2 Chronicles 26:16-23
Five kings: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah! Five stories which have a tragic similarity amongst them! Five times over, following a successful start to the reign, a different snare has led to a fatal downfall.
Let us note well the name of each of these snares, for the crafty Enemy has not stopped using them to make the children of God stumble. With Asa it was the support of the world; with Jehoshaphat, his alliance and his friendship. Joash fell because of flattery, whilst Amaziah turned to idols. Finally we see here the pride of life (1 John 2:16) causing Uzziah to stumble.
The name of this king means "strength of God"; the time comes when he uses this strength for himself and that was his downfall (v. 16). Before the priests, whom he has the nerve to want to replace in their holy functions, the hand of the LORD solemnly strikes him for all to see. Pride is at the bottom of each of our hearts long before it appears on the outside as leprosy on our foreheads. And if we judge it before it appears to others, we avoid God having to judge it by perhaps inflicting on us some public humiliation.