“King Cyrus himself brought out the articles that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his own gods. Cyrus directed Mithredath, the treasurer of Persia, to count these items and present them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of the exiles returning to Judah.” Ezra 1:7-8
When Jerusalem was conquered, the remaining treasures of the temple were taken to Babylon. The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord’s Temple and from the palace of the king and his officials.” (2 Chronicles 36:18) Now, after conquering the Babylonians, Cyrus adopted a much more generous policy towards their subject peoples, including the Jewish people. The generosity of Cyrus in restoring so great a hoard was genuine and considerable. It might have been urged that after the treasures had been lying for two generations in a heathen temple the original owners had lost all claim upon them. It might have been said that they had been contaminated by this long residence among the abominations of Babylonian idolatry. The restoration of them swept away all such ideas. God had the power to make them holy again. We can see that this was all in God’s plan.
As we study prophecy, we must look at the prophecies that have been fulfilled. This helps build our faith in God’s plan for mankind. We need to study and learn these Old Testament books. They not only show us how God deals with sin and how He is such a merciful God, but because we need to know the history of Israel so that we can realize the importance of Israel to the future of the world.