WEBVTT - 2 Chronicles 26 - Pride Never Ends Well 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:06.279 Life Audio how to enco morning their friends and faithful listeners, 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.240 and welcome to the Bible explained on this lovely Monday morning. 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:11.440 I am so excited that you're here to start out 0:00:11.480 --> 0:00:14.320 the week nice and strong by reading some Bible with me. 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:18.920 We're gonna be talking about pride today and the story 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:23.160 of King Uziah in Second Chronicles twenty six, one of 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.040 the pride full kings that tries to become a high priest. 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:35.879 All right, faithful listeners, we'll get into this topic in 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.960 just one second. Here's a message from a sponsor real quick. 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.640 But while this is playing, this is a great opportunity 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.640 for you to grab your Bible out of the version 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.519 that you prefer, and also your cup of coffee or 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.880 your cup of tea to share with me. So while 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.960 this is playing, go ahead and do that. All right, 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.400 favor listeners, Let's go ahead and read the entire chapter 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:59.120 of Second Chronicles twenty six. It's kind of a long chapter, 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.680 but there's a lot to talk about in Uziah's life 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.960 because he reigned for quite a long time. Actually, interestingly enough, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:10.360 he was one of the longest reigning kings in Judah's history. 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:12.880 So let's go ahead and read this together. I'll be 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.199 reading from the World English Bible or the Web version. 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.560 All of the people of Judah took Uziah, who was 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.160 sixteen years old, and made him king in the place 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.720 of his father Amasia. He built Elith and restored it 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.560 to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:32.280 Uziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.640 and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem. His mother's 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.959 name was Jakielia of Jerusalem. He did that which was 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.800 right in Yahweh's eyes, according to all that his father 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.039 Amasia had done. He set himself to seek God in 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.720 the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.640 of God. And as long as he sought Yahweh, God 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.720 made him prosper. He went out and fought against the 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.280 Philistines and broke down on the wall of Gath, the 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.000 wall of Jebnah, and the wall of Ashdod. And he 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.400 built cities in the country of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.000 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:09.760 who lived in gaer Ball and the Mayunum. The Ammonites 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.240 gave tribute to Uziah. His names spread abroad, even to 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:17.360 the entrance of Egypt, for he grew exceedingly strong. Moreover, 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.560 Usiah built towers in Jerusalem, at the corner gate, at 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:22.760 the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.000 and fortified them. He built towers in the wilderness, and 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.399 dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.640 in the lowlands and in the plains. He had farmers 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:36.079 and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:39.880 for he loved farming. Moreover, Uziah had an army of 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.240 fighting men, who went out to war by bands, according 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:45.480 to the number of their reckoning made by j L 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.000 the scribe and Messiah the officer under the hand of Hanania, 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.800 one of the king's captains. The whole number of the 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.760 heads of the father's houses, even the mighty men of Valor, 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.960 was two thousand, six hundred. Under their hand was an 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:01.440 army three hundred seven thousand, five five hundred who made 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:04.799 war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:10.280 Usiah prepared for them even for all the army shields, spears, helmets, 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:14.280 coats of mail, bows and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem, 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.720 he made devices invented by skillful men to be on 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.600 the towers and on the battlements with which to shoot 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:24.480 arrows and great stones. His name spread far abroad because 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.160 he was marvelously helped until he was strong. But when 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:30.760 he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:34.520 he did corruptly and trespassed against Yahweh his God. For 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.680 he went into Yahwei's temple to burn incense on the 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:41.480 altar of incense. Azaria the priest went in after him, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.680 and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, who were valiant men. 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.160 They resisted Uziah the king, and said to him, it 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.840 isn't for you, Uziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.800 for the priests, the sons of Erin, who are consecrated 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.520 to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.000 have trespassed. It will not be for your honor from 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:02.720 Yahweh God. Then Uziah was angry. He had a censer 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.000 in his hand to burn incense, And while he was 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:07.640 angry with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.960 forehead before the priest. In Yahwai's house, beside the altar 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.360 of incense, Azariah the chief priest and all the priests 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.320 looked at him, and behold, he was lepros in his forehead, 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.680 and they thrust him out quickly from there. Indeed, he 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:23.640 himself also hurried to go out, because Yahweh had struck him. 