A Clean King (2 Chronicles 26)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:05.719 Let's give our attention to second chronicles now, second chronicles, Chapter Twenty Six. 2 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:16.829 The grass withers and flowers fade, but the word of the Lord stands 3 00:00:16.870 --> 00:00:23.420 forever. So let's give our attention, our attention to it and all the 4 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:27.620 people of Judah. Of Judah took Uzaiah, who was sixteen years old, 5 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:33.659 and made him king instead of his father Amasaiah. He built Elath and restored 6 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:39.289 it to Judah after the king slept with his father's Uzaiah was sixteen years old 7 00:00:39.329 --> 00:00:42.729 when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty two years in Jerusalem. 8 00:00:43.649 --> 00:00:48.689 His mother's name was Jekliah of Jerusalem, and he did what was upright in 9 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:53.240 the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 10 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.359 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zachariah, who instructed 11 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.560 him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, 12 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:07.430 God made him prosper. He went out and made war against the Philistines 13 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:11.670 and broke through the wall of GAF and the wall of Jebna and the wall 14 00:01:11.750 --> 00:01:17.349 of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among 15 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:23.060 the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived 16 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:29.299 in Gurbaiale, and against the mayunites. The ammonites paid tribute to Uzaiah, 17 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:34.769 and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very 18 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:41.849 strong. Moreover, Huzaia built towers in Jerusalem, at the Corner Gate and 19 00:01:41.930 --> 00:01:46.129 at the Valley Gate and at the angle, and fortified them. And he 20 00:01:46.170 --> 00:01:49.920 built towers in the Wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large 21 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:55.400 herds, both in the Chapela and in the plane, and he had farmers 22 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:59.879 and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the 23 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:06.109 soil. Moreover us, I had an army of soldiers fit for war in 24 00:02:06.269 --> 00:02:09.789 divisions. According to the numbers in the muster made by jet El, the 25 00:02:09.870 --> 00:02:15.099 secretary, and Maassia, the officer, under the direction of Hannaniah, one 26 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:21.020 of the king's commanders, the whole number of the heads of the father's houses, 27 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:24.740 of mighty men of Valor was two thousand six hundred. Under their command 28 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:30.650 was an army of three hundred and seven thousand five hundred who could make war 29 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:36.250 with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. And huzaiah prepared for 30 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:40.449 all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and 31 00:02:40.849 --> 00:02:46.960 stones for slinging in Jerusalem. He made machines invented by skillful men, to 32 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:53.159 be on the towner towers and the corners to shoot arrows and great stones. 33 00:02:53.080 --> 00:03:00.590 And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped till he was strong. 34 00:03:02.389 --> 00:03:09.750 But when he was strong he grew proud to his destruction, for he 35 00:03:09.870 --> 00:03:14.979 was unfaithful to the Lord, his God, and entered the Temple of the 36 00:03:15.180 --> 00:03:20.979 Lord to Burn Incense on the Altar of Incense. But azariah, the priest, 37 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:23.419 went in after him with eighty priests of the Lord, who were men 38 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:29.289 of Valor, and they withstood King Uzaiah and said to him it is not 39 00:03:29.449 --> 00:03:31.689 for you, Uzaiah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the 40 00:03:31.810 --> 00:03:37.849 priests, the sons of Erin, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go 41 00:03:38.009 --> 00:03:40.409 out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong and it will bring you 42 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:46.639 no honor from the Lord God. Then Uzai was angry. Now he had 43 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.479 a censer in his hand to burn incense and when he became angry with the 44 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.629 priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priest in 45 00:03:55.710 --> 00:04:00.030 the House of the Lord, by the Altar of Incense, and Azariah, 46 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:03.909 the Chief Priest, and all the priests looked at him and behold, he 47 00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:09.509 was leprous in his forehead. They rushed him out quickly, and he himself 48 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:15.220 hurried to go out because the Lord had struck him. And King Uzaiah was 49 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:19.220 a leper to the day of his death and, being a leper, lived 50 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:23.779 in a separate house, for he was excluded from the House of the Lord, 51 