“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Proverbs 16:18). That’s what Solomon wrote some 200 years before his descendent Azariah (also called Uzziah) reigned over Jerusalem. Now, in many ways Azariah was a good king, seeking to do what was right in God’s sight (II Kings 15:3). Moreover, he was a great king, defeating the Philistines in battle, fortifying his capital city and fielding an army of over 300,000 soldiers (II Chronicles 26:6-13). He had armories full of weapons and ingenious catapults, ready to defend Jerusalem from its worst enemies (II Chronicles 26:14-15).

I think we Americans can understand how Azariah felt. Even with all our supply chain issues and jobs that need filling, our wealth is simply unmatched. No matter how many of them we print, dollars continue to be in great demand all over the world, and we continue to account for about ¼ of the total value of the global economy, even though we make up less than 5% of the world’s population.

And we are as powerful as we are rich. We spend more on our military every year than China, Russia, France, Britain, and Germany combined. We have 1.3 million active-duty servicemen, a little over 1,500 fighter aircraft, and 11 aircraft carriers. Moreover, our ingenuity has placed all the knowledge of all the world at our fingertips.

But when Azariah became rich and strong, he became proud. He thought that his wealth and power meant that he could do anything he wanted – even where it came to the Law of God. Now, that Law made it clear that only the priests from the tribe of Levi were allowed to go into the Temple. Even Azariah’s ancestor Solomon, the man who was responsible for building the Temple, had observed that rule. But Azariah thought he could march right into the Temple and offer incense before the Lord. And because he thought he could decide for himself what was right and wrong, he ended up paying a terrible price. The Lord struck him with leprosy so that he would not only be excluded from the Temple, but from every other part of society as well (II Kings 15:5; II Chronicles 26:16-21). In short, Azariah’s pride cost him everything in which he had put his faith.

So, what about us? Have we Americans let our wealth and power go to our heads? Have we tried to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, especially where it comes to marriage and family issues? If so, should we really expect God to keep looking the other way? Maybe it would be better for us to stop trusting in ourselves and trust in Christ instead – before it’s too late.

II Kings 15:1-7 (NASB)

In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah became king.
2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.
3 And he did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
4 Only the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
5 And the LORD struck the king, so that he was a leper to the day of his death. And he lived in a separate house, while Jotham the king’s son was over the household, judging the people of the land.
6 Now the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?
7 And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and Jotham his son became king in his place.