And the brazen pillars that were in the house of Jehovah, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the house of Jehovah, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried the brass thereof to Babylon.
This verse reads like a list of scrap metal. Yet each item named had stood at Solomon's temple for centuries, and each one carried meaning. So why did God let the Chaldeans smash His own furnishings and haul them off? And did anything they stood for survive?
The two bronze pillars had names, and the names were promises. One writer notes that those promises were never meant to describe the state of things at the time:
The pillars were named Jachin (on the right) and Boaz (on the left) of the entry. Jachin means "He shall establish." This is a promise that God will one day establish His house, because He was not establishing it then. Israel's unfaithfulness later brought that house down, but God's promise for the future remains. Boaz means "in Him is strength." Israel's weakness led to ruin and failure, but the Lord Jesus is still the strong One who will do the will of God perfectly.
The pillars did not fall by accident:
Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon. So is all the bronze, the gold and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What did Jachin and Boaz still have to do at Jerusalem? Judah's unfaithfulness had driven away the strength that was in the Lord. God had destroyed it instead of establishing it. So ends the history of man, placed under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but His promises do not change. He will re-establish the reign of His anointed on these two marvellous pillars. That reign will be unshakeable.
The bronze sea was a huge basin, and both its stand and its use carried meaning:
The Sea matches the washing basin of the tabernacle, but how much greater! It was about 15 feet across and 7½ feet high. Twelve bronze oxen carried it, all facing outward, three toward each point of the compass. In this way they stood for the 12 tribes of Israel. The oxen speak of lowly, patient service. The priests washed in the Sea, symbolising the moral cleansing necessary for carrying out their service.
The verse names the metal three times. Bronze carried its own meaning, tied to where it was used:
Bronze is the symbol of the righteousness of God, showing on earth what He is for sinful man. The temple furniture was gold. The furniture of the court was bronze, cast in the earth.
Where the bronze ended up matters too, and one writer draws a line to our own day:
The bronze pillars and the bronze sea were broken in pieces to be taken to Babylon… There was so much bronze in these many articles that it was beyond measure. All these things were God's property, and they picture what only faith can truly take hold of. But when they went to Babylon (which means "confusion"), they were put in connection with idol worship. Today too, false religion has taken for itself what belongs to God and uses it for its own unholy profit.
The plunder of the temple ended one era and began another:
In time the terrible day came. The Lord could no longer put up with the evil nation, and He gave everything up to destruction. With sorrow of heart the inspired writer tells how the famous pillars Jachin and Boaz were broken up, along with the bases, the cast metal sea and the twelve bronze bulls. All of it was then loaded up as scrap in a dismal convoy of wagons and carried off to Babylon! This is how "the times of the Gentiles" began, and they are not ended yet. Israel still bleeds, and the nations of the earth find no rest. Oh, the folly of sin against God!
What went to Babylon did not stay there. Later a Persian king sent the temple articles back, counted out one by one:
More important still, King Cyrus acted over the articles that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem. He had them brought out of the temple of his idols, to send them back to their rightful place. He knew that Babylon's idols were not God. The Persian treasurer, Mithredath, counted these out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. The record of them was faithfully kept… The total number of gold and silver articles was 5,400.
- Establish — Jachin meant "He shall establish." It was a promise about the future, not a picture of Israel at that time. So the pillar could fall and the promise still stand.
- Strength — Boaz meant "in Him is strength." Judah's unfaithfulness drove that strength away, and God destroyed the pillars instead of establishing them.
- Confusion — the pillars, stands and sea were God's property, yet they ended up in Babylon among idols. One writer applies this to false religion that still profits from what belongs to God.
- Gentiles — the convoy of broken bronze opened the times of the Gentiles, a period writers say is not yet over.
- Counted — Cyrus brought the vessels out of the idol temple and had them counted back to Judah. God's last word is the pillars' word: He will yet establish the reign of His anointed.
The cauldrons also and the shovels and the knives and the cups, and all the vessels of copper wherewith they ministered, they took away.
Verse 14 reads like an inventory clerk's list of small metal objects, all carried off to Babylon. Why does Scripture record such small items at all? And what does it mean that the tools of God's own service ended up in pagan hands?
These were not the temple's golden showpieces. The metal they were made of shows where they were used.
Verse 11 mentions pots, shovels and bowls, and verse 16 tells us they were made of polished bronze (or copper). So they were used outside the temple, with the sacrifices and the fire provided for the sacrifices. The furniture inside the temple was either solid gold or covered with gold.
The vessels shared the people's captivity, and one writer sees the sting in that.
