The Recovery of Treasures

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Duration: 2min
 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 12
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• BibleTruthPublishers.com
The “treasures of the house of the Lord” were the gold and silver vessels, dedicated by David and Solomon, and carefully preserved in the temple. From time to time, because of Judah’s sin, they were unable to keep these treasures, and three times they were taken away by others (Shishak king of Egypt, Jehoash king of Israel, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). Worse still, four times it is recorded that they were given away, either to hire mercenary soldiers or to appease a foreign power. They were given away by Asa, Jehoash, Ahaz and Hezekiah — all kings of Judah. But God had His eye on them, and later, under Cyrus king of Persia, they were given back to the godly ones who returned to Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity — see Ezra 1:7-117Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods; 8Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives, 10Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. 11All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:7‑11).
So it has been with the treasures which have been committed to the church — the treasures of Christ, and our heavenly blessings given to us through Him. At various times in its history, the church has lost those treasures through unfaithfulness, and, worse still, at times they have been bartered away by believers who wanted an easier path. Satan will readily make our path through this world more trouble-free, if we are willing to give up some of the treasures of our heavenly calling.
But again, as with Israel, God values that treasure, and He is willing to restore it to us. At the end of the dispensation of grace, God has raised up those through whom He has made those treasures available again. The pristine glory of the early church has not been restored, but those treasures, given by God at the beginning, may once again be enjoyed by those who wish to follow Christ with a full heart.
W. J. Prost