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? 

2 Ki. 15: As The World Turns

2 Kings 15:29 "In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria." 

This chapter briefly lists several kings of Israel, and a couple kings of Judah. None of them appear to have done anything really noteworthy. They were evil, killed pregnant women, lost a lot of land...you know...generally clowns.

Judah

Azariah (Uzziah) - Took the throne at 16, reigned 52 years. Was apparently good. Didn't remove the high places for offerings. Was afflicted with leprosy, and Jotham took care of the day-to-day operations of the kingshippery. That's a long time to have leprosy. I suppose any length of time is, but...

Jotham - Took the throne at 25, reigned 16 years. What is with these people not removing the high places? That seems to be the one thing keeping a king from having a truly great reign. Succeeded by his son Ahaz.

Israel

Zechariah - Reigned 6 months. Generally evil. This was the fourth and final generation removed from Jehu, as Elisha prophesied. And sure enough, he was assassinated publicly by Shallum, who assumed power.

Shallum - Reigned 1 month. Probably didn't have time to be evil or good, but I would assume he would have been evil, had the brutal Mehahem not overthrown him.

Menahem - Reigned 10 years. Ripped open the pregnant women of Tiphsah because they wouldn't open their gates to his marauders. Menahem was the first democrat, because he taxed the wealthy men. This money was used to pay off Pul, the invading Assyrian king. 

Pekahiah - Reigned 2 years, did evil. Besides his name sounding like someone telling a Black-rumped Flameback what to do, Pekahiah was assassinated in the palace by one of his chief officers, Pekah, who assumed the throne.

Pekah - Reigned 20 years, did evil. Pekah had a lot of trouble with the invading Assyrians. The king, Tiglath-Peliser took a bunch of land, and deported a bunch of land, and deported people to his land. Perhaps a nod to Dt 4:7. Hoshea follows the assassination trend, and kills Pekah, assuming the throne.

So this is the common thread between Israel and Judah. Israel refused to not be like Jeroboam, and Judah wouldn't centralize the offerings and sacrifices. Where were their priests?