The Babylonians carried the vessels away into captivity. How moving it is to think that things once dedicated to the service of God were now in the grip of the pagans, held for the sinister religion of Babylon.
Several deportations stripped Jerusalem. One writer asks which of them counted most in God's reckoning.
Three deportations took place, and the last of them did the most damage. The temple was burnt, and very large numbers were led captive. But the 70 years of captivity count from the first deportation — the one we would call relatively unimportant. Why was this first one the important one in God's eyes? It's because of the vessels. Nebuchadnezzar had taken the vessels of the Temple to Babylon, and even put them into the house of his idols. Such a thing had never happened before. True, some kings had taken silver from the treasury, and even from the door panels of the temple, to buy off the king of Assyria. But no one had ever touched the holy vessels.
Captivity did not change what these things were in God's eyes. One writer explains why a Babylonian king's drinking party became a direct insult to God.
The crowning sin of this drinking party was the direct insult Belshazzar offered to the God of Israel, the God of heaven. The holy vessels were still holy in God's eyes, however much the sins of His kings and priests had polluted them. They had been used in the house where He had put His name for ever, the house where His eyes and His heart were always to be. True, in judgment He had let them share the captivity of His people. But He could not let the Gentile king and his immoral companions defile them. That would have gone against everything He was and everything He purposed.
One writer sees the same pattern at work today.
All these things were God's property. They are pictures of what only faith can truly take hold of. But when they were carried to Babylon — a name that means "confusion" — they were put in connection with idol worship. False religion does the same today. It takes over what belongs to God and uses it for its own unholy profit.
The raid also broke up the temple's two great pillars, Jachin and Boaz. One writer reads their fall as the end of one story — but not of God's promises.
Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon, along with all the brass, the gold and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What was left for Jachin and Boaz to do at Jerusalem? Judah's unfaithfulness had driven away the strength that was in the Lord, and God had destroyed it instead of establishing it. So ends the history of man, placed under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but He never takes back His promises. He will set up again the reign of His anointed on these two wonderful pillars, and that reign will never be shaken.
- Ordinary. The pots, shovels and snuffers were plain bronze tools of the altar, not golden showpieces. Scripture still lists them one by one.
- Stolen. Tools dedicated to God's service ended up serving the religion of Babylon.
- Decisive. Earlier kings had raided the temple treasury, but no one had touched the holy vessels. God started counting the seventy years from the day Nebuchadnezzar took them.
- Still His. Exile never cancelled their holiness. God let them share His people's captivity, but He would not let a pagan king defile them.
- Restored. Judah's unfaithfulness left God tearing down instead of establishing. Yet He never takes back a promise. He will set up the reign of His anointed on those pillars, never to be shaken.
And the censers and the bowls, that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, the captain of the body-guard took away.
The Babylonian officer stripped the temple before he burned it, and verse 15 reaches the small implements — weighed out as plain gold and silver. Why record the inventory of a looted building, and what did Judah lose when these objects left Jerusalem?
The word behind "fire pans" belongs to the service of incense. A dictionary entry traces it across the Old Testament:
A small metal vessel, made to hold burning coals from the altar. The priest sprinkled incense on the coals, so that a cloud of incense might rise from it (Lev. 10:1; Lev. 16:12). Solomon made some of gold (1 Kings 7:50; 2 Chr. 4:22; Heb. 9:4; Rev. 8:3, 5)... The same Hebrew word is translated 'fire-pan' in Ex. 27:3; Ex. 38:3; 2 Kings 25:15; Jer. 52:19.
One commentator dates this stripping to the days just before the fire:
Evidently verses 13-17 refer to what took place before Nebuzaradan burned the temple... The firepans, basins and things of solid gold and solid silver were also taken (vv.14-15).
These objects had an owner, and it was not Judah. The same writer follows them into Babylon:
All these things were God's property. They stand for what only faith can take hold of. But when they were carried to Babylon — a name that means 'confusion' — they were put in connection with idol worship. Today false religion does the same: it takes what really belongs to God and uses it for its own unholy profit.
Changing hands did not change what these objects were. Another writer says God still counted them holy in a Gentile king's hands:
The holy vessels were still holy in God's eyes, however much the sins of His kings and priests had polluted them. They had served in the house where He had put His name for ever, and where His eyes and His heart were to be always (1 Kings 9:3). True, in judgment He had let them share the captivity of His people. But He could not let the Gentile king and his immoral friends defile them. That would not fit with all that He was, or with all that He purposed. It was not only that the king, his princes, his wives and his concubines drank from them; they drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
These were working tools, not ornaments. One writer carries the loss through to the present day:
Without vessels, it was impossible to bring the sacrifices God had prescribed. No vessels, no worship! This is the tragedy. Does it not remind us of a sad fact? Wide parts of Christendom have lost the whole idea of worship, above all worship together. Concerts, performances, and all sorts of things have taken the place of meetings for worship... The Father seeks one thing: worshippers.
