A Sacred Place
5. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper.
16. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
17. And when Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him, eighty priests of the Lord that were valiant men:
18. And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, “It does not belong to you Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the Lord God.”
19. Then Uzziah was angry, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the House of the Lord, from beside the incense altar.
20. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and behold he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from there, yes, he also hasted to go out, because the Lord had smitten him.
21. And Uzziah the king was a leper until the day of his death, and lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the House of the Lord: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
2 Chronicles 26:5, 16-21
What Happened to the Sacred?
What do we mean by a sacred space and what are some things that would violate those sacred spaces? Those are relevant questions, especially in these turbulent times. It is necessary that we recognize that “sacred” is not socially acceptable in this generation.
Sacred space is that which is set apart for purposes only of worship, honor, historical recognition, and respect. Most definitions refer to sacred as having such religious value that any common use would be considered a desecration. I can remember growing and recognizing sacred spaces in our little country Church. No one was permitted to walk or stand in the pulpit except the preacher. You did not run down the aisles of the Church because it was sacred. Even in the little house where we lived, there were sacred spaces. Daddy always sat at the head of the table. That was a sacred space. It did not mean you worshipped the space, but you respected it in such a way that it was not treated as common. Whenever something becomes common or can be used for any purpose other than the original purpose, it is no longer sacred and will ultimately lose its value. This leads to mistreatment and destruction of the sacred.
In today’s text, we discover that Israel had a sacred space designated by God; it was the Temple of the Lord and was dedicated for the sole purpose of honoring God. If anyone or anything entered the Temple in an unauthorized manner, it was considered “defiling the Temple.” Needless to say, when King Uzziah was emboldened to “enter the Holy Place” and attempted to offer incense, it was considered sacrilege, blasphemy, and a desecration of God’s House. How could this, otherwise good king, do such a thing? What went through his mind to cause him to barge into the Holy Temple and do something so unthinkable? The answer is given directly from the Scripture (2 Chronicles 26:16). But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. The Priests of God, of course, attempted to stop the king, which only caused the matter to escalate. And when Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him, eighty priests of the Lord that were valiant men … And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, “It does not belong to you Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the Lord God.” Rather than take their advice and leave, Uzziah decided he was right, and they were wrong. Then Uzziah was angry. Something evil happens when you combine pride with anger, and it is not good. The toxicity of pride and anger actually destroys the container that holds them.
While this is an incredible passage in the Old Testament, let’s fast forward a few thousand years to January 6, 2021, to a place called Washington, the District of Columbia, and the Capital City of the United States of America. It is a place where there are many “sacred places” that are there as symbols of democracy and freedom. On the afternoon of January 6, 2021, a riotous mob of people invaded the United States Capital breaking windows, hoisting Confederate flags, waving Trump support signs, and causing damage to that building, as well as jeopardizing the lives of National lawmakers. America looked on in shock as if we didn’t see this coming. Many lamented that this was an attack on democracy itself by its own people. All would agree that this was a gross violation of America’s Sacred Space.
My questions go deeper than the events of January 6, 2021. My concerns are: what led to this terrorist attack on official United States property? Why did the people committing this act feel that they were empowered and justified to carry out such a horrendous display of utter disregard for the very symbol of freedom that they claim they love? That is where I see so many parallels between Uzziah’s Temple Desecration and the desecration of the U.S. Capital by the Racist Radicals that supported Donald Trump. Please understand, Trump encouraged this action, but he did not cause this action. Don’t think that this matter is strictly a Trump issue. There is something diabolically wrong with America. While President Trump may be a symptom of that problem, the issue and the sin goes much deeper than Trump, the Republican Party, the White Right Extremist, and all the conspiracy theories combined. Even if Trump was to be put in jail, this would not solve the problem, because Trump and his followers are not the problem, they are the symptom of an American problem.
Here is the problem. God gave the United States of America its freedom and the people of the United States have: 1) arrogantly defied God with their callous attitudes, 2) have been ungrateful to God for His gift of freedom, and 3) have developed a blatant disregard for things that are sacred. I have witnessed in my lifetime, that disrespect and failure to care for good things leads to the loss of those things. The fact that so many Americans have just not taken the gifts of freedom and democracy seriously, this has led to the devaluing of things that should be sacred. This is not a post millennial attitude, I’ve noticed this as far back as the 1970s. Attitudes toward sacred things started to change to the point that things that were once called blessing were now considered “my rights.” What kinds of ideologies could feed this type of thinking? Why were sacred things now being treated as common or as objects to be used on a whim? Here is where Uzziah’s life can shed some light on the subject. Again, while we may want to place the blame on a particular people to justify why we are seeing these things in America, it would be of greater benefit to evaluate our own heart to see if there is any wicked way in us.
Holding on to the Sacred?
