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Azariah also was known as Uzziah. He was a godly man but he had a time where pride got the best of him and he decided he could be not only a king but a priest. God disciplined him by giving him leprosy and He chose not to heal him of it. Even a king has his limitations. Jesus is our King/Priest but His Priesthood is a special one in the order of Melchizedek. " Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins." (Hebrews 7:27)

I thought that this was a pretty harsh punishment, since God didn't do this to any of the other kinds that did right in God's eyes, but didn't tear down the high places. But 2 Chronicles 26:15-16 says But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. The priests tried to stop him, but the King insisted on forcing his way into the temple to offer incense. This was a very serious offense. He got just a little too big for his britches. No king could ever be both King and priest. Those combined titles are reserved for Christ our Messiah alone. Can u imagine how really really just plain wrong it would it would be for a mere mortal to obtain that type of power. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

I've often wondered why the Lord struck him with leprosy since he was one of the kings who did right in God's eyes. Perhaps to keep him seperate so he wouldn't become corrupt?