2 Chronicles 26: Pride and Fall
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
My mother warned us often: Pride goeth before a fall; she as likely referring to Proverbs 16:18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Today we are presented with a detailed story of how Uzziah takes so much that God has given to him – wealth, power and fame – and quickly loses it: But after he had become strong, he became proud of his own destruction and broke faith with the Lord, his God. Was it the flocks and vineyards he owned, the soldiers he commanded or the city fortifications he built that fogged his vision? We will never know what urged him to take over the office of the temple priest, but we do know his fate: leprosy broke out on his forehead . . . [and the priests] expelled him from the temple. He fled unwillingly, for the Lord had afflicted him. King Uzziah remained a leper until the day of his death. He lived in exile, in a segregated house, excluded from the Lord. We can imagine how difficult it must have been for Uzziah to process what had happened to him; and we can appreciate how difficult it must have been for him to deal with his heavy loss: a man who has all suddenly is separated from all that makes him powerful, rich and famous.
Pride can make us ugly. It can warp and distort our vision and hearing. It makes us the people we have pledged to never be. Gratitude puts us in proper relationship with self, God and others. It reminds us gently that we are not the alpha and omega. It whispers to us quietly that we have much to learn and that we cannot foresee or control the future. Humility reminds us to take the last seat at the table rather than the first. It gives us time to think, restrains us from making fools of ourselves and saves us from impulsiveness. Together, gratitude and humility can steer us away from the fall of pride but ultimately, we must be the ones who save ourselves from the hubris that stalks any successful man or woman.
Napoleon crowns himself king, I learned in high school, and when I saw the painting by David in our textbook, I remembered the story of the young girl who found out that the disaster of her inconstant suitor was salvation in disguise. Uzziah is king and enters the temple to act as a priest and make an offering on the altar. These are stories worth remembering. They are lessons worth learning. As we prepare to celebrate the coming of the Christ Child, let us call upon the twin angels of gratitude and humility, and keep them close at hand.
More details about Uzziah can be found at the following sites: http://www.christianlibrary.org/authors/John_L_Kachelman_Jr/kings-ot/uzziah.html and http://bibleencyclopedia.com/uzziah.htm
Images from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_King_Uzziah_Stricken_with_Leprosy.jpg and http://biblicalgenealogy.kavonrueter.com/Pictures-Ozias.htm
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