Verse 5
The Lord smote the king , so that he was a leper - The reason of this plague is well told in the above quoted chapter, 2 Chronicles 26:16 .
That his heart being elated, he went into the temple to burn incense upon the altar, assuming to himself the functions of the high priest; that Azariah the priest, with fourscore others, went in after him, to prevent him; and that while they were remonstrating against his conduct, the Lord struck him with the leprosy, which immediately appeared on his forehead; that they thrust him out as an unclean person; and that he himself hurried to get out, feeling that the Lord had smitten him; that he was obliged to dwell in a house by himself, being leprous, to the day of his death; and that during this time the affairs of the kingdom were administered by his son Jotham. A poet, ridiculing the conduct of those who, without an episcopal ordination, think they have authority from God to dispense all the ordinances of the Church, expresses himself thus: -
But now the warm enthusiast cries,
The office to myself I take;
Offering the Christian sacrifice,
Myself a lawful priest I make:
To me this honor appertains,
No need of man when God ordains.
[Some go into the contrary extreme, and in effect say, no need of God when Man ordains.]
Though kings may not so far presume,
'Tis no presumption in a clown,
And, lo, without a call from Rome,
My flail or hammer I lay down;
And if my order's name ye seek,
Come, see a new Melchisedek!
Ye upstart (men-made) priests, your sentence know,
The marks you can no longer hide;
Your daring deeds too plainly show
The loathsome leprosy of pride;
And if ye still your crime deny,
Who lepers live shall lepers die.
Charles Wesley.
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