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.000 Uziah the king was a leper to the day of 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.080 his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper, 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.159 for he was cut off from Yahwai's house. Jotham his 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:34.800 son was over the king's house judging the people of 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.480 the land. Now the rest of the acts of Usiah 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:41.320 first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of amas wrote, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.320 So Uziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.960 with his fathers in the field of burial, which belonged 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.320 to the king's for they said he is a leper. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:54.400 Jotham his son reigned in his place. Well, isn't this 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:59.159 a shaker. There's another king here who doesn't quite do 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.080 what he's supposed to do at the end of his life, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.760 because he gets very arrogant. It says in verse one 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.480 that all the people of Judah took Uziah, who was 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:10.279 sixteen years old, and made him king in the place 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.280 of his father Amasia. Now we just finished talking about 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:17.719 Amasia last week, and Amazia started out again as a 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.400 very good king. He tried to follow Yahweh in a 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.320 lot of different ways, but then once God gave him 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:28.920 success in a battle against the Edomites, he started worshiping 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:32.800 the Edomite gods, and God gave him several warnings to 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.360 stop what he was doing or he would meet a 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.800 bad end. Amasia did not listen to the warnings and 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:42.520 in fact was very belligerent against the warnings and kind 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.680 of just did whatever he wanted to do, and it 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:49.520 ended in his downfall. Unfortunately, where Israel, the Northern tribes 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.760 came and pretty much destroyed part of the Wall of Jerusalem, 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:58.840 went in and pillaged it completely, including the temple of Yahweh, 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:01.880 but they didn't kill him. He was left as a 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:06.000 disgraced king for many years after that, actually, until eventually 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.240 a few of his servants actually conspired against him and 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:12.960 killed him. But scripture alludes to the fact that Amasia 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.119 was not repentant even in the latter days of his life. 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.320 So now Amasia has been killed and his son Uziah, 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:24.000 who is sixteen years old, reigns in his father's place, 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.560 and right off the bat it says he built Elath 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:30.000 and restored it to Judah. After that, the king slept 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.039 with his fathers. So Usiah was known for being a 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:37.040 king that restored land back to Judah. He was actually 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:41.440 a very successful king in the wealth of Jerusalem and 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:43.960 of Judah as a whole. So we're going to talk 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.160 about all that in just a second. It says in 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.479 verse three that Usiah was sixteen years old when he 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.920 began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem. 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.440 So he reigned I think the longest out of any 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:58.520 of the kings, if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe Solomon reigned longer, 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.120 but I didn't look that up, so I can't for 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:05.359 sure say that. But Uziah certainly reigned some of the 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.480 longest out of all of the kings in Judah's history. 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:13.360 It says his mother's name was Jakielia of Jerusalem. He 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.800 did that which was right in Yawai's eyes, according to 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.880 all that his father Amasia had done. Now that's really 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.160 important to note here that yes, Uziah did a lot 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.920 of good things, and he did things that were good 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.960 in God's eyes, but he did them to the same 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:33.320 extent that his father Amasia had done. Not to the 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.720 standard that the kings were supposed to meet, which was David. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.840 We know that David was pretty much the most righteous 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.760 king in Israel's history, and God told the kings to 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:48.800 emulate David with what they did basically walk in David's footsteps. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.560 And obviously we know that the most important thing David 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.880 did during his reign was that he followed God his 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.560 entire life and didn't try to make any idols for 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:02.360 himself and did didn't turned towards the gods of the nations. 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.679 He only worshiped God in and out. It actually says 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.520 that David was a man after God's own heart, which 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.360 is why he was the standard for the other kings. 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.239 There's only a few kings in Israel's history that says 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:20.040 that they followed after the footsteps of David. But kings 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.320 like Amasia and Uziah only followed after the good things 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:28.400 that their fathers had done. But unfortunately their fathers did 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.600 some bad things towards the end of their lives. And 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.320 Usiah was one of those kings. He only did things 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.479 to the same standard that his father Amasia had done. Unfortunately, 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.760 it says in verse five, though, that he set himself 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.600 to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.559 understanding in the vision of God, and as long as 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.959 he sought Yahweh, God made him prosper. Now that Zechariah 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:57.160 mentioned here is an unknown Zechariah. But whoever he was, 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:01.800 he was a mentor of Uziah, and he also must 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.319 have been a prophet because he had understanding in the 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.120 vision of God. And it sounds like Zechariah was a 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.679 great role model because Uziah set himself to seek God. 