Day 172: Uzziah's Pride

2 Kings 3:1-27 Judah and Israel united militarily against a common enemy, the Moabites. The distinctions between the kings’ leadership styles is clear: When obstacles arose, Jehoram (NORTHERN KINGDOM) despaired while Jehoshaphat (SOUTHERN KINGDOM) turned to the Lord by means of the Prophet Elisha. The water that flowed miraculously can be seen as a sign of salvation, purification, and everlasting life. (CCC 1094, 1219)

2 Chronicles 26:1-23 Uzziah burned incense in the Temple, a privilege reserved to the consecrated priests. He reacted in anger when corrected for this infraction of the Mosaic Law. Because of his violation of the law and his anger, he was smitten with leprosy and consequently died alone since he was ritually impure. 

Psalm 72 The king of Israel was responsible for imparting justice in his realm. In practice, however, many of the kings of Israel failed seriously in this regard. With the loss of population through exile combined with the loss of the Davidic monarchy, the hope for future justice became invested in the messiah, the perfect king foretold by the prophets. The messiah would restore perfect justice and peace in an everlasting kingdom not of this world. In fact, justice and peace would be one of the chief features of the messiah’s reign, especially in light of its emphasis on the love and care for the poor and afflicted. The messiah was the ultimate hope of Israel, and all nations would rally around him for salvation and sanctification. Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world, who announced his kingdom of peace and justice through repentance and fidelity to his teaching; his kingdom, however, is not of this world. There is room in the heart of Christ for EVERYONE, especially the poor and the afflicted. (Cf. St. John Paul II, General Audiences, December 1 and 15, 2004)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Ok gosh here we go

• 2 Kings Ch 3 we have an alliance between the King of Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) which was Jehoram, son of Ahab (BOO!) and King of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM) Jehoshaphat and an UNNAMED KING OF EDOM

• These three kingdoms, Edom, Israel, and Judah, are going to go to war against MOAB

• We will hear these names again and again and it’s going to get confusing (or haven’t you noticed yet? 😉)

• Jehoram was not as bad as his father, Ahab

• He did what was evil in the sight of the lord, but not like Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel

• He’s bad, but he could be worse

• They go to war against Moab and Elisha creates a miracle

• The three armies go to battle and run out of drinking water

• Elisha provides a massive amount of people with a massive amount of drinking water

• Moabites wake up and see the sunrise over the water and think it’s BLOOD

• So they think the three armies must have killed each other overnight

• So they wander into the camp thinking everyone is dead, but they were very much NOT DEAD and the alliance of the three kingdoms defeat the Moabites

• 2 Chronicles Ch 26 and 27 we have Uzziah

• Uzziah was one of the good kings 

• He was crowned at 16 years old and reigned for 52 years

• He does a lot of great things

• BUT…

• Ch 26:16 “But when he was strong he grew proud, to his destruction.”

• Uzziah does not turn to false gods, but he takes upon HIMSELF the tasks that belong to the LEVITICAL PRIESTS

• He offers incense in the Holy Place

• All the other priests and told him to stop doing this

• They told Uzziah that he had been good for so long

• They told him to stop with the WRONG WORSHIP

• NOT FALSE WORSHIP

• There is idolatry which is worshipping a false god or a false image of god

• Remember the golden calf?

• They weren’t worshipping a false god there, but a FALSE IMAGE of the TRUE GOD

• The other way is to worship God in the way that WE desire, and NOT the way that GOD desires

• I’m going to worship God in the way I WANT TO DO IT

• Even though I know God expressly forbids this kind of thing

• Uzziah should have known better

• He grew up worshiping in the PROPER WAY

• He knew what God WANTED

• He knew what God COMMANDED

• AND YET…

• When he grew STRONG, he grew PROUD

• “I’ve done all these things. God has been with me. He’s blessed me. So I’m going to do things MY OWN WAY NOW.”

• Uzziah gets leprosy and he dies

• He gets buried SEPARATELY because he was now ritually unclean due to being a leper

• His son, Jotham, was 25 when he began to reign

• He reigned 16 years and did well

• Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord, his God, and he rested with his fathers

• Jotham was able to rest in peace, buried with his fathers

• Even evil kings sometimes were buried with their fathers, but they didn’t really rest in peace like Jotham

• We have one more chapter of 2 Chronicles before we take a break until 2 Kings catches up

• After tomorrow, we will jump into the Prophet books of Hosea, Amos, Jonah, and Micah

• Then we will come back to 2 Chronicles

• These prophets are very important when it comes to the story of 2 Kings that we will start in a couple of days

• 2 Chronicles Ch 29 is about the EXILE so it will make more sense to read the prophet books first and get the stories synchronized

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we do praise and bless your name and may you be blessed above everyone, above all things. May you be honored and glorified. May you be worshiped and loved because you are love, Lord God, and you reveal your heart of love to us and your heart of love that is for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”