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:28.250 and Jotham, his son, was over the king's household, governing the 52 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.449 people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Uzia, from 53 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:35.009 first to last. Isaiah, the Prophet, the son of them a mas 54 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:41.000 rope and Hus IA, slept with his father's and they buried him and his 55 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:45.040 and buried him with his father's in the burial field that belonged to the Kings, 56 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:48.279 for they said he is a leper, and Jotham, his son, 57 00:04:48.560 --> 00:05:03.149 reigned in his place. Well, now we have yet a third story of 58 00:05:03.389 --> 00:05:09.500 in a row, of a king who did so well, a started well 59 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:15.699 and then failed. I'm so miserably. It's an important point to notice this 60 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:24.129 pattern. Most of our stories go differently, especially stories of three right. 61 00:05:25.649 --> 00:05:29.569 Think about goldilocks in the three bears. Not Right, not right, right, 62 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:32.250 right. So there's the movies. You'll really see this all the time. 63 00:05:32.370 --> 00:05:38.519 They're sort of the initial failure, the second attempt and then the final 64 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:44.000 attempt where the hero wins. But when you start to see this pattern where 65 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:48.600 it's failure, failure, failure, and as we continue in second chronicles, 66 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:54.350 things will get worse and worse and worse, it should teach us something, 67 00:05:54.389 --> 00:06:00.149 and in indeed it does teach us several things. But let's consider the story 68 00:06:00.310 --> 00:06:05.860 and see what God what it is exactly God puts before us. The first 69 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:10.259 thing we see is that USAIAH did well in the eyes of the Lord. 70 00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:16.939 This is one of those phrases that has a way of shaping or framing our 71 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:21.610 lives as Christians. It's a metaphor that God gives to us. Is a 72 00:06:21.649 --> 00:06:27.129 way to help us know how we ought to live. To do well in 73 00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:31.250 the eyes of the Lord is a way of describing what it means to walk 74 00:06:31.370 --> 00:06:35.439 in a right way, to do well before the eyes of the Lord is 75 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:42.279 are reminder that the Lord sees all things. It's a reminder that his perspective, 76 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.680 the way he sees things, is the way that matters. And that's 77 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.870 what I Zaiah did. He he did well in front of the Lord, 78 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:56.949 who is watching. He did things according to the Lord's perspective. And what 79 00:06:57.149 --> 00:07:02.019 was the result? The result is that he prospered, and he prospered greatly. 80 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:10.139 There are many details here that connect USAIAH with former people, various words 81 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:15.529 of various things that happened great people like David Even. What are some of 82 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:23.050 the ways USAIAH prospered? First, there's victory in war versus six and seven. 83 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:29.129 We see that their he goes out to war. We don't read why, 84 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:32.079 but the Lord is with him. He went out to war or made 85 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:38.160 war with the Philistines. And then we have these, the succession of victories. 86 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:40.839 He broke through the wall at Gaff and through the wall of Jebna and 87 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:45.110 through the wall of Ashta, this sort of piling up of a victories. 88 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:49.589 But not only is he having victories in war, he's able to expand his 89 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:56.470 kingdom through this work. He builts, he builds cities in the territory of 90 00:07:56.509 --> 00:08:00.060 another. We read this in verse six, in Ashdod and elsewhere among the 91 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:03.980 Philistines. He's not just pushing them back, but he's pushing himself out. 92 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:11.139 He's expanding the land, even as Adam was called to keep the garden and 93 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:18.329 expand it, to broaden it, to rule the world. Victory in war, 94 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:26.129 expansion another sort of prospering. We see as his conquering, not just 95 00:08:26.290 --> 00:08:31.920 winning over these people, but obtaining certain loyalties. Verse Eight, the AMMONITES 96 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:37.320 paid tribute to Usaiah in the ancient world, as there are still parallels today 97 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.429 to this. But in the ancient world you had these great kings and then 98 00:08:41.470 --> 00:08:46.990 you had lesser kings, susarin kings they call them, and vassal kings, 99 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:52.110 and the vassal king, the lesser king, it's was his job to go 100 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:58.259 to the greater king and give him tributes, to be loyal. He had 101 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:01.620 a certain amount of independence and was allowed to rule in a certain to a 102 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:05.820 certain degree on his own, but nevertheless he was ultimately under the authority of 103 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:11.649 someone greater, and that's what's going on here. He's not only conquering these 104 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:16.610 things, but we see this kind of allegiance and submission of these people they 105 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:22.649 ammonites paying tribute to Zaiah. In the next phrase we have his fame spreading. 