2 Ch. 26: Wh-uzzzziah-up!

2 Chronicles 26:15 "In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong."

This is the story of Uzziah, who like many (well, some), starts strong and fades out after time. He gets a little blurb in 2 Kings 15 (entry), but not much. He takes the throne as a kid (16), and is given blessings by God. He also had the benefit of having (and listening to and learning from) Zechariah the prophet as an advisor. But that wasn't enough. The NASB says the Uzziah sought the LORD, and prospered. Makes sense. He followed the covenant.

Uzziah is also given great success in war. He was even able to build strongholds among the Philistines, who God gave him the strength to defeat them in war. That's pretty cool.

Uzziah also appears to be some sort of a reformer, doing a lot for the infrastructure of the nation, building wells and fields and all kinds of useful things. Not many other kings are given this kind of recognition. Maybe they do this, but its not listed among their accomplishments. Uzziah also managed to strengthen the military. Busy guy, but you can accomplish a lot when you are in charge for 50-some years. Uzziah is listed as putting in place military innovations outfitting his army, as well as making what I guess are catapults and stuff to launch arrows and big rocks. Freaking cool. Did he invent these? I don't know. Maybe he improved them, but anyway, it probably helped Israel a lot.

Now to the downfall. This translation says the Uzziah was helped until he was strong. Does this mean God doesn't help the strong? Won't help the strong? No. What happened here is that Uzziah allowed his pride to control him as opposed to submitting to the covenant made with God. He thought he was the man. It's always the religion thing that screws things up. Here, it wasn't an issue of polytheism or idolatry (at least on the surface, but who here would be surprised if it was), but an issue of Uzziah going in and burning incense on the altar. Not allowed. That was a priest thing, they were consecrated for that purpose. Because of this act, Uzziah was consecrated to leprosy. Leprosy was the ultimate uncleanness. No one could be in the temple if they were unclean. God devised a way for Uzziah not to go back into the temple and sin. So maybe this judgment prevented Uzziah from screwing up things worse?