Picture for a moment the immeasurable success, power, and prosperity experienced by King Uzziah from 2 Chronicles 26. The brutal enemies Judah previously struggled with were thoroughly conquered while Uzziah was king. The nation’s armies, weapons, and defenses were vastly improved and made Judah a world-renowned military force. Wilderness was miraculously transformed with many cisterns, plentiful herds, and bountiful gardens. His successful pursuits caused him to become one of the most famous kings in the world in his time. However, this incredible prosperity, roaring popularity, and immense success marks only one part of Uzziah’s life, for following it was a self-inflicted life sentence to inescapable isolation, complete poverty, and crippling disease.
“Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3 Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.”
Like Israel in this passage, King Uzziah and Judah faced many great giants in their day: vicious enemy nations, untamed wildernesses, and weakened defenses. However, just like God promised Israel standing before the Promise Land, so He promised to help Uzziah accomplish all He called the king to do. The result of this obedience is described in rich detail in 2 Chronicles 26:5-15. However, verse 5 is very careful to note that Uzziah’s incredible accomplishments were not of his own doing, but were the direct result of God blessing him with prosperity as he sought the Lord and obeyed His commands.
The account of George Mueller likewise follows this theme. Mueller is well-known for his ministry in running orphanages that served and blessed countless children. Such a ministry came with great needs for money, food, and clothing that Mueller was keenly aware of being incapable of fulfilling alone. He knew that God had placed these great giants of need before him. Rather than succumb to fearful inaction or fleshly self-reliance, he instead applied this knowledge by responding with fervent prayer and a trust that God would provide. This is seen in a famous account where the orphanage had no food for breakfast. Perceiving only God’s divine intervention could overcome this crisis, Mueller confidently led the children in prayer, seeking the gracious providence of their heavenly Father. This deep faith and complete dependence was rewarded with bread and milk respectively by a baker led to provide for them and a broken-down milk cart.
Likewise for us, there are many giants God puts in our lives: health problems, difficult people to work with, frustrating situations in school, and so forth. Yet in Deuteronomy 31:8, God’s promise to Israel remains true for us: “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you for forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” It is the Lord who has put us in these situations and callings, and it is Him alone who can help us through them. As Uzziah and Mueller experienced, great blessings and victory will come when our complete trust is in God, we obey His commands, and we patiently wait in faith for Him to move in His perfect timing.
4 “Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. 5 Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
6 “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. 9 When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 And the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’”
Israel’s promised victory in the Promise Land was not the result of their own righteousness, but God’s. In this passage, the Lord warned them not to fall into the sin of pride and assume their own greatness, might, or righteousness secured victory.
Unfortunately, this lesson was one that Uzziah had not learned. For multiple decades, Uzziah had trusted in God and prospered greatly as a result. However, 2 Chronicles 26:16 notes that at the height of his power and prosperity, Uzziah let his guard down and fell into great pride and self-righteous independence. Although he rightfully attributed these things to God in the past, he now began to believe all the accomplishments, victories, and fame that came during his reign were the result of his self-perceived brilliance, strength, and righteousness.
Sadly, this pride infected so much of his life that it had hijacked his worship to God. In a move of great pride and self-importance, Uzziah openly disobeyed God’s law and attempted to burn incense on the alter, which was an act of worship only the priests were allowed to perform. Despite God’s warning through the priests, Uzziah angrily insisted on performing this sacred act. Unfortunately, this arrogant act of disobedience became his downfall, for in one immediate move, God stripped him of all his fame, power, and prosperity by striking him with leprosy. Cursed with this horrific disease, Uzziah lost his prosperous reign and was forced to live the rest of his days in miserable isolation.
Beyond the many accounts demonstrating God’s immense distaste for pride, Scripture has many warnings that say likewise:
13 “Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stubborn people. 14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ 15 So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 Then I lay prostrate before the Lord as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me that time also. 20 And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 Then I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.
22 “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 And when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
25 “So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. 26 And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, 28 lest the land from which you brought us say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” 29 For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’"
This passage demonstrates how the consequences of rampant, unconfessed pride are often detrimental. For example, by believing they no longer needed God and making an idol in His place, the Israelites severely damaged their relationship with Him by carelessly casting it aside. Also, by choosing their own way and refusing to enter the Promise Land, they lost the opportunity to enter it early as a nation and an entire generation of Israelites were kept from ever doing so. Third, the Israelites’ pride ruined their reputation, to the point that God frequently described them as a stubborn and stiff-necked people. Finally, God deemed their prideful rebellion to be deserved of death, though Moses’ faithful intervention led the Lord to graciously spare them.
Similar consequences befell King Uzziah for his pride. For example, he severely disrupted his relationship with the Lord by becoming an idolater through worshipping himself and believing he was above God’s law. Next, Uzziah forfeited his prosperous reign and his punishment forbid him from ever regaining it. Third, his prideful behavior permanently damaged his reputation, with him ending his account as a lowly leper condemned to live in isolation, obscurity, and infirmity. Finally, while God did not immediately kill him for it, Uzziah’s pride was disciplined with a disease that slowly ended his life.
For us today, God, while being patient and merciful to us, can discipline our pride with similarly severe, life-altering consequences. Fortunately, Scripture provides a means by which we can overcome pride. First, we must obey 1 John 1:9 and confess our sin of pride, for as Moses did for Israel, Jesus has intervened for our sins, with Him possessing the authority to forgive us and cleanse our hearts of our unrighteousness. Next, we must follow Romans 12:1-2’s call for complete surrender as a living sacrifice, forfeiting all our rights, desires, and beliefs to be in complete submission to God’s will, His Word, and the Holy Spirit’s renewal. Third, we must follow Philippians 2:3 and be on guard against self-centered motivations or ambitions that creep in our service to God. Finally, after putting God first in our lives, we must follow the same verse in humbly placing others above ourselves. Through applying these Scriptural truths, the deep sin of pride can be identified, confessed, and overcome.
2 Chronicles 26 and Deuteronomy 9 both contain crucial truths and solemn warnings for believers today. Though Israel was promised victory by God and Uzziah saw immense success as Judah’s king, the Lord clearly demonstrates in both accounts that all blessings and victories are not the result of some self-perceived greatness or righteousness. Rather, they are the direct result of God’s grace, provision, and will, for even the very breath we breathe is from Him, giving us no room to boast. However, when Israel and Uzziah rejected these truths, fell into idolatry, and considered themselves above God’s law, they quickly learned the swift, fierce, and life-altering judgments He reserves for pride. Thankfully, in addition to these accounts that demonstrate the grave dangers of pride, Scripture provides practical steps to overcome it. Through confessing it, receiving Christ’s forgiveness from it, and seeking the Holy Spirit’s power to humbly live for God first and others before ourselves, we can avoid the pitfalls Uzziah and Israel fell into and enable ourselves to receive the fullness of God’s best for us.