Day 4: Humbling lesson
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 (2 Chronicles 26:16).
Our Father in heaven, Your dominion is an eternal dominion; Your kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Daniel 4:35).
The king of Babylon prayed these words after a humbling lesson about Your sovereignty. And we also see the fate of other powerful leaders who compounded pride, ego, and boastfulness with blasphemy, and attempts to usurp the place of Almighty God.
Among them was Herod Agrippa 1, who, seeking to mend a rift with some of his subjects, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man" (Acts 12:21-21).
Herod did not refuse nor correct this impious flattery, wrote Jewish historian Josephus, and was stricken with a disease that caused his bowels to rot and putrefy while he was yet alive. The physician Luke recounts the event in the book of Acts: Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died (Acts 12:23).
Hundreds of years before, King Uzziah had suffered a similar fate. In the early years of his rule, he had enjoyed the favor of the Lord: As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success... His fame spread far and wide for he was greatly helped until he became powerful (2 Chronicles 26:5-15).
But he became drunk on the wine of his own power, and his pride led to his downfall. He encroached on sacred spaces, presuming to take on roles and activities specifically set apart as consecrated and holy. While he was raging at the courageous priests who confronted him, leprosy broke out on his forehead... [and] he had leprosy until the day he died (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
Lord, help us to learn the important lessons here, and not get caught up in debates about diseases or the timing of Your responses to transgressions. Help us to see that pride is an affront to Your glory (Isaiah 42:8), that You have concern for Your holy name (Ezekiel 36:21), and that You will not permit profanity of Your holy things, union between the holy and the common, or blending of the unclean and the clean (Ezekiel 22:26).
O Father You are the ultimate authority, the One to whom leaders and those being led alike are accountable. In our roles as leaders, help us to uphold Your standards of integrity, fairness, compassion, and courage. Keep us from the pride that leads to downfall.
And in our roles as those being led, help us to understand the importance of standing up for what is holy, just, and right. Keep us from the foolish flattery that esteems men as gods in order to serve our own ends (Acts 12:20-22). Give us the boldness of the eighty-one courageous priests who spoke truth to arrogance and correction to sacrilege (2 Chronicles 26:17-18).
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