A Tale of Two Men

They weren't the best of men, they weren't the worst of men. In many ways humans measure, they were considered a cut above. They rose to the pinnacles of their profession and knew great success.

And yet....

We read about these two men who would be kings in II Chronicles 25 and 26. Their endings are sad, made much more so by the fact that it didn't have to end the way it did. Together they ruled Judah for 81 years, 29 for Amaziah and 52 years for Uzziah. How did they rise so high and fall so far? The Bible gives much insight into these things but leaves a few questions also, possibly because each heart needs to answer those questions for itself.

The particulars are that Amaziah became king of Judah when he was twenty-five years old. His father, Joash, was a good king that slipped and slid away from God at the end of his days. He abandoned the temple and its worship. He worshiped false gods, killed rivals, killed the prophet Zechariah, sent to warn him, and eventually lost a war with Syria and was assassinated in his bed. Maybe Amaziah learned better from seeing those bad examples, maybe he had a good teacher\mentor, for whatever reason Amaziah determined to rule rightly.  II Chron. 25: 2 says, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord," but there was a problem built into this insight. The next part of the verse records a very disturbing truth, "but not wholeheartedly." He got folks worshipping aright, he executed justice but not vengeance, he acted according to the word of God, he strengthened the armed forces, he even listened to a preacher God sent to warn him about a certain battle. But a half-hearted devotion eventually led to a full departure and Amaziah began to worship false gods from the people he conquered. A prophet came to him and asked him, "why do you consult these people's gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?" Amaziah didn't listen this time and he fought a battle against Israel and though warned, lost decisively, spending the rest of his reign as a tribute-paying king. From the time he turned away from following the Lord, he was conspired against. He tried to escape and was hunted down and killed.

The next king was Uzziah, Amaziah's son. He reigned fifty-two years. The same words are used of Uzziah in II Chron. 26:4, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,,," Verse 5 at the end says, "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success." There is a warning in that sentence, one that wasn't heeded..

Uzziah sought God, used technology and wisdom to make life better. He rebuilt towns, towers, walls, and modernized the army. He subdued enemies and his fame spread "far and wide" (vs15). The "oh-oh" comes in verse 16, "but after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall."
Amaziah decided that he now should perform the duties of the priests and went into the temple to burn incense. 80 priests confronted him but he railed against the priests in anger. He was immediately struck by leprosy. He quickly got out of the temple. He was never healed and spent the rest of his days in isolation and excluded from the temple of the Lord.

Two sad stories of two men who, if they didn't have it all, had a lot of it. But they blew it, lost it, messed up, and in their older years, when they should have known better, it all came apart.  What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? We are told just a little or at least can readily see: arrogance, anger, privilege,  and maybe even forgetting. What we don't know should really serve as a warning for us today. How did the arrogance manifest itself? When did the anger trump reason? On what day did these kings, these two men among men, awake and decide they were men above men? After which victory did they believe they couldn't be touched by truth that wasn't convenient for them? It probably wasn't one day, but an accumulation of days where they listened more to the praises of men, believed the headlines, and enjoyed the fruits of victories rather than hearing their own voices praise God, thank God, seek God, honor God, and pledge to obey God. Maybe they got so busy being the king, they forgot to be God's king.

This tale of two men is really a tale for all men. We have the same spiritual dna. We all have a God-shaped heart meant to invite Him in but in our sin we have gotten bent out of shape and forget to make room for God. But God in Christ has always made room for us. He loves; He redeems; He forgives. The false gods of sin, self, slack, substitution, success, and celebrity exact an exorbitant tribute, which no one can afford.

We should read these stories with humility. Except for the crown, the army, and maybe the riches, these kings are us. In our own realms in which we rule we tend to do the same things unless we fight against those arrogant, prideful, loose, self-serving, forgetful tendencies that leave God and His will out of our lives. One of the best places to start, whether leading the business, the school, the home or just our own hearts, is to remember that there is but One King and He alone is worthy to be worshiped. May our lives in Christ be summarized by II Timothy 4:7-8. May we all then be

Fidelis ad finem.

Cos