2 Chronicles 26:16-23 - Homilies By T. Whitelaw

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.