And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the house of Jehovah, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem and had put in the house of his god.
Nebuchadnezzar carried the temple's gold and silver into a pagan treasury. Seventy years later, a Persian king opens that treasury and hands the sacred vessels back. Why did God count these objects so important? And what does their return say about how He restores what His people have lost?
Cyrus was not the only heart God moved. One writer reads the king's act as proof that God had touched him too:
Finally, Cyrus himself showed his interest in the work. He restored the vessels of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had carried out of Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods. This was evidence that his own heart had also been touched by divine power. He counted these vessels out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.
God worked in two places at once:
God worked spiritually in the souls of His people, and He matched it with a providential work in the world around them. And so it has been again in more recent times.
The scale of the damage was not what set God's clock running:
There had been three deportations... The last of these three did the most damage. The temple was burnt, and very large numbers were led away captive. But the 70 years of captivity count from the first deportation, which we would call relatively unimportant. Why was this first one the important one in God's eyes? Well, 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 treasure and even from the wings of the doors of the temple to appease the king of Assyria. But the holy vessels had never been touched.
The loss was not sentimental. It shut down the whole system of approach to God:
Without vessels, it was impossible to bring sacrifices as prescribed. No vessels, no worship! This is the tragedy. Does it not remind us of the sad fact that the idea of worship, and especially worship together, has been lost across much of the Christian world?
Because they stood for worship itself, the gap between their removal and their return carries weight:
These vessels represented the worship rendered to God. The period of seventy years between their removal and return, as announced by the prophet, emphasizes their symbolic importance.
Nebuchadnezzar put the vessels of the true God inside an idol's temple. One writer asks what that really changed, and then points to where it ended:
God had been dishonoured by the idolatry of the people and their kings. Was there any great difference whether the precious vessels stayed in His temple or were placed in the temple of idols at Babylon?... When wicked Belshazzar drank wine from the sacred vessels in praise of his idols, he meant to celebrate the triumph of false gods over the true God, and to set them publicly against the Lord. That same night, God answered him with judgment and death.
The vessels outlasted the empire that stole them:
No doubt Cyrus had these vessels collected and carefully guarded... How it all shows that God had not forgotten His people! When His appointed time came, He showed His power on their behalf.
One thing never came back, and its absence shapes the whole return:
The holy vessels were counted and restored, as far as was fitting, for the Lord's house in Jerusalem. The ark — the centre, the highest in value, the nearest to the glory — was not there. Sadly, the glory itself had withdrawn. But in the day when the salvation of Israel comes out of Zion, the glory will return, never to leave again.
These were not new vessels. The old ones came back, and one writer draws the lesson for God's people now:
What the people of God need today is not so much innovation, but a return to the basic principles that were there from the beginning — a return to the Scriptures... A genuine revival always shows itself in the discovery of the Scriptures. It is not that the Scriptures could not have been known before. Through negligence they had been forgotten.
Later in the book, Ezra hands the same kind of treasure to chosen men with a charge about who may touch it:
The ground of the choice was, that they were "holy to the Lord," as also were the vessels. As the prophet said, "You must be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord."
- Taken — God dated the captivity from the first and smallest deportation. The reason was the vessels. No earlier king had put them in an idol's house.
- Silenced — Without the vessels, no one could bring the prescribed sacrifices. No vessels, no worship — and seventy years of silence.
- Kept — Babylon profaned them, and God answered that same night with judgment. The vessels outlived the empire. God had not forgotten His people.
- Returned — Cyrus counted the old vessels out to Judah's prince. Recovery means going back to what was there from the beginning, not inventing something new.
- Incomplete — The ark was missing and the glory had withdrawn. A day is coming when the glory returns and never leaves.
And Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
Cyrus does not just free the captives — he also hands back the gold and silver articles Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the temple. Who is this Sheshbazzar, and why does Scripture give so much space to a list of bowls and dishes?
Two names, one man. Commentators explain the name in this verse as a Babylonian name given during the exile.
This prince was Zerubbabel. Sheshbazzar was the name the Babylonians had given him. He was born in Babylon, and his name means "stranger in Babylon." He became the princely leader of the returning exiles... In all there were 5,400 vessels of gold and silver which were handed over to Zerubbabel to take back to Jerusalem. It all shows that God had not forgotten His people. When His appointed time came, He showed His power on their behalf.
He was more than one exile among many.
He was a "prince of Judah," and he seems to have held some office in Persia, since he is called Sheshbazzar... He led the Jews who volunteered to return from exile under the decree of Cyrus.
The list of vessels looks like a minor detail. It actually sets the clock on the whole captivity.
There had been three deportations... The last of these three was the most significant one in terms of the damage done. The temple was burnt, and very large numbers led captive. But the 70 years of captivity run from the first deportation — the one we would call minor. Why was this first one the important one in God's eyes? Well, it's because of the vessels.
Take away the vessels and something more than property is lost.
Without vessels, it was impossible to bring sacrifices as prescribed. No vessels, no worship! This is the tragedy. Doesn't this remind us of a sad fact? Much of the Christian world has lost the whole idea of worship, and above all of worship together. Concerts, performances, and all sorts of other things have taken the place of meetings for worship.
Cyrus had to fetch these things out of a pagan temple before he could hand them back. Someone kept the record down to the last item.
King Cyrus had all the articles Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem brought out of the temple of his idols. He sent 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.
One thing is missing from the list, and it is the most valuable of all.
The holy vessels were counted and restored, as far as was fitting, for Jehovah's house in Jerusalem. The ark was not there — the centre, the most valuable, the nearest to the glory. Sadly, the glory itself had gone. But on the day when the salvation of Israel comes out of Zion, the glory will return, never to leave again.
A foreign king, the builders, and those who stayed behind all move in step. No one organised it.
The Lord produced the same heart and the same aim in everyone involved. Cyrus was one of them, and without his permission the captives could not have returned. Another group was the leading fathers of Judah and Benjamin, who were needed for the actual building work. A third was those who stayed behind... There were no meetings beforehand to arrange things and reach agreement. The union of heart and purpose came from the Lord's action on the hearts of all alike... So every instrument that is needed comes forward at the right moment, for the work is of God, and it must be done.
This pattern was not limited to Ezra's day.
Alongside the spiritual work of God in the souls of His people ran a providential work of God in the world around them. So it has been again in more recent times.
- Taken. The vessels went to Babylon first. God dated the seventy years from that loss, not from the burning of the temple.
- Emptied. No vessels meant no sacrifices, so the real loss was worship itself. The same loss happens wherever performance takes the place of worship.
- Kept. They sat in an idol's temple, yet they were still there when Cyrus went looking. God had not forgotten His people.
- Counted. Mithredath counted them out item by item to the prince of Judah, and the record was kept. What God restores, He restores in order and into named hands.
- Incomplete. The ark is missing from the list, and the glory had gone. The return under Zerubbabel is real but partial; the glory comes back in full only when salvation comes out of Zion.