26:3 Uzziah means 'God helped' or 'helped of God'. Notice how the meaning of his name is reflected in the language of his reign. 2 Chronicles 26:5, 7, 15
26:16 However he was 'lifted up' because of the way in which he was helped by his God. He sought to take upon himself the position of priest also to his destruction.
True servants of God have a mark in their foreheads Ezekiel 9:4 Uzziah's mark of leprosy broke his relationship with his God. May we not be proud and lifted up lest we lose the mark of which Ezekiel speaks and become, so to speak, leprous.

27:1 Whereas here we learn that Jotham began to reign it would appear 2 Kings 15:5 that he reigned for some time whilst his father was still alive but unable to perform the office of king because of his leprosy.
It may well have been the reminder of his father's state which helped him to remain faithful.

26:5 Uzziah prospered all the tie he sought the Lord. However the fact that he received blessings did not prevent him falling away. How often do we forget what God has done for us?

27:2 In telling us that Jotham did not enter into the temple of the Lord he is contrasted with his father Uzziah who sought the 'honour' of the priesthood to himself.

26:1 Whilst it might seem that Uzziah was the people's choice he was a faithful king. His father had been a risk taker one wonders why the people had decided that Uzziah would make a good king.

27:2 So even though Uzziah and Jotham were good kings the people were corrupt. Thus we see that these two kings would have had a very difficult job in ruling the people. We should think about the circumstances in which people live when we make judgements about their behaviour.

26:1 Whilst it might seem that Uzziah was the people's choice he was a faithful king. His father had been a risk taker one wonders why the people had decided that Uzziah would make a good king.

27:2 So even though Uzziah and Jotham were good kings the people were corrupt. Thus we see that these two kings would have had a very difficult job in ruling the people. We should think about the circumstances in which people live when we make judgements about their behaviour.

26:1 Whilst it might seem that Uzziah was the people's choice he was a faithful king. His father had been a risk taker one wonders why the people had decided that Uzziah would make a good king.

27:2 So even though Uzziah and Jotham were good kings the people were corrupt. Thus we see that these two kings would have had a very difficult job in ruling the people. We should think about the circumstances in which people live when we make judgements about their behaviour.

26:16 In saying that Uzziah's heart was 'lifted up' we are being reminded of the reason why the kind had to write a copy of the law out for himself (Deut 17:20)

27:5  The Ammonites must have thought that they could revolt against Judah after the death of Uzziah for they had paid tribute in his days )2 Chronicles 26:8) and yet Jotham is found fighting against them before they pay him tribute.

26:5 The chracteristics of the reign of Uzziah were his military exploits and his rebuilding of the economy of the country. The religious reforms which had been carried out during the reign of Amaziah were continued and the influence of the priesthood remained undiminished 

26:16 Uzziah's downfall was pride, not satisfied with what had already gained, he still wanted the office of priest 

26:21 Uzziah is another example of a man rising to a position of wealth and power, by the grace of Yahweh, only to let pride destroy him. 

We would do well to keep our ambition in check so as not to be destroyed.  Rather, let us take heed to wisdom this: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. (Prov 30:8,9).
 

The death of King Uzziah is the time God chose to give Isaiah his vision (Isa 6:1).  Uzziah had leprosy, and leprosy is a symbol of sin.  So, when sin died, or in other words, when the Kingdom comes, Isaiah saw the Lord on His throne.  John 12:39-41 tells us that "the Lord" is Jesus.  Therefore we can be sure that Isaiah was given a vision of Christ on the throne in His Kingdom.

26:16  Whereas Uzziah was lifted up in his own pride God, when Uzziah died, was lifted up in glory (Isa 6:1)

27:6  Jotham seemed to be a good military leader – but we see it was ‘of God’ because of his desire to please Him. It would have been so easy for people to look at him and conclude he was a good military leader without seeing God at work in his life.

26:7,15  Uzziah means ‘helped of God’ so when the record speaks of Uzziah being helped by God there is a play on Uzziah’s name.

