When we hear of spiritual failure, we automatically want to know what happened. More specifically, we want to know the cause of the failure. The answers usually given are the love of money or divorce because of unfaithfulness. No doubt those are factors, but there's a common problem behind those factors. In the Old Testament, there's a story that illustrates that, and I want us to look at it. The failure of one particular king points to the root cause of spiritual failure. So in this story, that's what we're after. Not just the failure, not just some of the secondary causes, but the root cause of spiritual failure. It's in 2 Chronicles, chapter 26. So if you will turn with me to that chapter, we will look at this king's life. Verse one says, now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amaziah. Amaziah apparently had made no plans for his successor. For after his untimely death, the people took his young son, Uzziah, and elevated him to kingship. Only 16 years old at the time, he reigned for an extraordinarily long period of 52 years. A serious chronological problem emerges here. Amaziah reigned from 796 to 767. So if Uzziah commenced his reign in 790, he co-reigned with his father for 23 years. Yet the chronicler seems to indicate that Uzziah's tenured followed that of his father and that he was only 16 years old at the time. How then could that be a co-regency for 23 years. One author says, the narrative can be viewed in a way that legitimately comports with the data mentioned earlier. The best solution appears to be that the leadership of Judah, fearing early in Uzziah's reign that he was unstable and competent, made his son Uzziah vice-regent. In other words, after Amaziah had reigned for only six years, Uzziah then, in 790, 16 years old, was appointed second to the king. From then until his father's death, they reigned together for 23 years. Then Uzziah reigned alone for 29 years until his death. This would require, of course, that the Chronicler meant that the people of Judah made Uzziah vice-regent at the age of 16." End of quote. So, Uzziah's king, that's the point. And he built Eilad and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his fathers. That place that he restored is a port on the Gulf of Aqaba. Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem, according to verse three. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done. He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who understood the vision of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. So here we go again, if you've been following me through this book. At the beginning, Uzziah did that which was right by doing the things that the prophet of God told him to do. So in these verses, we're talking about his rise. The second part of this passage talks about his fall. This chapter could be called the rise and fall of Uzziah. Verse six goes on to say, he went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jadon. the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities around Ashdod among the Philistines. Actually, verses 6 through 13 describe his wars, his buildings, and his army. Verse eight says God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians and some others as well. Verse nine says he built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate and the valley gate and at the corner buttress of the wall and he fortified them. He built towers in the desert. He dug many wells. for which he had livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. He also had farmers and vine dressers in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved the soil." All right, what's going on in this passage is it's simply telling us about his battles in verses six through eight and his buildings in verses nine and 10. Internally, he masterminded the construction of fortress towers in Jerusalem at various points on the wall, and he undertook massive agricultural projects in the desert as well as in the foothills and the plains. But what you need to understand is that the drift of this passage is giving us real simple steps. It gives us his beginning, tells us he was doing what was right, his battles, his buildings, and the buildup of the army. That's in verses 12 to 15. Moreover, Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies. The total number of the chief officers of the mighty men of valor had 2,600, and under their authority was an army of three 170,500 that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. Then Uzziah prepared for them, for the entire army, shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, slings to cast stones, and he made devices in Jerusalem invented by skillful men to be on the towers and the corners to shoot arrows and large stones. So his fame spread far and wide for he was marvelously helped until he became strong. Now, verses 11 through 15 are telling about the buildup of the army. He reorganized the army of 307,500 men into well-trained, well-equipped soldiers. They had 2,600 leaders. The note that he provided for the army with its weapons and armor reflects the prosperity under divine blessing. He pioneered the use of certain advanced weapons, one author says, such as the catapult to hurl arrows and large stones a great distance. All this enhanced his reputation and increased his strength. Matter of fact, the text says in verse 15, for he was marvelously helped. The Hebrew word translated marvelously means extraordinary, surpassing. He had extraordinary strength. So everywhere he turned, he was blessed. He was warned, warred I should say, successfully against the Philistines and the Amorites. He increased Judah's defenses as well. He assembled an elite army and built up the powerful army with equipment. He built cities, encouraged agricultural development. All that is the rise of Uzziah. But as I mentioned before, this