“I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come…”

“Two steps forward, one step back”.  How many times have you heard that?  How many times have you experienced that?  Probably more than you’d care to say.  Life works like that, doesn’t it?  Very rarely do things ever work out “the way they’re supposed to”.  But who says they’re supposed to?  God?  Not on your life.  Sure, Christians are promised power, grace, the leading and guiding of the Spirit, etc., but where does it say that plans, even in the will of God, will always go smoothly without interruptions, battles or speed bumps?  In the grand scheme of things, is every time God’s time for every project we do for him?  Hardly.

It didn’t even go that way when rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.  If you remember, Solomon built the first Temple.  That was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s third and final invasion in 586 BC.  Then Persian King Cyrus, prophesied in Isaiah 44:28, began the restoration process by declaring (Ezra 1:1-4) his intention to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.  About 50,000 Jews made the 3-5 month trek under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest.  Construction began two years later in 536 BC.  Later returnees would be lead by Ezra the priest (458 BC) and Nehemiah the governor (445 BC).  But it was in the construction phase that we see the Jews hit a snag.  We find it in Ezra chapter 4.

Some time after construction began, the locals — a mixed breed of Babylo-Assyrian and remnant Jewish people, later called Samaritans — began interfering.  They claimed (v. 2) to worship Jehovah like the Jews did and made sacrifices to him “since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria”.  Actually, Esarhaddon had deported large numbers of Jews elsewhere and replaced them with idol worshiping Babylonians.  But it was a “kinder, gentler” idolatry.  1 Kings 17:33 describes it this way: “They feared the Lord, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away”.  In other words, yes, they had some fear of the Lord, but when the chips were down, they served their idols, not the Lord.  This is the best you can get when tolerance rules the day and is the golden virtue.  Zerubbabel and Jeshua’s response is as clear as it is defiant: “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us”.  I can hear the “us” being emphasized.  After this little ploy didn’t work, they brought frustration to the builders.  As a result, the Jews’ put more interest in their own matters rather than God’s, capitulating to this negative influence.  The Temple construction thus lagged for progress and completion.

Enter prophets Haggai and Zechariah 16 years later.  Their mission was to encourage the Jews to get with God’s program and finish the Temple, which had been his dwelling place on earth.  Speaking prophetically, Haggai says, “This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.  I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty…‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house…And in this place I will grant peace’” (2:6-7, 9).  In other words, their immediate efforts will pay handsome dividends not only in their own lives, but also in generations to come.  The “former house” embodied God’s shekinah presence, but Jesus would personally walk in their “present house” (see Malachi 3:1).  In the middle of his prophecy, Haggai says “the desired of all nations” will come after a shaking of heaven and earth.  This can only mean the Messiah’s second coming, for such a shaking did not precede his first coming.

But the question is raised, is Jesus really what/whom all nations desire?  Well, yes, although they themselves don’t recognize it.  Any legitimate desire they have, be it peace, security, power, acceptance, love, prosperity, stability, knowledge, fame, you name it, can all be found in him.  The problem is, they look for the gift instead of the Giver; they seek the creation (idols), not the Creator.

Between his comings, Jesus prepares his Bride, the Church, a corporate mobile temple in which he dwells, recreating us into creatures that will reflect his glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Individually we all share that common feature, that common goal and his common work.  Are you in sync with God’s incredible plan?  Does your life reflect the transformation process into his likeness with every-increasing glory?