UZZIAH, JOTHAM AND AHAZ

The quality of leadership is one of the most discouraging aspects of Israelite history. The number of really dedicated and consecrated kings among the ancient Jews was very small. However, we cannot blame the kings alone for the tragedies that befell the two nations—Israel and Judah. According to the great prophets of Judah—especially Jeremiah—most of the leaders were corrupt. Jeremiah grieved over the kind of men who were supposed to lead the nation of God’s people. “For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house I have found their wickedness, says the Lord…I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that no one returns from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah” (Jer. 23:11, 14). Our time today will be devoted to examining the lives and leadership of three kings of Judah: “Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz” (2 Chronicles 26-28).

Uzziah’s father, Amaziah, was not a very honorable man. He became king when he was twenty-five years old and reigned for twenty-nine years. “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart” (2 Chron. 25:1-2). Toward the end of his life, “he brought the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be gods, and bowed himself before them, and burned incense to them.” “Amaziah turned away from following the Lord.” The Israelites conspired against him. He fled to Lachish, but the people sent to Lachish and slew him (2 Chron. 25:14, 27).

Uzziah began his reign when he was just sixteen years of age and reigned fifty-two years. He had an opportunity to make a great king. “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and a long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” (2 Chron. 26:1-5). He declared war on the Philistines—Israel’s perennial enemy. God helped Uzziah in his war against the Philistines and against the Arabians. He built towers and dug many wells because he had a great number of cattle. He also had a mighty standing army. During his early years as king, he was quite successful as a ruler (2 Chron.26:7, 9-10).

God warned the Israelite people—including the prophets, priests and kings—not to be proud of their prosperity. “But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve hem, I declare unto you this day that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it” (Dt. 30:17-18). King Uzziah apparently forgot the warnings of Moses and from other great prophets. The Lord had helped Uzziah in all his achievements, “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” (2 Chron. 26:16).

God had assigned certain responsibilities to the priests. No king—including the great king David—could usurp the authority and duties of the priests. So when Uzziah offered incense on the altar of incense, “Azariah the priest went in after him, and with fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men: and withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It is not for you Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests and the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong; neither shall it be for your honor from the Lord God”(2 Chron. 26:17-18).

Uzziah became very angry. He had a censer in his hand to burn incense. While he was angry with the priests, God sent leprosy on him. The priests drove him from the sanctuary because the Lord had afflicted him with leprosy. Tragically, king Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house because of his leprosy. Uzziah was cut off from the house of the Lord. We would probably say in modern times: “He could not attend worship services any more.” What a tragic end for a king who could have been great!

The story of King Uzziah was not included in the Bible just to fill up space. There are great lessons Christians in every generation should learn. Two lessons in particular must be mentioned. When we are wonderfully blessed—either as Christians or just as Americans—we must not take undue pride in our accomplishments. The fall of Uzziah was directly related to his heart’s being lifted up (2 Chron. 26:16). Do you remember the words of Proverbs: Pride goes before destruction; and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18? During the eighth century B. C., the prophet Hosea wrote: “The pride of Israel testifies to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity: Judah also shall fall with them” (Hos. 5:5). Paul warned the early churches about appointing a novice as an elder of the church. A novice could be “lifted up with pride and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6).

We also learn from Uzziah that we must have authority for what we do in the work and worship that God demands of his people. The priests of the Mosaic covenant were authorized to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on the altar of incense. No one else—including prophets and kings—had the authority. When king Uzziah burned incense, God punished him with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:19-21). That sounds very harsh, does it not? But we must not forget what happened to Nadab and Abihu (Lev. 10:1-2). We must learn that God means what he says and says what he means.

When Uzziah died, his son Jotham reigned in his stead. Jotham was twenty-five years of when he began to reign and reigned sixteen years. Jotham seemed to have a bright future when he became king in Jerusalem. “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did.” But there was one major failing in his life. “He entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did corruptly” (2 Chron. 27:1-3). His building activities and military exploits were successful “because he prepared his ways before the Lord God” (2 Chron. 27:6)

Is it possible that Uzziah’s failure to honor the authority of the priests had some bearing on Jotham’s failure to enter the temple of the Lord? If parents rebel against God—as Uzziah did—the children become aware of it and may imitate the conduct of the parents. Uzziah tried to perform acts he was not authorized to do. Because of his rebellion, the Lord made him a leper until the day of his death (2 Chron. 26:19-20). On the other hand, if parents love the Lord God and devote their lives to his service, the children are likely to be faithful. However, there are no guarantees.

We would say of Jotham if he were living in the Christian era: “He did not attend the services of the church.” I am aware of the differences between the temple and modern church buildings. The temple occupied a very significant position in the nation of Israel. A church building in our day does not have the same meaning. But the Bible exhorts Christians to assemble to worship God. How could anyone doubt that fact in view of these words from Hebrews? “Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good words: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching” (Heb.10:24-25).

When Jotham died at the age forty-one, his son Ahaz began to reign in Jerusalem. He was twenty years old when he began to reign and reigned sixteen years. Ahaz “did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father. For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molten images of Baalim. Moreover he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinom, and burned his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. He sacrificed also and burned incense in high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree” (2 Chron. 27:1-4).

