I hopped to the rock and saw it in mid-air. Right next to where my foot would land was a half-grown copperhead. My heart froze. As soon as I landed I sprung away. The snake sprung too. Thankfully, we went in opposite directions. I had been too focused on the obvious dangers of falling off rocks and into the waterfall, but I had forgotten to look out for other dangers like snakes.

Much like that snake, pride can appear unexpectedly in our lives. We may be on the lookout for other dangers, but if we’re not careful, pride can sneak up and strike us down. King Uzziah is a sad example of this.

Uzziah’s Rise

2 Chronicles 26:1-15 record Uzziah’s success as he sought the Lord. Uzziah became king at just sixteen years old, and he reigned fifty-two years (1, 3). That’s an unusually long reign, which is normally a sign of God’s blessing in Chronicles.

The summary of his reign is also positive: “He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper” (4-5). Throughout Chronicles, such descriptions signify someone who is doing the right thing, is a positive example, and will be blessed by God.

Then, Uzziah’s prosperity is detailed in two primary ways: infrastructural strength and military might. At the beginning of his reign, Uzziah “built Eloth and restored it to Judah” (2). After defeating the Philistines, Uzziah “built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines” (6). He also “built towers in Jerusalem… and fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns” (9-10). The ability to do so much construction evidences Uzziah’s wealth, which is also signified by his large-scale agricultural pursuits (10).

Uzziah also possessed military might. He defeated the Philistines, the Arabians, and the Meunites (6-7); and the Ammonites paid him tribute (8). Furthermore, he had a valiant army of 307,500 men under 2,600 commanders (12-13). All of them had “shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging” (14). On top of this, Uzziah “made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones” (15). Under Uzziah’s leadership, Judah was a military juggernaut. He was on the lookout for military enemies, and he made sure Judah was ready for them.

In all this, Chronicles states twice that Uzziah became famous and strong because God helped him in marvelous ways (7-8, 15). Unfortunately, things didn’t stay that way.

Uzziah’s Fall

Remember how the summary of Uzziah’s reign said that “as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper”? That hints at the sad fact that Uzziah didn’t always seek God, so God didn’t always prosper him. Verse sixteen mentions the tragic turn: “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” Specifically, Uzziah tried to burn incense in the temple, something only a priest could do.

As he’s doing this, Azariah and eighty other valiant priests confront him (17-18). Uzziah gets angry, but leprosy suddenly breaks out on his forehead (19-20). God gave him leprosy because of his proud disobedience and arrogant resistance to a godly rebuke. So, Uzziah was a leper until he died, shut up in his own separate house (21).

God had greatly blessed Uzziah, but Uzziah’s pride stripped that blessing away. His pride made him think that he had special privileges, that he was an exception to the rule that only priests could burn incense in the temple. His pride made him angry when godly people rebuked him. His pride prevented him from repenting and ultimately brought God’s judgment. Pride is a deceptive, destructive enemy.

Uzziah was more focused on guarding Israel with a mighty militia than on guarding his heart with humble dependence on God. His military success led to pride, which quickly led to his downfall. Uzziah faced many external enemies, but inner pride was the real threat. That subtle serpent slipped in and bit hard.

Where is Your Focus?

Are you guarding yourself against pride, or are you focused building defenses against other dangers, such as financial security or maintaining a good reputation? Have you succeeded in some area, perhaps at your job or in building a large ministry? There’s often nothing wrong with success, but if it leads to pride, that success will be your downfall. When success takes your eyes off your desperate need for God, pride has crept in and will soon strike you down.

Do you feel that you have special privileges to act a certain way, even if God has forbidden it? Do you become defensive when a loving rebuke—maybe even this blog post—points out sin in your life? These are signs of pride. If this kind of attitude characterizes you, run. Run to Christ and humble yourself before him. Unfortunately, pride is a riptide that incessantly tugs at our hearts. Pride can only be defeated in the presence of God’s overwhelming awesomeness. Then we see how small we are and who is really important. That’s why, when we sense pride lurking within, we must run to Christ. He is the serpent-crusher who slays our pride. He forgives our arrogance and transforms our lofty hearts into lowly hearts. We do need to focus on pride as a deadly enemy, but, above all, we must focus on Christ. He is the only defense against pride and the only one worthy of exaltation.