THE BIG, BIG “I” (2 CHRONICLES 26)
Two ladies were walking home from church one Sunday morning. “Tell me, what do you consider your worst sin?”
“Well, I must admit my worst sin is vanity. I sit in front of the mirror for hours just admiring my beauty.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much,” replied her friend. “That isn’t vanity. It’s just your imagination.” (Adapted from Toastmaster General’s Favorite Jokes 215, George Jessel, Secaucus, NJ: Castle Books, 1973)
The Bible specifically says that pride is the devil’s essence and sin; it is the lot and ruin of eight people groups such as the Amorites (Amos 2:9), the Edomites (Obad 3), the Moabites (Isa 16:6), the Egyptians (Ezek 32:12), the Philistines (Zech 9:6), the Assyrians (Zech 10:11), the Babylonians (Jer 50:31-32) and the Israelites (Jer 13:8), and the disgrace and demise of wicked man. Psalms 10:4-6 says, “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. His ways are always prosperous; he is haughty and your laws are far from him; he sneers at all his enemies. He says to himself, ‘Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.’”
If you do not know the history or detect a pattern by now, many good kings were laid low by pride. The longest reigning good king of the southern Judah could have ruled longer and broken records but his reign was cut short by pride. Uzziah was nothing short of a remarkable, reliable and resourceful king – nothing short of excellent, outstanding and superb, but pride fell him!
How can we keep our pride in check? What are we to do when our ego and extravagance are overblown?
Be Open, And Not Oppositional, To Attract Success
26:1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. 6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful. (2 Chron 26:1-8)
Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, has been called America’s #1 Manager and one of the greatest corporate leaders in America, making his company the most valuable company in the world. Fortune magazine asked Welch on its 75th anniversary the best advice he ever got. Welch has this to say:
“It was in 1979 or 1980. I was on the board of GE for the first time. And I was in Seattle for one of those three-day director meetings. I had just gone to my first or second board meeting, and at a party for the directors afterwards, Paul Astin, the former chairman of Coke, came up to me. He was a reserved, formal man. Anyway he must have noticed my starched shirt and how quiet I was in the meeting. I was all prim and proper. He said to me, ‘Jack, don’t forget who you are and how you got here.’” (“The Best Advice I Ever Got,” Fortune 3/21/05).
One of the most educated, powerful and confident kings in Judah’s history was King Uzziah. A precocious teen, he was more than capable of filling the shoes of his father, Amaziah. He held his own for 52 long years, the longest of the eight good southern kings. Prophets were more than eager to instruct the young king, who made the initiative to seek God. The young king had a good attitude and was willing to listen to the advice of another Zechariah the prophet, not the major prophet. The word “sought” appears twice in verse 5.
Uzziah was as old-fashioned a king as any. He followed in the shoes of the first godly kings of Asa (2 Chron 14:4, 7, 2 Chron 15:2, 12, 13) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 17:4), who were known for seeking God. Like Asa (2 Chron 14:7) and Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 20:20), Uzziah had unparalleled success when he sought God. The Philistines had brought tribute to Judah at the height of Jehoshaphat’s reign (2 Chron 17:11), but shortly after his death they, along with the Arabs, put Judah to shame and almost ended the kingdom. They had attacked Judah, invaded it and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, along with the king’s sons and wives, leaving only Uzziah’s great-grandfather, the youngest son, Ahaziah, behind with his weak reigning father and king Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 21:16-17). For more than four generations (2 Chron 21:20, 22:2, 22:12, 24:1, 25:1) and 80 years Judah could not break the Philistines, who wisely formed an unbreakable and impregnable alliance with the Arabs for decades. The score was never settled for decades, or close to a century. In fact, since David last defeated the Philistines (1 Chron 20:5), no king got close. The Philistines had brought tribute to Jehoshaphat but Jehoshaphat had never defeated them.
If breaking the Philistines once were not proof enough of Uzziah’s power, he broke them thrice – through the walls of the major cities of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. To add insult to injury, he rebuilt the towns around Ashdod and populated those towns with Jews. The Ammonites, seeing the latest circumstances and the reading the signs, promptly brought tribute to Uzziah. Even Egypt, the powerhouse of the region that had invaded Judah when Solomon died (1 Ki 14:25), had the utmost respect for and kept an eye on Uzziah, who was the first biblical king to be credited as “very powerful.”
Be Occupied, But Not Obsessed, When Approaching Success
9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the angle of the wall, and he fortified them. 10 He also built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. 11 Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. (2 Chron 26:9-15)
A union shop steward is addressing a union meeting...
“Comrades. We have agreed on a new deal with the management. We will no longer work four days a week.”
“Hooray!”, goes the crowd.
“We will finish work at 4 PM, not 5 PM.”
“Hooray!”, goes the crowd, again.
“We will start work at 10 AM, not 9 AM.”
“Hooray!”
“We have a 150% pay rise.”
“Hooray!”
“We will only work on Wednesdays.”
Silence...then a voice from the back asks, “Every Wednesday?”
