JESUS THE
DESIRE OF THE AGES
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“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.” (Haggai 2:7)
Greetings in
the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and a Blessed Christmas
to you and all yours! Thank you so much for your support of this Ministry!
It is always a
real joy to consider the great mystery, mercy and grace that has been given to
us through the incarnation, when God became a Man (God in human flesh) to redeem us!
If ever the WORLD was in NEED of a SAVIOUR it is TODAY – a
time of trepidation, tension, insecurity, catastrophe and violence around the
world! So much has changed and yet the basic facts remain the same. Mankind’s
sins of lying, theft, greed, lust, hatred, murder and idolatry remain the same.
The power of the Gospel also remains the same, to cleanse
and forgive sins, destroy the works of the devil and overpower the darkness and
evil through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us all on Calvary’s Cross and
His glorious resurrection from the dead!
Everywhere hunger, fear, pain, sickness, disease and
death stalk mankind, but the Great Physician, the Compassionate Christ still
has all power today because, “He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for out iniquities, chastised for our peace and with His stripes we are
healed.” (Isaiah 53: 4, 5)
JESUS: DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS!
The Scripture text from Haggai is prophetic in
several ways. It speaks about a time when the people of God had taken Him for
granted. They were building their own houses but neglecting the House of the
Lord.
He warns about a shaking that seems a lot like what
is happening today: “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is
a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and
the dry land.” We don’t have far to look at the recent hurricanes,
typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding, droughts, famines and epidemics that
have plagued our planet!
God
warns: “Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye
eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye
clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages, earns wages to put
in a bag with holes.” (Haggai 1:5, 6)
The prophet conveys God’s delight
in those who further His Kingdom, and that He is with those who put His
WORK ahead of their own. He inserts these prophetic truths: “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 world was at its WORST when God sent His Son, born in
a stable in Bethlehem. Jesus was born in a subject province governed by pagan
Romans and the Jews were ruled by uncaring, legalistic, hypocritical Religious
leaders.
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved
with compassion upon them because, they fainted, and were scattered abroad like
sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt.9: 36)
He went to them and sought them out and healed their
hurt, calmed their fears and filled them with His holy love, and faith! The
Holy Record states: “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and
healing every sickness and disease among the people.”(Matt.9: 35)
To the woman taken in adultery,
Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.” (John
8:7-1); To the Leper, He said, “I will: be thou clean.” (Matt.8:1-3);
To the blind beggar He said, “Go thy way; Thy faith hath made thee
whole.” (Mark 10:52); To the man with the withered arm He said,
“Stretch forth thine hand.” (Mark 3:5); To the woman who had
suffered with an issue of blood for twelve years He said, “Daughter, thy faith
hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” (Mark
5:34); To a father of a twelve year old daughter who had died, Jesus said,
“Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36); And to the girl He
said, “Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise.”(Mark 5:41); To an insane man
filled with many demons, Jesus said, “Go home to thy friends and tell them what
great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee,” (Mark
5:19); To the paralyzed man borne by four, Jesus said: “Arise, take up thy
bed and go unto thine house.” (Matt.9: 6).
Our world today is falling deeper into chaos. Talk about all the nations shaking, with the economic systems of
this world in a shambles, Iran on the cusp of acquiring nuclear capabilities,
the Islamic terrorist threat growing, Israel surrounded by serious enemies and
the Western Nations forsaking the Gospel of Christ.
GENTILES LONGED FOR A TEACHER!
According to J.W. Monser,
in An Encyclopedia on the Evidences, p.527, PLATO (B.C.428-346) has
SOCRATES saying, “We must of necessity wait, till someone from Him who
cares for us, shall come and instruct us how we ought to behave towards the
gods and man.” Again, “This lawgiver must be more than man
that He may teach us things man cannot know by his own nature.”
The Magi who made the 35-day-journey covering the 1,100 miles from
Persia to Jerusalem searching for Him who has been born ‘king of the Jews’, is
PROOF of their desire for spiritual help! They were astronomers,
philosophers that God could speak to in His desire to let the world
know that His salvation plan to crush Satan’s head was finally operational.
“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold there came wise men from the east
to Jerusalem, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His
star in the east, and are come to worship Him.” (Matt.2: 1, 2)
Jesus stated: “For I tell you that many prophets
and kings have DESIRED to see those things which ye see and have not seen them;
and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”
Dr. Wayne Jackson says: “Some
translators argue that the word ‘desire’ (heb. hemdat) is
used of persons in the O.T. – both in its singular and plural forms. Saul was
described as the desire of Israel (1 Sam. 9:20) and
Daniel was called “greatly beloved” (plural in 9:23;
10:11, 19). Dr. Alden notes that such irregularities are common in O.T. Hebrew.
(The Expositors Bible Commentary, Vol.7, p. 586)
ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH!
The Almighty said to Abraham:
“And I will make thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shall be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee and
curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed.” (Gen.12: 2, 3)
This is a marvelous prophecy which points to
JESUS CHRIST, Who is the fulfillment. St. Paul writes: “For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ… for ye are
all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye ABRAHAM’S SEED, and
heirs according to the promise.” (Gal.3: 27-29)
In his Pentecostal message St.
Peter declared: “Ye are the children of the prophets and of the
covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, and
in THY SEED shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God
having raised up His SON JESUS, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every
one of you from his iniquities.” (Acts 3: 25, 26)
Jesus is the ‘DESIRE of ALL NATIONS’ and
He alone is willing, able and desirous of blessing all the families of the
earth! He ALONE has the power and ability because, “He tasted death for
every man.” (Heb.2: 9).
He suffered, bled and died for the entire world: “For
God so loved the WORLD that He gave His Only begotten Son
that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world
but that world through Him might be saved.” (John 3: 16, 17)
Again the Holy Bible states: “He came unto His Own
and His Own received Him not, but as many as received Him, to THEM gave He
power to become the SONS of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John
1:11, 12)
Theologian Herbert Wolf in his Commentary
on Haggai and Malachi states, “Ultimately it applies to the gathering
of the treasures of the nations after the Second Coming of Christ and to “the
glory and honour of the nations”, brought into the New Jerusalem” (Rev.21: 26)
but it can also refer to that “treasure” or “desire of the nations”, “The
Messenger of the Covenant in Whom ye Delight.” (Mal.3:1)
Here is the rub: Even though
the world has by and large rejected Jesus Christ as the DESIRE of all Nations,
yet one day they will know Him as King of kings and Lord of lords! And the
latter House will be greater because He will be worshipped and adored as Lord,
Saviour and God! (Zechariah 14: 16)
The Magi came from Persia to
worship Him, the Greeks came to see Him, the Samaritans received
Him, the Romans crucified Him, the Jews rejected
Him, Simon of Cyrene carried His cross and
believers from around the world worship Him, the One who was dead but still
lives!
One final word: "JESUS – His Name is above
all other names; His Reign is above all other rulers; His Lordship is above all
other authorities; His Words are above all other voices; His Truth is above all
other opinions; His Love is above all other affections." – Author
Unknown
May the Lord open
every heart and life to receive Him! Amen.
