Names of Jesus Advent: Desire of the Nations (November 27)

November 27: Desire of the Nations

“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Haggai ‭2:6-7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There is great controversy regarding the translation of this verse. Some believe that this is referring to material wealth, while others believe it is referring to the Lord Jesus through Messianic prophecy. Regardless of interpretation, I personally find that the Wesley Brothers, in their writing of Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, penned a striking stanza that wonderfully captures Jesus as the Desire of the Nations:

Come, Desire of Nations, come,

Fix in us thy humble Home;

Rise, the Woman's conq'ring seed,

Bruise in us the Serpent's Head;

Adam's Likeness now efface,

Stamp thine Image in its Place;

Second Adam from above,

Re-instate us in thy Love.

Jesus gives us wild hope, celebratory anticipation, and an unmatched sense of fulfillment. Here the prophet writes that there will be a shaking of the nations. This is not a gentle prod. Nor an awakening. It is a shaking of divine judgment that, as Calvin wrote, “shall habituate [the nations] to the ruling power of God.”

Following the shaking is the coming to the Desire of All Nations. Whether the nations rage and plot against Him or even know Him not, Jesus is their sole desire. Not only does He “rule over the nations” (Psalm 22:28,) it is said “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11.)

The great shaking of the nations will lead to the great conversion of the nations. As the gravity of the sun pulls planets through space and time towards itself, so does the Son of God pull the nations close to lean upon His bosom and feel His heartbeat. Jesus does not only want intimacy with isolated individuals, He wants intimacy with the nations.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV) reads, “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Right now, the nations are being shaken. We need to turn to the Desire of the Nations in repentance and reverence. When we do, we will experience a greater outpouring of His glory than was experienced in 2 Chronicles 7, where it reads, “And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house” (2 Chronicles 7:2.)

Advent is a time, as a nation, to behold Him and come to Him. It is time to set Him as the rightful desire of our hearts. Of our family. Of our neighborhood. Of our County. Of our State. Of our Nation.

“Come, Desire of Nations, come.”

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