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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter gives us an account of the reign of Uzziah (Azariah he was
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called in the Kings) more fully than we had it before, though it was
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long, and in some respects illustrious, yet it was very briefly
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related,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+14:21,15:1-7">2 Kings xiv. 21; xv. 1</A>,
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&c. Here is,
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I. His good character in general,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. His great prosperity in his wars, his buildings, and all the
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affairs of his kingdom,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:6-15">ver. 6-15</A>.
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III. His presumption in invading the priests' office, for which he was
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struck with a leprosy, and confined by it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:16-21">ver. 16-21</A>)
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even to his death,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:22,23">
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ver. 22, 23</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Uzziah's Prosperity.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 800.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who <I>was</I> sixteen
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years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
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2 He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king
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slept with his fathers.
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3 Sixteen years old <I>was</I> Uzziah when he began to reign, and he
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reigned fifty and two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also
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<I>was</I> Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
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4 And he did <I>that which was</I> right in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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according to all that his father Amaziah did.
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5 And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had
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understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, God made him to prosper.
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6 And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and
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brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall
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of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the
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Philistines.
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7 And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the
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Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.
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8 And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread
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abroad <I>even</I> to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened
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<I>himself</I> exceedingly.
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9 Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate,
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and at the valley gate, and at the turning <I>of the wall,</I> and
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fortified them.
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10 Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells:
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for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the
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plains: husbandmen <I>also,</I> and vine dressers in the mountains,
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and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry.
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11 Moreover Uzziah had a host of fighting men, that went out
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to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the
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hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand
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of Hananiah, <I>one</I> of the king's captains.
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12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty
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men of valour <I>were</I> two thousand and six hundred.
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13 And under their hand <I>was</I> an army, three hundred thousand
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and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty
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power, to help the king against the enemy.
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14 And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host
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shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and
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slings <I>to cast</I> stones.
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15 And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men,
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to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and
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great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was
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marvellously helped, till he was strong.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of two things concerning Uzziah:--</P>
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<P>
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I. His piety. In this he was not very eminent or zealous; yet <I>he did
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that which was right in the sight of the Lord.</I> He kept up the pure
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worship of the true God <I>as his father</I> did, and was better than
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his father, inasmuch as we have no reason to think he ever worshipped
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idols as his father did, no, not in his latter days, when <I>his heart
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was lifted up.</I> It is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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He <I>sought God in the days of Zechariah,</I> who, some think, was the
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son of the Zechariah whom his grandfather Joash slew. This Zechariah
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was one that <I>had understanding in the visions of God,</I> either the
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visions which he himself was favoured with or the visions of the
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preceding prophets. He was well versed in prophecy, and conversed much
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with the upper world, was an intelligent, devout, good man; and, it
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seems, had great influence with Uzziah. Happy are the great men who
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have such about them and are willing to be advised by them; but unhappy
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those who seek God only while they have such with them and have not a
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principle in themselves to bear them out to the end.</P>
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<P>
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II. His prosperity.</P>
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<P>
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1. In general, <I>as long as he sought the Lord,</I> and minded
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religion, <I>God made him to prosper.</I> Note,
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(1.) Those only prosper whom <I>God makes to prosper;</I> for
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prosperity is his gift.
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(2.) Religion and piety are very friendly to outward prosperity. Many
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have found and owned this, that as long as they sought the Lord and
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kept close to their duty they prospered; but since they forsook God
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every thing has gone cross.</P>
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<P>
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2. Here are several particular instances of his prosperity:--
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(1.) His success in his wars: <I>God helped him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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and then he triumphed over the Philistines (those old enemies of God's
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people), demolished the fortifications of their cities, and put
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garrisons of his own among them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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He obliged the Ammonites to pay him tribute,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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He made all quiet about him, and kept them in awe.
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(2.) The greatness of his fame and reputation. His name was celebrated
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throughout all the neighbouring countries
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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and it was a good name, a name for good things with God and good
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people. This is true fame, and makes a man truly honourable.
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(3.) His buildings. While he acted offensively abroad, he did not
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neglect the defence of his kingdom at home, but <I>built towers in
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Jerusalem</I> and fortified them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Much of the wall of Jerusalem was in his father's time broken down,
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particularly at <I>the corner gate.</I> But his best fortification of
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Jerusalem was his close adherence to the worship of God: if his father
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had not forsaken this the wall of Jerusalem would not have been broken
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down. While he fortified the city, he did not forget the country, but
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<I>built towers in the desert</I> too
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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to protect the country people from the inroads of the plunderers, bands
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of whom sometimes alarmed them and plundered them, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+21:16"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 16</A>.
