"King Uzziah with Leprosy", by Rembrandt
I was reading through my ESV Study Bible daily reading plan and came across King Uzziah of Judah.
There is a most common theme communicated to us in God's word. Man loves God. Man gets rich. Man then loves self. God spanks man.
King Uzziah became King of Judah at the age of 16! He "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord", and became a very prosperous king, feared in all the land.
Then it happened: "But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful 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, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” Then 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 in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived 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." (2 Chronicles 26:16-23)
It wasn't long ago, that I wrote a piece about King Nebuchadnezzar, suffering from a great pride as well. He wound up on all fours, eating grass like a beast in the field for seven years.
I can certainly attest that a measure of wealth is very often followed with a great pride, and a sense of becoming a god unto oneself. When there is great comfort, our fallen nature tends to think that there is no need of God.
I can't help but think that this current economic mess, which our country is currently struggling through, is the direct result of our wealthy nation, turning its collective back on God.
There is nothing like a severe bout of pain and tribulation to turn a people back to God. It has been this way for 6,000 years.
Nothing changes, does it?