I want to break this down in three areas: Uzziah’s rise to power, Uzziah’s unwise actions, and Uzziah’s demise and disgrace. Uzziah started off as a promising young king at the age of sixteen. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Please note, God made him prosperous. How did he take that? Was it recognized as a gift or treated as an expectation? The former attitude will keep you humble. That latter attitude leads only in the direction of pride. Notice also there was someone willing to help Uzziah and provide guidance. Zechariah, the priest, was there to help the king. How did Uzziah take that direction? Did he respect guidance from others or did he tolerate it? As history unfolded, Uzziah accepted less and less advice. His rise to power gave rise to his pride.
Here is the similarity that I see in Uzziah’s rise to power that fits well with the thinking of this current generation. As long as you are telling me what I want to hear, I will go along with directions. This social media driven generation thrives on the attitude: tell me what I want to hear. Some might call it the itching ear complex. It should come as no surprise that many American people are driven by “the need to be right.” If someone does not support that, then they are de-friended on Facebook. They will be deleted as contacts. Or some have resorted to ciber-bullying in order to shame them.
Did Uzziah display that attitude? While we may have questions about the young king having a need to be right, he did prove to be very successful to the point that it impacted and impaired his decisions. Long before he waltzed into the Temple, he thought about how right he was. Rather than looking at his life as a “blessed life” and a life filled with God’s favor, Uzziah saw God’s blessings as privileges reserved for him. Those blessings were his by “right” rather than by “grace.” Believe it or not, whether you walked into the U.S. Capital or not, many people in America believe it is their “right to be blessed.” Like Uzziah, the plague of needing to be right or better put, “being right” has a lot of people thinking the only thing sacred is themselves.
The second attitude that impacted Uzziah and can relate directly to this “storm the Capital” generation is the attitude of “Demanding to be Heard.” It is one thing to “need to be right” but it is another thing to classify everyone else as “being wrong” and needing to prove them wrong. The need to act on being right or self-righteousness leaves no room for alternative views, other opinions, or even suggestions from those who don’t think the same way. “Right-minded” folk show disregard and even animosity towards the opinions of others.
Reflect on Uzziah. His pride forced him to act. Pride unchecked will not remain silent: it has to act. Uzziah’s unwise actions, not only caused him to be in the wrong place and doing the wrong thing, he got angry when others confronted him. And they withstood Uzziah the king and said to him, “It does not belong to you Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the Lord God” … Then Uzziah was angry.
While many are appalled at the callousness of those who stormed the Capital, we should be appalled at our own attitudes towards conflicting opinions and views. This demand to be heard has people at the point of war rather sitting down to talk about what we need to do. The history of how America got to where it is now is not a pretty picture, but the picture can be clarified through understanding, repentance, and forgiveness. No one wants to talk about the past and the lies, the murders, the disenfranchisement, the mayhem that broke many “other” Americans in order for a few Americans to reap the benefit. The past has been woefully skewed with slogans to “Make America Great, Again.” We need to talk about this because it can’t be swept away with time nor can we continue to allow the “Demanding to be Heard folk” continue to disillusion themselves with greatness. The Lie must be dealt with as God dealt with Adam and Eve in the Garden.
I agree, nothing we do now will ever change the past, but what we do now can prepare us for the future. Doing nothing is no longer an option. Much like those Priest who withstood King Uzziah, there must be future-minded people who will be willing to say that enough is enough. We must have people who are willing to accept each other, embrace each other, and together reestablish what is sacred.
Like Uzziah, there are people who become extremely angry when they are challenged and told they are not right. While many people may not have marched on the Capital, still many believe that their being right makes everyone else wrong. There is no way we can be a nation with that as a prevailing attitude. As a result, God has stricken this nation with something worse than leprosy. We have been struck with the outcome of our own pride – its called self-destruction. Much like Uzziah, people in our day think that their expression of anger will somehow solve our problems. It won’t, anger and pride are the self-destructive forces that tear the soul of those who express it.
Today, I want to take on the attitude of the Priest of Uzziah’s day, by asking this nation to stop. Uzziah’s demise will be this Nation’s demise if we don’t wake up. Uzziah allowed his anger to take control and it cost him his life. People are allowing their anger to dictate their actions and their future. Unchecked anger only breeds more anger. Please, let’s stop being angry and start being more grateful.
Here is the good news, there was a young priest that was either at the Temple that day or heard of the actions of King Uzziah. This priest had admired the King for his many accomplishments but recognized that no one should destroy the sacred in order to promote themselves. Trying to sort through all those events, that young priest came to an amazing conclusion. Here are his exact words in Isaiah 6:1, In the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord, and He was high and lifted up, and His train filled the Temple. (I’ll share more thoughts on Uzziah’s demise and Isaiah’s vision in the next message.) Here is the point, if we look for right in ourselves, we will never see the glory and righteousness of God. Cast your eyes on Christ and see Him. That will always give you peace.