Liberating Planet Earth

7
THE LIBERATION OF THE CHURCH
But when he [Uzziah, king of Judah] was strong his heart was
lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD
his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense
(2 Chronicles 26:16).
The story of Uzziah is not well known. He was a good king
generally (2 Chronicles 26:4) – one of the few good kings in ancient
Israel. But he grew arrogant, as Saul did when he offered a sacrifice
to God when Samuel delayed, and lost his kingdom as a result
(1 Samuel 13). Uzziah also thought that he was entitled as king to
sacriiice to God in the temple.
The priests opposed him, warning him that he was acting
improperly.
Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a tenser in his hand
to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy
broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the
LORD, beside the incense altar (v. 19).
The king remained a leper until he died. In accordance with
Biblical law (Leviticus 13, 14), he was separated from other people
in a lifetime quarantine (v. 21).
What is the meaning of this passage? It is reasonably clear:
there is a fundamental separation between the ministry of civil
justice (sword) and the ministry of the sacraments. The church is
a lawfully covenanted institution, a separate jurisdiction from the
state.
The church’s covenant parallels the basic covenant pattern in
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