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.640 In all the days of Zechariah, it says, as long 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:19.200 as the king sought Yahweh, God made him prosper. And 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.600 that's a very important verse. Back in the days of 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.319 the Law, God would show himself through the prosperity of Israel. 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:30.880 That was the way he worked. If Israel and Judah 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.920 were in line with God, God would allow them to prosper. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.480 And the reason this was was because Israel was supposed 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.320 to be the light to the world. The nations during 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.319 this time believed in a lot of different gods. They 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.680 believed in a God of the fields, they believed in 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.800 a God of the mountains, a God of the sky, 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:50.120 a God of the weather, a God of the sea. 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:54.000 They believed in all these different types of gods, and 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.559 they thought that if they got on these gods good sides, 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.880 that these gods would bless them. And so that's why 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.880 Ayahweh would bless Israel if they were in line with him, 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:08.480 because this would show the rest of the ancient world 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:13.160 that Yahweh was the one true God. Because ultimately, when 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:16.800 these foreign peoples are praying to their bail gods or 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.880 something like that, and Bail is not answering their prayers 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.920 because he's a fake God. The people would look at 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:27.280 Israel being very successful and they'd be like, what God 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:33.160 are they worshiping? Why is that God blessing them? And 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.640 this God we're worshiping isn't blessing us. So as long 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.880 as Uziah was worshiping God, as long as he sought 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:43.760 after Yahweh, it says God made him prosper because Israel 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.720 and Judah were a light to the rest of the world, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.600 and that is how God showed his power and his 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:53.880 supremacy through the rest of the world. But not to mention, 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.480 God loves his people and He's going to bless those 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.000 that love him as well. There's a in the Book 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:04.200 of James that says draw near to God and he 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.599 will draw near to you. As long as Uziah was 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:12.600 drawing near to God, God would also draw near to Uziah. 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:14.840 It says in verse six that he went out and 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.480 fought against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath, 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.080 of Jebnah, and of Ashdod. And he built cities in 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.320 the country of Ashdod and among the Philistines. So, in 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:29.280 other words, Judah was expanding its border into Philistine territory, 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:33.720 and God was actually giving Uziah much success in this. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.359 When God first gave the promised land to the Israelites, 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.760 the Israelites were supposed to take it for themselves, but 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:45.160 they were never very successful in that because of their 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.280 lack of faith in God's ability to help them. So 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.280 they never quite took the land that they were supposed 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:55.199 to take. And all of these people were living within 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.480 the borders of Israel who should not have been living there, 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.440 quite honestly, because they were not Israelites. They were part 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.800 of cults and worshiped pagan deities, and they had no 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:08.800 claim to the land that God gave his people. So 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:13.640 Uziah was not wrong to take this land from the Philistines. 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.839 Now there are verses where God tells the Israelites that 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.720 they're not supposed to expand their borders too much because 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.120 God gives pieces of land to each person, and God 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:29.280 gave Israel to the Israelites, so they weren't supposed to 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.719 expand their borders too much, but they were supposed to 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:36.800 take their own land. Uziah was successful in taking back 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:40.520 some of the land for Israel. It says God helped 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.720 him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.720 in gare Bale and Mayunam. The Ammonites gave tribute to Isiah. 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.120 His name spread abroad, even to the entrance of Egypt, 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:57.400 for he grew exceedingly strong, it says. Moreover, Uziah built 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:00.000 towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, at the valley, 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:03.240 and at the turning of the wall and fortified them. 0:13:03.520 --> 0:13:07.520 So not only is he successfully taking land back for Israel, 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.160 but he's also building fortified cities all around as well, 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:17.400 so these invading armies can't easily take these cities back 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:22.080 for themselves because these walls kept people out. And noticed 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.200 that all of the glory in this is given to God, 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:30.520 not to Uziah. Yes, Usiah obviously was the king and 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.600 was doing all of these things. But God was the 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.800 one truly giving Uziah success. So in this entire passage, 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.520 God is completely glorified because we know where success comes from. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.559 It does not come from ourselves, It comes from God. 