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(4.) His husbandry. He dealt much in cattle and corn, employed many
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hands, and got much wealth by his dealing; for he took a pleasure in
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it: he <I>loved husbandry</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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and probably did himself inspect his affairs in the country, which was
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no disparagement to him, but an advantage, as it encouraged industry
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among his subjects. It is an honour to the husbandman's calling that
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one of the most illustrious princes of the house of David followed it
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and loved it. He was not one of those that delight in war, nor did he
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addict himself to sport and pleasure, but delighted in the innocent and
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quiet employments of the husbandman.
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(5.) His standing armies. He had, as it should seem, two military
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establishments.
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[1.] A <I>host of fighting men</I> that were to make excursions abroad.
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These <I>went out to war by bands,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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They fetched in spoil from the neighbouring countries by way of
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reprisal for the depredations they had so often made upon Judah,
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[2.] Another army for <I>guards and garrisons,</I> that were ready to
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defend the country in case it should be invaded,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
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So great were their number and valour that they <I>made war with mighty
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power;</I> no enemy durst face them, or, at least, could stand before
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them. Men unarmed can do little in war. Uzziah therefore furnished
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himself with a great armoury, whence his soldiers were supplied with
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arms offensive and defensive
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
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spears, bows, and slings, shields, helmets, and habergeons: swords are
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not mentioned, because it is probable that every man had a sword of his
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own, which he wore constantly. Engines were invented, in his time, for
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annoying besiegers with darts and stones shot from the towers and
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bulwarks,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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What a pity it is that the wars and fightings which come from men's
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lusts have made it necessary for cunning men to employ their skill in
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inventing instruments of death.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch26_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Uzziah's Sin and Punishment.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 763.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to <I>his</I>
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destruction: for he transgressed against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> his God, and
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went into the temple of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> to burn incense upon the altar
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of incense.
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17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him
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fourscore priests of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>that were</I> valiant men:
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18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, <I>It
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appertaineth</I> not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated
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to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast
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trespassed; neither <I>shall it be</I> for thine honour from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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God.
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19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and <I>had</I> a censer in his hand to
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burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the
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leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the
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house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, from beside the incense altar.
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20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked
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upon him, and, behold, he <I>was</I> leprous in his forehead, and they
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thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out,
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because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had smitten him.
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21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death,
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and dwelt in a several house, <I>being</I> a leper; for he was cut off
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from the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: and Jotham his son <I>was</I> over the
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king's house, judging the people of the land.
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22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did
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Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.
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23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with
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his fathers in the field of the burial which <I>belonged</I> to the
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kings; for they said, He <I>is</I> a leper: and Jotham his son reigned
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in his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is the only blot we find on the name of king Uzziah, and it is
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such a one as lies not on any other of the kings. Whoredom, murder,
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oppression, persecution, and especially idolatry, gave characters to
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the bad kings and some of them blemishes to the good ones, David
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himself not excepted, witness the matter of Uriah. But we find not
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Uzziah charged with any of these; and yet he <I>transgressed against
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the Lord his God,</I> and fell under the marks of his displeasure in
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consequence, not, as other kings, in vexatious wars or rebellions, but
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an incurable disease.</P>
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<P>
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I. His sin was invading the priest's office. The good way is one;
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by-paths are many. The transgression of his predecessors was forsaking
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the temple of the Lord, flying off from it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:18"><I>ch.</I> xxiv. 18</A>),
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and burning incense upon idolatrous altars,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:14"><I>ch.</I> xxv. 14</A>.
