Send. Me. The Perils of Power - Audio

Bakersfield First Assembly

Send. Me. The Perils of Power 2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16-23 (NIV) – [3] Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. [4] He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. [5] He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success… [16] But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. [17] Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. [18] They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” [19] Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. [20] When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. [21] King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land. [22] The other events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end, are recorded by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. [23] Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king. 1. Pride Ezekiel 28:14,17 (NIV) – [14] You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones… [17] Your heart became PROUD on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. “This daring and wicked act is in both records traced to the intoxicating influence of overweening pride and vanity.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown) “There’s no question that Uzziah was an illustrious king whose name was known far and wide, but what the Lord did for him should have produced humility and not pride…” (Wiersbe Bible Commentary) 2. Downfall Proverbs 16:18 (NIV) – [18] Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. “How consistently in the pages of history we are taught the perils of prosperity. Man depending upon God is ever independent of all else. In the moment when the heart begins to feel independent of God in its own strength, the strength fails; and unless there be repentance ruin is inevitable. The last years of the reign, so glorious in its beginnings, were years of suffering and sadness.” (Exposition of the Whole Bible) 3. Unfaithfulness “When people have power, they often think they can live above the law. But even rulers are subject to God, as Uzziah discovered. No matter what your position in society, God expects you to honor, worship, and obey him.” (Life Application Bible) 4. Conflict “…Uzziah wanted to serve as both king and priest. In the Old Testament economy, the Lord separated the kings and priests, and while a priest could become a prophet (Ezekiel, Zechariah, John the Baptist), no prophet or king could become a priest… Instead, [Uzziah] convinced himself that he deserved to be a priest as well as a king.” (Wiersbe Bible Commentary) 5. Rage Isaiah 30:30 (NIV) – [30] The Lord will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with RAGING ANGER and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail. Jonah 1:15 (NIV) – [15] Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the RAGING sea grew calm. 6. Separation “Being a leper, the king couldn’t appear in public or even live in the palace. He was quarantined in an isolated house while his son Jotham ruled the land as coregent. When Uzziah died, he was buried in the royal cemetery, but apparently not in the tombs of the kings.” (Wiersbe Bible Commentary) 7. Exclusion “[Uzziah] had a wonderful beginning but a tragic ending, and this is a warning to us that we be on guard and pray that the Lord will help us to end well. A good beginning is no guarantee of a successful ending, and the sin of unholy ambition has ruined more than one servant of the Lord.” (Wiersbe Bible Commentary)