106 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:28.879 This is a connection to David and his fame. His fame spreads even 107 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:35.279 to the border of Egypt, for he had become very strong. All of 108 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:41.429 this outward victory are sort of victories outside of his land, is coupled with 109 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:46.789 a strengthening of the interior of the country as well, WHOSIA's prospering big time 110 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:52.259 and kind of every way that the king or authority over a country would hope 111 00:09:52.299 --> 00:09:58.019 to to have he's having it. So, for example, and versus nine 112 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:03.740 and following, we read that within the borders, he builds towers in Jerusalem, 113 00:10:03.779 --> 00:10:07.490 at the Corner Gate, at the valley, Gate, at the angle, 114 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:13.129 and fortifies them. He's strengthening the capital city. But it's not just 115 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:16.490 in the cities, you see, it's there's all these sort of this no 116 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:20.090 one other more thing with Josiah, one more pross way he's prospering. It 117 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:24.559 says in verse ten that He Built Towers in the Wilderness and he cut out 118 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:30.200 many sisterns, for he had large herds. You See, he is going 119 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:37.190 out into the wild places and cultivating them. He's making them established in terms 120 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:41.909 of military power, but also in terms of agriculture. He cultivates the land, 121 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:50.179 he provides water for his animals. And there's and it says to it 122 00:10:50.299 --> 00:10:52.460 speaks of farmers. There we are farm in at the end of verse ten, 123 00:10:52.580 --> 00:10:56.379 farmers and Vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he 124 00:10:58.139 --> 00:11:03.820 loved the soil. So he has success on the borders, he has success 125 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:07.929 beyond his borders, he has success in his cities, he has success in 126 00:11:09.129 --> 00:11:13.730 the country. And then one more thing. In verses eleven through fifteen, 127 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:18.240 we read of his great military strength, how that was only growing and getting 128 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:24.799 stronger and and stronger. We read about a large number of people. We 129 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:31.120 read about preparations for war. For example, in verse fourteen, they're preparing 130 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:37.509 army shields, spears, helmets, coats of male bows and stones for slinging. 131 00:11:37.590 --> 00:11:43.470 All of this preparation. Indeed, even he's inventing things in Jerusalem. 132 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:50.539 There's fifteen. He made machines invented by skillful men. This is all really, 133 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:54.419 again, spectacular. He is prospering, and this is, of course, 134 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:58.740 the point of the passage. The very beginning of it begins this way. 135 00:11:58.820 --> 00:12:03.009 It says he did what was ought right in the eyes of the Lord 136 00:12:03.009 --> 00:12:11.649 and he prospered as a result. God made him Prosper Verse Five. So 137 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:15.330 all seems to be going really well. And then you start your eyes sort 138 00:12:15.370 --> 00:12:16.799 of scan down through the rest. You say, why is there still so 139 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:22.519 much story here? And you read the subtitle and about his pride and punishment. 140 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:31.750 Osiah turns away. All of this strength, all of this blessing, 141 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:37.710 all this goodness that God has given him, and USAIAH turns away. Now 142 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:43.990 I suppose it's tempting for us to sort of stand here and look at his 143 00:12:43.110 --> 00:12:48.500 eye and wag our fingers and say, shame on you, Oziah. You 144 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:52.299 knew you had it so good and yet you fell so so far. But 145 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:56.220 of course his eye is not the first to do this. He's not the 146 00:12:56.299 --> 00:13:03.570 first to do this and we aren't the last. Consider the foolishness and what 147 00:13:03.690 --> 00:13:07.850 USIAH does in turning away from the Lord. Think about this for a moment. 