The Year King Uzziah Died and The Death of Ronald Reagan
By Ron Wood
D-Day celebrates the “Departure Day” when Allied Forces began their final push to liberate Europe from slavery to Nazi rule. Brave troops crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, crossing “flak-filled skies and blood-soaked surf,” to quote former President Bush as he spoke last week at the dedication of the WWII Memorial. This bloody battle was the beginning of the end of the war. In this war, over 400,000 Americans fought and died. Tom Brokaw writes about these heroes in his book, “The Greatest Generation.”
Yesterday, on the day before D-Day, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died quietly at his home in California. His death signals a significant new season in God’s purposes. In the next few pages, I want to tell you why.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” (Isaiah 6:1)
These are the words of Isaiah the prophet. He set his visions into historical perspective, keying their timeframe to actual events and applying them to real-life issues. Who was Uzziah and why did it matter to Isaiah that he had died? We know Uzziah was the King of Judah.
What was the setting? Isaiah was ministering to the remnant of God’s covenant people still living in the land God had given them. This was before their idolatry brought final judgment. Israel had already been taken away; Judah’s fall was next. So he penned his words about 120 years before Judah’s captivity by Assyria in 586 BC, or about 700 years before the Christ was born. He not only accurately prophesied the fall of Judah and Israel’s later restoration, but he also perfectly described the sufferings of the coming Messiah on the cross in vivid detail (see Isaiah 53).
In this detail, Isaiah gave us perhaps the most memorable words of the Bible, vivid words describing the sacrificial suffering of Jesus for our sins, words that have now been repeated for millions and millions of viewers to see in the opening credits on the screen of the modern movie, The Passion of the Christ.
You could read in secular history that a man named Jesus died on a cross. But Isaiah the prophet showed us that His death was not that of an ordinary man. As an innocent lamb, Jesus took our place. He died to redeem us; to atone for our sins.
The significance of a prophet’s words when he is speaking under divine inspiration by the Spirit of God is not only what he says, but when he says it. Timing is everything for a prophet. By the Spirit of God, prophets inquire into times and seasons and seek to understand omens and events in the light of God’s revealed purpose. (1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:19-21) This is what Isaiah did. We all need to discern the times.
When I heard the news of President Reagan’s death, I recalled his speeches. Surely he was “The Great Communicator.” When my children were young, they picked up on my respect for President Reagan and called him “Brother Reagan,” as though he were a pastor. And he was in a sense America’s “pastor.” But more than that, he had a sense of timing and a sense of purpose that worked with prophetic accuracy. His instincts as a leader were right. This confidence enabled him to confront communism without fear and instill hope in troubled times.
While considering President Reagan’s death, my brother Don called me on the phone to discuss it. When we hung up, I heard the Lord distinctly say to me, “This is an Isaiah Chapter Six Year.” What could that mean? I got out my Bible and read Isaiah’s account of the death of Uzziah and the events following. I began to pray for more understanding.
Uzziah came to power during turmoil when his nation was in conflict with a great enemy. As a leader, he did the right thing in the sight of God. Uzziah was helped by Godly prophets. No leader can govern alone– they need good counselors. Uzziah sought God and as long as he did so, The Bible says that he prospered (2 Chronicles 26:5). To prosper means to succeed.
Realism requires us to realize that the welfare of any nation depends on the righteousness of its leaders. Our prosperity and relative security in America are a phenomenon the world envies but does not understand. Let’s humbly admit that the source of our blessing isn’t just our resources or our system of government: our prosperity is from the Lord.
It matters whether or not national leaders acknowledge the Lord. In President Reagan, God gave us a man who feared God and believed in the triumph of truth. Indeed, America is designed and intended to always function with a leader who knows the Lord, if we are to remain a people blessed by God.
As I continued to ponder what the Lord had said, I began to search the Scriptures regarding Uzziah. I saw some amazing parallels to the life of President Reagan.
1. Uzziah sought the Lord and set himself against the Philistines. He identified evil for what it was. (2 Chron 26:6) In the same way, Ronald Reagan believed he had a “manifest destiny” or a call to lead our nation. In office, he rightly called the old Soviet Union what it was: “an evil empire.”
2. Uzziah wisely worked to strengthen Judah so his people would not be plundered by their enemy. (vs. 11 & 14) Likewise, Reagan oversaw the largest peacetime buildup of the United States military in our nation’s history.
3. Uzziah took military preparedness to another level: he worked to develop “engines of war” (vs. 15), weapons far more advanced than ever before. In a similar fashion, Reagan dared to push for the “Star Wars” defense system. This technological marvel pushed the stakes so high that along with Russia’s bankrupt socialistic economy, a sharp drop in global oil prices, and their inability to compete with America’s capitalism, that it broke the back of their communist system. Ronald Reagan won the Cold War.
Coincidentally, the end of Uzziah’s life was sadly marked by a lengthy debilitating disease. Uzziah, in his success, became guilty of arrogance and went beyond his office. In President Reagan, there was never any hint of pride, but always humility and humor that came from wisdom and an attractive self-effacing confidence. His boldness was born of being right, not of having an inflated ego.