Judah's real loss was not metal. One writer reads the smashing and carrying off of the temple's structures and treasures as God undoing what He had once set up:
Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon. So is all the brass, the gold, and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What use were Jachin and Boaz, those two pillars, at Jerusalem now? The strength that was in the Lord had departed through Judah's unfaithfulness, and God had destroyed it instead of establishing it.
The story does not end in Babylon. One commentator counts what came back:
The dominant feature at the beginning of these 70 years is that the glory of the temple was itself taken away captive — the glory of the service of the worship of the Lord... At the time of Judah's restoration, all these objects came back, 5400 of them (Ezra 1:9-11). This was even the most characteristic feature of the exodus that was to bring the remnant of the people back to their land.
- Vessels named. The fire pans held burning coals from the altar, so that a cloud of incense could rise. The same Hebrew word is also translated "censer."
- Vessels owned. Everything on the list was God's property. In Babylon it was tied to idol worship — and false religion still takes what belongs to God for its own profit.
- Vessels still holy. Captivity did not cancel their holiness. They had served in the house where God put His name, and He would not let a foreign king defile them.
- Vessels missing. No vessels meant no sacrifices. The tragedy of the chapter is lost worship, not lost gold.
- Vessels restored. God pulled down what Judah's unfaithfulness had emptied out. Yet He counted every article, and the return of all 5,400 marked the remnant's homecoming.
The two pillars, the one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah for the brass of all these vessels there was no weight.
Jerusalem has fallen, and the account ends not with the ruins but with an inventory of temple metal. Why does the record stop to name the beautiful things Babylon broke up, and add that their bronze was past weighing?
The order of events matters. This list belongs to the days before the temple was set on fire.
Clearly verses 13-17 refer to what happened before Nebuzaradan burned the temple. Babylon's men broke the bronze pillars and the bronze sea in pieces to carry them away. There was so much bronze in these many articles that no one could measure it. All these things were God's property. They stand for what only faith can take hold of. But when they were carried to Babylon — a name that means "confusion" — they were brought into connection with the worship of idols. Today too, false religion has taken for itself what really belongs to God, and uses it for its own unholy profit.
The two pillars were not decoration. They stood at the front of the temple, and their names carried a message to every worshipper.
The bronze pillars stood in front of the porch of the temple, and they caught the eye at once. They put the principles of the kingdom on open display. As we have already said, the temple has no other pillar. Their names were Jachin (He shall establish) and Boaz (in Him is strength). These were the two great truths pictured for everyone who shared in the blessed reign of Solomon. Everything came from Him; in Him, in His own person, there is strength. He holds Himself up and needs no help from outside. His strength establishes others; it never needs establishing.
The same writer asks what Jachin and Boaz still had to do in Jerusalem. He answers on two sides: judgment now, and promise later.
Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried off to Babylon, along with all the bronze, the gold, and the silver of the house of God. The people had despised the Lord. What did Jachin and Boaz still have to do in Jerusalem? The strength that was in the Lord had gone, because Judah was unfaithful, and God had broken it down instead of establishing it. So ends the story of man under responsibility before God. God must give him up — but He never takes back His promises. He will set up the reign of His anointed again on those two wonderful pillars, and that reign will never be shaken.
Bronze past weighing was not new to this house. The same abundance marked it from the day it was built.
The temple had many bronze vessels. Before David died, the leaders of Israel gave 18,000 talents of bronze, on top of what they gave in gold, silver, and iron (1 Chron. 29:7). And that was not all. "Solomon left all these vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained" (1 Kings 7:47).
None of this caught Judah by surprise. Jeremiah had already warned the men in charge of worship about these very vessels.
Jeremiah also speaks to the priests — the men responsible for the religious life of the nation. He warns them in particular about "the vessels of the LORD's house" (27:16). The false prophets promised that these vessels would soon come back from Babylon. They would not. Instead, the vessels still left in the temple would be carried away too. Such a sad outlook should have brought the men in charge of God's worship to repentance. But they did not care.
The pillars were not the only loss. The sea, the stands and the bulls went with them, and their leaving marked a turn in world history.