148 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:13.360 What are you supposed to do when you have a great benefactor who's constantly 149 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:20.799 pouring gifts on you? Do you take those gifts and sort of say do 150 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:26.200 away with you benefactor and leave now? Of course not. The more you 151 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.549 get, the more than thankful you should be, the more appreciative to you 152 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:33.870 should be, the more you realize how dependent you are. Well, if 153 00:13:33.950 --> 00:13:37.429 this is true, again in a human sense and in a human relationships, 154 00:13:37.509 --> 00:13:41.340 what about God? If God is the source of your strength, it makes 155 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:45.899 sense to depend on that, and that's exactly what it was I was doing. 156 00:13:45.940 --> 00:13:48.980 It says that God made him prosper, that God helped him, that 157 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:56.730 God gave him victories. Let me composed for you little parable borrowed from scripture. 158 00:13:58.529 --> 00:14:01.929 Imagine you have your going to build a house and you have two options. 159 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:05.129 To build a house on the rock to build a house on the sand. 160 00:14:05.250 --> 00:14:07.929 Obviously the right answer is build a house on the Rock, right. 161 00:14:07.009 --> 00:14:11.080 That's where the sure foundation is. Now here I'm going to extend it a 162 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:16.200 little bit in another direction. If you're going to build a house on the 163 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.120 sand, let's say, are you going to use quality materials? Well know, 164 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.480 because you know it's all going to wash away. You know, just 165 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:26.389 throw a beach towel down and that's as far as it goes. You've that's 166 00:14:26.389 --> 00:14:28.669 if you're going to do something, that's what you do. But if you 167 00:14:28.789 --> 00:14:31.710 know you're going to build a house on a rock. Well, sure, 168 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:35.710 you can use quality materials, you can establish something really good, and that's 169 00:14:35.750 --> 00:14:41.779 what use I had. He was building as Kingdom on the Rock, on 170 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:46.779 God, and because of that, God was adding on all of these blessings 171 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:52.009 and he was building this great kingdom, military power, a political power of 172 00:14:52.169 --> 00:14:58.289 fame and and all the rest. So if that's true, would then make 173 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:01.970 any sense to take that kingdom or this House that you've built and sort of 174 00:15:03.129 --> 00:15:07.240 lifted up off the Rock and put it over on the sand? Well, 175 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:11.000 no, of course it wouldn't, because all the way that you built it, 176 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:16.279 the whole structure was built on the principle and foundation, using that, 177 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.710 in both senses of the word, on the rock. It doesn't make sense 178 00:15:20.870 --> 00:15:24.830 to take it off the Rock and put it on the sand. Because now 179 00:15:24.110 --> 00:15:31.710 what happens? And all false apart, and that's exactly what these kings are 180 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:37.500 doing. When they forsake the Lord who made them prosper, they begin trusting 181 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:43.820 in their stones and weapons and men and political power and fame and all of 182 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:50.730 these things that are good and strong. But they're only that in so far 183 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:54.289 as they are built on God. They are only strong and so far as 184 00:15:54.330 --> 00:16:00.570 they are built on the rock. And so what happens when they take their 185 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:03.210 kingdoms and they shift them over to something else, like, for example, 186 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:15.159 themselves? They don't prosper. Everything falls apart. Well, what about you 187 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:21.909 again? For us not to be we can't be a too high minded about 188 00:16:21.950 --> 00:16:26.909 this. Where has God made you prosper? Is a good question to aren't 189 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:30.190 asking, and you might think yourself, while I'm no king, right, 190 00:16:30.950 --> 00:16:36.899 I have no warehouses or armies or people bringing me tributes. Well, perhaps 191 00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:41.539 not. Few people ever really arrived at this sort of level of wealth and 192 00:16:41.659 --> 00:16:45.259 power, but that's hardly any indication that God has given you little or nothing. 193 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:49.450 Perhaps you have a safe place to live, perhaps you have a friend 194 00:16:49.610 --> 00:16:53.769 who loves you. Perhaps you live in a town that has the best burritos 195 00:16:53.809 --> 00:16:57.929 in the world. There are lots of blessings, and I mean that in 196 00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:02.960 kind of a jokey way, but not entirely. I love to point these 197 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:07.519 things out because to that we might notice that God not only provides the basics 198 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:12.119 for us, he's constantly giving to us things far above what we deserve. 