Christ the Desire and Glory of His Church
C. Bradley, M. A. Haggai 2:6-7 For thus said the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea… I. THE TIME WHEN OUR LORD WAS TO COME. "It is a little while." Yet it proved to be five hundred years. A short period compared with the time the Church had already been kept waiting for the Messiah. It was short in Jehovah's own sight. II. A SOLEMN CIRCUMSTANCE THAT IS TO ATTEND THE MESSIAH'S COMING. "I will shake," etc. What is this mighty shaking? The language has been interpreted as pointing out those political convulsions and changes which agitated the world between the uttering of this prophecy and our Lord's birth, one great empire giving way to another, and that in its turn yielding to a third. St. Paul applies it, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, to the uprooting and destruction of the whole Mosaic dispensation. We may put another interpretation on this prediction. There may he a further reference in it to those moral and spiritual effects which have ever attended and followed the Gospel in its progress through the world. Wherever it has come, it has come with a shaking. It has startled the world, surprised it and changed it. Let the Gospel find its way into a sinner's heart, what a convulsion, what a complete uprooting and change does it often effect there! III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST." The desire of all nations." 1. In the sight of God He is desirable for all nations. 2. Some of all nations have desired Him. But we must look forward for a full explanation of this title. 3. All nations will desire this Saviour. Imagine these prophecies fulfilled, let this glorious scene be realised, bring before your minds a holy and rejoicing earth, and then cast your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, its holy and rejoicing King — what would you call Him? Just what the great God, the Lord of hosts, calls Him here, "The desire of all nations," the joy of the sons of men, the one great blessing, hope, and comfort of a regenerated world. IV. THE GLORIOUS CONSEQUENCE OF THE PROMISED REDEEMER'S ADVENT. "I will fill this house with glory." "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former." The former house was Solomon's. How was this magnificent promise fulfilled? The promise seemed to have no fulfilment. At last an Infant enters that temple, brought thither from a stable and a manger, and borne in a peasant's arms. Here in this second temple God Himself was manifest in our mortal flesh. A twofold application — (1) It shows us wherein consists the chief glory of any Church. In the presence and manifestation within it of the Lord Jesus Christ. A real spiritual presence. (2) It tells us wherein consists the chief happiness of every really Christian heart. (C. Bradley, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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; WEB: For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: 'Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;