Uzziah Ruled as King For 52 years

II Chronicles 26:1–23
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Uzziah, son of King Amaziah, becomes King of Judah at age 16, at the death of his father (vv. 1-3). He ruled 52 years from Jerusalem and during his rule he recaptured and rebuilt the town of Elath. He obeyed the Lord, as his father Amaziah had done (v. 4). Zechariah was his advisor and taught him to obey God (v. 5). Uzziah was faithful to God, and God made him successful as long as Zechariah was alive. While he was king, he started a war against the Philistines, smashed the walls of Gath, Jabeth, and Ashdod, and then rebuilt towns in other parts of Philistia (v. 6). God helped him defeat the Philistines and the Meunites (v. 7). Even the Ammonites paid taxes to him (v. 8). He became powerful, and people who lived as far away as Egypt heard about him. He built fortified towers at the Corner and Valley Gates (v. 9) He also built defense towers in the desert (v. 10).

He owned a large herd of livestock in the flat lands and had crops and vineyards in the fertile hill country. Uzziah’s army was always ready for battle (v. 11). There were 307,500 trained soldiers, all under the command of 2,600 clan leaders (vv. 12-13). Uzziah supplied his army with shields, spears, bows, and stones for slinging (v. 14). Some skilled workers invented machines to shoot arrows and sling stones (v. 15). God helped Uzziah to become powerful and famous all over the world. He became proud and this led to his downfall (v. 16). One day he disobeyed the Lord by going into the temple burning incense. Azariah the priest and 80 other priests followed him into the temple (v. 17) and confronting him for burning incense (v. 18), which only descendants of Aaron were allowed to do. Uzziah was holding the incense burner at the time and became very angry, and leprosy suddenly appeared on his forehead (v. 19). Azariah and the other priests told him to leave the temple immediately (v. 20). Uzziah had leprosy the rest of his life and was no longer allowed in the temple (v. 21). Everything else Uzziah did while he was king is written in I and II Kings (v. 22).

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