2 Kings 25:13, commentary and pictures

The verse records the final fall of Judah when Nebuchadnezzar's Chaldeans took Jerusalem after the rebellion of Zedekiah, ending its independent rule and carrying many away into Babylonian captivity. In that conquest they broke in pieces the pillars of brass and the bases and the brasen sea that belonged to the house of the Lord and carried the brass of them to Babylon. This was the final plundering and despoiling of Solomon's Temple, when it was stripped of its treasures, laid waste and burned, and the people were taken into exile. Jerusalem fell in this way because of Israel's unfaithfulness, closing the continuous history from the accession of Solomon to the captivity. That spoiling of the temple and carrying away of its vessels is typical of events to transpire at the close of this dispensation, picturing the church's spiritual desolation when its faithful members and graces are gone into the enemy's land.

Temple Plundered in Captivity

The verse stands at the close of the continuous history from the accession of Solomon to the Babylonian captivity told as one whole in 1 and 2 Kings. Within that whole it belongs to the third great section, the history of the remaining kingdom of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. More particularly it belongs to the closing account of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, covering the rebellion of Zedekiah and the final capture of the Jewish nation.

It records the final conquest and fall of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar by the Chaldeans. That fall came after the rebellion of Zedekiah at the end of his reign and ended Judah's independent rule and destroyed the kingdom. Many of the children of God were then carried into Babylonian captivity, while a little company was left in the land under Gedaliah. What the Chaldeans carried away from Jerusalem belonged to that destruction of the kingdom and taking of its people into captivity.

The Chaldeans broke in pieces the pillars of brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the Lord. They broke apart the temple's bronze pillars, bases, and sea and carried the brass of them to Babylon. This was done during Judah's downfall, accompanying the end of Zedekiah's reign and Judah's loss of independent rule. It was the final plundering and despoiling of Solomon's Temple by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar. In that final conquest the temple was stripped of its treasures, Jerusalem was laid waste, the building was burned, and the people were taken into exile. Jerusalem fell in this way because of Israel's unfaithfulness.

Prophetic Type and Application

The final destruction of Jerusalem, when the temple was spoiled and its vessels were taken away, belongs to the captivity in Babylon. That history is typical of events to transpire either under the gospel or at the close of this dispensation. Its fulfillment is double, first typically in the ancient Jews and then emphatically in the Christian age. The temple's bronze furnishings were broken in pieces and carried to Babylon with Jerusalem's treasures. Their loss pictures the church's spiritual desolation, when its faithful members and graces are gone into the enemy's land, like Jerusalem's vessels and treasures.

The Babylonian captivity to which this breaking and carrying away belongs was a real past event. By itself it was not a present truth that met the needs of later generations.