Uzziah

Uzziah ruled Judah for 25 years, during which time his kingdom prospered. He should have been ranked as a great king, but instead, he's remembered as the "leper king."

At the peak of his power, Uzziah was overcomed with a pride that had no limits. One day he brazenly entered the Temple in Jerusalem, put incense in a censer, and prepared to offer the incense at the altar. This act was forbidden to someone who wasn't a priest.

The high priest Amaziah and 80 other priest rushed in after Uzziah and confronted the powerful king, saying "It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord, but for the priests...Go out of the sanctuary; for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God" (2 Chr 26:18).

Still holding the censer, Uzziah flew into a rage. All of a sudden his forehead broke out in leprosy. When the priests saw that God had afflicted the king, they hurried him out of the Temple.

Uzziah had leprosy until his death. Because of his disease, he could never again enter the Temple and had to live in a seperate house. Even when he died, Uzziah was kept apart from other kings. In the 19th century archeologists found Uzziah's burial place and came across this inscription: "To this place were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah. Do not open."

Lesson: No matter how important we may become, we need to remember that God's divine guidance is the true source of our success.