2 Chronicles 26:16-23

Uzziah's Arrogance Punished

v. 16. But when he was strong, when he had gained so much power and occupied such an influential position among the nations, his heart was lifted up, in sinful pride and vanity, to his destruction; for he transgressed against the Lord, his God, and went into the Temple of the Lord, into the Holy Place, to burn incense upon the altar of incense, this being the privilege of the priests alone, Exodus 30:7-Daniel :; Numbers 18:1-Judges :.

v. 17. And Azariah, the priest, that is, the head-priest, the high priest, went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord that were valiant men, men in the vigor of their strength;

v. 18. and they withstood Uzziah the king, strongly remonstrated with him for his blasphemous intention, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense, the daily burning of incense at the morning and evening sacrifice being an important part of their duty. Go out of the Sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord God, an emphatic way of saying that he had loaded dishonor, shame, and resentment from the Lord upon himself.

v. 19. Then Uzziah was wroth, as a wilful sinner is apt to be if confronted and called to order, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense, all ready to usurp the rights of the priests; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord from beside the incense altar. It was a sudden punishment of the Lord, such as that which had come upon Miriam, Numbers 12:10, an emphatic way of correcting the presumption of the king.

v. 20. And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, the mark was unmistakable. And they thrust him out from thence, lest his uncleanness defile the Sanctuary; yea, himself, filled with terror at this turn of events, hasted also to go out because the Lord had smitten him, a fact which was obvious to him as it was to the priests.

v. 21. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death and dwelt in a several house, literally, "a house of separation," a hospital or infirmary, being a leper, to whom all direct intercourse with other people was prohibited; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord, he was not permitted to enter the Temple again. And Jotham, his son, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land, as coregent with his father.

v. 22. Now, the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz, write, for he was prophet in Judah at this time, Isaiah 1:1.

v. 23. So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings, in the plot of ground adjoining the tombs, but not inside the royal sepulchers; for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham, his son, reigned in his stead. Azariah and the other priests offer a fine example to the ministers of the New Testament. The latter also should guard the rights of the sanctuary and not permit the State to usurp the rights of the Church. History reports more than one instance in which members of the government and entire governments were punished for interfering with the work of the Church.