2 Chronicles 26:14-21

14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and sling stones. 15 And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones[f] from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the Lord gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful. 16 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. 17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!” 19 Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy[g] suddenly broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. 21 So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.

The biblical account of King Uzziah is a classic example of the disaster that accompanies disobedience. Uzziah’s ascension to the throne had probably filled the people of Judah’s hearts with hope. Their last two kings had started out well but finished foolishly. They ended up leading the kingdom away from God and back into idolatry. Instead of bringing joy to the people they had brought judgment, and both Joash and Amaziah, met their death due to conspiracy. Uzziah followed in his families footsteps, like his father and grandfather before him his reign began well. The first part of his reign proved to be promising as he led Judah back to God and the people once again enjoyed the bounty of God’s blessings. Uzziah started as a righteous ruler but over the years, as God blessed him, a secret enemy began ever so subtly to invade his heart. This was no ordinary enemy for this enemy attacked from within. Enemies from without can be clearly seen, they are easier to discern, but the enemy on the inside is different, he is sneaky, cunning and often silent until he strikes. Uzziah’s hidden enemy was the problematic one of pride, somewhere amidst all the blessings, he lost sight of the fact that God was the source of his power, popularity, and prosperity. Pride is one of the most common killers, it attacks your spiritual growth and erodes both your enjoyment and intimacy with God. Why is pride so spiritually fatal, because pride positions us to promote self instead of the Savior. Pride points to me instead of to the Messiah, enthroning self on the seat of the heart only to strangle and suffocate us in the sin of self. Pride causes us to claim the credit for ourselves instead of giving the credit to Christ. Pride will only ever produce one result: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” Proverbs 16: 18. Pride may promise to promote self but it will only ever produce problems and pain. 2 Chronicles 26:3 says: “Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years.” Can you imagine the pressure on this sixteen year old adolescent, knowing that the whole nation was looking to him for leadership? I’ve often wondered if this wasn’t part of what prompted him to seek God’s face so often in the early years. It was his seeking of God that was the source of his success. What is sad to see is that he started his reign in humbleness and humility and ended his reign in humiliation. As long as he remained humble and obedient before God he prospered, but the moment pride pushed him to disobedience it brought decades of blessing to a halt. Pride will poison and destroy what humility and dependence upon God has built. 2 Chronicles 26: 4-5 says: “4 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. 5 Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” The basis for blessing was humble obedience before God. He was successful as long as he remembered who he serve.  As long as King Uzziah stayed focused and dependent on God, he prospered in all that he did. Uzziah prospered in:

• Battle

2 Chronicles 26: 6-8 says: “Uzziah declared war on the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia. 7 God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur, and his wars with the Meunites. 8 The Meunites paid annual tribute to him, and his fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.” While Uzziah walked with God, God fought and won his battles. The only way to win the war is through obedient service to the Savior. If you desire to be victorious and experience success in the spiritual battle then you must surrender to the Savior. As James says in James 4:7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Not only did Uzziah experience success in battle but also in his:

• Building

Uzziah successfully built cities in the land once occupied by his enemy, 2 Chronicles26: 6 “he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia.” When he put his trust in the Lord, God enlarged his territory. He also built many fortifications, 2 Chronicles26: 9 “Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle in the wall.” He didn’t just sit back after the battle, but built fortifications in preparation to defend God’s people. While his heart hungered for God he lived a prepared life instead of a passive one. Along with success in battle and building Uzziah also experienced great:

• Business

He had many sources of water to supply his great herds of cattle, 2 Chronicles 26:10 “He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah and on the plains” Not only was he a successful rancher but he also experienced great fruit in farming. Scripture says that he experienced great success in the soil, he had many fields and vineyards, 2 Chronicles 26:10 “He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.” Not only did he experience a bounty of blessing in his business but His reputation spread as a result of his faithfulness to God. Not only did he get to enjoy and experienced the fruit of faithfulness, but God’s people also got to partake of the harvest.

