2 Chronicles 26:1-21 (NRSV)
Uzziah is afflicted with leprosy
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed his father Amaziah. He rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his ancestors. Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
He went out and made war against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur baal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and fortified them. He built towers in the wilderness and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. Moreover Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by the secretary Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. The whole number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. Under their command was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. Uzziah provided for all the army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.
But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense. But the priest Azariah went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord, but for the priests the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offering. Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God." Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to make offering, and when he became angry with the priests a leprous disease broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. When the chief priest Azariah, and all the priests, looked at him, he was leprous in his forehead. They hurried him out, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. King Uzziah was leprous to the day of his death, and being leprous lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.
Reflection
Uzziah was a good king that got too much or too full of himself. He did all the things that God would have him do and cooperated with the will of God, but as he became successful, his pride took over and Uzziah began to think that all his accomplishments were his own accomplishments.
Uzziah was leprous until his death. Disease can strike anyone, the rich, the poor, the powerful. When Uzziah was struck with leprousy, he was separated from the priests. Uzziah attempted to overstep his boundaries. He felt it was his right to take over some of the priestly duties because of his own accomplishments and that's just when disease hit Uzziah in his life. Disease that humbles and separates. I don't know if Uzziah ever came around to repent of his sin.
Disease strikes all one time or another. In disease we need to be willing to humble ourselves and reach out to God for healing and strength. We may be cured or the disease may be our path throughout life. The point is that God walks with us through disease. It's our attitude about disease. We can live it or blame it on God or something else. Disease is part of this broken world. Yet God sent Jesus to take on just that brokenness. Jesus did this and has sent the Spirit to live among us and in us. That's why we reach out to one another in sickness. We bring the touch of God to those in need.
Prayer
Lord, I have been humbled by disease and know that I must reach out to you and those who can help me. I can't save myself, but I know that I am saved. I am saved with my disease or without, for you are the One God of all salvation... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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