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<I>His</I> was intruding <I>into the temple of the Lord</I> further
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than was allowed him, and attempting him to <I>burn incense upon the
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altar</I> of God, for which, it is likely, he pretended an
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extraordinary zeal and affection. See how hard it is to avoid one
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extreme and not run into another.</P>
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<P>
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1. That which was at the bottom of his sin was pride of heart, a lust
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that ruins more than any other whatsoever
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
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<I>When he was strong</I> (and he was marvellously helped by the good
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providence of God <I>till he was so,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
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when he had grown very great and considerable in wealth, interest, and
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power, instead of lifting up the name of God in gratitude to him who
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had done so much for him, his <I>heart was lifted up to his
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destruction.</I> Thus the prosperity of fools, by puffing them up with
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pride, destroys them. Now that he had done so much business, and won so
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much honour, he began to think no business, no honour, too great or too
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good for him, no, not that of the priesthood Men's pretending to
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forbidden knowledge, and exercising themselves in things too high for
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them, are owing to the pride of their heart, and the fleshly mind they
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are <I>vainly puffed up with.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. His sin was <I>going into the temple of the Lord to burn
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incense,</I> probably on some solemn feast day, or when he himself had
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some special occasion for supplicating the divine favour. What could
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move him to this piece of presumption, or put it into his head, I
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cannot conjecture. None of all his predecessors, not the best, not the
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worst, attempted it. The law, he knew, was express against him, and
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there was no usage or precedent for him. He could not pretend any
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necessity, as there was for David's eating the show-bread.
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(1.) Perhaps he fancied the priests did not do their office so
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dexterously, decently, and devoutly, as they ought, and he could do it
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better. Or,
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(2.) He observed that the idolatrous kings did themselves burn incense
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|
at the altars of their gods; his father did so, and Jeroboam
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+13:1">1 Kings xiii. 1</A>),
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an ambition of which honour was perhaps one thing that tempted them
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|
from the house of God, where it was not permitted them; and he, being
|
|
resolved to cleave to God's altar, would try to break through this
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|
restraint and come as near it as the idolatrous kings did to their
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|
altars. But it is called a <I>transgression against the Lord his
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|
God.</I> He was not content with the honours God had put upon him, but
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would usurp those that were forbidden him, like our first parents.</P>
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<P>
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3. He was opposed in this attempt by the chief priest and other priests
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|
that attended and assisted him,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:17,18"><I>v.</I> 17, 18</A>.
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They were ready to burn incense for the king, according to the duty of
|
|
their place; but, when he offered to do it himself, they plainly let
|
|
him know that he meddled with that which did not belong to him, and
|
|
that it was at his peril. They did not resist him by laying violent
|
|
hands on him, though they were valiant men, but by reasoning with him
|
|
and showing him,
|
|
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|
(1.) That it was not lawful for him to burn incense: "<I>It
|
|
appertaineth not to thee, O Uzziah!</I> but <I>to the priests,</I>
|
|
whose birthright it is, as sons of Aaron, and who are consecrated to
|
|
the service." Aaron and his sons were appointed by the law to burn
|
|
incense,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+30:7">Exod. xxx. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:10,1Ch+23:13">Deut. xxxiii. 10; 1 Chron. xxiii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
David had blessed the people and Solomon and Jehoshaphat had prayed
|
|
with them and preached to them. Uzziah might have done this, and it
|
|
would have been to his praise; but as for burning incense, that service
|
|
was to be performed by the priests only. The kingly and priestly
|
|
offices were separated by the law of Moses, not to be united again but
|
|
in the person of the Messiah. If Uzziah did intend to honour God, and
|
|
gain acceptance with him, in what he did, he was quite out in his aim;
|
|
for, being a service purely of divine institution, he could not expect
|
|
it should be accepted unless it were done in the way and by the hands
|
|
that God had appointed.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That it was not safe. It shall not be <I>for thy honour from the
|
|
Lord God.</I> More is implied: "It will be thy disgrace, and it is at
|
|
thy peril." The law runs expressly against all strangers that came nigh
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+3:10,18:7">Num. iii. 10; xviii. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, all that were not priests. Korah and his accomplices, though
|
|
Levites, paid dearly for offering to burn incense, which was the work
|
|
of the priests only,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+16:35">Num. xvi. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
The incense of our prayers must be by faith put into the hands of our
|
|
Lord Jesus, the great high priest of our profession, else we cannot
|
|
expect it should be accepted by God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+8:3">Rev. viii. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He fell into a passion with the priests that reproved him, and would
|
|
push forward to do what he intended notwithstanding
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Uzziah was wroth,</I> and would not part with the censer out of his
|
|
hand. He took it ill to be checked, and would not bear interference.