Yet it was this very success that became his downfall for Uzziah started to serve success instead of the Savior. One of the greatest pride traps is prosperity, Uzziah became proud of his strength and success, 2 Chronicles 26: 16 “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall.” He forgot that God was the source of his strength and success so he started to boast in self. You would think that after experiencing the bountiful blessings of God that Uzziah would never have fallen prey to the sin of pride. But listen to how David Rhodes describes pride: “It is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks. And it flourishes in good soil. The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness” One of the dangers of receiving God’s blessings is that if we’re not careful, somewhere in the midst of all the blessings we begin to believe that we are the recipients because we have got it together. That because we are a notch above the rest that we somehow deserve God’s goodness. Abraham Lincoln noted in his proclamation of a day of National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer in 1863, how easy it is to forget where our blessings come from when he said: “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand, which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” Pride clouds our conscience and convinces us that we are the cause of success. Verse 21 pens the epitaph of pride, “So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord.” This stands in sharp contrast to the epitaph of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Pride was the cause of Uzziah’s demise, he was struck with a dreaded disease that resulted isolation. He went from a man of great reputation to one of ruin because he did not obey the Lord, C. S. Lewis said “God pickles the proud and preserves the foolish.” But notice his greatest ruin was not his reputation but that of relationship, not only with others but also with the Lord. His leprosy prevented him from entering God’s holy house, he traded pain for praise. He traded real wealth, worship of God for what the world could offer, worship of self, so in the end self is all that he had. Because of his disobedience Uzziah died in dishonor. What about you, are you living your life to please and praise the Lord or to promote self and please pride?

Joshua 7:1-7:23

“But Israel violated the instructions about the things set apart for the Lord. A man named Achan had stolen some of these dedicated things, so the Lord was very angry with the Israelites. Achan was the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah. 2 Joshua sent some of his men from Jericho to spy out the town of Ai, east of Bethel, near Beth-aven. 3 When they returned, they told Joshua, “There’s no need for all of us to go up there; it won’t take more than two or three thousand men to attack Ai. Since there are so few of them, don’t make all our people struggle to go up there.” 4 So approximately 3,000 warriors were sent, but they were soundly defeated. The men of Ai 5 chased the Israelites from the town gate as far as the quarries, and they killed about thirty-six who were retreating down the slope. The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away. 6 Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay, threw dust on their heads, and bowed face down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord until evening. 7 Then Joshua cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, why did you bring us across the Jordan River if you are going to let the Amorites kill us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side! 8 Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies? 9 For when the Canaanites and all the other people living in the land hear about it, they will surround us and wipe our name off the face of the earth. And then what will happen to the honor of your great name?” 10 But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? 11 Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings. 12 That is why the Israelites are running from their enemies in defeat. For now Israel itself has been set apart for destruction. I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction. 13 “Get up! Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. 14 “In the morning you must present yourselves by tribes, and the Lord will point out the tribe to which the guilty man belongs. That tribe must come forward with its clans, and the Lord will point out the guilty clan. That clan will then come forward, and the Lord will point out the guilty family. Finally, each member of the guilty family must come forward one by one. 15 The one who has stolen what was set apart for destruction will himself be burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.” 16 Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out. 17 Then the clans of Judah came forward, and the clan of Zerah was singled out. Then the families of Zerah came forward, and the family of Zimri was singled out. 18 Every member of Zimri’s family was brought forward person by person, and Achan was singled out. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, by telling the truth. Make your confession and tell me what you have done. Don’t hide it from me.” 20 Achan replied, “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 Among the plunder I saw a beautiful robe from Babylon,200 silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest.” 22 So Joshua sent some men to make a search. They ran to the tent and found the stolen goods hidden there, just as Achan had said, with the silver buried beneath the rest. 23 They took the things from the tent and brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites. Then they laid them on the ground in the presence of the Lord.”

