DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS

This expression, and the similar one ‘the desire of women’, Dan. 11.37, have both been seen as titles of Messiah, though not all are agreed. The end time king, described in Daniel, will not ‘regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god’, v. 37. Since the expression ‘desire of women’ is set between two others, which are obviously religious in reference, it seems reasonable to deduce that this belongs to the same category. If so, it refers to the ardent desire of every godly Jewish woman to be the mother of the promised Seed. When He did arrive the angel could pronounce Mary as ‘highly favoured ... blessed ... among women’, Luke 1. 28.

There is more doubt about the reference to the ‘desire of all nations’, Hag. 2. 7. In the context, Haggai is speaking about the convulsions of the latter days when the Lord ‘will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land ... I will shake all nations’. The consequence of these cosmic disturbances will be that ‘the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts’, ch. 2. 7. The word translated ‘desire’ is one that denotes value, preciousness. The expression is therefore considered by many to denote that all nations shall bring their treasure and booty to the Lord. In this case there is no Messianic allusion.

On the other hand, many point out that this is the very word used of king Saul who was regarded as ‘the desire of Israel’, 1 Sam. 9.20. If the term has the same personal reference here, it is then a reference to Messiah as One who will satisfy the deepest yearnings of the human spirit. He will unite east and west, Jew and Gentile. Previously, the nations have felt they could manage without Him, but God will so shake the affairs of earth that they will discover their helplessness and need of Him. When He arrives, He will bring ‘glory’, and ‘peace’, v. 9. At His first coming, there was ‘no beauty that we should desire him’, Isa. 53. 2. But all will be changed before His return. Then, not only will the remnant of Israel be longing for Him, but the nations will be yearning for His coming to solve the problems of earth and settle the differences between warring nations.