|
|
<I>Nitimur in vetitum</I>--<I>We are prone to do what is
|
|
forbidden.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His punishment was an incurable leprosy, which rose up in his
|
|
forehead while he was contending with the priests. If he had submitted
|
|
to the priests' admonition, acknowledged his error, and gone back, all
|
|
would have been well; but <I>when he was wroth with the priests,</I>
|
|
and fell foul upon them, then God was wroth with him and smote him with
|
|
a plague of leprosy. Josephus says that he threatened the priests with
|
|
death if they opposed him, and that then the earth shook, the roof of
|
|
the temple opened, and through the cleft a beam of the sun darted
|
|
directly upon the king's face, wherein immediately the leprosy
|
|
appeared. And some conjecture that that was the earthquake in the days
|
|
of Uzziah which we read of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+1:1,Zec+14:5">Amos i. 1 and Zech. xiv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now this sudden stroke,
|
|
|
|
1. Ended the controversy between him and the priests; for, when the
|
|
leprosy appeared, they were emboldened to thrust him out of the temple;
|
|
nay, he himself <I>hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten
|
|
him</I> with a disease which was in a particular manner a token of his
|
|
displeasure, and which he knew secluded him from common converse with
|
|
men, much more from the altar of God. He would not be convinced by what
|
|
the priests said, but God took an effectual course to convince him. If
|
|
presumptuous men will not be made to see their error by the judgments
|
|
of God's mouth, they shall be made to see it by the judgments of his
|
|
hand. It evinced some religious fear of God in the heart of this king,
|
|
even in the midst of his transgression, that, as soon as he found God
|
|
was angry with him, he not only let fall his attempt, but retired with
|
|
the utmost precipitation. Though he strove with the priests, he would
|
|
not strive with his Maker.
|
|
|
|
2. It remained a lasting punishment of his transgression; for he
|
|
continued a <I>leper to the day of his death,</I> shut up in
|
|
confinement, and shut out from society, and forced to leave it to his
|
|
son to manage all his business,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+26:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus God gave an instance of his resisting the proud and of his
|
|
jealousy for the purity and honour of his own institutions; thus he
|
|
gave fair warning even to great and good men to know and keep their
|
|
distance, and not to intrude into those things which they have not
|
|
seen; and thus he gave Uzziah a loud and constant call to repentance,
|
|
and a long space to repent, which we have reason to hope he improved.
|
|
He had been a man of much business in the world; but being taken off
|
|
from that, and confined to a <I>separate house,</I> he had leisure to
|
|
think of another world and prepare for it. By this judgment upon the
|
|
king God intended to possess the people with a great veneration for the
|
|
temple, the priesthood, and other sacred things, which they had been
|
|
apt to think meanly of. While the king was a leper, he was as good as
|
|
dead, dead while he lived, and buried alive; and so the law was, in
|
|
effect, answered, that the stranger who cometh nigh shall be put to
|
|
death. The disgrace survived him; for, when he was dead, they would not
|
|
bury him in the <I>sepulchres of the kings</I> because he was a leper,
|
|
which stained all his other glory.
|
|
|
|
3. It was a punishment that answered the sin as face does face in a
|
|
glass.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Pride was at the bottom of his transgression, and thus God humbled
|
|
him and put dishonour upon him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He invaded the office of the priests in contempt of them, and God
|
|
struck him with a disease which in a particular manner made him subject
|
|
to the inspection and sentence of the priests; for to them pertained
|
|
the <I>judgment of the leprosy,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+24:8">Deut. xxiv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He thrust himself into the temple of God, whither the priests only
|
|
had admission, and for that was thrust out of the very courts of the
|
|
temple, into which the meanest of his subjects that was ceremonially
|
|
clean had free access.
|
|
|
|
(4.) He confronted the priests that faced him and opposed his
|
|
presumption, and for that the leprosy <I>rose in his forehead,</I>
|
|
which, in Miriam's case, is compared to her father's <I>spitting in her
|
|
face,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+12:14">Num. xii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(5.) He invaded the dignity of the priesthood, which he had no right
|
|
to, and for that he was deprived even of his royal dignity, which he
|
|
had a right to. Those that covet forbidden honours forfeit allowed
|
|
ones. Adam, by catching at the tree of knowledge of which he might not
|
|
eat, debarred himself from the tree of life, of which he might have
|
|
eaten. Let all that read it say, <I>The Lord is righteous.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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