A lot like what are realities are like without the wisdom of Christ.
"We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever." - (2 Corinthians 4:18 | NCV)
" . . . Ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength!" - (Ephesians 1:17-19)
To see how this looks let's examine a king who lived around 700 BC. (2nd Chronicles 26 and 2nd Kings 15: 1-7)
"When Uzziah, (also known as Azariah) was sixteen years old, he was made king. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success."
What follows is scripture giving us a summary of some of Uzziah's successes,
"God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful. He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many cisterns, because he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain. He had people working his fields and vineyards in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
Uzziah had a well-trained army, with 2,600 family leaders over his fighting men who numbered over 300,000 men. Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. In Jerusalem he made devices invented for use on the towers and on the corner defenses so that soldiers could shoot arrows and hurl large stones from the walls. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful."
Key verse: "But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall."
Now here is a leader of men, follower of God, who has faithfully been obedient to God and was blessed by God in all that he endeavored. He had wise spiritual advisors such as the prophet Zechariah, who helped him navigate the pitfalls of being a king. He had the godly example of his own father before him, who had also ruled Judah. He is now reaping the benefits of God's intervention in the kingdom of Judah and is enjoying the fruits of peace.
So what happened?
Why caused this shift in the trajectory of Uzziah's life?
Scripture doesn't reveal the exact circumstances that led to this pivotal moment in his life. But, scripture does tell us why Uzziah chose to sin, "because in his affluence he became proudful." There are many harmful tentacles that accompany the sin of pride, but one of the least apparent is how it alters our perception of God and ourselves.
Side note: We see in scripture that there exists an unholy trinity of circumstances that conspire to bring us to destruction. Those are: "Desire" | "Temptation" | "Opportunity" | When faced with all three at the same moment they can spell doom for believers and unbelievers alike.
For as we clothe ourselves in the misguided perception of our own self-worth, we allow our eyes to become clouded to our true reality. The same cause and effect that first appeared in the Garden of Eden, reigns in the flesh of all humans born since the Fall.
And in his pride, we will discover the Uzziah disregarded the law of God, all in a misguided attempt whose actions appear, at first glance, to be motivated by good intentions. Let's pick up his story from scripture . . .
"He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God. Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry."
Pause.
I wonder, when confronted in that moment of sin, what would have been the outcome if Uzziah had not doubled down on his sin. What if he responded with humility and repentance when told by his spiritual leaders that he had committed a grave sin? Uzziah violated what had become a general principle in God’s dealing with Israel: that no king should also be a priest. It was God’s plan that the offices of prophet, priest, and king should not be combined in one man – until the Messiah, who fulfilled all three offices. Yet Uzziah, in his arrogance, aspired to take what he was not given, in an attempt to possess what he was never destined to hold.
In Uzziah's moment of sin, he responded with anger, accompanied with a fair amount of presumption as well. How dare his priests question his motives. And like most us, when caught in our sin, our instinct is not to be discerning and responsive to God's conviction. Instead, we choose to become even more self-righteous in our attempts to justify the actions we have chosen. Because of this lack of humility, sadly, the legacy that Uzziah had achieved through years of obedience was about to be destroyed in a few moments.
Resuming our story in scripture.
"While he (Uzziah) was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him."
Wow.
Everything changed when Uzziah was faced with the judgement of God. The Bible reminds us, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12) Also, we know from scripture that the actual penalty for violating the sacred place of the temple was death (Numbers 18:7). Instead, God struck Uzziah with leprosy, a disease that has been described as a living death.
Yet, even with his tragic end, God used Uzziah even in his death. His passing coincided with the call of the prophet Isaiah: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD sitting on a throne." (Isaiah 6:1).
This brings clarification to the meaning of what Isaiah wrote after being called to be a prophet. When he wrote the words, "In the year King Uzziah died," it was to say, “In the year a great and wise king died.” But it was also to say, “In the year a great and wise king who had a tragic end died.”
Yet despite it all, Isaiah saw the enthroned LORD God who was greater than any earthly king. And that vision and that truth helped propel his obedience for the rest of his life. (Psalm 73)