199 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.349 He brings pleasures into our lives. That's how good he is. It's worthy 200 00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:23.309 to remember and praise him for it. Consider, for example, Psalm one 201 00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:26.150 hundred and three one. Bless the Lord, O my soul, all that 202 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:30.980 is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, all my 203 00:17:30.059 --> 00:17:36.859 soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, 204 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.299 who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who 205 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:48.329 crowns you with steadfast love and mercy. Forget, Oh my soul, forget 206 00:17:48.529 --> 00:17:52.009 not all his benefits. Or again, in Psalm one hundred and three, 207 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:56.490 Psalm one hundred and three, verse eight, the Lord is Murder, a 208 00:17:56.569 --> 00:18:02.319 full and gracious slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love. He will not always 209 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:06.359 chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with 210 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:11.640 US according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. God 211 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:15.910 is pouring out not what we deserve, but he's pouring out all of these 212 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:21.190 blessings and all of these wonderful things. The psalmist says this, and we 213 00:18:21.349 --> 00:18:26.670 ought to be able to see this as well. Take a Fuesians twenty. 214 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:33.539 Paul tells us to sing, giving thanks always and for everything to God the 215 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:37.660 father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, gift, thanks always 216 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:41.650 and for everything. What is James says, every good James say says, 217 00:18:41.650 --> 00:18:48.049 every good and perfect gift comes down from the father. Another Psalm, Psalm 218 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:53.289 Sixty eight nineteen. Blessed be the lawyer Lord who daily bears US up. 219 00:18:55.329 --> 00:19:00.359 God is our salvation. Our God is a god of salvation, and to 220 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:06.599 God, the Lord, belongs deliverance from death. So you see, we 221 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:11.069 can't sort of compare ourselves to those I and says I and say, well, 222 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:12.750 what do I have to be thankful for? What am I dependent on? 223 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:17.390 I don't have these things. You do have these things. Sure, 224 00:19:17.549 --> 00:19:22.230 you don't have armies, but you have life, your forgiveness of sins, 225 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:26.940 you have pleasurable things in this world, you have homes and people around you 226 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:32.980 and, more than that, you have God's grace. If you're a Christian, 227 00:19:33.099 --> 00:19:37.380 you're one who has been delivered from death, the final death, who's 228 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.809 been promised resurrection. These are the blessings, just a few of the blessings 229 00:19:41.890 --> 00:19:47.970 that we might count and our right to count as we think what has God 230 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:53.039 given us? So now, what are we to do with all of these 231 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:57.720 things? Do we lift them up off the foundation which is Christ and set 232 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:03.119 them over on ourselves, our pride or anything else. No, no, 233 00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:12.670 we fasten them down even stronger to the rock. Because what happens is to 234 00:20:12.829 --> 00:20:18.109 us, when we whatever the when we take the things that God has given 235 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:23.339 to us in kindness and grace and forbearance and patience, and we seem and 236 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:26.980 we try to walk off with them and separate ourselves from him and go our 237 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:33.700 own way, we find ourselves away from him. Him, who is life, 238 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:45.609 Him who is blessing and joy and happiness. So what did Osaiah do? 239 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:51.440 What did it is I do too, to walk away from the Lord? 240 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.559 Well, we read that he was prideful ver sixteen, when he but 241 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:03.279 when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction, for he was 242 00:21:03.349 --> 00:21:11.430 unfaithful to the Lord, his God. This is this verse, these yes, 243 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:15.430 sorry, this verse is important because it reminds us that the Zaia central 244 00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:19.019 problem was not an external thing that he did against the law of God. 245 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.660 It was a problem, and we'll get to that in a moment, but 246 00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:29.700 that thing was rooted more deeply and in a different place, internally in his 247 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:37.970 heart. He will grew proud. He grew proud in our lives. We 248 00:21:38.130 --> 00:21:45.410 have authorities, we make decisions based on what is and what isn't and and 249 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:48.480 what we trust and what we don't. Pride, the essence of pride is 250 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.839 