2 Kings 25:13-17. When the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and destroyed it, taking the people away into exile, they plundered the Temple. They broke the pillars of bronze, and the bronze stands and sea into pieces and carried the bronze into Babylon. They took all of the vessels and equipment of the Temple. What was of gold they took away as gold; what was silver, they took as silver. The bronze pillars and stands and sea were so large, though, that they could not be carried away, so they had to be broken up. Their beauty and detail is described one last time in this passage before they are lost to history.

All earthly things pass away. Even the most beautiful and the most holy earthly things will eventually meet their end, as the astoundingly beautiful Temple does here. It is so incredibly sad and difficult for us to accept when these things happen, but we must remember that these are all just place-holders for the beauty of Heavenm which we cannot possibly imagine.

If the Temple built by Solomon, which was the most beautiful and the holiest place on earth in its time, lasted forever, it would become an idol to us, distracting us from even the even greater beauty to be had in eternity. Permanent beautiful things could hold us to this world, like attachments.

So beauty, especially in things dedicated to God, is good and necessary, but the fall of earthly beauty is necessary, too, to release us from any hold it has on us.