Uzziah was a king of Judah who reigned for fifty-two years; he prospered while he sought the Lord, but after becoming strong his heart was lifted up in pride, and he unlawfully entered the temple to burn incense, so God struck him with a skin disease until his death.
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Uzziah, also known as Azariah, was a king of the southern kingdom of Judah. He came to the throne at sixteen years of age and reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-two years. In his early years he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, instructed by the priest Zechariah, and God gave him success. He waged war against the Philistines, broke down the walls of their cities, subdued the Ammonites, and extended Judah's influence into surrounding regions. He built fortified towers in Jerusalem, dug cisterns in the desert, and equipped a mighty army, so that his fame spread abroad as long as the Lord was with him. But when he became strong, his heart was lifted up and he turned aside from his earlier reverence. He entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense, an office reserved for the priests. When the priests confronted him and urged him to leave, he became angry and pressed his claim. In that very moment, while he was still contending with the priests and burning incense in sacrilege, leprosy broke out on his forehead, and the priests rushed him out of the holy place. He himself hurried away, recognizing that the Lord had struck him. From that time he lived in a separate house, cut off from the house of the Lord and from Jerusalem, until the day of his death. Uzziah's life stands as a sobering lesson: his early prosperity came from seeking the Lord, while his downfall came from pride and presumptuous overreach into sacred duties. The skin disease that afflicted him became a lasting sign of divine judgment upon priestly presumption, warning later generations to honor God's holiness and to respect the order He has appointed.