"God’s Care and Judgement XX"
It seems to be a common temptation for Christians to look back fondly on some prior spiritual "golden age" or long for a previously encountered spiritual experience, and then compare that past with present circumstances (especially if those circumstances aren't very positive). But what would your reaction be if I told you God's response to that fixation on the past is to talk about Jesus?
In Haggai 2:6-7, the prophet gives a prophecy about the coming Messiah: "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" (NKJV). The context of this promise is the utter disappointment those who returned from Babylonian exile felt about their temple. God had asked his people to keep working on rebuilding the temple (verse 4), but there were still some alive who remembered what Solomon's temple had been like - and they made their fear, disappointment, and complaints known (verse 3). God's people are predominantly suspicious of God's continued presence and goodness to them, as the little book of Haggai repeatedly makes clear. But God answers that fear and disappointment by pointing out that God's people didn't have to worry about it. The Desire of All Nations would come on the scene and make everything right (verse7)! The Hebrew of the first half of verse 7 can be difficult to translate, which is why some translations talk about the nations coming to the Desire of All Nations and other translations talk about the Desire of All Nations coming to them.
Regardless of which idea is in play, both make it clear that Haggai is picking up on imagery from Isaiah and Ezekiel. Isaiah envisions all the nations streaming to Jerusalem to get to know God in the last days (Isaiah 2), and Ezekiel discusses at length a new temple that God will fill with his glory - a glory that looks a lot like Jesus (Ezekiel 40-48). Haggai is telling his original audience that a longing for the past can only be successful if you accept the fact that the Messiah (the Desire of All Nations) loves you, has arrived for you, and will do everything in his power to ensure that you have more to look forward to than just a "golden past."
Friends, God doesn't want you to be bound by the past, which is why he constantly reminds us that Jesus loves us and is coming again very soon to save those friends and friendships. While fond memories of the past can be enjoyable, it is only in looking at Jesus - the true Desire of All Nations - that we find our longings for the past, present, and future satiated - because "thus says the Lord."
God bless,
Pastor Nathaniel Gamble
