UNROLL
Dawn over the hill country of Judah: terraced vineyards and rows of olive trees fall away down a slope, a plain round fieldstone watchtower and the dark mouth of a rock-cut cistern in the lower third, under a calm pale sky.

The Book of

2 Chronicles 26

As long as he sought the LORD, everything he touched grew. Then he grew strong.

23 verses≈ 5 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1SolomonWisdom asked at Gibeon
  2. 2–5The templeBuilt on Mount Moriah
  3. 6–7DedicationIf My people humble themselves
  4. 8–9Solomon's gloryThe queen of Sheba
  5. 10–16DivisionRehoboam to Asa
  6. 17–20JehoshaphatThe battle is God's
  7. 21–24Dark yearsJehoram to Joash
  8. 25–28Proud kingsAmaziah to AhazChapter 26
  9. 29–32HezekiahDoors opened, Passover kept
  10. 33–35Manasseh to JosiahMercy and the Book found
  11. 36Exile and returnMay he go up

Uzziah Reigns in Judah

Bright morning at the head of a gulf, red granite mountains behind: masons raise new stone and mud-brick walls around a small town on the gravel shore, donkeys carrying stone, a single-masted boat drawn up on the beach.

All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. Uzziah was the one who rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah rested with his fathers.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Judah

Uzziah of Judah · 52 years

  1. Sixteen, and fifty-two years

    Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years.

  2. His mother Jecoliah of Jerusalem

    His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.

  3. did right

    Right, as Amaziah had done

    And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done.

He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.

2 Chronicles 26:5

Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.

God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, for he had become exceedingly powerful.

Reflect

As long as

Uzziah “sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God,” and God gave him success. Who instructs you in the fear of God? What does seeking the LORD look like in an ordinary week of yours, not only in a crisis? Write down one way you will seek Him while things are going well.

PhilistiaMeunitesAmmonNegevJerusalemGathJabnehAshdodGur-baal (site uncertain)

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Uzziah’s wars

Uzziah tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod and built towns among the Philistines. God helped him against the Arabs of Gur-baal and the Meunites to the south, and the Ammonites east of the Jordan brought him tribute. He had already rebuilt Eloth on the Red Sea, beyond the map’s southern edge. The sites of Gur-baal and the Meunites’ land are uncertain.

Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers. The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their authority was an army of 307,500 trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies.

Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously until he became powerful.

Question

Quick question

Uzziah built towers in the desert, dug many cisterns, and kept farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields.

What does Chronicles say Uzziah loved?

But when Uzziah became powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction.

2 Chronicles 26:16

He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Then Azariah the priest, along with eighty brave priests of the LORD, went in after him.

They took their stand against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the LORD. Only the priests, the descendants of Aaron, are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully; you will not receive honor from the LORD God.”

Late afternoon in the empty temple court: the great doors of the house stand open and a faint thread of incense smoke drifts out of the porch between two bronze pillars, a few priests in white standing very still far off.

Uzziah, with a censer in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But while he raged against the priests in their presence in the house of the LORD before the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw his leprous forehead, they rushed him out. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out, because the LORD had afflicted him.

0:25

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Late afternoon in Jerusalem: old King Azariah, white-bearded, in a plain robe with his forearms wrapped in linen, sits alone in the doorway of a small stone house apart behind a low wall, looking across the rooftops toward the palace.

So King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in isolation, leprous and cut off from the house of the LORD, while his son Jotham had charge of the royal palace and governed the people of the land.

Three kings who began well

thenthenthenhis sonhis sonJoashright inJehoiada’s daysAfterJehoiadaAsherah poles, aprophet stonedAmaziahsent the hiredarmy homeAfter Edombowed to Edom’sgodsUzziahsought God, andGod helpedWhen stronginto the templewith a censer

Whiteboard

Three kings in a row began well and finished far from the LORD: Joash after his teacher died, Amaziah after a victory, Uzziah when he grew strong. Chronicles asks how a reign ends, not only how it begins.

Judah

Uzziah’s end

  1. Isaiah son of Amoz

    His acts recorded

    As for the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, they are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.

  2. Buried in a field of the kings

    And Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field of burial that belonged to the kings, for the people said, “He was a leper.”

  3. son of Uzziah

    Jotham reigns

    And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

Pray

Humble in strength

Uzziah “was helped tremendously until he became powerful.” Ask God for a heart that keeps seeking Him when life goes well, and for humility to keep to the place He gives you. Thank Him for those who taught you the fear of God. And worship the King Isaiah saw in the year this king died, who reigns forever.

You’ve experienced

2 Chronicles 26

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A verse to carry with you

He sought God throughout the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.

2 Chronicles 26:5

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