a separate house, even having his son continue the kingship for him though he was still alive. Yikes! That's certainly not the way I would have liked my kingship to end.

Let's trace the pattern of destruction once again here in the life of Uzziah. First, things started out great. Uzziah followed God's commands, and God blessed him. Yet at a harsh turning point, scripture tells us that "he grew proud." Here we learn one great thing about prosperity: that often it is more dangerous than it is comforting. Prosperity is great, but when we turn to thinking that we deserve what we have been blessed with, or worse yet, that we have obtained it by ourself apart from the Lord's power, there is nothing but destruction waiting for us in our pride. This is exactly what happened in the life of Uzziah, and it will surely happen to you as well if you don't keep in mind the One who has brought you your prosperity.

On the flip side of the coin, let us look at the life of Jesus. Although he had everything he could have ever wanted in the heavenly realm, he "emptied himself" and came to this earth that he might die and save sinners (see Phil. 2). Rather than becoming prideful like Uzziah, the Lord willingly humbled himself that he might save mankind. Surely we ought to follow the pattern of humility displayed in Christ rather than the prideful pattern we find in Uzziah.

So, in application today, let me ask you this: do you daily remember where your strength and blessing has come from? If you forget that God has given you what you have, you will become prideful like Uzziah. Yet if you daily remember where you have received all that you have, the Lord will keep you humble, like Christ. Child of God, let us not merely be strong in ourselves, but be strong in the Lord and in his great gifts! Amen.