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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 18 December 2025:
2 Chronicles 26:1 — And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah.
Uzziah’s rise begins with collective action. The people place him on the throne, highlighting that leadership always functions within community responsibility. God often works through communal decisions, but early elevation does not guarantee lifelong faithfulness. A strong start is a gift; a strong finish is a choice.
2 Chronicles 26:2 — He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.
Uzziah immediately engages in restoration. His leadership brings recovery of lost ground, showing how obedience and diligence can reclaim what was previously surrendered. God-honoring leadership often begins with rebuilding rather than reinventing.
2 Chronicles 26:3 — Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
A long reign underscores sustained opportunity. Longevity in leadership magnifies both faithfulness and failure. Time does not neutralize character; it reveals it. What grows within eventually shows without.
2 Chronicles 26:4 — And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
Uzziah begins well, aligning himself with godly precedent. Early obedience anchors leadership in truth, but inherited righteousness must become personal conviction. Borrowed faith cannot sustain lifelong obedience.
2 Chronicles 26:5 — 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.
This verse establishes the governing principle of the chapter. Prosperity is directly tied to seeking God. Instruction, humility, and submission to godly counsel create spiritual traction. Prosperity here is not accidental; it is conditional.
Uzziah followed wise godly counsel and was blessed. Do you have wise Christian counsellors in your life who lead you in pursuit of God’s will?
2 Chronicles 26:6 — He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
God grants victory through obedience. Uzziah advances boldly, reclaiming territory and establishing order. When God leads, courage and competence follow.
2 Chronicles 26:7 — God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-bael and against the Meunites.
The text is explicit: God helped him. Success is attributed not to strategy alone but to divine intervention. Help flows where dependence is active.
2 Chronicles 26:8 — The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
Strength and reputation expand quickly. Influence multiplies when obedience is present, but visibility carries risk. Fame can test humility more than hardship.
2 Chronicles 26:9 — Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.
Preparation and protection mark wise leadership. God-honoring strength does not neglect structure or vigilance. Faith does not excuse neglect.
2 Chronicles 26:10 — And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
Uzziah values stewardship. He invests in sustainability and provision, reflecting God’s design for dominion under submission. Loving the work God gives is part of faithful leadership.
2 Chronicles 26:11 — Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the number in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.
Order and accountability strengthen leadership. Uzziah delegates wisely, demonstrating that godly leadership multiplies through structure, not control.
2 Chronicles 26:12 — The whole number of the heads of fathers’ houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600.
Strength is organized, not chaotic. God values discipline in both spiritual and practical matters.
2 Chronicles 26:13 — Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
Uzziah’s resources are vast, yet the text reminds us that even great power must remain under God’s authority to remain safe.
2 Chronicles 26:14 — And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging.
Preparation reflects responsibility. God blesses foresight when it flows from obedience rather than fear.
2 Chronicles 26:15 — In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.
Innovation thrives under God’s favor. Yet the phrase till he was strong foreshadows danger. Strength without humility is unstable.
2 Chronicles 26:16 — 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.
This is the turning point. Strength gives birth to pride when dependence fades. Uzziah confuses success with entitlement, crossing boundaries God established. Spiritual presumption replaces submission.
One of the most repeated themes throughout the Bible is that pride comes before the fall. Uzziah (also called Azariah) was blessed by God but soon began to take credit for God’s work, trust in his own power, and pursue his own desires rather than God’s will. So many others in the Bible did something along these lines with devastating consequences. Be very careful that you don’t grow prideful in your successes. Give all glory and credit to God. Never lift yourself up before others.
2 Chronicles 25 and 26 tell two stories about two kings, Amaziah and Uzziah, who both honored God at the beginning of their reigns (at least in their actions), who were blessed greatly by God accordingly, who subsequently turned from God in their pride, and who ultimately suffered terrible, humiliating deaths under God’s wrath. In both cases, their worship became self-centered rather than God-centered, a means to an end, a way to get what they wanted rather than to honor and serve God in accordance with His will. Their true motivation respectively was to increase their own glory and power rather than to give God the glory and to acknowledge and depend upon His power as the Sovereign Lord.
- Matthew 6:24 — No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
There is a saying, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” However, power didn’t corrupt these kings; rather, power merely exposed and magnified what was (or wasn’t) already in their hearts from the beginning – “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.” (2 Chronicles 25:2) By definition, a half-hearted approach to worship and obedience doesn’t honor God as God – “I am the LORD your God…. You shall have no other gods before me…. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Exodus 20:2, 3; Mark 12:30) Partial obedience is disobedience and a divided heart is a polluted well – “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” (Proverbs 25:26) As we learn from today’s readings, if we allow the seeds of sin to remain in our hearts, it will take root, grow, and choke out our fruitfulness – “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2) All sin starts in the heart – above all else, guard your heart (Proverbs 4:23) –
- Matthew 15:19 — For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
- Romans 12:9 — Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
- Song of Solomon 2:15 — The little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”
- Proverbs 6:27 — Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?
Both great crisis and great success are used by God to expose sinfulness within the heart and self-centeredness which is fueled by fear and pride (two sides of the same coin). Subsequently, God freely invites the half-hearted to repentance and reconciliation with Him, never rejecting those with humble and contrite hearts. Both Amaziah and Uzziah were given by God clear opportunities to repent, but they both rejected these opportunities. The results were inevitable. There is an important lesson for us in these stories reinforced by today’s readings from Psalms –
- Psalm 81:7, 8, 10, 11-16 — In distress you called, and I delivered you… I tested you…. Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me! Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So, I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever. But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
- Acts 17:30 — The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent….
- Romans 2:4 — Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
- 1 Corinthians 15:34 — Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
- 1 John 1:9 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- Matthew 3:8 — Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
- Isaiah 55:6 — Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near….
2 Chronicles 26:17 — But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor,
God sends courageous truth-tellers. Faithful leaders confront sin even when authority resists correction.
2 Chronicles 26:18 — 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.
Correction is clear and gracious. God sets boundaries not to restrict blessing but to preserve it. Ignoring correction invites loss, not glory.
It is not the position of government to control worship.
2 Chronicles 26:19 — 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.
Anger seals rebellion. Pride resists repentance, and discipline follows swiftly. God’s holiness cannot be overridden by position.
2 Chronicles 26:20 — 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.
Exposure leads to exile. Sin isolates, even when repentance is delayed. God’s discipline is severe but just.
2 Chronicles 26:21 — 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.
A tragic end follows a promising beginning. Separation replaces influence. Leadership without humility forfeits intimacy with God and people.
2 Chronicles 26:22 — Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote.
God ensures the story is remembered, not to shame, but to warn. Scripture preserves both triumph and failure for our instruction.
2 Chronicles 26:23 — And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, He is a leper. And Jotham his son reigned in his place.
The legacy is mixed. Honor is muted by failure. What could have ended in glory ends with restraint, reminding us that finishing well matters deeply to God.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 18 December 2025: Examine where strength, success, or influence may be quietly replacing dependence on God. Return to humility, submit to godly correction, and stay within the boundaries God has established, remembering that obedience sustains blessing longer than ability ever can.
Pray: Father, keep our hearts humble as You strengthen our hands. Guard us from pride when You bless us, and make us quick to hear correction. Teach us to seek You continually, to honor Your boundaries, and to finish our race faithfully, bringing You glory all our days. Amen.
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