The Names of Jesus - Elmer Towns

THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS
Perhaps no preacher in history left behind such a brief record of ministry with as great
accomplishment as the prophet Haggai. The book which records his name consists of five
sermons that range in length from a single line to several verses. Yet, it was primarily the
preaching of this prophet that led to the resumption of work and completion of the second temple
in Jerusalem. Because some Jews had seen the previous temple in all its physical splendor, they
became discouraged as they saw the builders erecting a smaller wood frame structure. Haggai
knew the people were failing to realize it was not the architecture of a building but rather God's
presence that made a building a holy place. To encourage the people, Haggai prophesied of the
days when “the desire of all nations shall come” (Haggai 2:7).
Commentators debate among themselves about the meaning of this phrase “desire of all
nations.” Some argue Haggai meant the wealth of other nations-that is, the desirable things of
those nations-would someday be brought to this second temple. A more probable interpretation is
that the phrase is a title of Christ, who would come to the temple that seemed so insignificant in
the eyes of some of the workers.
Jewish writers have noted that the second temple lacked five objects which were present
in the first temple: the ark of the covenant with its mercy seat or place of propitiation, the tables
of the law, the holy fire, the sacred oracle in the breastplate of the high priest, and the Shekinah
glory of God. Although God did not give these things to the remnant that returned and built the
temple, He did promise to send the “desire of all nations” who was all these things and more.
Jesus is the reality of which the ark was only the type. He is not only the place of
propitiation but “the propitiation for our sins” (I John 2:2). The early Christians applied the title
“Lawgiver” to the Lord (James 4:12). He is a “wall of fire,” the “Urim and Thummin,” and our
“High Priest.” But above all these things, He is the incarnate “Shekinah glory of God.” As the
Apostle John noted, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The
Shekinah glory was indeed absent at the dedication of the second temple, but eventually it was
present in Christ in a greater sense than ever was true of the first temple. The “desire of all
nations” has come; He was the fullness of the Godhead, and He dwelt or tabernacled among us.
Although this prophecy had partial fulfillment in the first advent of Christ, many
commentators point out that the context of this prophecy applies to the second coming of Christ.
In the millennium Christ will be King and Lord of the nations. In that sense, the “desire of all
nations” is still yet to come. However, in a sense He is the “desirable one of all nations” today,
since Christians around the world echo the final prayer of the Scriptures, “Even so, come, Lord
Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
THE ENSIGN OF THE PEOPLES
One of the many titles for Christ in the book of Isaiah is “an ensign of the peoples”
(Isaiah 11:10). Of the seven times the word “ensign” appears in Scripture, six are singular and
found in the prophecy of Isaiah. The word itself refers to a national flag to which people rally. It
is the symbol of the nation, and loyalty to that flag is the most common form of patriotism.