Ahaz might have committed all these evil deeds had his father and grandfather been honorable men. But Uzziah and Jotham rebelled against God and set an example of wickedness for Ahaz. Uzziah failed to recognize and to honor he authority of the priesthood. He attempted to perform the service of a priest when he did not belong to the priestly tribe. In the eyes of modern theologians, the conduct of Uzziah may seem trivial, but the Bible makes it plain that God wants his people to do what he tells them to do in the way he tells them to do it. We have no more authority to change God’s arrangements for work and worship of the church than Uzziah had to serve as a priest. Can we not learn from the arrogance of Uzziah?

Jotham apparently had many commendable characteristics, but he failed to do his duty when he did not enter the temple of the Lord. His leadership caused the nation of Israel to become corrupt. When men in high places—either in government or in education or in religion—lie, commit adultery, misappropriate public monies and deceive their supporters, they bring the wrath of God on their heads. God may not punish them in this life, as he did Uzziah, but there is a judgment to come. When the apostle Paul reasoned with Felix about “righteousness, self-control and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go your way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for you” (Acts 24:25)). Very seldom do men like Jotham, Ahaz and Felix find a convenient time to hear what they prefer not to hear.

Will you think for a few minutes about the abominable conduct of Ahaz? He “walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.” Most of the kings of the ten tribes in the north were ruthless and wicked men. All I need to do to confirm that fact is to mention Ahab, Jeroboam I and Jereboam II. Some of Judah’s kings were not all that much better. But why would the kings of the southern tribes have to imitate the sins of the kings of the northern tribes?

Ahaz made molten images in honor of Baalim. Among Israel’s pagan neighbors, the Baals were thought to be fertility gods. The heathen people engaged in every conceivable sexual sin—premarital sex, extramarital sex and homosexuality—as a result of their worship of the Baals. We know—both from experience and from reading the scriptures—that human beings tend to become like the gods they worship. If they worship the Lord God who has revealed himself in the scriptures and in his Son Jesus Christ, they become righteous and holy. If they worship gods such as the Baals, Moloch and Ashteroth, they become like those heathen gods.

Many of the pagan nations sacrificed their sons and daughters to the heathen gods. The Old Testament could not be plainer in its condemnation of offering human sacrifice. Please listen to a few Old Testament passages. “You shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord” (Lev. 18:21). “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among the people; because he has given his seed to Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he gives his seed unto Molech, and kill him not: then I sill set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among the people” (Lev. 20:2-5).

In addition to his burning his children in the fire as a sacrifice to the heathen gods, Ahaz sacrificed and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. In other words, the king of God’s people did all within his power to shame and to disgrace the Lord God of Israel and the people of God. God could not and did not allow that kind of behavior to go unpunished. “Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the King of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter” (2 Chron. 28:5).

The great stories included in the Old Testament—and there are hundreds of them—are recorded to warn us of the danger of turning aside from serving the God of heaven. The apostle Paul quoted these words from Psalm 69:9: “The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” Paul then informed his readers: “For whatsoever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope: (Rom. 15:3-4). The same apostle reminded the Corinthians of the experiences of the Israelites as they passed through that get and terrible wilderness. Their behavior caused the Lord to overthrow many of them in the wilderness. They committed sexual immorality and died by the thousands. They tempted Christ and were destroyed by serpents. “Nor these things happened unto them for examples: and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Cor. 10:5-11).

So what can Christians learn from reviewing the Old Testament stories of Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz? Uzziah teaches us that we must have authority for what we do in service to God. We are not free to decide on our own what God accepts as worship. We learn that truth—not only from Uzziah and king David—but also from Nadab and Abihu. Nadab and Abihu were sons of Aaron, the high priest of Israel. They offered strange fire unto God. “Strange fire” simply means fire that God had not authorized. Frankly, I am not able to discern what strange fire was, but God know and those two priests knew. God consumed them with fire because they had offered unauthorized fire (Lev. 10:1-2). A left-leaning preacher was heard to say, “I wish the story of Nadab and Abihu were not in the Bible.” I can understand why a man who wants to alter the work and worship of the church would make such a foolish statement.

Churches have no right to introduce into the worship of the church any item that God has not authorized. I remember talking with a woman in Tampa, Florida, in the early 1950s. I explained to her the principle I am discussing with you. I told her that no church has authority to use mechanical instruments in the worship of the church. I asked her what she would say if someone added a third element. She explained to me that her church added a third element. They not only ate the bread and drank the fruit of the vine; they also added broth to the supper. Nobody—and I do mean nobody—has a right to change what God has revealed. We cannot add to, nor subtract from, nor substitute for. God tells us in his word what he demands of us. We must obey his instructions—if his is approval of our worship means anything to us.

We learn from the life of Jotham that it is sinful not to meet and worship with God’s people. We must not accept the popular view that worship is the sole duty of Christians. Paid personnel, such as preachers, youth workers and other so-called “professional staff” should do the soul winning, visiting nursing homes, hospitals and prisons. That obviously is the very opposite of what Jesus taught in his Olivet Discourse (Mt. 25:31-46). All of us have a sacred obligation to meet with like-minded people to worship God as his word directs us. But when we meet regularly to worship God, we have only begun to serve him.

Ahaz teaches us that we must devote our worship to the right person—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ahaz offended God by offering the wrong sacrifices—human beings—to the wrong deity—the Baals. Jesus informed the Samaritan woman: “You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:22-24).

May God help us to learn from the great Old Testament stories and to apply the great principles from those stories to our lives! After all, the Old Testament is also God’s inspired word.

I close with one more question. What did Ananias mean when he said to Saul of Tarsus: “Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). If you have not been baptized into Christ, why are you waiting?

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334

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