by Vance Havner
The Holiness off God
I n the year th a t K ing Uzziah died Isaiah saw also the Lord. Uzziah was one o f those B ible characters who rose to the heights, only to d ie in the depths. He had started well under th e guidance o f th e good prophet Zechariah. Saul had his Samuel, David his Nathan, Ahab his Elijah, and Herod his John th e Baptist. The ir success o r fa ilu re depended on how well the y heeded th e ir oracles. We are to ld th a t as long as Uzziah lis tened to Zechariah, God made him to prosper. He de feated the enem ies o f Judah. He fo rtifie d the land and improved th e water supply. A g ricu ltu re prospered. He developed a well-equipped army. “ His name spread ab road ” and “ he was m arvelously helped t ill he was s tro n g .” Then came disaster: “ But when he was strong, his heart was lifte d up to his own d e s tru c tio n .” His suc cess was his undoing. He trie d to be a p rie s t in de fiance o f the Divine order. Kings are kings and priests are p riests bu t when th e one trie s to be the other, the re is trou b le . God smote Uzziah w ith leprosy and he died an outcast. No king rose h ighe r and fe ll fa r th e r than th is man in his long reign o f fifty -tw o years. Now Uzziah had probab ly been a hero in the eyes o f young Isaiah, who had watched th e king grow to m igh ty stature. Not since David and Solomon had the re been such a leader. But in a mad spell o f pride, th is ru le r had thrown away a life tim e and dashed the hopes o f all who venerated him . The idol had fa llen from his pedestal. No doub t men were saying, “ If th is could happen to K ing Uzziah, I w ill never tru s t ano th er m an !” The death o f Uzziah was sad enough under o rd i nary circum stances, but his death in disgrace was tragedy compounded. “ It is appointed unto men once to d ie ” bu t Uzziah d id not have to die a leper. Men would have sworn by him . I remember a m in is te r saying to me, in connection w ith the death o f a great preacher, who came to a sad fin is h , “ There was a tim e when he was my greatest in sp ira tion , but the re came a tim e when he was my greatest w a rn ing .” It was so w ith Uzziah and Isaiah. T h in k what a ll th is meant fo r the cu ltu red young prophe t in Jerusalem . When good and great men crash like th is , it is hard on all young Isaiahs ju s t beg inning th e ir m in is try .
Moreover, Uzziah had been the leader in a great re fo rm ation. Today so many p rom ising p rojects are end ing in d is illu s io nm e n t and the re w ill be more. Great refo rm s meant to b rin g in the m illenn ium are end ing in pandemonium . Boasted schemes fo r world peace, a be tte r social order, in stan t Paradise, heaven on earth w ith ou t Jesus Ch rist, all are com in g to nought. It is p re tty hard on young Isaiahs. K ing Uz ziah is dying these days bu t it was in th e very year th a t Uzziah died th a t Isaiah saw the Lord. Maybe it shocked the young prophet in to ta k in g stock o f his own heart. “ Let him th a t th in k e th he standeth take heed lest he fa ll.” “ If Uzziah could die a leper, under the judgm en t o f God, woe un to th e rest o f us!” But it was in the year th a t K ing Uzziah died th a t Isaiah saw the Lord in His g lo ry and th e seraphim crying , “ Holy holy, holy, is the Lord o f H o s ts ." More than a n y th ing else today we need a vision o f God in His holiness. Tha t word holy has fa llen in to sad m is use. It is “ ho ly” th is and “ ho ly” th a t nowadays. There is no regard fo r sanctity. We would slap God on the back in rude and coarse fam ilia rity . He is called every th in g from “ The Man U p s ta irs ” to “ A L iving D o ll.” His Name has become a joke and even S crip tu re is parodied in to blasphemy. To th is generation th e triv ia l is serious and the serious is triv ia l. T h in k o f the tim e , money and energy th a t is wasted on foolishness. “ To dress, to call, to dine, to break No canon of the social code, The little laws that lackeys make, The futile decalogue of mode; How many a soul for these things lives T h in k o f how many church members can ta lk excited ly about th e ir fa vo rite TV comedian but are bored when the subject o f C h ris t Jesus comes up. In a day so warped th a t traged y is comedy, when we laugh a t what ough t to make us weep, we have no concept o f the meaning o f tru e holiness. The word holiness is pa rt o f the lost vocabulary o f the professing church. True, some have gone to extremes on the subject, b u t th a t is tru e o f any doc- With pious passion, grave intent, And never even in dreams has seen The things which are more excellent.”
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