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:48.439 And then it goes on to talk about how intelligent 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.560 Uziah was as well. It says he built towers in 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.640 the wilderness. He dug out many cisterns, for he had 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.280 much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.479 He had farmers and vine you'd keepers in the mountains 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:05.640 and in the fruitful fields. For he loved farming. I 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.120 think that's really cool. Actually, we get a little peek 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:13.960 into Uziah's life and his passions, and apparently his biggest 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.640 passion was farming. He loved it and he was good 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.800 at it. It says. Moreover, Uziah had an army of 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.680 fighting men who went out to war by bands according 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.160 to the number of their reckoning made by jl the 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.680 scribe and Messya the officer under the hand of Hanania, 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.520 one of the king's captains. And then it mentions this 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:36.040 really bizarre number and it says he had three hundred 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:41.080 seven thousand, five hundred who made war with mighty power 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.560 to help them or to help the king against the enemy. 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:45.920 When I first read that number, I'm like, three hundred, 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:51.880 seven thousand, five hundred, three hundred, three hundred and seven thousand, 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.400 five hundred, Like, I honestly could not wrap my brain 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.120 around what this number was. So I looked up this 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.360 number in the expository's Bible CA commentary, and it says 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:06.680 that this number was probably three hundred professional soldiers like warriors, 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:11.320 together with seven five hundred men trained for war, so, 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:15.160 in other words, elite soldiers and warriors and possibly spies. 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:20.560 Uziah set these men up to keep the peace for Israel. 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.600 So he was very organized. He understood a lot about war, 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:28.600 about farming, and he was beginning to make Judah very great. 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.960 Once again. It actually says that Uziah's fame spread so 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:36.240 much so that all of these neighboring nations are bringing 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.440 him tribute because they didn't want him bothering them. They 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:41.360 were scared of him. They didn't want to go to 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:44.200 war with him, so they would bring a tribute so 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.120 that they didn't have to go to war. Essentially, not 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.720 to mention, it also says that Uziah prepared for them, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:54.600 even all the army shields spears, helmets, coats of mail, 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:59.720 bows and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem, he made devices 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.440 invented by skillful men to be on the towers and 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.360 on the battlements with which to shoot arrows and great stones. 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:12.600 Now this is super interesting because the first catapult that 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:17.080 we know of in archaeological history was discovered about two 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:22.440 hundred years after the death of Uziah. But it very 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.640 well could be that Uziah and his men were the 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.720 ones who invented the catapult. Now, there is some debate 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:33.280 on this text. Some people say that the Hebrew denotes 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.600 more of a shield, kind of defensive thing that would 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.680 stop hurling rocks and arrows from penetrating the walls of 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.880 these towers, So it could be something like that that 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.960 he invented, like a big shield. But if he invented 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.120 the catapult, that's kind of pretty neat, I think. But 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.440 the point of this is that God helped Uziah. He 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.800 was very successful in pretty much everything that he did. 0:16:57.760 --> 0:16:59.960 It says in verse fifteen that his name spread far 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.399 abroad because he was marvelously helped until he was strong. 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.000 But when he was strong verse sixteen, his heart was 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.880 lifted up so that he did corruptly and trespassed against Yahweh, 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.879 his god, for he went into Yahweh's temple to burn 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.840 incense on the altar of incense. Now we know that 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.679 this was a wrong thing to do because only the 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.400 Levites were allowed to be the priests. They were the 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:30.600 only ones allowed inside the temple to offer incense and 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:35.240 sacrifices to God. Here's what scripture says in numbers three ten, 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.720 you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.520 keep their priesthood. But the stranger who comes near shall 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.479 be put to death. That is how strongly God cared 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:48.520 about the Levites being the only ones to sacrifice to him. 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.640 We've definitely talked about why that was why the Levites 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.639 were the only ones allowed inside the temple, so I 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.840 won't talk about that here. But King Uziah was never 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.680 supposed to be in there because he was not a 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:04.200 leave He was from the tribe of Judah. Not to mention, 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.840 a king was never supposed to be a priest or 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:11.280 a high priest, because a king already had a bunch 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:15.960 of power. There's a similar passage actually that talks about 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.600 another king that tried to become a priest or a 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.600 high priest. This is the account of First Samuel, chapter thirteen, 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:28.240 verses five through fourteen. It says the Philistines assembled themselves 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:32.480 together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:34.720 and people as the sand which is on the seashore 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.680 in multitude. They came up and encamped in Mickmash, eastward 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.600 of beth Avon. When the men of Israel saw that 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.399 they were in trouble, for the people were distressed, the 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:48.400 people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in tombs, 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.120 and in pits. Now some of the Hebrews had gone 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:53.560 over the Jordan to the land of Goad and Gilead. 