Last time as we moved from Joshua chapter 6 to 7 we saw that on the heels of obedient success came the sin of disobedience, and it was this disobedience that led to:

• Defeat

When Israel went up to fight the little city of Ai they were so filled with confidence that they only sent part of their army. After the resounding success of Jericho, I’m sure that they though that Ai would be a walk over. But imagine the discouragement and dismay when the walk-over turned into a whipping. The triumph of Jericho quickly turned to tragedy and defeat as 36 men dropped dead and the rest ran for cover. Scripture says that “the Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away, Joshua and the elders of Israel tore their clothing in dismay.” Why did they experience defeat? Disobedience, God reveals the rebellion to Joshua in verse 11 saying, “Israel has sinned and broken my covenant.” Disobedience always leads to disaster, and one of the most sobering aspects of this story is a principle that this scripture points out and that is still true today: When one of God’s kids chooses to disobey the expressed, clear directive of God, he can cause great distress, demoralization, and defeat among the entire family. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” You cannot sin and suffer the consequences alone. No matter how carefully concealed your choices their consequences will touch others as surely as a stone thrown into a pond causes waves on the water’s surface to ripple all the way to the shore. As John Donne the English poet wrote, “No man is an island.” You may think that your actions are not hurting others but remember that the one who chooses to involve themselves in an adulterous affair is not only hurting themselves, but also their spouse, their children as well as the one with whom they are involved along with that persons family. Those who walk away from the Word of God don’t just affect their lives but it also has bearing on those who look to them as an example. Kids who dabble in drugs don’t just destroy their lives but their actions pierce their parents hearts and cause pain in their families.  Even silent sins have a way of surfacing. We need to realize that Judgment Day is not always the following morning but as Moses warned in Numbers 32:23 “You may be sure that your sin will find you out” The story of Achan reminds us of the double tragedy of sin, not only is there a penalty but there is no pleasure. Achan not only paid the penalty with his life but he also never got to enjoy any of the money, even for a moment. Satan wants to seduce us with sin and then watch us suffer. His plan is simply to lure us in with a promise of pleasure that will only ever produce pain.  What drives Satan is our destruction; he wants to ruin our relationship with our Heavenly Father. We end up trading God for guilt. Not only does disobedience lead to defeat but it also leads to:

• Discipline

Our choices come with a cost, they carry consequences. The tragedy of what Achan took is seen in the price that was paid. Sin always has a serious cost. It cost him his life, the lives of his family, and the lives of 36 Israelite soldiers. It cost time from the conquest. It cost dismay and anguish in the heart of Joshua as well as discouragement in the people at a critical time in their history, it cost them courage. There was also the cost of the disgrace of defeat that reflected not just on Israel but on their God. Sin is a serious thing and we need to wise up and stop excusing away our disobedience. We need to stop acting as if sin is no big deal. Deliberate disobedience to the will of God is deadly. Your choices are critical, today’s actions become tomorrow’s habit and tomorrow’s habit become your way of life. Galatians 6:7 calls this the principle of sowing and reaping, and it comes with a promise that is both positive and negative: “No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life” – The Message. The truth is that today’s actions are never neutral, we are either actively moving toward God or going our own way. Sin is never static, it has serious consequences and even if it doesn’t cost us our life remember it did cost Christ His. My sin cost Jesus the anguish of Calvary, separation from His Father and the agony of crucifixion. We need to be aware of the frog in the frying pan syndrome, it’s a metaphor that points to peoples unwillingness to respond to the threats that occur gradually in their lives. Like the frog we may think things are fine but if we stay in the sin we won’t just simmer we will steam. We will suffer the consequences and pay the cost. If we are not intentional about listening to the Lord and putting obedience into practice then we will become de-sensitized to our own sinfulness. Achan was no more wicked than any other Israelite, he just forgot what was important and took his focus off of the Father for a few moments. In that lapse, his spiritual vision was clouded by silver coins and gold that caught his attention more than God. Being a believer does not mean that you will not be tempted, but when you are tempted you don’t have to turn from truth, you can trust God. We need to resolve to listen to the Redeemer, to hear His call and create a habit of obedience, so that in the moment of temptation we will not fail God, our church, our family, and ourselves. Is there any area of your life where you have turned from truth and are tolerating sin? If so then repent, run from the sin, and return to a right relationship with the Savior.