2 Kings 25:14
And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the pots, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
The verse records that when Jerusalem fell the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar stripped the temple and carried to Babylon the bronze pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons and all the vessels used in its service, in the plunder and destruction of Solomon's temple. It belongs to the closing history of the kingdom of Judah, when independent rule ended, Zedekiah rebelled and fell, the nation was captured and carried into captivity, and only a small company remained in the land, a loss that followed Israel's unfaithfulness. That captivity and destruction are typical of events to transpire under the gospel and at the close of this dispensation, to be read with the transition from type to antitype in view. The carrying away of the vessels pictures the church's spiritual graces and worship as gone into enemy hands, for the captivity was a true event of the past that did not by itself reveal God's truth for the present needs of later generations.
Temple Plundered at Fall
During the destruction of Jerusalem the Babylonians carried away the bronze pots and shovels and snuffers and spoons and all the other vessels used in the service of the Lord's house. The Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar stripped the temple of its treasures when they plundered Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon's temple. Those bronze utensils of the temple service were carried away to Babylon as part of the removal of the temple furnishings in the plunder, in the fall and exile of Judah and the overthrow of its kingdom.
The taking of the vessels belongs to the laying waste of Jerusalem that closes the history of the kingdom of Judah. It was when Zedekiah rebelled and fell, when independent rule ended and Judah was subjected to Babylon, when the Jewish nation was finally captured and many of God's people were carried into captivity to complete the captivity. A small company remained in the land under Gedaliah. This closing account follows the wicked and weak reigns of the kings of Judah.
Their removal was part of the loss that followed Israel's unfaithfulness.
Prophetic Type and Application
The carrying away of the bronze utensils of temple ministry in the Babylonian captivity and final destruction of Jerusalem is typical of events to transpire either under the gospel or at the close of this dispensation. That history must be read with the sudden transition from type to antitype in view. What belongs to ancient Israel must be distinguished from what belongs to its emphatic fulfillment in this age, so that what applies to the antitype is not applied to the type.
The taking of the brass vessels used in temple service away to Babylon as spoil belongs to the account of Jerusalem's fall. That loss is applied spiritually to the church, picturing its spiritual graces and worship as gone into enemy hands. The Babylonian captivity was received as a true event of the past but did not by itself reveal God's truth for later generations' present needs.