When someone told him he really was The Great Communicator, he said, “No, I just communicate great ideas.” When someone saw him pray after taking a seat on an airplane and asked him if he was praying to be kept safe, he said, “No, I was asking the Lord to take care of Nancy if something should happen to me.”
After his departure from office, President Reagan lived for ten more years with Alzheimer’s disease, wasting away first in his mental capacities then finally in his physical body. He died at age 93.
Why would the Lord say that his death marks an Isaiah Six event?
In the same year of the good king’s death as recorded in Isaiah chapter six, the prophet had a profound spiritual experience. He saw the throne of God. Little do we fully realize that God’s authority, which proceeds from His throne in heaven, rules over all other governments on the earth. All authority originates from God’s throne, even when temporarily usurped or corrupted by men.
“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens. And His sovereignty (dominion, kingdom) rules over all.”(Psalms 103:19)
Before God’s magnificent throne, seeing pure authority personified in His ultimate goodness, Isaiah felt undone. Conviction of sin hit him. He saw the holiness of God. This revelation produced instant repentance in his heart. An angel ministered cleansing fire to his lips. Then Isaiah heard the Lord speaking within Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in communion), asking, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?”
Isaiah responded with these famous words, “Here am I. Send me!”
Now we come to the heart of the matter. Now we move from having a revelation, “This is an Isaiah Six Year,” to interpreting what this means. Here, I apply illuminated reasoning using the Scriptures to interpret my insight from the Holy Spirit. In a very simple way, the following three statements gave me clarity for what the Lord had said.
1. God is a sending God. That was the culmination of Isaiah’s extraordinary vision. Jesus said this plainly to the Jews about His Father. “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”(John 7:29) Later, Jesus said He was sending us all into the world as His witnesses (John 17:18). Being sent distinguishes someone from all others.
2. There is nothing more powerful than a man (or woman)m sent from God. John the Baptist was such a man. “There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.” (John 1:6) Those were his credentials. Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles alike had this unique attribute of divine authorization: that is, they were commissioned by God with a word and a task that was received directly from the Throne.
When the Lord anoints someone and sends them to a people, those people should carefully consider how they respond. If we mistreat or reject such an ambassador, we may cause an affront to the One who sent him.
3. God’s kingdom is drawing near and fresh commissioning is available to us all. The church is moving away from institutionalism back toward its apostolic foundation of real faith and covenant relationships. By the Spirit of Holiness we receive grace and apostleship to bring people to “the obedience of faith.” (Romans 1:5) Church as we know it, beset with both good and bad traditions, may bring people to faith in Jesus, but only fully functioning apostles are able to bring people into obedience as a result of that faith.
Questions such as, “Who sent you?” and, “What is your mission?” and, “Can I receive you?” are relevant. As we seek God’s face and humble ourselves before His awesome power, the Lord is giving out battlefield promotions and establishing new degrees of rank in His holy army. New kinds of leaders, those typified by apostles and prophets, are now reappearing. These are God’s “sent ones” who carry extra authority and revelation.
God’s BIG SECRET for this year is that some ministers, some “Joseph Leaders” in the marketplace, some pastors, teachers, and evangelists, as they seek God, now have the potential of becoming commissioned prophets or apostles. God is delegating more authority on earth to those united with Jesus. Why? Because: God’s program and timetable requires them; because the intensity of the opposition from Satan is increasing; and because Christ’s kingdom is drawing nearer and His throne-room is more accessible.
Recently I ministered at a friend’s church by acting out a prophetic picture. Before the congregation, I had the senior pastor who had founded the church take his place at the head of a line. Behind him, I placed his son who is the executive pastor. Behind him, I lined up an elder, then a covenant group leader, then a church member. Explaining that the Lord was promoting many senior leaders into functioning as apostles, I had each of them reach forward and grip the shoulder of the person in front of them. Then I had everyone in unison take one step forward. That’s how promotion usually comes.
Did you get the picture? Jesus wants everyone in leadership or aspiring to obey God’s call in their ministry to take one step forward. But, don’t leave the people following you behind while you go on ahead.
In some ways, I believe the opportunity the Lord is offering to us this year— this summons to be transformed by God’s presence and receive new authority to transform the nations— is an opportunity long over due, an opening that has been delayed for at least ten years.
Ten years ago, the Lord showed many of His prophets that He wanted apostles to arise. But for ten years, there has been resistance from religious systems. Retaining control of the people and their money has been more important for some religious leaders than was revival. And the devil has fiercely fought this fresh fire, knowing he has no weapons that can completely defeat anyone truly sent by God, especially when that person knows it.
For ten years, many candidates for promotion have been refined by fires of testing, enduring rejection or failure, seeing their own flesh, repenting of their pride, until they know that only by God’s grace and power can anyone succeed in doing God’s work.
This is an “Isaiah Six Year.” It is time to seek the Lord until we see His holiness and are undone. It is time to hear His voice and say “Yes” when He asks if we will go. Then we can end the efforts in our own flesh and start anew in His holy and humble authority.
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The Year King Uzziah Died and The Death of Ronald Reagan © 2004 by Ron Wood, President, Touched by Grace Ministries Inc.