26:19,20 Leprosy is synonymous with sin and corruption. The fact that the disease broke out on Uzziah's forehead is significant. The forehead symbolizes pride and rebellion.

Consider the following examples: the stubbornness of the whore who refuses to recognize her shame (Jer 3:3); the mark of the religious whore who opposes the Truth (Rev 17:5). Note the warning to those who carry this mark on their foreheads (Rev 14:9,10).

However, those who obey Yahweh will, like Ezekiel, be able to withstand the pride and rebellion of others (Eze 3:8,9).

27:9 Though Jotham was a good king he had a disobedient son in Ahaz. How often this happens. It is so easy to look for shortcomings in the parents when a son or daughter does not follow in the footsteps of their parents. However the Scripture does not make an comment about the appropriateness of the way that the parents brought the child up. This indicates that there are a lot more forces involved than upbringing. We should be careful in such situation to avoid forming opinions about the way our brothers and sisters have brought up their children when the child does not turn out as we think they should.

26:19 Uzziah’s thinking was wrong. He thought he had the right to go into the sanctuary, usurping the office of the priesthood. The leprosy which ‘rose up’ in his forehead highlights this point. Namely that his mind was wrong.

26:8 The way in which the Ammonites gave tribute to Uzziah continued into the reign of Jotham – 2Chron 27:5

2Chron 26:16-18 - Uzziah, in his pride, wanted to be a priest king, but it was not his right to claim title to or perform functions of the priest.

2Chron 26:19-21 - there is supposed to have been an earthquake (Zech 14:5) about this time according to Josephus and perhaps it reminds how Uzziah, unlike Jesus, would not attain the honor of being a priest king; leprosy suggests divine judgment, spiritual uncleaness - leprosy on the forehead would suggest prominent or conspicuous spiritual uncleaness. 

The vision of the four beasts matches the four metals of Daniel 2. Whereas Daniel 2 shows man's view of the Kingdom of men Daniel 7 shows Yahweh's view. Yahweh views the kingdom of men as beasts rather than the glorious metals that Nebuchadnezzar saw.

Elements of the beasts are utilised in the book of Revelation
7:4 Lion Revelation 13:2
7:5 Bear Revelation 13:2
7:6 Leopard Revelation 13:2
7:7 it had ten horns Revelation 12:3
7:8 mouth speaking great things Revelation 13:5
Other language is used in Revelation
7:9 ten thousand ... before him Revelation 5:11
7:10 the books were opened Revelation 20:12
7:13 son of man came with the cloud of heaven Revelation 10:1
7:21 same ... against them Revelation 11:7
7:25 times times dividing of times Revelation 12:14

On this point we should be careful to appreciate that whilst Scripture uses this phrase, 42 months and 1260 days which at one level are all three and a half years we should not assume that the reference is always being made to the same time period. The spirit chooses to use different language to speak of what appears to be the same length of time. There must be a reason for this.
7:17 There is no doubt about the interpretation. This verse confirms that we are speaking about four world empires.

V.1 etc. Daniel's vision here is a consideration of the world empires of Babylon, Medes/Persia, Greece, and Rome which were shown in the vision of chapter two.  Here they are illustrated as beasts. 

The modern unification of Europe (the beast of Revelation) will have a Catholic underpinning.  In effect, the Holy Roman Empire will be re-born.  It will ally itself with the dragon of Russia.  These enemies of Yahweh will be destroyed by Jesus and His saints when He returns. 

Ecclesiastical Rome had its seeds in the first century which manifest itself as an outward threat to true believers of Christ, certainly by the fourth century AD.  This threat has continued right down to the present day, sometimes with murderous outcomes for the brethren in Christ. 

The threat will continue until the final confrontation with the Lord Jesus who will finally destroy this European beast.  Daniel's visions are unsealed and further explained in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation) (Dan 12:4). 

7-12 Now we see God’s view of the kingdom of men culminating in the kingdom of God on earth in chapter 12.

