Introduction: Isaiah’s Vision in the Year King Uzziah Died
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1 – NKJV)
This verse marks one of the most dramatic turning points in Judah’s history: the end of Uzziah’s long reign and the beginning of the prophetic ministry of Isaiah.
Who Was King Uzziah?
Uzziah (also called Azariah in some passages) was king of Judah from approximately 792 to 740 B.C. Son and successor of Amaziah, he ascended the throne at only 16 years of age and reigned in Jerusalem for an impressive 52 years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem.
Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. He built Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his fathers. Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 26:1-3 – NKJV)
The name Uzziah means “The Lord is my strength” or “My strength is Yahweh” – a name that perfectly described the first half of his reign.
The Height of His Reign: Prosperity and Military Power
God helped the young king in an extraordinary way. Uzziah defeated the Philistines, the Arabs of Gur Baal, and the Meunites. The Ammonites paid him tribute, and his fame reached even to the border of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.
He fortified Jerusalem with towers at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the angle of the wall. He built towers in the desert, dug many wells, and developed agriculture on the hills and plains because he loved the soil.
His army numbered 307,500 elite warriors, organized under 2,600 family heads. Uzziah equipped them with shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and slings. He even invented war machines designed by skillful men that could shoot arrows and large stones from the towers.
His fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong. (2 Chronicles 26:15 – paraphrase)
The Fall: Pride That Led to Destruction
But when he became strong, his heart was lifted up to his own destruction.
Uzziah entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense – an act reserved exclusively for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. (2 Chronicles 26:16 – NKJV)
Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty valiant priests of the Lord, and stood up to the king:
It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God. (2 Chronicles 26:18 – NKJV)
Uzziah, holding the censer, became furious. While he raged against the priests before the incense altar, leprosy broke out on his forehead. The priests thrust him out quickly, and he himself hurried to leave because the Lord had struck him.
The Tragic End of the King
King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death. He lived in an isolated house, cut off from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham took charge of the palace and governed the people.
Thus King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house, because he was a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. (2 Chronicles 26:21 – NKJV)
He was buried in a field near the royal tombs, for they said, “He is a leper.”
Lesson for Our Days
Uzziah began brilliantly: young, God-fearing, prosperous, victorious. But success went to his head. When he thought he could do anything – even what only priests were allowed to do – he fell.
The story of Uzziah teaches us an eternal and sobering truth: The more God blesses and exalts us, the more we must humble ourselves before Him. Pride always goes before destruction, especially when we are at the height of power.
May Uzziah’s example serve as a warning: God’s blessing always comes with the responsibility to remain humble and obedient to the end.
