The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 172: Uzziah's Pride (2023)

Episode Date: June 21, 2023

Fr. Mike zeroes in on how Uzziah's prideful desire to worship God in his own way led to his tragic death. We are reminded once again how easily the kings over Judea strayed away from God after achieving greatness. Today's readings are 2 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 26-27, and Psalm 72. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 172. We are reading from 2 Kings chapter 3 and 2 Chronicles chapters both 26 and 27. We're also praying Psalm 72. As always, the Bible translation that I am reading from is

the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in the year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in here. And if you'd like to subscribe, you can subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe, unless you're following us in hallow, in which case, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, you can add effects like the rain, um, behind the voice of the Bible to you. That's English, right? You can add different effects in hallow app. That's kind of cool.

As someone told me, and I have not yet done that, but I think I might, I think I might, but as I said, it is day 172. We're reading 2 Kings chapter 3, 2 Chronicles 26 and 27, and we are praying Psalm 72. The second book of Kings chapter 3, Jehoram reigns over Israel. In the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal, which his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the

sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He did not depart from it. War with Moab. Now Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver annually to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, the king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab? And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, the king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab? And he said, I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Then he said, by which way shall we march?

Jehoram answered, by the way of the wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the beasts which followed them. Then the king of Israel said, Alas, the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord? Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha, the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. And Elisha said to the king of Israel,

What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother. But the king of Israel said to him, No, it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. But now bring me a minstrel. you shall drink, you, your cattle, and your beasts. This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, and you shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fill every good tree, and stop up all the springs of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones. The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water. When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them,

all who were able to put on armor from the youngest to the oldest were called out and were drawn up at the frontier. And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. And they said, this is blood. The kings have surely fought together and slain one another. Now then Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood, and they said, This is blood. The kings have surely fought together and slain one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil. But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and attacked the Moabites till they fled before them, and they went forward, slaughtering the Moabites as they went. And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land,

every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees till only its stones were left in Kirhar-asseth, and the slingers surrounded and conquered it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his eldest son, who was to reign in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there came great wrath upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. The second book of Chronicles, chapter 26, Uzziah's reign over Judah. And all the people of Judah took

Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. Uzziah was 16 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecholia of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabnah and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod, and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him against the

Philistines, and against the Arabs that dwelt in Gerbaal, and against the Maunites. The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem, at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the angle, and fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness, and hewed out many cisterns, for he had large herds both in the Shepelah and in the plain. And he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war war in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel, the secretary, and Maaseah, the officer, under the direction of

Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their command was an army of 307,500 who could make war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem, he made engines invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped till he was strong. Pride and apostasy. But when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. For he was false to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him with eighty priests of the Lord, who were men of valor,

and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, It is not for you, Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests and the house of the Lord by the altar of incense. And Azariah, the chief priests and all the priests looked at him and behold, he was leprous in his forehead and they thrust him out quickly. And he himself hastened to go out because the Lord had struck him down. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death. And being a leper, dwelt in a separate house, for he was excluded from the

house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote. And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field which belonged to the kings, for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead. Chapter 27, Jotham's reign over Judah. Jotham was 25 years old when he began to reign,

and he reigned 16 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Uzziah had done, only he did not invade the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did much building on the wall of Ophel. Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and forts, and towers on the wooded hills. He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. And the Ammonites gave him that year a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand cores of wheat,

and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God. Now the rest of the acts of Jotham, and all his wars, and his ways, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And Jotham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Ahaz his son reigned in his stead. Psalm 72. Prayer for guidance and support for the king. A psalm of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son. May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice.

Let the mountains bear prosperity for the peoples and the hills in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy and crush the oppressor. May he live while the sun endures as long as the moon throughout all generations. May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound till the moon be no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. May his foes bow down before him and his enemies

lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and of the Isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him. For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their souls and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live. May the gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day. May there be abundance of grain in the land. On the tops of the mountains may it wave. May its fruit be like Lebanon, and may men blossom forth from the cities like the grass of the field. May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun.

May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever. May his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. Father in heaven, we do praise and bless your name, and may you be blessed above everyone, above all things. May you be honored and glorified. May you be worshiped and loved

because you are love, Lord God, and you reveal your heart of love to us, your heart of love that is for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Okay, gosh, here we go. In 2 Kings chapter 3, we have this, essentially this alliance between the king of Israel, who was Jehoram, son of Ahab, right? Remember Ahab, Boo, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, as well as an unnamed king of Edom. So these three nations, Edom, Israel, and Judah, are going to go to war against Moab. And it's interesting because we're going to hear these names. We hear these names again and again.