turning away from God and turning to ourselves, saying I make the decisions, 251 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:56.880 I do what I want, when I want, in my own time, 252 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:00.119 and that's what Josiah does. Let's look at the example then see what it 253 00:22:00.279 --> 00:22:06.390 is he does here. Well, we read that he enters the Temple of 254 00:22:06.549 --> 00:22:12.509 the Lord to Burn Incense on the Altar of Incense. Now this is clearly 255 00:22:12.549 --> 00:22:18.259 prohibited in the Old Testament and Exodus thirty verses one through ten, God tells 256 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:22.940 them, tells Israel that this was a job for Aaron and his sons, 257 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:27.059 those for the priests, not for anyone else. He shouldn't have gone into 258 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:30.450 the temple in this way in the first place, but then to go even 259 00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:37.410 further and do the work of the priests was a further transgression of the law. 260 00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:44.289 Now he should have known that this was not right. In numbers are, 261 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:48.000 I'm sorry. In leviticus we read of Nadab and a by WHO Aaron 262 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:53.599 Sons, priests, yes, but offering what says. The Bible says unauthorized 263 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:57.559 fire to the Lord. Now they were priests, they had a right to 264 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:03.470 be there, but they were doing something the Lord had not authorized, and 265 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:10.150 the Lord consumed them the fire. There's another example, of famous example in 266 00:23:10.190 --> 00:23:14.339 the Old Testament as it relates to priests, and that's of Cora. Sometimes 267 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:19.059 you hear about Cora's rebellion, and this was when Cora and and others rose 268 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:23.579 up against Moses and Aaron and said we want to establish our own priests, 269 00:23:23.700 --> 00:23:29.490 we want to do it our own way. God Says No, these are 270 00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:33.289 the ones I've chosen, this is the way I've said, and a plague 271 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:37.250 breaks out over them, just like leprosy does. With whose I on? 272 00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:42.559 There's another example closer to home, and Asia's on the history with Jeribalm, 273 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.359 the first up in in Israel. You can read about this in first kings 274 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:52.400 twelve and thirteen, beginning of just the very beginning of thirteen. They're jerebalm 275 00:23:52.599 --> 00:24:00.230 offers on authorize things in an unauthorized way. All of these things means that 276 00:24:00.150 --> 00:24:04.509 Asia should have known, and I want to pause here for just a moment 277 00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:10.819 and say maybe this is one reason why the God gives us the Bible, 278 00:24:10.900 --> 00:24:15.259 and in such a small way. I mean sometimes we wish there were lots 279 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:19.380 more books, lots more more material that we might study and know. But 280 00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:23.289 I wonder if one reason God has given a book that is of this size 281 00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:27.049 is it's one that we can manage, it's one that we can actually learn 282 00:24:27.250 --> 00:24:32.769 and remember. And here we find that when we go and we learn these 283 00:24:32.930 --> 00:24:37.490 histories, when we read through chronicles and we hear these stories, they're supposed 284 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:41.920 to be teaching us. Even if we take out these examples that I've given, 285 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:47.079 what about the kings just before him and the one before him? God's 286 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.519 Providence in the world, and particularly his providences, it's recorded for us in 287 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:56.269 scripture, is meant to teach us, to train US and shape us. 288 00:24:56.309 --> 00:25:02.630 Josiah should have known, but he goes. Maybe he did, maybe he 289 00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:07.339 didn't, but in some ways it doesn't really matter, because the Lord is 290 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:11.539 gracious to him and, as we see, he sends in these priests, 291 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:15.619 as a Riah went in after him. Eighty other priests, courageous men, 292 00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:19.539 men of Val, are going and they say hey, King Ziah, stop, 293 00:25:21.450 --> 00:25:25.769 it's not for you, it's not for you to burn incense to the 294 00:25:25.849 --> 00:25:29.329 Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, these ones are 295 00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:33.289 the ones who are consecrated to burn incense. Go outside, you're not supposed 296 00:25:33.289 --> 00:25:37.640 to be in here again. This is what God always does, isn't it? 297 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.359 He tells us, he records us, and then he gives us these 298 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.640 reminders. He he brings to our minds through people, of the teaching of 299 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:52.069 his word. I think it's interesting that whose eye has not yet been struck 300 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:57.309 