The Desire Of All Nations

From the time Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life, the words addressed to Satan about the seed of the woman "It shall bruise thy head," gave hope of Satan's final defeat and a restoration to the tree of life. The expected one, the promised seed (Jesus) is "The Desire Of All Nations." "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; 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 2:6-7] In this reference from Haggai it appears that the coming of the desire of all nations will follow the time when the Lord shall shake the heavens, the earth and all nations prior to the day of the Lord. The shaking, yet to come, seems to place this prophecy in close connection with the final establishment of God's kingdom, under Jesus, the promised seed. Paul writing to the Hebrews placed that shaking yet in the future, saying: "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire." [Hebrews 12:25-29 KJV] Today, we have the whole Bible open before us but this was not so with many generations before us. The patriarchs were in possession of some knowledge concerning the restoration and coming of the promised Seed, but when or how long before the desire of all nations should come remained hidden from them. The plan of salvation to them was, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." [Proverbs 4:18 KJV] The hope of total restoration, after the tragic fall of Adam and Eve, was given in the promise of the coming Seed that would defeat the enemy and restore all things. How many generations have lived with the hope of seeing the desire of all nations but died with their hope deferred? Balaam said "I shall see Him but not now." Balaam had hope of seeing the desire of all nations but his hope was deferred. "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." [Numbers 24:17 KJV] Israel mistakenly expected the Messiah to come and deliver them from Roman tyranny and reestablish Israel as a mighty earthly kingdom, but their hopes were misplaced and deferred once again. The day of the Lord is the day that the desire of all nations will be revealed and the deferred hope of all that have waited for the restitution of all things will then become a tree of life. "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life." [Proverbs 13:12 KJV] Jesus, the stem of Jesse, the hope of final redemption, is the desire of all nations. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." [Isaiah 11:1-4 KJV] On the day of the Lord, Jesus will smite the Earth with the rod of His mouth, and slay the wicked, but He will wipe away the tears of His loved ones and death will be swallowed up in victory as the Lord removes the cover of darkness from all people. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." [Isaiah 25:8-9 KJV] On the day of the Lord, all evildoers shall be cut off and those that wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth and delight in the abundance of peace when the desire of all nations and ages comes. "For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." [Psalms 37:9-11 KJV]