2 Chronicles 26

2 Chronicles 26:1

J. King Uzziah (Chap. 26)26:1-5 The reason for Uzziah’s success is given early in the chapter. He did what was right and sought God. Zechariah (not the same as the Prophet Zechariah) was his godly counselor, a man of understanding. 26:6-15 Everywhere Uzziah turned, he was blessed. He warred successfully against the Philistines and the Ammonites, and he increased Judah’s defenses as well. He assembled an elite army and built up a powerful armory to equip it. He also built cities and encouraged agricultural development (v. 10). The “devices” (v. 15) were a form of catapult. 26:16-23 But Uzziah was lifted up with pride. He entered the temple . . . to burn incense before the LORD, something which only the priests were authorized to do. Azariah and eighty other priests, all valiant men, went in after the king. The priests’ rebukes angered Uzziah, but before he could do anything the LORD struck him with leprosy. He was hurried . . . out of the temple, to which he never returned. He remained a leper from that day on, living in an isolated house while Jotham his son ruled. Uzziah was not buried in the graves of the kings, because he was a leper; he was interred in the field adjacent to the royal graves.