by leprosy at this point? He could have been right. There's a number 301 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:00.430 of things he's done wrong. He was proud, he entered the temple, 302 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:07.619 he he offered this incense, he's now hearing the priests, but it's not 303 00:26:07.819 --> 00:26:14.579 until a verse nineteen when it says Uziah was angry. He had the censer 304 00:26:14.660 --> 00:26:18.220 in his hand and he became angry with the priest, and it was when 305 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:25.450 that happened that leprosy broke out, the skin disease on his forehead. In 306 00:26:25.690 --> 00:26:30.369 his pride, he wanted to move outside the boundaries that God had said. 307 00:26:30.250 --> 00:26:36.000 That's what we do whenever we fall into the sin of pride. We decide 308 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.440 to take what is not ours. We decide to work on the basis of 309 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.240 our own authority. We look at God and we say I'm going to do 310 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:48.630 what is right in my eyes, not in yours. And then when God 311 00:26:48.829 --> 00:26:55.309 responds, what is Usia's response? His response is angry, but it's still 312 00:26:55.349 --> 00:26:59.789 a responsive pride, isn't it? It's still a prideful heart that says no, 313 00:27:00.230 --> 00:27:03.019 I want this, I want to do what I want to do, 314 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:07.099 I'm going to do it in my way. Instead of submitting to the Lord 315 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:15.500 and saying I'm sorry, I repent, I was wrong and leaving, he 316 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:22.130 doubles down, he gets angry and God judges him. Leprosy breaks out across 317 00:27:22.210 --> 00:27:26.569 his forehead in the presence of the priests. And finally, at this moment, 318 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:30.119 he seems to finally realize, Oh no, what have I done? 319 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.920 Because we read that not only are these eighty per this would be quite a 320 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:37.680 scene, I think, eighty priests rushing him out of the temple. He's 321 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.119 going to Oh, I don't know if I can find the verse this quick 322 00:27:42.119 --> 00:27:45.269 but anyway, they rushed him out. All right, okay, so verse 323 00:27:45.349 --> 00:27:49.069 twenty and they rushed him out quickly and he himself hurried to go out. 324 00:27:49.990 --> 00:27:55.029 Right, he gets it now. He says, I realize what I've done, 325 00:27:55.069 --> 00:27:57.619 and he's running. They're all running they've got to get out of there. 326 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:03.259 To be in the holy presence of the Lord is not something to play 327 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:10.500 around with. When you go back and you read the Old Testament and you 328 00:28:10.619 --> 00:28:15.250 read about the priests going into the temple to offer sacrifices and things, there 329 00:28:15.289 --> 00:28:21.250 were all kinds of rituals and clothes and and ceremonies and all these things. 330 00:28:21.769 --> 00:28:26.890 Because of this fact, God was pointing out that you don't just go before 331 00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:33.759 him and do what you want. His Holiness matters, the priests matter. 332 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:40.960 There needed to be mediators to stand between God and his people because of sin. 333 00:28:41.430 --> 00:28:47.349 But instead of recognizing that fact, Ousia goes in his sin and with 334 00:28:47.750 --> 00:28:52.109 sin, into the presence of God. And what happens? He's separated from 335 00:28:52.150 --> 00:28:59.019 the presence of God. Literally he leaves the temple, he goes out of 336 00:28:59.059 --> 00:29:03.819 the presence of the Lord and because of this leprosy, now he would not 337 00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:07.180 be able to enter again. He would now be marked and and would be 338 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:14.450 unclean, unable to come even into the general area. It would be the 339 00:29:14.609 --> 00:29:21.250 priest's job to bar him and and keep him out, where others righteously, 340 00:29:21.369 --> 00:29:26.079 we're able to offer sacrifices outside of the temple, like Solomon did not. 341 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:33.799 So for USIA, he's separated from the presence of God, and this is, 342 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.519 of course, the perfect and natural consequences for his actions, because, 343 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:41.869 in his pride, that's exactly what he wanted, it's exactly what he was 344 00:29:41.950 --> 00:29:48.109 doing. And so, as I said at the beginning, we have another 345 00:29:48.349 --> 00:29:55.460 tragic story. We see this, as one commentator I read put it, 346 00:29:56.059 --> 00:30:03.339 the fatal flaw, the tragic character, not overcoming, not overcoming the the 347 00:30:03.740 --> 00:30:11.210 thing, the challenge, this fatal flaw, which is sin itself. It's 348 00:30:11.210 --> 00:30:15.410 a way of God reminding us of the great problem that we face as his 349 00:30:15.690 --> 00:30:19.329 people, our own personal sin, but also the sins of our leaders, 350 00:30:21.130 --> 00:30:25.200 of those who oversee us and rule us, of the kings that were in 351 00:30:25.319 --> 00:30:30.559 charge of Israel. They would seem to be able to establish to a certain 352 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:33.920 degree, prosperity for in the name of God and for his people, but 353 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.829 it always been tanked, something always went wrong, something always failed, and 