Haggai 2:7

The Bible says in Haggai 2:7, “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.” The “desire of all nations” is Jesus Christ. Why would Jesus be called the “desire of all nations?” Let’s look at the phrase “all nations.” These promises were being made to the nation of Israel. But the message is very clear: the promise of the Messiah was not reserved only for Israel. The promise of the Messiah and the blessings that the Messiah will bring are for all the nations of the earth. When Jesus is called “the desire of all nations,” we can think of the word “desire” as referring to several things. Certainly, Jesus should be the desire of everyone. Of all the things that people desire, nothing and no one will fulfill their desires like Jesus can. You will not know life and you will not know yourself until you come to know Jesus. Jesus is probably also called “the desire of all nations” because there will be some from every nation on the earth who will believe in Jesus. Even though only a small percentage of people come to know Christ as Savior, there will at least be a few from every nation who will believe on Him. That is one reason that God calls missionaries to other countries: to find those few lost sheep in that nation who will believe once they hear the gospel. The gospel of Christ is for everyone, and God gives everyone a chance to be saved through faith in Christ.

It says in Haggai 2:7, “the desire of all nations shall come.” This is a prophecy about the return of Christ. Jesus will come to the earth. He came the first time when He died for the sins of the world, and when He comes the second time, Jesus will fulfill what Haggai was talking about. The Lord of Hosts said in Haggai 2:7, “I will fill this house with glory.” Of course, “this house” is referring to the temple of God in Jerusalem. If we look at the prophecies in the Old Testament, we realize that the prophecies for the most part deal with three main concepts: the future of Israel, the coming of the Messiah, and the condition of the temple. The temple symbolized the presence of God. That is why God said, “I will fill this house with glory,” meaning His glory: His majestic, resplendent, powerful, holy, and loving presence. The problem is that the glory has departed because of the failure of man.

In this age of grace in which we live the body of the believer is the temple. It says in John 2:21, “But he spake of the temple of his body.” And it says in First Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” But with the world all around us, and Christians weak and faltering, has the glory departed the temple? If the glory has departed, at least the return of Christ will fix this too. It says in First Corinthians 15:52-57, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Concerning the coming of the Messiah, that is prophesied in Haggai chapter two, there are several truths that we can point out. First the coming of Christ is divided into two phases: the first coming when He was born of a virgin and came to die for the sins of the world, and the Second Coming, when Jesus will come to destroy the enemies of God and set up the Millennial Kingdom on earth ruling from Jerusalem and fulfilling all the promises that were made about Israel.

Concerning the Second Coming of Christ, the scriptures reveal that it is divided into two phases: the rapture of the church that will happen at the start of the Great Tribulation when believers will meet the Lord in the air, and the physical return of Christ to the earth that will take place seven years after the rapture at the end of the Great Tribulation. Let’s look at some of the great truths about the rapture and the Second Coming of Christ.

1. The coming of Christ is imminent. What this means is that the coming of Jesus can happen at any moment. There are no other events, no other circumstances, and no other unfulfilled prophecies that must come about before Jesus returns. The return of Christ could have taken place in the first century. The return of Christ can happen today. The disciples who lived in the first century looked for the return of Christ to happen at any moment. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 24:42, “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” This any-moment return of the Lord must be referring to the rapture, because the actual Second Coming of Christ when He sets up His millennial kingdom cannot take place at least until three and a half years after the event that Jesus called “the abomination of desolation” takes place in the temple, and that event cannot take place without a temple on the temple-mount in Jerusalem. So, as far as Christ coming literally to the earth is concerned, it will not happen until a temple has been built. The only way for the return of the Lord to be imminent, is for the rapture to take place. It says in First Thessalonians 4:14-18, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

2. When the rapture takes place, all Christians will be taken off the earth suddenly and dramatically to meet Jesus “in the air.” This event will have a tremendous effect on those who remain. Christians have a preservative effect on the earth because the Spirit of God is in each one of them. Second Thessalonians 2:6-11, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”

3. Shortly after the rapture, the antichrist will be revealed and the period of the Great Tribulation will begin. Jesus said in Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Many of the details of the Great Tribulation are given in the book of Revelation. For example, the introduction to the time of the Great Tribulation is found in Revelation 6:1-2 that says, “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Notice the one riding on a white horse who has a crown and who went forth conquering and to conquer could very well be a description of the antichrist who will take over the reins of much of the earth at the time of the Great Tribulation. Just an introduction to the sorrows that will take place during the Tribulation can be read in Revelation 6:3-8, “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

4. At the end of the Great Tribulation Jesus returns to the earth riding upon a white horse as described in Revelation 19:11-21, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True…” Jesus then destroys the armies of the world at the battle of Armageddon, and then as it says in Revelation 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

5. Jesus establishes His one thousand year reign upon the earth, ruling the earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem, and thus fulfilling the promise that Jesus made to Abraham, to David, and to the Israelites concerning Israel and Jerusalem. For example, the promise of the Millennial Kingdom can be found in Isaiah 11:1-10 which says, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”

6. At the end of the thousand years all of us who are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will enter the eternal state and thus we will all be with the Lord forever. It says in Revelation 21:1-8, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

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