Uzziah was not all about conquest. He had a busy, rich and interesting life outside of combat. The Emperor Qian Long of Judah, he was the first well-rounded and all-purpose king in Israel’s history. He was warrior, engineer and cultivator. The king strategically built towers at the Corner Gate, in the valleys and at the outposts (v 9) to fortify the city and keep a watch against attacks. To leave no stones unturned, he even built towers all the way to the desert (v 10). Military exercises and military strength were emphasized and military stations and battalions were formed (v 11). He did not want to suffer the consequences of his father, King Amaziah, who lost in battle to the north and was promptly assassinated by his own people (2 Chron 25:23-27). Group leaders were appointed and fighting men were trained on Uzziah’s watch. No army was ever described as “a powerful force” (v 13) in Israel’s history.
Never before in Judah’s history did kings arm their soldiers and update their arsenal like Uzziah did. Slingstones were added to the conventional weapons of shield, spear and helmet, armor and bow. He was not only the first king to experiment with slingstones, he even experimented with machines for use on the towers and at its corners to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His expertise in warfare and investment in automation made his enemies sit up, think twice and back off.
The modern king was not all about war. One-dimensional he was not. He had a life apart from the palace. In fact, he was royalty and commoner. He was also into livestock and vineyards, not for the love of money but for the love of gardening (v 10). If he had the time, he could spend a whole day working the fields, investigating the crops and checking for pests. No king knew more about fertile soil and parched lands than Uzziah did. The king had no vice, scandal or corruption to his name; the farm, the garden, the land and the work kept him occupied and straight for a long time. Cisterns were dug so that the cattle could roam and drink in the valleys or the plain. He found ways to pamper the happy cows he owned.
Be Obedient, And Not Obnoxious, After Achieving Success
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” 19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. (2 Chron 26:16-19)
A man proudly announced to his wife that he’d been promoted to company vice president. “Big deal!” she responded. “Vice presidents are a dime a dozen. Why, the supermarket where we shop has so many vice presidents, they have one who’s just in charge of grocery bags.”
The annoyed husband replied, “I’ll call your bluff. Let’s phone the store right now.” He called up and asked to speak to the vice president in charge of bags.
A polite voice inquired, “Paper or plastic?” (Reader’s Digest 6/95)
Uzziah also had a big weakness; his pride was in the way. The king was extremely and extraordinarily arrogant, bigheaded and overconfident. In his mind, he was bigger than any person, priest or policy. At the height of his power he did an incredibly outrageous and unreasonable thing. Nothing anybody said could change his mind.
All through the centuries priests were expected to make sacrifices in the temple, but Uzziah not just wanted to have a say, he wanted to have a part. He had forgotten where his help had come from. The Hebrew word “help” occurs thrice in this chapter. Verse 7 says that God helped him against his enemies, verse 13 reveals he had his troop’s “support,” the same word for help in Hebrew, and verse 15 records that he was greatly helped. Nothing was worth bragging or crowing about, yet he was prideful, not just with regular pride but inconceivable and unimaginable pride. His pride was out of range and in stratospheric heights. This Hebrew word for pride means “raised to great heights.” The Bible used it for clouds in the sky (Job 35:5), for the heavens above the earth (Ps 103:11, Isa 55:9) and for the eagle making its nest among the stars (Job 39:27, Obad 4).
The NIV word “unfaithful” (v 16) is the lighter version; the severe translation “acted corruptly” (NASB). NIV’s “entered” is mild; the translation should be “trespass” or “transgress.” His sin was willful participation, not passive involvement. When he was confronted by the 81 priests (vv 16-17), he was so determined that he did not let go of the censer in his hand (v 19). He had made his way to the altar (v 19), where he raged and threatened all the priests who rose up to confront him. The words “anger” and “rage” (v 19) are the same in Hebrew, and this rare Hebrew word occurs only five times in the Bible (Gen 40:6, Prov 19:3, Dan 1:10), of which twice is used here. It means “boil up.” His temperature was steaming up, boiling over and creating havoc. Sadly, leprosy was the only reason he left and he was the first king diagnosed with leprosy. His one behavior and act soured his reputation as a good king. Not only was he excluded from the temple, he was not buried in the tomb of his fathers, but only in the field of the tomb (v 23).
Conclusion: There is a difference between having pride and taking pride. Pride is as old as the devil himself. The hardest thing to deal with in life is the temptation of pride. Pride is God’s number one enemy, the root of man’s sins, strongest of all masters. Yes, harder to manage than money, power and lust. It is the root of all sins. Pride is the most cunning temptation. Pride is the cause of disagreements (Prov 13:10), but the road to destruction (Prov 16:18, 29:23, Isa 2:17, Ezek 7:24), disgrace or shame (Prov 11:2), and deceit (Jer 49:16). Job says, “Pride reaches to the heavens and his head touches the clouds” (Job 20:6).
Have you forgotten your humble roots and background? Are you available and offered for God’s service? Do you obey regardless of your place and position in life?
Victor Yap
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