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.280 But as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.360 all the people followed him trembling. He stayed seven days 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.080 according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel didn't 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.040 come to Gilgal. Saul said, bring the burnt offering to 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.399 me here, and the peace offerings. He offered the burnt offering. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:10.560 It came to pass that as soon as he had 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:14.240 finished offering the burnt offering, behold Samuel came, and Saul 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:16.200 went out to meet him, that he might greet him 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.119 Samuel said, what have you done? Saul said, because I 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:21.879 saw that the people were scattered from me, and that 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:23.960 you didn't come within the days appointed, and that the 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.479 Philistines assembled themselves together at Micmash. Therefore, I said, now 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.480 the Philistines will come down on me to Gilgal, and 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.320 I haven't entreated the favor of Yahweh. I forced myself 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:35.280 therefore an offered the burnt offering. Samuel said to Saul, 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:38.160 you have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:40.840 of Yahweh or God, which he commanded for you. For now. 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:44.199 Yahweh would have established dear kingdom on Israel forever, but 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.159 now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.919 himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.919 appointed him to be prince over his people because you 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:57.360 have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you. So that's 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:01.199 the story of King Saul, the first king in Israel's history, 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:06.439 who sacrificed the offering to Yahweh when he should not have. 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:09.520 And the reason he did this was because he felt 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.080 that he was losing power, so he tried to gain 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:17.119 power for himself by becoming the high priest in place 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.320 of Samuel, and Samuel said, because you did this foolish thing, 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.600 I'm going to take the kingdom away from you. And 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:29.080 that's essentially exactly what Uziah did. In Second Chronicles twenty six, 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.320 it says his heart was lifted up. He became prideful, 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.240 kind of like his father Amasia had done. After his 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:42.320 successful battle, Uziah became prideful and wanted more power for himself. 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:45.960 And the way a king could get more power was 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:50.120 becoming the high priest. But the king was never supposed 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.159 to be the high priest, because the king could not 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:58.000 have absolute power. And that's what being the high priest 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:02.520 would give the king over everything religious, and power over 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:06.040 the people and the foreign affairs and the politics and 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.600 all that stuff. The king could not have absolute power. 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.399 The priesthood was for the levites to take care of 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:16.600 and the Leevites only. It was not for anybody else, 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:20.960 especially not the king. And Usiah, trying to take more 0:21:20.960 --> 0:21:25.879 power for himself, just belligerently, blatantly, goes into God's temple 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:30.040 and starts offering the incense to God. It says the 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:35.040 priests took courage and went after Usiah says they resisted him. 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.160 It mentions that these priests were valiant men. That means 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:40.600 that they were courageous, because I'm sure they were scared 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:42.880 of the king. I'm sure they didn't want to confront 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.760 the king, but eighty priests went after him, including the 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:52.040 high priest who was named Azariah. They confront Usiah inside 0:21:52.040 --> 0:21:53.640 the temple and they say, you got to get out. 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:57.159 This is not for you. Here's what they say. It 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:59.800 isn't for you, Usiah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:02.919 for the priests, the son of Aaron who are consecrated 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:05.119 to burn the incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:07.680 you've trespassed. It will not be for your honor from 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:12.760 Yahweh God. Here's how Usiah responds. He becomes angry. It 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:14.480 says he had a censer in his hand to burn 0:22:14.520 --> 0:22:17.160 the incense, and while he was angry with the priests, 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.359 the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priest 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.840 in Yawi's house beside the altar of incense. I've been 0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:26.760 really talking a lot recently about how God does not 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:31.120 to judge people very often without giving them a warning first. 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.560 He does not just strike people. He usually warns them. 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:40.159 Uziah got his warning right here from the priests, and 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:42.880 I wonder if he had humbled himself and been like, Wow, 0:22:43.240 --> 0:22:46.000 you're right, I shouldn't be doing this. This is not 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:50.159 for me to do. I have sinned against Yahweh. I 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:53.639 wonder if God would have had mercy and not given 0:22:53.920 --> 0:22:57.560 Usiah this terrible form of leprosy. But unfortunately, that is 0:22:57.600 --> 0:23:03.440 not how Uziah responds. Instead, he becomes angry with the prophets. 0:23:03.440 --> 0:23:07.000 And that is when God strikes Usiah. Was when his 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:11.440 heart was against God and against the commandments of God. 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:16.760 That is when God strikes Usiah with this leprosy. He says, 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:18.920 Azraiah the chief priest, and all the priests looked at him, 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:21.800 and behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and so 0:23:21.840 --> 0:23:25.360 they thrust him out quickly from there. Indeed, he himself 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:28.000 also hurried to go out because Yahweh had struck him. 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:32.760