354 00:30:41.029 --> 00:30:45.910 even in the greatest successes, even in the kings that were truly great, 355 00:30:47.309 --> 00:30:53.019 it's still goes down with the set next son or the whatever comes next in 356 00:30:53.140 --> 00:30:57.539 the story. All of this should be creating us, in us, a 357 00:30:57.700 --> 00:31:06.890 sense and a need for something greater, a King that God had promised to 358 00:31:06.970 --> 00:31:11.890 establish, a king that God would send that would not thank the Kingdom of 359 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:18.289 Israel, that would not fall into his own sins, that would not decide 360 00:31:18.410 --> 00:31:22.920 to exert, over and against God, his own authority, but the king 361 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:29.799 who would humbly submit himself over and over and over again to the will of 362 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:36.190 God. And of course God does send this king. Of course his name 363 00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:41.950 is Jesus. He sends this king who does exactly what Asia has failed to 364 00:31:41.990 --> 00:31:48.539 do. He never grew proud, he was always humble and everything that he 365 00:31:48.660 --> 00:31:55.019 did submitting himself to the will of the father. Paul brings this out in 366 00:31:55.180 --> 00:32:00.220 many places in his various letters. One particularly important one is in Philippians, 367 00:32:00.259 --> 00:32:06.049 where he says that Jesus humbled himself becoming obedient as a servant, taking on 368 00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:10.890 the form of man. It's fairly humbling you're the son of God. But 369 00:32:10.970 --> 00:32:15.839 he humbled himself in obedience, even to the point of death, even death 370 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:20.200 on a cross. Jesus didn't go to the cross because he was forced to. 371 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.960 Jesus went to the cross because God told him to, his father had 372 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:32.069 told him to. He was being obedient and as he did so he prospered. 373 00:32:36.869 --> 00:32:39.349 But Jesus was not just a King for himself, a little kingdom of 374 00:32:39.509 --> 00:32:45.539 one, just as USIA wasn't. Jesus was king for us all. And 375 00:32:45.660 --> 00:32:51.500 when Jesus went to the cross to offer himself, they're obediently and humbly. 376 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:57.859 The prospering, the resurrection, the glory and everything that God gave to him 377 00:32:58.339 --> 00:33:07.089 as a result of his obedience, his perfect obedience becomes ours. God gives 378 00:33:07.250 --> 00:33:12.960 to us a kingdom that is not of this world, a kingdom that is 379 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:20.000 much more prosperous. And why it spread and famous and powerful. God doesn't 380 00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:23.960 need to invent machines for his towers to take down his enemies. He's got 381 00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:30.269 millions of angels at his right hand, ready to execute his perfect will, 382 00:33:30.190 --> 00:33:35.750 with flaming swords and all other kinds of terrifying things we read about in the 383 00:33:35.829 --> 00:33:39.230 Bible, all for him, all to do his holy will. Jesus says 384 00:33:39.269 --> 00:33:43.700 the word and it will be done. And one day it will be done. 385 00:33:44.779 --> 00:33:47.460 God promises that one day he will send his angels when Jesus comes, 386 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:52.539 and they will go through the world. They'll gather up the elect they'll take 387 00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:58.849 the unrighteous and throw them into hell and he will win, and it's a 388 00:33:59.009 --> 00:34:02.609 winning that isn't a temporary win to just be undone by the next generation. 389 00:34:04.930 --> 00:34:08.650 It's not a temporary win that will fall apart when he sees some lady on 390 00:34:08.730 --> 00:34:14.280 a balcony or decides to make a treaty with some foreign power, whatnot. 391 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:23.469 It's an e turnal kingdom, an unshakable kingdom that is established on an unshakable, 392 00:34:23.949 --> 00:34:30.070 immutable God, and this is what he gives to us. I need 393 00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:34.829 to close, but let me just add for food for thought, not just 394 00:34:34.989 --> 00:34:38.739 as a king, but also as a priest, a perfect priest, a 395 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:45.900 holy priest who rightfully goes before God and offers himself in this way, also 396 00:34:45.940 --> 00:34:51.099 as a prophet, when who speaks the word of God, knows the word 397 00:34:51.139 --> 00:34:55.329 of God and is always true to it. In all of this, we 398 00:34:55.849 --> 00:35:00.489 see Jesus is the one who is sent, the one who comes to fulfill 399 00:35:00.610 --> 00:35:06.409 this great covenant that God made with David, and in that, brothers and 400 00:35:06.489 --> 00:35:13.159 sisters, we can have great security in peace, and we also have someone 401 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:17.840 to turn when we ourselves sin, like USAIAH did, when our pride gets 402 00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:22.710 in the way and when we fall apart and know ourselves not to be earning 403 00:35:23.150 --> 00:35:30.389 blessings and honor and riches for ourselves, but the wages of sin, which 404 00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:37.900 are death, when we know that this is what we deserve. It's because 405 00:35:38.019 --> 00:35:43.059 God is establishing not only a kingdom of power, but a kingdom of grace 406 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:50.010 that we can come to him and belong to him and belong to him forever. 407 00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:52.090 Let's pray