Skip to main content

2 Chronicles 26:19&20 What was I thinking? - Day 356

Good morning friends,

As I am in the "mature" stage of life, I pay special attention to examples from scripture of people who don't finish well.  It is sad that this continues to this day.  So if you ever see me doing something foolish, please tell me and remind me Don't be like Uzziah!!!

Blessings,

Jeff

I think I see a pattern here. Another bad end for a good king.  

There are many questions and not many answers in this story:

Where did Uzziah get the idea that the king could perform priestly duties? God clearly established the Levites and the Aaronic priesthood as the only men who could minister to God.  Saul was condemned for sacrificing instead of waiting for Samuel.  Apparently Uzziah was not paying attention in school the day that these things were taught and he never read them for himself.  One of the reformation principles is that the Word preached and read is a means of our sanctification.  Any believer who ignores the Word puts himself in peril.

Did he tell anyone about his idea or did he just wake up one day and do it?  In either case, he did not act wisely.  A leader who doesn't ask and take the counsel of others is doomed to errors in judgment.  Think of David and his plan for a census.  While he told his advisors, he ignored their counsel.

Why did he become angry with the 80 priests?  While violating priestly duties is bad enough, he did not take forceful correction to heart.  I would hope that if 80 people told me that I was doing the wrong think, I would listen to them.  It was only when he became angry that God struck him.

So like the other kings who came to a bad end, I think the author is using the repetition of error as warning to the returning exiles "don't be like Uzziah at the end of his reign".

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more