He Was Marvellously Helped

The book of Isaiah begins this way, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (Isaiah 1:1). This tells us that the king of Judah at the time Isaiah was called as a prophet was Uzziah, which the prophet also highlighted in his great vision: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). In the book of 2 Kings, this king was called Azariah: “In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign. Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem” (2 Kings 15:1-2). But in the book of 2 Chronicles, he was called Uzziah: “Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah” (2 Chronicles 26:1). The scripture help gives two possibilities for this discrepancy: “In the account of his life recorded in 2 Kings 15, King Uzziah is sometimes called Azariah. It is possible that Uzziah was his throne name that was officially adopted when he became king. Or perhaps there was an error or confusion in the transmission of the text.” To make things more confusing, there was a priest mentioned in 2 Chronicles 26:17, where the king is called Uzziah, named Azariah. In 2 Kings, though, this king was also called Uzziah: “Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah…. In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign…. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done” (2 Kings 15:13, 32, 34).     

            More important than his name of course is what Uzziah did as a king. He was described initially as righteous, and apparently his people were on the cutting edge of technology: “And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.” This suggests that he and his people were helped by the Lord to become strong, showing that he originally put his trust in God to protect his people. Elder Soares spoke of him in a BYU devotional, highlighting that the name Uzziah in Hebrew means “Jehovah is my strength.” The alternate name, Azariah, similarly means “helped by God.” Both are fitting to how this king was given strength by the Lord to succeed and defend his people. Unfortunately though, once he was strong he lost his humility: “But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense” (2 Chronicles 26:16). The king went into the temple and did what he did not have the authority to do. As the scripture help says, “Only priests who held the Aaronic Priesthood were authorized to burn incense on the altar before the veil of the temple. Uzziah’s successes as king led to a prideful heart and an overreach of his authority.” This led to a terrible punishment that came upon the king: “And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 26:21). Elder Soares summarized what happened this way: “Unfortunately, pride in his military triumphs and pride in his great power and wealth caused him to forget the Lord. Because of this sin, Uzziah was struck with leprosy. Because of his disease, Uzziah was forced to live isolated from his people until he died. Uzziah prospered in every way in his life while he remembered the Lord, but when he forgot Him, Uzziah experienced heartbreak, disappointment, and sorrow for his sin.”

            This account of Uzziah reminds me of the story of a man with almost the same name, Uzzah, who likewise did what he was not permitted to do. We read, “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:6-7). Uzzah did not have the authority to touch the ark of God, just as Uzziah did not have the authority to burn incense in the temple, but he did it anyway. And so both were smitten for overstepping their bounds, and their stories remind us that there is to be an order in the work of the Lord that we must adhere to. If we will humbly follow that order, we will have the strength of the Lord to help us. But if we in pride go against it, we will not prosper.