chapter falls into two parts. The second is his fall. Look at verse 16. But when he was strong in heart, or when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. for he transgressed to lynch the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense." Uh-oh. Apparently, he took credit for what God had given him. The writer notes several things about him. He was strong, but his pride led to self-exaltation He put himself above God. One author said, if he had only remembered the message of his name, which means Yahweh is strong, and that he was powerful because of the Lord's help, he would not have fallen. End of quote. Uzziah's great power led to pride. which proved to be his downfall. Apparently, he began to depend on men and weapons rather than the Lord. He had not been one of the weak kings of Judah, who was easily swayed by others like Jehoshaphat, or too open and accommodating to leaders in the north But as is often the case with strong leaders, this virtue gave way to being headstrong, I can do no wrong attitude. It was precisely his strength that blinded him spiritually. The Mosaic law permitted only priests to offer incense in the temple. You can quote a string of verses in Exodus and Numbers that say that. The Davidic king could offer sacrifices on the brazen altar in the temple courtyard, as could ordinary Israelites, but Uzziah offered incense in the holy place which was restricted to the priest and could only be interpreted as rebellion against God's will. For this reason, God struck him with leprosy. Keep reading. So, Azariah, the priest, went in after him and with him, with 80 priests of the Lord, valiant men, And they withstood the king Uzziah and said to him, it is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but only for the priest, the sons of Aaron, who are concentrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. You shall have no honor from the Lord. These 80 priests were incensed. They're called valiant men. The Hebrew word means mighty. The high priest and 80 priests went out with great courage and zeal and withstood the king himself and told him to get out of God's house. Then Verse 19 says, Uriah became furious and had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priest, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priest and the house of the Lord beside the incense altar. Wow, what a turn of events. The priest rebukes the angered Uriah But before he could do anything, the Lord struck him with leprosy. God judged Uriah by making him a leper because he usurped the authority to the assigned priest. And in so doing, he violated the will and law of God. And as Uriah, the chief priest, and all the priests looked at him there, and on his forehead he was leprous. So they thrust him out of the place. Indeed, he also hurried to get out because the Lord had struck him. This rendered the king ceremonially unclean so that he had to leave the temple at once. King Uzziah, verse 21 says, 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 Jothun, his son, was king over, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. His leprosy meant he could no longer enjoy personal worship at the temple. Rather than caring for the temple and building it up as God had said David's son would do, Uzziah could not even enter the courtyard. The king's leprosy was an outward evidence of his inward uncleanness. Until the day he died, he was leprous to such an extent that he had to be quarantined. He could not even rule as king. So verse 22 tells us, now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from the first to the last, the prophet Isaiah wrote. Most critics regard Isaiah as about 20 years old when Uzziah died. He must then have written a history of Uzziah's reign from documents and accounts of others rather than based on his own knowledge. The last verse tells us, so Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial, which belonged to the king. For he said, he is a leper, and his son reigned in his place. Uzziah was not buried in the grave of kings because he was a leper. He was interned in the field adjacent to the royal graves. Even in death, he was ostracized because of his disease and was buried near his ancestors, not with them. Other information on him, it is said, can be found in the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Well, there's another story of another king. What are we to glean from this one? Well, As in the other cases, Uzziah began well, but he did not end well. Only this one gives us another little insight. He began well, but his pride resulted in his fall. He lifted up his heart and deliberately disobeyed God, thinking he knew more than God by going in to the holy place. Uzziah's reign was the third in a royal trilogy, some have said, of kings who began well but ended poorly. Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah. Their history show the reader how difficult and yet how important it is to hold confidence and right standing with God. From the beginning, firm to the end. Ah. I began this little study by saying, what is the root cause of sin? Well, we can talk about idolatry, we can talk about adultery, we can talk about the love of money, and all those are causes. But is there a root cause? And I would say, based on this passage, as well as others, The root is pride. Pride was the sin of Satan, according to 1 Timothy 3.6. It is the root cause of all sin. It is saying, I will take the place of God. Uzziah was an illustration, and that he thought he could do what God told him not to do. And in so doing, he was taking the place of God, which is Pride. That's the sin. Of all sins, we should avoid. Father, again, thank you for giving us these stories, these illustrations of men who served you at the beginning and failed in the end. Now, Father, give us the grace to not mimic their failure. In Jesus' name, amen.