Day 189 (2 Kings 15, 2 Chronicles 26) - Year 8

Tara-Leigh Cobble· Host0:00

[upbeat music] Hey Bible readers. I'm Tara-Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. If you didn't have a chance to look this up, it might have been a bit confusing to you. But today we have another nickname type situation happening with King Azariah of Judah. He also goes by the name Uzziah. When we read about him in 2 Kings, he's Azariah, but when we read about him in 2 Chronicles, he's Uzziah. He's just taken over after his father's death, and we don't hear much about him except that he's a pretty good king, high places notwithstanding because they're still standing. But then things take a turn. After his people maybe invent the catapult and a series of military victories make him rich and famous, Azariah grows prideful. He decides he wants to burn incense in the temple in Jerusalem, which is a big no-no unless you're a priest. When the text describes this by saying, "He was unfaithful to the Lord his God," it uses the same word that is often used for marital unfaithfulness. The actual priests are aghast, and 81 of them, including one who shares the name Azariah, rush in to rebuke him. But he's unrepentant. And when he grows angry with the priests, God strikes him with leprosy. What's interesting to me about this text is that it seems to indicate he never actually lights the censer to burn the incense. They stop him before he can. And if that's true, then even though he doesn't physically