Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
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?
The King's Part in the Work
Cyrus was not the only heart God moved. One writer reads the king's act as proof that God had touched him too:
Edward DennettFinally, 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:
F. B. HoleGod 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.
Why the Vessels Mattered So Much
The scale of the damage was not what set God's clock running:
Michael HardtThere 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:
Michael HardtWithout 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:
Georges AndréThese 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.
The House of His Gods
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:
H. L. RossierGod 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:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinNo 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.
Restored, but Not Everything
One thing never came back, and its absence shapes the whole return:
The Bible TreasuryThe 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.
Old Vessels, Not New Ones
These were not new vessels. The old ones came back, and one writer draws the lesson for God's people now:
Michael HardtWhat 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:
Edward DennettThe 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."
Summary
- 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.