Chronicles 26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense, upon the altar of incense.
Oh Friends, it’s Monday, the renewal of serious and widespread hostilities with the forces of evil, so put on all your spiritual battle gear and let’s get out there and fight to the death on behalf of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! However my people, let’s try our very best not to become like Uzziah. The story goes that he was made king of Judah at sixteen, after the death of his father Amaziah. He reigned for fifty two years in Jerusalem. ‘And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understandings in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.’ (2 Chron.26:4-5) Two notes here Friends. In 2 Kings 14:21 and 15:1-7, Uzziah is called Azariah. Secondly, the Zechariah mentioned above is not the one who wrote the prophecy of Zechariah. It seems there were some twenty eight other men in the Old Testament by that name. Now Uzziah’s famous deeds and prosperity are recorded in 2 Chronicles Chapter 26:6-15. He broke down the walls of his enemies and built cities. The Lord helped him against the Philistines and the Arabians. The Ammonites paid him tribute (taxes) and his name was well known all over, even in Egypt; ‘for he strengthened himself exceedingly.’ (v.8) He built towers in Jerusalem and in the desert, had plenty cattle and many farms; ‘for he LOVED husbandry.’ (v.10) He had a great army; more than three hundred thousand fighting men, over whom were two thousand six hundred brave captains. Their weapons were plentiful and state of the art. Uzziah also installed on the walls of Jerusalem, smart weapons to shoot stones and arrows at invaders. ‘And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.’ (v.15) But therein lies the rub, the problem my people. Why is it eh, when we become strong, prosperous, powerful, or simply attain any elevation in any aspect of society, we conveniently forget what brought us to that exalted state? Uzziah was no different to many of us today. ‘But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God…’ It seems that for some completely unreasonable reason, we begin to believe that it was our strength alone that got us to our high point. As the scholars wisely note, pride and spiritual defeat very often go together. We have a perfect example in the Song of Moses, re Jeshurun: ‘But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.’ (Deut. 32:15) What utter madness my Friends! I don’t understand how we can ever forget the God who causes us to prosper. It’s like we say; ‘remember who brought you to the dance.’ And it’s not that we don’t have many warnings about that kind of ingratitude. Moses warned the children of Israel several times, telling them to be very careful and wary that when they became prosperous; ‘Then thine heart be lifted up (becomes proud), and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage…And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ (Deut.8:14,17) Oh Friends, our current society is not only ungrateful to our God; note how after we became prosperous, we began removing Him from our lives, but that ungrateful attitude has become ingrained in the very nature of the society. Now, ungratefulness and its stable mate selfishness, reign supreme; from parents to children, friends, family, coworkers, even hurting strangers who are helped, have adopted an ungrateful attitude. We have become such ingrates that the number one question or expectation is usually, what have you done for me lately? It essentially implies that whatever help you received earlier is long past and gone and doesn’t matter anymore. It’s only what you’ve done for me very recently that matters. But Friends that’s ever so far from the truth, as we’ll find out when we continue Uzziah’s story tomorrow. Till then, please, I implore us, let’s keep the words of Moses closely cloistered in our hearts, cause they will eventually serve and stand us in very good stead. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.’ (Deut. 8:18) Much LOVE my beautiful people!…think not too highly of thyself…for pride gleefully preys on the proud…brings him to his very knees…when he least expects it…
Oh Friends, it’s Monday, the renewal of serious and widespread hostilities with the forces of evil, so put on all your spiritual battle gear and let’s get out there and fight to the death on behalf of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! However my people, let’s try our very best not to become like Uzziah. The story goes that he was made king of Judah at sixteen, after the death of his father Amaziah. He reigned for fifty two years in Jerusalem. ‘And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah who had understandings in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.’ (2 Chron.26:4-5) Two notes here Friends. In 2 Kings 14:21 and 15:1-7, Uzziah is called Azariah. Secondly, the Zechariah mentioned above is not the one who wrote the prophecy of Zechariah. It seems there were some twenty eight other men in the Old Testament by that name. Now Uzziah’s famous deeds and prosperity are recorded in 2 Chronicles Chapter 26:6-15. He broke down the walls of his enemies and built cities. The Lord helped him against the Philistines and the Arabians. The Ammonites paid him tribute (taxes) and his name was well known all over, even in Egypt; ‘for he strengthened himself exceedingly.’ (v.8) He built towers in Jerusalem and in the desert, had plenty cattle and many farms; ‘for he LOVED husbandry.’ (v.10) He had a great army; more than three hundred thousand fighting men, over whom were two thousand six hundred brave captains. Their weapons were plentiful and state of the art. Uzziah also installed on the walls of Jerusalem, smart weapons to shoot stones and arrows at invaders. ‘And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.’ (v.15) But therein lies the rub, the problem my people. Why is it eh, when we become strong, prosperous, powerful, or simply attain any elevation in any aspect of society, we conveniently forget what brought us to that exalted state? Uzziah was no different to many of us today. ‘But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God…’ It seems that for some completely unreasonable reason, we begin to believe that it was our strength alone that got us to our high point. As the scholars wisely note, pride and spiritual defeat very often go together. We have a perfect example in the Song of Moses, re Jeshurun: ‘But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.’ (Deut. 32:15) What utter madness my Friends! I don’t understand how we can ever forget the God who causes us to prosper. It’s like we say; ‘remember who brought you to the dance.’ And it’s not that we don’t have many warnings about that kind of ingratitude. Moses warned the children of Israel several times, telling them to be very careful and wary that when they became prosperous; ‘Then thine heart be lifted up (becomes proud), and thou forget the Lord thy God which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage…And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.’ (Deut.8:14,17) Oh Friends, our current society is not only ungrateful to our God; note how after we became prosperous, we began removing Him from our lives, but that ungrateful attitude has become ingrained in the very nature of the society. Now, ungratefulness and its stable mate selfishness, reign supreme; from parents to children, friends, family, coworkers, even hurting strangers who are helped, have adopted an ungrateful attitude. We have become such ingrates that the number one question or expectation is usually, what have you done for me lately? It essentially implies that whatever help you received earlier is long past and gone and doesn’t matter anymore. It’s only what you’ve done for me very recently that matters. But Friends that’s ever so far from the truth, as we’ll find out when we continue Uzziah’s story tomorrow. Till then, please, I implore us, let’s keep the words of Moses closely cloistered in our hearts, cause they will eventually serve and stand us in very good stead. ‘But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.’ (Deut. 8:18) Much LOVE my beautiful people!…think not too highly of thyself…for pride gleefully preys on the proud…brings him to his very knees…when he least expects it…
SCRIP-BITS 