Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Uzziah Cursed With Leprosy.
Occasion: Godly Punishment For
Having Usurped Priestly Duties.
Location: Jerusalem.
Bible Text:
II Chronicles 26:16-23 NLT
16 But when he (King Uzziah) had
become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He
sinned against The Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of The
Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.
17 Azariah the high priest went in
after him with eighty other priests of The Lord, all brave men.
18 They confronted King Uzziah and
said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to The Lord. That
is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are
set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have
sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!”
19 Uzziah, who was holding an
incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging
at the priests before the incense altar in The Lord’s Temple,
leprosy suddenly broke out on his forehead.
20 When Azariah the high priest and
all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the
king himself was eager to get out because The Lord had struck him.
21 So King Uzziah had leprosy until
the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he
was excluded from the Temple of The Lord. His son Jotham was put in
charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.
22 The rest of the events of
Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet
Isaiah son of Amoz.
23 When Uzziah died, he was buried
with his ancestors; his grave was in a nearby burial field belonging
to the kings, for the people said, “He had leprosy.” And his son
Jotham became the next king.
PRIESTLY DUTIES AND WARNINGS:
Exodus 30:7,8,27 NLT (The Lord
said to Moses.)
7 “Every morning when Aaron
maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar.
8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps
at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before
The Lord throughout your generations.
27 the table and all its utensils,
the lamp stand and all its accessories, the incense altar,
Numbers 16:40 NLT
To be a
memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is
not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before The Lord;
that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as The Lord said to him
by the hand of Moses.
Numbers 18:1-7 NLT
1 Then The Lord said to Aaron: “You,
your sons, and your relatives from the tribe of Levi will be held
responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary. But you and
your sons alone will be held responsible for violations connected
with the priesthood.
2 “Bring your relatives of the
tribe of Levi—your ancestral tribe—to assist you and your sons as
you perform the sacred duties in front of the Tabernacle of the
Covenant.
3 But as the Levites go about all
their assigned duties at the Tabernacle, they must be careful not to
go near any of the sacred objects or the altar. If they do, both you
and they will die.
4 The Levites must join you in
fulfilling their responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the
Tabernacle, but no unauthorized person may assist you.
5 “You yourselves must perform
the sacred duties inside the sanctuary and at the altar. If you
follow these instructions, The Lord’s anger will never again blaze
against the people of Israel.
6 I myself have chosen your fellow
Levites from among the Israelites to be your special assistants. They
are a gift to you, dedicated to The Lord for service in the
Tabernacle.
7 But you and your sons, the
priests, must personally handle all the priestly rituals associated
with the altar and with everything behind the inner curtain. I
am giving you the priesthood as your special privilege of service.
Any unauthorized person who comes too near the sanctuary
will be put to death.”
II Chronicles 26:16 NLT
But when he
(King Uzziah) had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to
his downfall.
Oh how sinful pride has been the ruin of many.
Ezekiel 28:17 KJV (Lucifer)
Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay
thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
II Chronicles 26:16-
16...He (King Uzziah) sinned against
The Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of The Lord’s Temple and
personally burning incense on the incense altar.
17 Azariah the high priest went in
after him with eighty other priests of The Lord, all brave men.
18 They
confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you,
Uzziah, to burn incense to The Lord. That is the work of the priests
alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work.
Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not
honor you for this!”
Confronted with his grievous error, what did King Uzziah do?
II Chronicles
26:19 NLT
Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious.
...”
Under the teaching of Godly Zechariah, King Uzziah had been for some
52 years a Godly King, indeed a righteous ruler, and this was thee
only time he grossly errored.
II Chronicles 27:2 NLT (Jotham, King Uzziah's son.)
Jotham did what
was pleasing in The Lord’s sight. He did everything his father,
Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the
Temple of The Lord..."
II Chronicles
26:19 NLT
Uzziah, who was
holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was
standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar
in The Lord’s Temple, leprosy suddenly broke out on his
forehead.
Why did this happen? Was this an actual judgment of The Lord?
Answer: Yes!
II Chronicles
26:20 NLT
When Azariah
the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they
rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because The
Lord had struck him.
“Oh
pastor, surely you must be wrong! God would never do an evil thing
like that!”
Numbers 12:1,2 NLT (Read the whole story-Numbers
12:1-15)
1 While they
were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses
because he had married a Cushite woman.
2 They said,
“Has The Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through
us, too?” But The Lord heard them.
9 The Lord was
very angry with them, and He departed.
10 As the cloud
moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as
white as snow from leprosy.
Can God send sickness or death?
Yes, He is God.
If you have been a follower of TBPL for any amount of time you have
placed on the flyleaf of your
Bible the following verse, and if you have not, do so now.
Psalm 145:17 KJV
The Lord is
righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.
Isaiah 40:13,14
NLT
13 Who is able
to advise The Spirit Of The Lord? Who knows enough to give Him advice
or teach Him?
14 Has The Lord
ever needed anyone’s advice? Does He need instruction about what is
good? Did someone teach Him what is right or show Him the path of
justice?
Isaiah 46:9,10
KJV
9 Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God,
and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all
My pleasure:
Isaiah 55:8,9
KJV
8 For My
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith
The Lord.
9 For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 11:33,34
KJV
33 O the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
34 For who hath
known the mind of The Lord? or who hath been His counselor?
I Corinthians
1:27-29 KJV
27 But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty;
28 And base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no
flesh should glory in His presence.
King Uzziah, went to his grave as a leper. What a lesson to all, that
...
Proverbs 16:18
KJV
Pride goeth
before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
II Chronicles
36:15,16 NLT
15 The Lord,
the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent His prophets to warn
them, for He had compassion on His people and His Temple.
16 But the
people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They
scoffed at the prophets until The Lord’s anger could no longer be
restrained and nothing could be done.
Galatians 6:7
KJV
Be not
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap.