And that's one of the reasons why they can get a little bit confusing. As I mentioned before, the Great Adventure Bible timeline can be really, really helpful when you can see that and say, okay, this is Jehoshaphat. Oh, this is the one we're talking about now. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Jehoram, son of Ahab. They're kings at the same time. Jehoshaphat's in Judah and Jehoram is in Israel. Jehoram is the son of Ahab. Remember Ahab, pretty bad guy, pretty bad dude. He and his wife Jezebel. But we have this alliance. Now, Jehoram was not as bad as his father. As the scripture says, he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his dad and mom. And so he's bad, but he's not, he could be worse.

Well, maybe that's one of the ways that the scripture, the author of 2 Kings is trying to describe it. He's bad, but he could be worse. He's not as bad as his dad. And they go to war against Moab. And here's what happens. Elisha creates a miracle because as these three armies

are going to battle against Moab, they run out of drinking water. And so Elisha provides massive amounts of people with a massive amount of drinking water. And because of that, Moab thinks they wake up early in the morning. They see the sun rising up over the,

where they see the water and they think that it's blood. And they think, oh, they must've all killed each other. You know, these three peoples, the Edomites, the Israelites, and the Judahites must've all killed each other in the course of the evening. So they think that they're going to not wander into a battle. They think they're just wandering into a camp where everyone's dead and they were not dead. They were very much alive. And so they defeated the Moabites. And then we get to the story of second Chronicles chapter 26 and 27. And we have Uzziah and Uzziah, who's one of the good Kings. I mean, he, once again, you guys, it's so, so frustrating because Uzziah made a King when he's 16 years old and he, he reigns for a long time, 52 years in Jerusalem. And he does a lot of great things. It's, it's remarkable. But then in verse 16 of chapter 26,

but when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. And what does he do? He doesn't turn to false gods, but what he does is he takes upon himself the tasks that belong to the Levitical priests. And he goes into the sacred place. He goes into the holy place to offer incense. And as it says, the Azariah the chief priest, and all the other priests looked at him and like, stop doing this. Don't do this. Uzziah, you've been good for so long. Stop with the false worship. Again, not false worship, but wrong worship. Now there's different kinds of worship that happens. There is idolatry, right? There's worshiping either a false God or a false image of God. And that's what happened at the golden calf incident. They weren't worshiping a false God. They were saying, Israel, this is the Lord,

your God who delivered you from slavery in Egypt. And that was a distorted kind of idolatry. It was not just turning away to a false God. It was worshiping a false image of the true God. But there's also another way to do it, which is to worship God in the way that one desires. I'm going to worship you how I want to do it. Even though I know you've especially forbidden this kind of thing, Uzziah, he would have known better. He had been, he had grown up in the temple. I mean, not in the temple really, but like he had grown up worshiping. He knew the Lord had wanted, he knew what the Lord had commanded. And yet when he grew strong, he grew proud. And that's what all of us can do. Like, listen, you know, I've done all these things.

God has been with me. He's blessed me. I'm just going to do it my own way now. And he gets leprosy and then he dies and he dies and gets buried separately because he was a leper. And then we have Jotham, his son. It was 25 when he began to reign and he reigned 16 years and he did well. It says Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord, his God, and he reigned 16 years, and he did well. It says, Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God, and he rested with his fathers. And that sense of being buried

with his fathers, not only, even sometimes the evil kings, they get buried with their fathers, but there's an element where here is Jotham who is able to rest in peace. You know, you have the sense because he did, he walked in the way of the Lord. We have a couple more kings to go because what we're doing is we have one more chapter tomorrow, chapter 28 of Chronicles. I kind of misspoke. We're not at the end of the book of Chronicles. We're going to take a little bit of a break until second Kings catches up with second Chronicles. And so what we're going to doing after tomorrow is we're jumping into Hosea and the prophet Hosea, prophet Amos and the prophet Jonah and the prophet Micah. And after those days, we're going to jump back to 2 Chronicles.

So we're taking, after tomorrow, we're taking a little hiatus between 2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Chronicles 29. But today we just finished with 2 Chronicles chapter 27. Hope that makes some sense because these prophets, Hosea and Amos and Jonah and Micah, they are prophets who are very, very important when it comes to the story of 2 Kings that we're going to be following beginning the day after tomorrow. And so we're going to take a little break and then regroup, re-meet with 2 Chronicles on day 184 when they're in exile, because that's what happens in 2 Chronicles chapter 29 is after all this stuff, all the ups and downs, there's going to be an exile of the people of Judah. And we want to get that story synchronized. And so here we are on day 172.

I'm praying for you and hopefully you're praying for me and praying for each other. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.