With a sad heart the inspired historian tells us how they broke up the famous pillars Jachin and Boaz, the stands, the cast-bronze sea, the twelve bronze bulls and the rest — and loaded it all up as "scrap" in a grim train of wagons for Babylon! "The bronze of all these things was beyond weight" (Jer. 52:20). This is how "the times of the Gentiles" began, and they have not ended yet. Israel still bleeds, and the nations of the earth find no rest. Oh, the folly of sin against God!
- Given — The bronze was past weighing from the start. Solomon built the house out of that abundance.
- Named — Two pillars preached two truths: He will establish, and in Him is strength.
- Warned — Jeremiah told the priests that the rest of the vessels would go to Babylon. They should have repented. They did not care.
- Broken — Judah was unfaithful, so the strength was gone. God broke down what He had once built, and the beautiful things left as scrap.
- Restored — God never takes back His promises. The reign of His anointed will yet stand on those same two pillars, and nothing will shake it.
The height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and the capital upon it was brass, and the height of the capital three cubits; and the network and the pomegranates, upon the capital round about, all of brass and similarly for the second pillar with the network.
Verse 17 stops in the middle of a demolition report to measure what Babylon's soldiers had just smashed: the bronze pillars, their crowns, their latticework, their pomegranates. Why does a record of ruin dwell on beauty that no longer exists?
The two pillars in view had names, and the names were a promise about God's kingdom.
BOAZ and JACHIN were the names given to two pillars in the porch of the temple Solomon built. JACHIN means "He will establish," and BOAZ, "in Him is strength." This implies that God will establish the kingdom in strength and in peace, under the rule of Christ. So the names picture the coming age. There seems to be a reference to these pillars in Revelation 3:12, where the overcomer is made a "pillar" in the temple of God.
reason: verse's "eighteen cubits" never explained — depth gap
In 1 Kings 7:16 the capitals — or crowns, as the Hebrew word Cotharoth means — are five cubits high. Verse 19 gives the lily work as four cubits. And 2 Kings 25:17 says, "The height of the capital was three cubits." I take it that each of these capitals had four parts:
1. a square ledge on top, half a cubit thick, on which were the pomegranates; 2. a similar ledge at the bottom; 3. a bowl one cubit deep (1 Kings 7:41); 4. a bulge of three cubits (1 Kings 7:20).
The last two together, covered with LILY WORK, would make FOUR cubits, and the two ledges would complete the height of FIVE cubits.
The pomegranates here also appear on the robe of Israel's high priest, paired with bells.
In the Word the pomegranate seems to be the image of fruit borne for God. The hem of the high priest's garment was trimmed with bells and pomegranates one after the other (Ex. 28:31-35). The bells represent the testimony, the pomegranates, the fruit… Our fruit should bear the character of Christ and be worthy of Him. It should also match our testimony, just as the pomegranates were the same in number as the golden bells. One often finds Christians with more bells than pomegranates, more words than fruit!
The pillars promised that God would establish the kingdom in His strength. Their fall was His own doing, not an accident.
Even the two pillars of the temple are broken in pieces and carried away to Babylon. So are all the brass, the gold, and the silver of the house of God. The Lord had been despised. What did Jachin and Boaz still have to do at Jerusalem? Judah's unfaithfulness had driven away the strength that was in the Lord. God had destroyed it instead of establishing it.
That is the answer to the puzzle of this verse — a loving inventory inside a demolition report.
David's royal house has forfeited everything by unfaithfulness; but Christ will restore it all in the day of His power. Meanwhile, Solomon's famous pillars have been broken up as scrap, and carried to Babylon (Jer. 27:19-22; Jer. 52:17-23). The Holy Spirit dwells mournfully upon their beauty while recording their destruction.
Where the bronze ended up mattered too. One writer draws a present-day parallel:
All these things were God's property. They stand for what only faith can truly take hold of. But when they were carried to Babylon — a name that means "confusion" — they were placed in connection with idol worship. Today also false religion has taken for itself what really belongs to God and uses it for its own unholy profit.
Fire could melt the bronze. It could not touch what the bronze declared.
But even if the material pillars have disappeared, the moral pillars remain. The day will come when the Lord in whom is strength will show everyone that He has established in righteousness a kingdom which will never be moved.
- Named — the pillars meant "He will establish" and "in Him is strength": a kingdom held up under the rule of Christ.
- Adorned — the capital, latticework and pomegranates were beauty by measure. As on the high priest's robe, the fruit matched the testimony.
- Broken — the Lord had been despised, so the pillars had nothing left to say in Jerusalem. God pulled them down instead of holding them up.
- Removed — God's own bronze ended up serving idols in Babylon. False religion still takes God's things for its own gain.
- Re-established — the pillars are gone, but their promise stands. The kingdom He establishes will never be moved.