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Texts -- 2 Chronicles 26:1-19 (NET)

Context
Uzziah’s Reign
26:1 All the people of Judah took Uzziah , who was sixteen years old , and made him king in his father Amaziah’s place . 26:2 Uzziah built up Elat and restored it to Judah after King Amaziah had passed away . 26:3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign , and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem . His mother’s name was Jecholiah , who was from Jerusalem . 26:4 He did what the Lord approved , just as his father Amaziah had done . 26:5 He followed God during the lifetime of Zechariah , who taught him how to honor God . As long as he followed the Lord , God caused him to succeed . 26:6 Uzziah attacked the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath , Jabneh , and Ashdod . He built cities in the region of Ashdod and throughout Philistine territory. 26:7 God helped him in his campaigns against the Philistines , the Arabs living in Gur Baal , and the Meunites . 26:8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame reached the border of Egypt , for he grew in power . 26:9 Uzziah built and fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate , Valley Gate , and at the Angle . 26:10 He built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns , for he owned many herds in the lowlands and on the plain . He had workers in the fields and vineyards in the hills and in Carmel , for he loved agriculture . 26:11 Uzziah had an army of skilled warriors trained for battle . They were organized by divisions according to the muster rolls made by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah , a royal official . 26:12 The total number of family leaders who led warriors was 2,600 . 26:13 They commanded an army of 307,500 skilled and able warriors who were ready to defend the king against his enemies . 26:14 Uzziah supplied shields , spears , helmets , breastplates , bows , and slingstones for the entire army . 26:15 In Jerusalem he made war machines carefully designed to shoot arrows and large stones from the towers and corners of the walls. He became very famous , for he received tremendous support and became powerful . 26:16 But once he became powerful , his pride destroyed him. He disobeyed the Lord his God . He entered the Lord’s temple to offer incense on the incense altar . 26:17 Azariah the priest and eighty other brave priests of the Lord followed him in. 26:18 They confronted King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not proper for you, Uzziah , to offer incense to the Lord . That is the responsibility of the priests , the descendants of Aaron , who are consecrated to offer incense . Leave the sanctuary , for you have disobeyed and the Lord God will not honor you!” 26:19 Uzziah , who had an incense censer in his hand , became angry . While he was ranting and raving at the priests , a skin disease appeared on his forehead right there in front of the priests in the Lord’s temple near the incense altar .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Jacob was not disobedient to God in leaving Bethel. God's instructions to go to Bethel and "live there"(v. 1) were evidently directions to dwell there while he fulfilled his vow. God did not command permanent residence there....
  • The procedures described here were not curative but ritual. God prescribed no treatment for the cure of leprosy here, but He explained how the priests and the Israelites could recognize healed skin so formerly afflicted indiv...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • Most Bible students know Azariah by his other name, Uzziah (vv. 13, 30, 32, 34; 2 Chron. 26; Isa. 1:1; Hosea 1:1, Amos 1:1; Zech. 14:5; et al.). His 52-year reign (790-739 B.C.) was longer than any other king of Judah or Isra...
  • Chronicles covers a broader period of history than any other Old Testament book. It begins with Adam and ends with Anani who lived eight generations after King Jehoiachin (1 Chron. 3:24). If we allow 25 years for each generat...
  • Even though 1 and 2 Chronicles give one continuous story the emphasis in 2 Chronicles is different from that in 1 Chronicles. In 1 Chronicles the emphasis is the importance of the temple in national life. However in 2 Chronic...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Chronicles)III. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-9A. Solomon's wisdom and prosperity ch. 1B. The building of the temple 2:1-5:11. Preparations for building the temple ch. 22. The temple proper 3:1-93. Th...
  • This survey of the king's administrative accomplishments is not in Kings. Jehoshaphat sent teachers of the Mosaic Law throughout Judah to enable the people to know God's will (vv. 7-9). Thus he fortified his nation spirituall...
  • This chapter does not appear in Kings. It illustrates well that "the Lord will rule (judge),"the meaning of Jehoshaphat's name and the truth that characterized his reign. The motif of retribution is very strong here. God gave...
  • The Chronicler gave us much more information about Uzziah than we have in Kings (2 Kings 15:1-7). Uzziah ("Yahweh is strong") was evidently the king's throne name and Azariah ("Yahweh helps") his personal name.Uzziah, as his ...
  • Jotham was also a good king. He built up the temple and so contributed to the greater glory of Yahweh (v. 3). Consequently his neighbors to the east submitted to him and paid him tribute (v. 5). The Chronicler stated the reas...
  • 6:1 Why did Isaiah date this passage since he did not date most of his others?70Probably he did so because King Uzziah had been the best king of Judah since Solomon. Nevertheless during the last part of his reign he suffered ...
  • Whereas the sign of Immanuel was for Ahaz primarily, the sign of Maher-shalal-hash-baz was for all the people of Judah. The preceding prophecies to Ahaz (7:10-25) are generally negative, but the following prophecies to the Ju...
  • 30:18 Yahweh promised to restore Israel's tribal fortunes (cf. Num. 24:5-6), to have compassion on His peoples' towns and homes, and to rebuild Jerusalem and the royal palace there.30:19 Thanksgiving and merrymaking would mar...
  • 31:38-39 In the future, Jerusalem would undergo rebuilding for the Lord. It would be built larger than it had been before its destruction by the Babylonians. The tower of Hananel was at the northeast corner of the city (Neh. ...
  • Hosea began ministering near the end of an era of great material prosperity and military success for both Israel and Judah (cf. 2 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Chron. 26:2, 6-15). In the first half of the eighth-century B.C. Assyrian inf...
  • Amos ministered during the reigns of King Jeroboam II of Israel (793-753 B.C.) and King Uzziah (Azariah) of Judah (792-740 B.C.), specifically two years before "the earthquake"(1:1). Zechariah also referred to a notable earth...
  • These were times of political stability, material prosperity, and geographical expansion for both the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms (cf. 1:6; 6:2, 13; 2 Kings 14:23-29; 2 Chron. 26:1-15). Jeroboam II and Uzziah were two ...
  • 1:6 Gaza was the chief city of Philistia as Damascus was of Aram. The particular sin for which God would judge the Philistines was their capture and deportation of whole communities (or people at peace, Heb. shelema), possibl...
  • 2:4 The prophet announced that destruction would overtake four of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis (cf. Isa. 14:28-32; Jer. 47; Ezek. 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8). He listed them from south to north. Gath had evidently d...
  • Having explored the concept of Jesus as a faithfulhigh priest (3:1-4:14), the writer proceeded next to develop the idea that Jesus is a mercifulhigh priest in the service of God (cf. 2:17). A high priest must be faithful to G...
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