7:9 When Daniel saw ‘the ancient of days’ he saw the time of the return of Jesus – hence the description of his garments matches what the disciples saw when jesus was transfigured – Mark 9:3

7:8 The ‘mouth speaking great things’ is clearly a reference to a worldly power. However the idea is caught in the words of Jude 1:16 where he speaks of false brethren. So it is possible for us to imitate the world in the way we conduct ourselves in the meeting. Beware!

7:1 We should realise that in this chapter we have gone back in time to record events in Daniel’s life when Belshazzar was on the throne. He saw the writing on the wall – Dan 5:5 and Daniel had revelations from God.

Christ will be in power on earth - Dan 7:13-14;Matt 24:30;25:31-34;Mark 14:61-62;Luke 21:25-31;Acts 1:9-11;Rev 1:7.

Christ's kingdom on earth will include the saints (faithful believers) - Dan 7:27;Luke 1:32-33;1Cor 15:24;Rev 11:15;20:4;22:5.

v14 picks up language from all the previous chapters, specifically Darius's words in 6:26 and Nebuchadnezzar's dream in 2:44. Why is that?

7:1 It is now time for a change. Up to now it has been Chaldean kings who have been the vehicle through whom God’s plan was revealed – expounded by a man of God. We now move into visions and dreams that Daniel was given by God. By contrast to the way in which he was able to interpret the Chaldean dreams he is at a loss to understand significant element s of his own dreams as we will see as we work through the rest of the prophecy of Daniel.

V.16 Stephen's deliberation provides a useful synopsis of Jewish history.  It is interesting that he states Abraham bought land in Shechem from the sons of Emmor (Hamor). 

Abraham bought land in Hebron for a burial place (Gen 49:30,31), but nowhere in scripture is it recorded that he bought land in Shechem.  However, it is recorded that Jacob purchased land in Shechem in which Joseph's bones (and presumably his) were buried (Gen 33:18,19; Josh 24:32). 

And so, why did Stephen make that statement?  Perhaps he was using Abraham in a patriarchal sense as father of all faithful (Rom 4:16).  Certainly, Jacob qualified as being of the same faith as Abraham (Matt 8:11). 

Like Jesus who came in the spirit of His father and was called by His Name, perhaps Stephen is applying the same measure to Jacob vis-à-vis Abraham.

7:5 It cannot be over emphasized that Abraham, though promised the land, did not view it as his present possession. This should be our attitude to the things of this age. They are to pass away. It does not matter how real they seem. They are but a vapour. Eternal inheritance of the land is the certainty.

7:12 When Jacob heard there was con in Egypt (Gen 42:1) he was being cared for by God – in Egypt, outside the land of Israel. This is a major theme in Acts 7.

V.60 When Stephen said of his murderers: Lord, do not hold this sin against them, he echoed Jesus' plea for his murderers: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).

Why these entreaties? Would Yahweh forgive the murderers of His servants, which included His Son? We are told that murderers will not be permitted in the kingdom (Rev 21:8; 22:15).

But, what if the murderers of Jesus and Stephen (and by extension, others) saw the error of their ways and asked for forgiveness in order to follow the Lord? They would be forgiven because the pleas of Jesus and Stephen kept that door open.

Case in point, Saul was an accomplice to Stephen's murder (v.58; 8:1). After creating further havoc to believers, he repented and became the apostle Paul.

Today, there are those who have committed murder and have repented.  I know one who has accepted the true Gospel and is now a follower of Jesus. Praise Yahweh!

7:13 That Joseph was made known to his brethren ‘the second time’ is typical of the Jew’s reaction to Jesus. They did not recognise him as their saviour when he came first, just as the brothers did not recognise Joseph as their saviour on their first visit to Egypt. However, like the brothers recognised Joseph and understood that he was their saviour the second time they visited Egypt the nation will recognise Jesus as saviour when he returns to set up God’s kingdom here on earth.

7:9 The behaviour of the Jewish leaders towards Jesus matched the behaviour of the brothers of Joseph – Matt 27:18, Mark 15:10

7:45 ‘Jesus’ is actually ‘Joshua’ Joshua is the Hebrew name of which ‘Jesus’ s the Greek equivalent. The force of this point would doubtless not be lost upon those who Stephen was speaking to.