2 Chronicles 26:21
And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.
The verse records the outcome of Uzziah presumptuously entering the temple sanctuary to burn incense upon the altar, in violation of the plain divine command that none but the descendants of Aaron should officiate as priests. When Azariah the high priest and his fellow priests unitedly warned him, protested together, and urged him to turn back, he answered with pride and wrathful rebellion in defiance of their warning. He then fled the temple in dismay after presumptuously attempting to profane the sanctuary. He was smitten at once with divine judgment, with leprosy rising upon his forehead. He remained a leper unto the day of his death some years later, cut off from the house of the Lord and never again entering the temple courts.
As a leper declared unclean under the ritual law, he was forced to give up his rule, leave society, and dwell in a separate house apart, isolated from family and from the congregation of Israel and permitted to associate only with other lepers, showing that the law's demands applied to rulers as well as to ordinary people. During the rest of his father's reign Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land and bearing the responsibilities of rule. Among the Jews leprosy was regarded as a judgment for sin and as a symbol of sin, and Uzziah's lifelong affliction illustrates that understanding, removing even a king from public life and from the temple community. His punishment stands as a living example of the folly of departing from a plain Thus saith the Lord and a plain command of God. His case proves that God is no respecter of persons, for neither success, royal position, nor exalted station, nor a long life of service authorizes anyone to take up work for which God has not appointed and fitted him, nor excuses presumptuous sin, which mars the closing years of a reign and brings the judgment of Heaven.